# Rubato



## Mephistopheles (Sep 3, 2012)

Perhaps a strange question, but what are your feelings on it? Obviously, it is largely piece and style dependent (Chopin is perhaps the most rubato-ready composer), but there is always room for interpretation. To me, given a choice between two valid playing styles, I prefer no rubato. For example, I was comparing recordings of Schubert's _Wanderer Fantasy_ recently, and although Evgeny Kissin gave a predictably strong performance, I couldn't stand it because of the way he pulled the piece around. It's almost disorientating. I like straight, clear rhythms, with emotional expression coming through in other ways. This tends not to be a problem for me, though I make a mental note of performers who I feel are much too dependent on it - I think the cellist Mischa Maisky is one such individual.


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## MaestroViolinist (May 22, 2012)

When I see rubato in any of my music I try not to go completely off the rails like some people do, but I think it is a very good affect (especially if it's gypsy-type music). Just as the meaning says, it adds freedom for expression so I like it - just don't over use it.


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## oogabooha (Nov 22, 2011)

I like rubato, and think that it adds a lot to many pieces when the performer is given flexibility. There are those who play the Bach violin partidas with a lot of rubato, and while that does sound really beautiful to me, my old viola tutor despised interpretations like that and required 100% rhythmic clarity. I don't mind it, though, but I have heard it overdone many times and it can be _bad_.

Just like anything, too much of a good thing can be bad.

Chopin's various Nocturnes are practically rubato-ready. Play his Nocturne in E-flat Op. 9, 2 for me with a lot of rubato and expressiveness and you will win my heart and respect.


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## Dimboukas (Oct 12, 2011)

I don't like rubato too and sometimes I find it kitsch. Rubato was a great problem for me when I was trying to find a good recording of Schumann's _Piano Concerto_ because this concerto has long sequences of quarter notes in piano, and I find rubato to be ruining.


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## Avengeil (Aug 16, 2011)

For me rubato is something that I really like but where everything mostly goes wrong is on how to use it and where... 
It simply shows the understanding that the performer has for the piece he is playing and if properly executed helps captivate you. Imagine a piece by Chopin with no rubato, it would feel dry. 
And even though I'm not an expert I believe that even with correctly used rubato (see what I'm doing there ) one can still achieve rythmic clarity. 

But on rubato in Bach I'm not that sure... it needs more thoughts I guess.


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## Dimboukas (Oct 12, 2011)

I find rubato in Bach awful. The only deviation of tempo in Bach that not only do I accept but I enjoy too, is a _rallentando_ at the end.


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## Krisena (Jul 21, 2012)

All is well that is done well. 

I'm pro rubato.


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## appoggiatura (Feb 6, 2012)

I'm pro rubato aswell... But it depends on the composition and when. 
Sadly, a lot of musicians play mechanically and I think rubato is just like 'salt' is needed for a meal. 
However it has to be in proportion. And you have to understand the composer. Research is needed for that... Reading about the composers life etc, how he felt, how he thought about music. 
Only then can we imagine a little bit how the composer felt about his compositions and how they should be played.
And we don't have to forget the difference between rubato and commas. Rubatos are a little bit like accelerando - rallentando, but a comma is just a small pause before the _moment suprême _(- note(s)). Well, there's a lot to consider when playing a piece. Music is breathing, not a machine, and you have to take breaths now and then in your playing.

Rubato in Bach? Very little! I think the phrasing and the dynamics are more important.


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## Andreas (Apr 27, 2012)

The more clockwork-like, the better, as far as I'm concerned.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

I like conductors who get to conduct, not beat out time like a metronome.


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## Mephistopheles (Sep 3, 2012)

bigshot said:


> I like conductors who get to conduct, not beat out time like a metronome.


If the job of the conductor was only to either beat strict time or add rubato, then I think all conductors would be dull.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

While rubato may be abused by some musicians at times, metronomic rigidity is no better .
Music has to breathe . Who wants a performance that runs like a machine? I remember a story about the legendary conductor Hans Richter conducting a Brahms symphony with the composer attending . According to the story, the performance was so unyielding that Brahms walked out of the concert hall in protest .
To compare two legendary and vastly different conductors , Stokowski and Toscanini, the flamboyant Stoki was famous,or notorious, for his extreme freedom with tempo and rubato; he could pull phrases like taffy at times in a truly in your face manner .
But the austere and uncompromising Italian was often guilty of going to far in the opposite direction, keeping the pulse under such tight control that the music sounded mechanical, joyless and stiffly regimented .
This was mainly true in Toscanini's later years ; his earlier recordings are somewhat more flexible , if you compare the RCA recordings with the New York Philharmonic ,made in the late 1920s and early 30s with the NBC symphony recordings .
As so many famous philosophers have told us , using moderation in all things is the best way to live .


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

My motto is "Too much is never enough."


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