Piano Animato

No comparison

This afternoon during choir practice, our director made an analogy comparing a grand ritard (drastic slow down) to running along and suddenly stepping into peanut butter.  Not only is this idea utterly absurd, but I think the premise it is based upon is completely inaccurate and thus demands a thorough and swift debunking.  I therefore submit to my audience that a molto ritardando is not like stepping into peanut butter.  Unless a molto ritardando is something akin to slipping and landing on your duff, then I believe a more accurate comparison is necessary.  Hence my thesis is that the ritard in a musical piece is much more like stepping into a wall of jello. (more…)