Track length divided by the theoretical length if played at Beethoven's marks without repeats.
Formula
track seconds / Σ sections [(bars − first-ending bars) × beats per bar / mark × 60]. A lower bound assuming all repeats is also given (ratio_with_repeats).
How to read it
1.00 means as marked; 1.20 means the performance is 20% longer (a tempo of 1/1.2, about 17% slower, or repeats taken). Since repeats are unknown, the truth lies between the two ratios. Symphony 9 is included in this table.
Caveats
A whole-movement average, so tempo changes, rubato and fermatas are folded in. Repeat choices vary by recording and are not in the data.
Median over 36 conductors per movement, assuming no repeats.
Movement
n
Sec (median)
No repeats
With repeats
1/1 Adagio molto ♩=88
36
541
1.45
1.14
1/2 Andante cantabile ♩=120
36
431
1.47
1.11
1/3 Allegro molto vivace ♩=108
36
218
1.11
0.91
1/4 Adagio ♩=63
36
348
1.54
1.21
2/1 Adagio molto ♩=84
36
725
1.36
1.11
2/2 Larguetto ♩=92
36
656
1.21
1.21
2/3 Allegro vivo ♩=100
36
229
1.11
0.89
2/4 Allegro molto ♩=152
36
391
1.12
1.12
3/1 Allegro con brio ♩=60
36
967
1.40
1.15
3/2 Adagio assai ♩=80
36
935
1.26
1.26
3/3 Allegro vivace ♩=116
36
348
1.52
1.05
3/4 Allegro molto ♩=76
36
698
1.28
1.22
4/1 Adagio ♩=66
36
685
1.40
1.13
4/2 Adagio ♩=84
36
588
1.32
1.32
4/3 Allegro vivace ♩=100
36
349
1.38
1.14
4/4 Allegro ma non troppo ♩=80
36
410
1.54
1.19
5/1 Allegro con brio ♩=108
36
439
1.46
1.18
5/2 Andante con moto ♩=92
36
598
1.25
1.25
5/3 Allegro ♩=96
36
329
1.33
0.81
5/4 Allegro ♩=84
36
615
1.19
0.96
6/1 Allegro ma non troppo ♩=66
36
656
1.41
1.11
6/2 Andante molto mosso ♩=50
36
734
1.10
1.10
6/3 Allegro ♩=108
36
322
2.00
1.12
6/4 Allegro ♩=80
36
223
0.96
0.96
6/5 Allegretto ♩=60
36
558
1.06
1.06
7/1 Poco sostenuto ♩=69
36
810
1.22
1.02
7/2 Allegretto ♩=76
36
514
1.17
1.17
7/3 Presto ♩=132
36
525
1.42
1.06
7/4 Allegro con brio ♩=72
36
489
1.16
0.91
8/1 Allegro vivace e con brio ♩=69
36
565
1.74
1.36
8/2 Allegretto ♩=88
36
239
1.08
1.08
8/3 Tempo di Menuetto ♩=126
36
301
1.71
0.97
8/4 Allegro vivace ♩=84
36
453
1.26
1.26
9/1 Allegro ma non troppo ♩=88
36
928
1.24
1.24
9/2 Molto vivace ♩=116
36
743
1.32
0.81
9/3 Adagio molto e cantabile ♩=60
36
897
1.53
1.53
9/4 Presto ♩=96
36
1453
1.14
1.14
Source
Martín-Castro & Ucar (2020), "Conductors' tempo choices shed light over Beethoven's metronome", PLOS ONE 15(12): e0243616. Track lengths and coda tempo estimates for 36 conductors' complete Beethoven symphony cycles (1,332 tracks), plus metronome marks and bar counts from the scores. R package bmetr. https://github.com/Enchufa2/bmetr · License: MIT