Baroque Ornamentation in the German Style

Transcription

1 Baroque Ornamentation in the German Style In the eighteenth century it was the ashion to ornament a melody and many layers were highly roicient at imrovising embellishments, as Jazz layers are today. National styles varied greatly and whilst the French generally added grace notes, trills and mordants and the Italians reerred to conjure u long, winding melismas (lots o notes under a slur) linking notes o the melody together, the Germans cultivated their own distinctive style. The two main sources o inormation we have rom the irst hal o the eighteenth century come rom Telemann and Quantz. Telemannʼs Methodical Sonatas (Sonate Methodiche) have no exlanatory text, but each o the twelve sonatas contains one movement in two versions; one simler, the other quite lorid. Quantz took u this idea is his book,versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu sielen, (translated as On Playing the Flute), roviding one Adagio movement in both lain and highly ornamented versions. However, this is sulemented by several charts and a beat-by-beat exlanation o how to exchange one idea or another together with an in-deth descrition o each tiny nuance which should characterize certain motives. The oerings o both Quantz and Telemann share several common eatures: many added notes, governed by the harmony much rhythmic interest detailed articulation, also governed by the harmony. Quantz makes it quite clear that an understanding o the harmony at any given moment is absolutely essential, so his sonatas, like all others o this eriod are always written out with the lute and continuo arts together. The igured bass is a convenient code indicating the harmony. The added decorations may contain any notes o the accomanying chord (ex.1 bar 2), so, or examle, an E in the melody above a chord o A major can be ornamented with a C# or an A or any combination o A, C# and E, taking care not to dwell too long at key oints in unison or bare iths with the bass. These extra harmony notes may be tongued or slurred. Ex.1 suggestions or ornamenting an A major chord with consonant harmony notes. Passing notes add a welcome touch o sice but must be reared and roerly resolved: that is, a note outside the harmony must lead to an adjacent note o the chord. So to this A major chord a D may be added and it would naturally all a ste to the C# below it. B might be added but would either all to the A or rise to the C#. Usually these dissonant notes have just occurred in the revious chord and are simly reeated, clashing with the new harmony but melting away to a consonant note.

2 Passing notes are always slurred rom a harmony note or onto one; that way their resolution is smooth. The grace notes can be erormed as aoggiaturas taking hal the length o the note (or less) or as unaccented assing notes laced beore the beat. Ex. 2 Introducing slurred assing notes over A major chord. A tyical eminine hrase-ending with a 4- harmony (dissonant 4th above the bass resolving to a consonant rd) might be notated with a grace note or written out in ull. In his Sonate Methodiche Telemann rovides an array o ossibilities or decorating this common descending ste, sometimes incororating the th with the 4th (E and D in ex. below) or a lower aoggiatura (B) or both. or 4 4 with the th (E) with lower aoggiatura (B) Ex. extracts transosed rom Telemann Sonate Methodiche. Play these through with the accomanying harmony. Note the slurring atterns and make any dissonant notes more exressive (ie. diminuendo to their ollowing resolutions). Telemannʼs ornaments are highly inventive and ull o rhythmic variety, rarely reeating one new idea or more than hal a bar. He introduces reeated notes, dotted rhythms, Lombardic rhythms (backwards dotted), trilets, aster notes, intersersed rests, syncoation as well as grace notes and trills and, more rarely, a whoosh o Italianate exuberance (ubeat to the middle o bar 7 in ex.4). This examle rom the lovely A major sonata gives the various versions or the oening thematic material and its reaearance in the dominant later in the movement.

3 Adagio bar 1 4 bar 7 # 7 # # # 4 # Ex. 4 Telemann Sonata in A Major rom Sonate Methodiche, bars 1-2 and 7-9 Note Telemannʼs delight in anticiating the anacruses, giving a sense o continuity in the melody and a little more urgency in the syncoations. Counterbalancing this, he delays the entry o the very irst note, holds it in susension then cascades to the middle o the bar in a graceul, lilting line. Longer notes such as dotted crotchets (quarters) are drawn out by the addition o trill or turn igures (bar 1, rd beat and bar 8, 1st beat). Areggios enrich the melody by introducing all the notes o the chord (bar 1, 4th beat, bar 2, 1st beat and bar 7, rd beat). Auxiliary notes (assing notes between reeated harmony notes) add iligree around the bare intervals in bar 8. By comarison, Quantzʼs Adagio is comosed in a deliberately simle ashion, allowing huge scoe or ornamentation. Examle resents Quantzʼs lain melodic line alongside his two ornamented versions, taken rom the oening (bar 1) and the recaitulation (bar 21). Above this are our more lines concocted rom the alternative suggestions in Quantzʼs ornamentation charts (On Playing the Flute, ages 1-11). This involves quite a bit o atchwork, so it is imortant to consider which ideas low naturally into the next without reemting what is to come. He likens this way o learning to gathering ollen rom many dierent lowers! The nuances, which he described in a comlicated string o abbreviations in the book, are indicated here with aroximate dynamics, crescendos and diminuendos. The assing notes tend to be soter than the melody notes, creating light and shade in otherwise smooth lines. Both Quantz and Telemann ornament their movements rom start to inish, yet Quantz adds that that is not necessary and the layer must judge what is aroriate. Most imortantly, all embellishment should be erormed in the character o the movement and that articular hrase: bold ornaments or a majestic, angry or imassioned work; sot, tender ornaments or a gentle iece.

