Improvisation in Early Music Author(s): Ben Bechtel Source: Music Educators Journal, Vol. 66, No. 5, (Jan., 1980), pp. 109-112 Published by: MENC: The National Association for Music Education Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3395787 Accessed: 23/07/2008 16:07 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showpublisher?publishercode=menc. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. http://www.jstor.org
tf'izidrn IN EARLY MUSIC Ben Bechtel The student of Renaissance and Baroque music needs to have a solid grounding in those styles' most essential improvisatory features so that he or she can make spontaneous and musically appropriate choices when performing music written prior to 1750. However, performers still must rely on a basic musical sense that in many respects has remained essentially unchanged through the ages. It is really only necessary to increase one's awareness of the interpretive requirements of early music as they are distinct from more contemporary practices, and to do so in an The author is assistant professor of musicology at the University of Cincinnati. orderly and logical way similar to putting together a jigsaw puzzle. In reconstructing a jigsaw puzzle, though, one imitates, in a sense, the arrangement of patterns, colors, and shapes depicted on the box. This procedure is analogous to finding a recording by an acknowledged music authority and then imitating it. Imitating a recording is often discouraged by teachers and often for good reasons. On the other hand, in a field such as Renaissance and Baroque performance styles, where all original performing tradition has been lost, there is much to learn from imitating the basic improvisatory techniques of acknowledged specialists. To return to our jigsaw puzzle analogy, let us pretend that we have lost the sample picture. What then? The most logical solution would be to find all the edge pieces that define the limits and basic shape. Next we would look for salient shapes, colors, and recognizable objects, and compare the connecting links in our process of compiling the whole picture. The jigsaw puzzle analogy is relevant because early music students must deal with manners of performance that have not evolved through an unbroken chain of practice or ongoing tradition. Yet even if we possessed all the missing links, we could not arrive at "standard," "complete" performing editions. The quintessential point about early music is that no single authentic interpretation exists; and the most salient characteristics of performances in the Renaissance mej/jan '80 109
and Baroque eras were improvisation and spontaneity, the composer and performer often being one and the same person. In the history of Western music the subsequent trend toward greater specificity stands out clearly. Composers gradually usurped the freedoms of the creative performer by detailing dynamics, tempo, note values, and instrumentation. Sixteenth-century embellishments In a sense, performing Renaissance and, to a certain degree, Baroque music requires questioning every aspect of the music. For example, what instruments or voices should be used? What pitch level? What tempo? Where should dynamic changes occur? What kind of articulations are needed? What is the overall character of the work? Which voice part should be highlighted? Could a countermelody or a drone be added? Would extra notes or particular ornaments such as trills, mordents, or slides increase the work's effectiveness? Should notes be held for their full written value or should some notes be added where there are rests? Is vibrato appropriate? What is considered to be "in tune"? Is a particular work suitable for church, outdoors, or after dinner? These considerations must all be "improvised" because the composers rarely specified performance or interpretation criteria. Renaissance and Baroque musicians were nevertheless extraordinarily practical, possibly more out of necessity than choice. Thus, as we look at improvisation in the form of typical embellishing and ornamentation practices in the Renaissance and Baroque eras, a quote from Johann J. Quantz is relevant: Some persons believe that they will appear learned if they crowd an Adagio with many graces, and twist them around in such fashion that all too often hardly one note among ten harmonizes with the bass, and little of the principal air can be perceived... Finally, they are ignorant that there is more art in saying much with little, than little with much.' 'Johann J. Quantz, On Playing the Flute, trans. Edward R Reilly (New York: Schirmer Books, 1975), p. 120. In a sense, performing Renaissance and, to a certain degree, Baroque music requires questioning every aspect of the music. Multiple considerations must be "improvised" because the composers rarely specified performance or interpretation criteria. In this great treatise originally published in 1752, Quantz frequently stated that the performer should embellish, ornament, or improvise only to the extent that he or she can do so effectively. As early as 1529 writer and music theorist Martin Agricola distinguished between embellishing and ornamenting in his volume Musica instumentalis deudsche. Embellishing takes the form of extensive and elaborate melodic additions, including heterophony and countermelodies, whereas ornaments generally are uniform or standardized units of a few notes, such as trills, mordents, and turns, which often are indicated by a sign or symbol above the note to be ornamented. The first printed treatise on the subject of embellishment and ornamentation was Opera Intitulata Fontegara by Sylvestro Ganassi, published in Venice in 1535. This manual introduced the basic patterns of melodic improvisation, which were commonly known as passaggio and diminution. The practice of passaggio and diminution is thought to have originated as early as the fourteenth century in Europe, and could have been influenced by Near Eastern traditions. In the sixteenth century diminutions were elaborate melodic insertions that were more interesting than the composer's original notes. They occasionally took the form of fewer notes played in an interesting rhythmic variation. The ornamentations were inserted so that the composer's original notes on the strong beats were kept intact, while the material in between was varied. Stepwise movement often occurred with larger intervals (usually thirds or fourths) reversing the direction of the line. Rhythmic variation often consisted of dividing an original note into two, three, four, five, six, or as many as eight even notes with occasional dotted rhythms and long-short-short groups. Passaggio and diminution were used anywhere within melodic phrases, but the most driving and elaborate figures were saved for cadences. The most dramatic effect within a work was achieved through graduated degrees of improvisation that became more complex toward the end. 110 mej/jan '80
