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Beethoven‘s symphonies pose without any doubt one of the greatest artistic challenges to every conductor.

Of the countless questions about what an authentic interpretation means, I am addressing only one here, namely the problem of Beethoven’s metronome markings. As we know, the first metronomes were built in Vienna during Beethoven’s lifetime and he did then give metronome markings to his pieces (retrospectively in most cases).

For generations, the musical world has debated the subject of how to approach these metronome markings and to what extent a close adherence to Beethoven’s tempi must form an integral part of a faithful rendering of Beethoven’s work. In my student days it was still generally believed that Beethoven’s metronome was faulty, on the grounds that the tempi were too fast and unplayable. So, the markings had to be wrong. Later, especially with the advent of period instrument ensembles, some recordings were made which were unwavering in their strict adherence to Beethoven’s tempi, for better or worse so to speak.

I believe that neither a careless approach which ignores Beethoven’s metronome markings nor a relentless adherence to them can do justice to the music.

Tempi in music depend on numerous factors, which is why, in general, I do not think much of following tempo indications uncritically. Tempi rely very much on the acoustics of a particular concert venue, in this case the studio, and the personality of the individual musicians also plays an important role. The tempo must be flexible and keep its fluency.

In short, the tempo, rather than being an end in itself, is a means to achieve the desired musical result. That is why it is virtually impossible to define a tempo bureaucratically by the use of metronome markings. However, the most important task for us conductors must be to study the composer’s intentions as carefully as possible in order to be able to interpret and communicate them correctly. First and foremost I must attempt to understand the reasons why Beethoven provided particular tempo indications and what he hoped to achieve with them.

I have examined, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the problem of Beethoven’s different metronome markings over a long period, to help me understand what might be their function, their meaning. This intensive study of Beethoven’s symphonies has given me new insights into them. In many cases it has brought me very close to the tempo that Beethoven specified. But not always. And when I felt that I could do more justice to the musical expression of the work by using a rather different tempo than asked for in the metronome markings, I have not been strict in the adherence to the indicated tempos. To me that appeared to be a more honest artistic approach.

Studying the possibilities of interpretation for Beethoven’s symphonies is a lifelong process. The recordings we present here are in a sense a snapshot of the ideas that I held at the time they were made.

– Ádám Fischer