4 Adagio 10.a 9.n 24.k 8.ll substitute ideas rom Quantz's ornamentation charts 1.t 8.dd 22.b 20.b 9.h h 1.b 8.bb 22.d m 20.a 9.d 24.i 8.l 1.q 22.g 20.d 9.g 24.q 8. 1.g 22.k Adagio Quantz Fig: recaitulation 20.c 2.c m 9.ll 28.d 9.l 24.o 8.i 2. 8.aa m m s 8.cc 2.e 28.b Ex. Extract rom Adagio in Quantz, Versuch, (On Playing the Flute,.19) Unortunately nowadays almost all our baroque reertoire is rinted with the lute art searate rom the bass: eectively it is like starting o on a journey without the ma or on a treasure hunt without the clues. An extremely good ear, a quick sense o the harmonic direction, reeated hearing and a good memory are required to comensate but a score is really essential. Any o the acsimile rerints o baroque music will rovide this. I have been working on a new edition o Quantz sonatas, written or Frederick the Great and never beore ublished, which I hoe will set a new trend in rinting lute and bass arts together. These are exhilarating, virtuosic works, yet many o the slow movements are relatively simle and cry out or ornamentation. Ideal ieces to try out Quantzʼs suggestions then! Taking just the short oening two bar hrase rom the Sonata in A major, no. 1, here are some suggestions or elaborating it at the recaitulation. Many o the ideas are interchangeable. Note how an understanding o the simle harmony is aramount: A major chord (tonic) ollowed by its dominant, E major, then subdominant,d major, ollowed by the dominant 7th, E7 leading to the tonic, A, with susended 4- (D-C#). Any o the harmony notes may be used, intersersed with slurred assing notes in a wide variety o constantly changing rhythms and characterul articulation to match.

5 Grave mà cantabile ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) Grave mà cantabile Quantz I 4 Ic V IVb Vb 7 V 7 4 I Ex. Suggestions or ornamentation o Quantz Sonata in A Major no. 1, 1st movement.

6 Play these suggestions through with the harmony (I ind this easiest at the iano). Try erorming each version in a bold, declamatory way, then in a more graceul, charming way and decide what the melody needs. Exeriment with interchanging the ideas to create new ossibilities. Memorize your avourite ornaments and lay them whilst looking at the original lain melody. Then invent your own ornaments, insired by Quantz and Telemann! The Methodical Sonatas are ublished in a modern edition by Bärenreiter and in acsimile by Alamire and SPES. Edward Reillyʼs English translation o Quantzʼs book On Playing the Flute is ublished by Faber. Two substantial volumes o Quantz lute sonatas will soon be ublished by Uernote, available rom my website ( and lute shos. These sonatas were comosed or the sole use o Frederick the Great, King o Prussia, and have never been ublished beore. They contain much virtuosic, dramatic music alongside charming slow movements which are ideal or trying out all the suggestions ound in this article! A more detailed descrition is already u on the website and, ollowing ublication, an in-deth erormance guide to many asects o interretation, such as temos, rhythmic alteration, articulation, ornamentation and cadenzas will also be available on-line. The Urtext edition contains lute and igured bass arts together, a dulicate art or cello, a realised keyboard art by Terence Charlston and acsimile coies o the original manuscrits. Following Telemannʼs examle, the initial roduction is oen to subscrition. Subscribers will be listed in the ublication, just as JS Bach is to be ound among the many subscribers to Telemannʼs Paris Quartets! I you would like to suort this worthy roject lease contact Rachel at ino@uernote.com by Setember 17th. For readers in the UK, the new edition will be launched at a lecture-recital to be held at the Royal College o Music, London, at m on Friday 19th November Admission is ree but by ticket, available rom the RCM box oice or tel: Two cds o Quantz sonatas are available rom Rachel s website, described in Pan as a revelation.