Accompaniment in Hollman’s recording of Chopin Nocturne Op. 9 no. 2
This rendition makes for a particularly interesting case study, of both tempo fluctuations and the vertical relationship between the melody and the accompaniment. As with many early recordings, tempo fluctuations are frequent and represent a variety of approaches. This highly malleable concept of tempo seems to reflect (and adopt to) the individual character of each melodic utterance. Most of the time, the accompanist’s tempo seems to be the consequence of the expressive tempo modifications in the soloist’s part - in other words, the accompanist follows the soloist, although never in a slovenly manner and never sacrificing the flow and logic of the piano part, thus often creating vertical misalignment. At other times, although less frequently, the accompanist sets the tempo for the soloist. This is especially evident when there are long notes in the cello part.
Listen to Joseph Hollman’s ca. 1915 recording of A. F. Servais arrangement of Chopin’s Nocturne, Op. 9, No. 2 (accompanied by an unknown pianist): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uku64KH8lmw
Download the score: http://ks4.imslp.net/files/imglnks/usimg/e/e9/IMSLP279508-PMLP02312-Chopin_Servais_Nocturne_RSL.pdf
Let us first look at a few examples of the first case, where the pianist follows the cellist.
In Bar 4, Ex. A (and similar places in bars 8 and 16), the sudden leap up in the melody and the subsequent descent (with the expressive Servais fingerings) are all taken slower by Hollman and followed by the pianist until the middle of the bar, where Hollman snaps back into tempo leaving the pianist slightly behind, to which the pianist immediately reacts by picking up the tempo during the next few eight notes. This is done in a very smooth manner without sounding angular or loosing the flow of the accompaniment at any point. A general impression is that of the accompaniment following an outline of the more sudden and capricious tempo changes in the solo part. The pianist is not completely ignoring the soloist, but not trying to follow him closely either, which often results in slight vertical misalignment - a subtle combination of two types of rubato - contrametric and agogic.
Ex. A
Another example of this approach is bars 5-6 and 13-14. The second half of the bar rather suddenly speeds up, this time with the pianist taking the initiative. It is combined with Hollman’s crescendo and tone intensification in such a way that it is difficult to tell whether the faster tempo is the consequence of the crescendo or the other way around - an example of an organic use of tempo modification and dynamic increase in a more passionate passage. This allows Hollman to approach the beginning of bar 6, where the melody climbs up to the high C natural in an already faster tempo and to slow down emphatically at the top. The redistribution of the notes between the melody and the accompaniment shown in Ex. B is of particular interest — not only does it allow extreme freedom in the melody, combined with a logical and subtle slowing down before the half of the bar in the accompaniment, but it completely rearranges the consonance-dissonance relationship between the cello and the accompaniment: what is on paper a neighbour tone in the cello part now becomes an appoggiatura.
Ex. B
An extreme example of tempo modification going hand in hand with character change is bar 22 (Example C) where Hollman charges through the first half of the bar at almost twice the speed of the preceding bar . It is difficult to hear exactly what the pianist does in that half bar, but she emerges out of this exuberant explosion of energy (con forza indeed!) with ease and control, lining up with Hollman in the second half of the bar, seemingly undisturbed by her colleague.
Ex. C
Most of the tempo flexibility in this piece comes from the melody - its contour and rhythmic variety (both as notated and especially as performed by Hollman) lends itself naturally to rubato. However, there are several instances where the initiative is taken by the pianist. There are also examples of both slowing down and speeding up. Most striking to the modern listener, though, are the moments in which the pianist is accelerating. The contexts in which the pianist accelerates can be roughly divided in the following three categories:
1. Long notes in the melody: all the half notes and most of the quarter notes are either accompanied with various degrees of accelerando (bars 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10,16, 20, 21, etc.) or marked by a return to a faster tempo (bars 4, 10, 17).
2. Ends of phrases: these are often accompanied by a crescendo in the cello part and an acceleration in the piano (bars 8, 16, 20). In some cases this interpretation contradicts the notation - see accents in examples D and E.
3. Foreshadowing: on several occasions the pianist seems to speed up as a way of foreshadowing the character change following immediately after (bars 5, 8, 16, 22).
Ex. D
Ex. E
As with rubato, where contrametric and agogic types go hand in hand, many of the instances of acceleration on the part of the pianist are a combination of several of the circumstances described above.
Note that all three ways of employing acceleration in the accompaniment result in more unity and direction, and are contributing factors to the impression of a never-ending line and sustained sense of tension, which one often gets when listening to the recordings of this period. These performance strategies are not frequently encountered in modern performances.