Journal of Piano Research
© The Author(s) 2025
https://doi.org/10.70760/IZZD4225
journalofpianoresearch.org
Joshua McCusker
Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Abstract
This research article investigates a distinctive tempo manipulation technique present in Sergei Prokofiev’s historical piano recordings, termed the surge effect. The principal research question asks whether Prokofiev employed tempo alterations that are not captured in the score and, if so, what characteristics define these alterations and how consistently they appear. The study aims to define and contextualize this performance practice, and to consider its implications for today’s performers, pedagogues, and scholars. It is hypothesized that Prokofiev frequently executed rapid, unnotated accelerandi through sixteenth-note (semiquaver) passages or other small-value note groupings, producing brief surges of kinetic intensity. Using tempo data extracted via Sonic Visualiser from twelve of Prokofiev’s gramophone recordings (1932–1935), the analysis combines quantitative beat-duration measurement with qualitative score-based interpretation. The findings confirm that the surge effect recurs across various works and expressive contexts, often independent of any notated cues. These tempo surges typically occur in gestural rather than melodic material and appear to serve rhetorical, structural, and expressive functions. The article concludes by considering points of departure for further research.
Keywords
historical recordings, piano interpretation, performance practice, Sergei Prokofiev, tempo analysis
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