Most sixteenth-century writers specified that each performer was to make up his or her own improvisations according to facility and the particular acoustic and technical difficulties of a given instrument. Improvising usually took place in music of two or more parts, most often in the top parts, but early composers warned against simultaneous improvisation in more than one voice part. Although most of the instruction manuals were directed toward instrumentalists, improvisation practices are assumed to have been applicable also to the voice, since it was the model of expression that instrumentalists strove to imitate. Another authoritative sixteenth-century source is Tratado de Glosas by Diego Ortiz, published in Rome in 1553. "Glosas" is Spanish for "embellishments," and the examples included in this work should be studied by anyone wishing to learn the art of Renaissance improvisation. Ornaments in Renaissance music usually were not indicated by any symbol over the note; they simply were ad-libbed. Two popular ornamental figures were the tremolo and the groppo. The tremolo is a rapid alternation between the main note and intervals of seconds or thirds above or below. Tremolos were easy to perform and therefore used quite often, and their execution helped to generate passaggios (improvised ornaments other than scale passages or trill-like figurations) following their introduction in a melodic line. A groppo is a trill between the tonic and a half step below. It is played at a cadence, often starting on the tonic and ending by passing to the third below the tonic and returning stepwise. As an ornamental cadence, it was commonly used throughout the sixteenth century. Other ornamental formulas were developed during the 1500s, but no universal standardization resulted. They may be studied in greater depth in Howard Brown's Embellishing Sixteenth Century Music. Baroque ornamentations A gradual change in ornamentation and embellishing practices occurred in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, stimulated primarily by Jacopo Peri, Giulio Caccini, and Emilio del Cavalieri- the leading composers of the Florentine Camerata. With the introduction of an opera-related monodic style came the need to subjugate music to a text. The dramatic delivery of the word and its meaning in opera became an overriding concern among musicians. Composers felt that excessive passaggios and diminutions interfered with communicating specific emotions, which was an important aesthetic throughout the Baroque era in both instrumental and vocal music. Even so, certain quick ornaments such as the groppo were retained and a few interesting new ones were introduced, such as the trillo (a gradually accelerated repetition of a single notated pitch) and the technique of sliding up to a pitch from a third below. Thus by the mid-seventeenth century diminutions and passaggios had lost favor and as a result short ornaments gained in popularity and development. "Small notes" printed between the main notes precisely indicated the rendition of ornaments in French music. Symbols indicating which ornaments to use gradually became more commonplace and increased the standardization of the style. The pinnacle of these trends was the operatic recitative, with its simple chordal accompaniment. As Frederick Neumann points out in Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music, this endless, dry recitative needed relief, which came with the gradual introduction of the aria, which in turn gave rise to the bel canto style.2 When beautiful melodic contours were again emphasized, lengthy passaggio-type ornamentations reemerged, and by the early eighteenth century many composers included tables of the ornaments for use in their works. When these tables are compared, they indicate many similarities and differences, but, as Neumann argues, they tend to suggest a greater rigidity of specific "on the beat" interpretations than other commentaries from the period would corroborate. Thus, with so many opinions and divergent trends evident in Renaissance and Baroque improvisation, the final 2Frederick Neumann, Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music: With Special Emphasis on J. S. Bach (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978), p. 27. arbiter in the embellishing and ornamenting of a work is good taste gained through experience. By the eighteenth century, ornamentation and embellishing practices had become quite varied. The following generalized summary of typical ornamentations gives a basic framework for thinking about and adapting them to modern performances of Renaissance and Baroque music. Single ornamental notes receive varying rhythmic values, degrees of accent, swelling, or shaping and generally ascend or descend stepwise to, from, or between the principal notes, or are sounded simultaneously with the principal note. Double notes generally are slurred to or from the principal note or they connect two principal notes. Trills are the alternation between the principal note and the diatonic second above. Trills can begin on either the principal note or the auxiliary note, but they always end on the principal note. Trills can vary in the number of alternations, speed, dynamic shape, and emphasis, and may incorporate other ornaments at the beginning or end. The mordent consists of an alternation between the principal note and a note a half or whole step below. In a turn, stepwise movement of at least three notes occurs either through the principal note from a step above or below or from the principal note. Many other expressive elements are appropriate to eighteenth-century music. These include the swelling of notes by varying amounts and with varying timings; diminishing the volume at the end of the note; flattement, a convention similar to a trill but produced by microtone intervals below the principal note; and vibrato. In conclusion, it seems appropriate to quote musicologist Imogene Horsley: One of the paradoxes of contemporary musical study is the fact that the student by his very desire for historically authentic performance has developed habits of thought which impede his gaining a proper understanding of the music of certain past periods. His strict training in accurate adherence to the notes of a composition as written down by the composer has developed in him mej/jan '80 111
