“Conductors hold forth about metronome markings as if, whether successful or misguided, these offended their most sacred right ‒ the right to make of the work what they succeed in getting out of it, and no more. Admittedly, one may not demand of an interpreter more than his talent enables him to do. [...] Interpreter’s rights; are there not also author’s rights?” (Arnold Schönberg, About Metronome Markings, 1926)
A metronome is a device that generates a regular sequence of audible beats at an adjustable tempo, allowing for the precise specification and maintenance of musical tempi (patented in 1815 by Johann Nepomuk Mälzel). Metronome markings specify the basic beat that underlies the temporal organization of a musical composition.
Arnold Schönberg’s Mälzel Metronome
