ABSTRACT
On January 1, 1800, Dr. William Crotch published an essay in London's Monthly Magazine under the heading, "Remarks on the Terms at Present Used in Music, for Regulating the Time." His "Remarks" discussed a method of defining tempo by pendulum length that assured both precision and repeatability, two things lacking in the more generally accepted practice of using Italian words to indicate tempo. Crotch's key point was that tempo could be set easily and conveniently by using a small weight attached to a string, or better, to a tape or ribbon marked in "English feet and inches." Crotch's "Remarks" provide a key to eighteenth century English tempos based on the judgment of musicians rather than clockmakers, one that is objective rather than speculative, and one that improves our understanding of English tempos in the period immediately preceding the invention of the metronome.