such a reverence for those notes that it is hard for him to add to them, or subtract from them, without a feeling of guilt. While this attitude has produced exemplary results in the performance of music written after 1750, it has also led to a complete misconception of the performance ideals of much of the music written in the Baroque and Renaissance periods. It is becoming general knowledge that the simple appearance of much Baroque music is deceptive and that what is seen on the printed page was often merely an outline to be amplified in performance according to regularized patterns or improvised embellishment.3 Although regular patterns and cliches were used in Renaissance and Baroque improvisation, it was the individual's skill of selection, interpretation, and execution, and his ability to find a personal expression in the music that in the end was the significant measure of musicianship. And while melodic ornamentation and embellishing were not the only aspects of early music subject to improvisation, they provide a good starting point for beginning teachers and students who want to bring a dimension to their music-making at once both more individual and more authentic. 'Imogene Horsley, "Improvised Embellishment in the Performance of Renaissance Polyphonic Music,"Journal of the American Musicological Society 4 (1951): 7. Used with permission. Selected readings Brown, Howard Mayer. Embellishing Sixteenth-Century Music. London: Oxford University Press, 1976. This eighty-page booklet is a concise discussion of the sources, with ample music examples. Dart, Thurston. The Interpretation of Music. New York: Harper & Row Publications, Inc., 1969. This classic offers a thoughtful discussion of the evolution of styles and interpretation of medieval and Renaissance music. Donington, Robert. The Interpretation of Early Music. Rev. ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, Inc., 1974. This excellent source book organizes all the basic elements of music, discusses each in turn, and is backed up by an encyclopedic quantity of quotations 112 mej/jan '80 from primary sources. A Performer's Guide to Baroque Music. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1974. This companion to The Interpretation of Early Music is devoted exclusively to Baroque music. Ganassi, Sylvestro. Opera Intitulata Fontegara. Edited by Hildemarie Peter. Translated by Dorothy Swainson. Berlin: Robert Lienau, 1956. Although just over 100 pages, this is probably the most important single original source from the sixteenth century. Mostly music examples of embellishment are given with only a small amount of text. Horsley, Imogene. "Improvised Embellishment in the Performance of Renaissance Polyphonic Music." Journal of the American imusicological Society 4 (1951): 3. This article was one of the earliest to discuss the basic sources. It has many music examples and serves as a clear introduction to the subject. Le Romain, Jacques H. Principles of the Flute, Recorder, and Oboe. Translated and edited by David Lasocki. London: Barrie & Jenkins, 1978. Distributed by Arco, 219 Park Avenue South, New York City 10003. This short treatise is essential reading for anyone wishing to perform French Renaissance and Baroque literature. It covers tonguing, articulation, ornaments, and so on, and gives all the fingerings for flattement. Mather, Betty Bang. Interpretation of French Music from 1675-1775. New York: McGinnis & Marx, 1973. This secondary source is thoroughly organized and gives a clear view of the divergence of opinion that existed in the Baroque era. It is replete with charts, tables, and music examples, which give the student easy access to basic performance techniques. Neumann, Frederick. Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music: With Special Emphasis on J. S. Bach. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978. This large book (more than 600 pages with an extensive bibliography) is a scholarly, thorough, and exhaustive examination of Baroque ornamentation practices. It is clearly written for Bach enthusiasts and more advanced students. Ortiz, Diego. Tratado de Glosas. Edited and translated by Max Schneider. Cassel: Barenreiter, 1961. This treatise is also translated into English by Peter Farrell in the Journal of the Viola da Gamba Society of America 4 (1967). This excellent study is complete with many suggested embellishment figures and music examples in the form of diminutions. Quantz, Johann Joachim. On Playing the Flute. Translated by Edward R. Reilly. New York: Schirmer Books, 1975. Quantz was considered the most knowledgeable and sensitive performer and observer of his day. This book is the definitive lexicon of Baroque music styles and ornaments. Selected recordings The Amorous Flute (Argo ZRG 746); David Munrow Bach, J. S. Brandenburg Concertos (ABC Records 67030, two discs); Leonhardt Consort Musical Offering (ABC Records 67007); Leonhardt Consort English Music for Consort of the Seventeenth Century (Das alte Werk 26.35286, two discs); Leonhardt Consort English Music for Recorders and a Consort of Viols in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Das alte Werk 6.41074); Briiggen Consort French Recorder Music (Das alte Werk 6.41129); Briiggen, Boeke, Hauwe, recorders The Pleasures of the Royal Courts (Nonesuch 71326); Early Music Consort of London, David Munrow, conductor Rameau, Jean Philippe. Pieces de Clavecin en concerts (Das alte Werk 6.41133); Frans Briiggen, Sigiwalk Kuijken, Wieland Kuijken, Gustav Leonhardt Recorder Concertos by Vivaldi, Sammartini, Telemann, and Naudot (Das alte Werk 6.41095); Concentus Musicus Wein, Frans Briiggen, recorder i