Schemata and Rhetoric: Improvising the Chorale Prelude in the Eighteenth-Century Lutheran Tradition
By
Bálint Karosi
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Composition
Supervised by Robert Holzer and Patrick McCreless
Yale School of Music New Haven
2014
A lecture version of this thesis with live improvisations can be watched on: Part One: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLqqI2U3dJI Part Two: http://youtu.be/aANo0NeGV78 Part Three: http://youtu.be/6-mGub1SrJY
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Table of Contents
Introduction………………………………………..…3
Chapter I: The Chorales ……………………………...13
Chapter II: Genres.……….…………………………..25
Chapter III: Model-based Improvisations…………...66
Conclusion…………………………………………….79
Bibliography:…..……………………………………..82
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Introduction Patrick McCreless defines rhetoric as “the original metalanguage of discourse in the West, […] that served the educated classes as the most prestigious and influential means of conceptualizing and organizing language, and articulating how it can best be effective, persuasive, and elegant.”1 From the mid-sixteenth till the eighteenth century, rhetoric was central to education across Europe and particularly in Germany. Rhetoric was taught in every Lateinschule and served as the basis for cultured speech, persuasion and organization of thoughts. Although the full extent of rhetorical influence on persuasion and perception is little understood today, we know that rhetorical schemes were applied to speech, writings and musical compositions from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Lutheran sermons, for example relied heavily on the congregations’ knowledge of rhetorical patterns and schemes. Preachers used poetry, rhymes and cross-references for persuasion that drew on the congregations’s knowledge of underlying patterns. In music, composers organized musical themes according to rhetorical principles, such as the stilus fantasticus organ fantasies by Dieterich Buxtehude, in which the development of musical themes followed rhetorical schemes.
The late Renaissance saw the flowering of musico-rhetorical tradition that connected rhetorical figures with musical diminutions. Seventeenth-century Figurenlehre mainly focused on figuration and elocutio, the art of delivery and ornamentation. 2 Schoolboys across Europe memorized multiplication tables for mathematics, grammatical rules for 1 Patrick McCreless, “Music and Rhetoric,” in The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory, edited by Thomas Chirstensen (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2002). 2 Such as Joachim Burmeister’s Musica Poetica (1606), Michael Praetorius’s Syntagma Musicum (1616) and Athanasius Kircher’s Musurgia Universalis (1650).
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Latin, and rhetorical figures for speech and writing. Musicians memorized diminution patterns, musical schemes and ornaments that they could use to compose and improvise music. In the Lutheran tradition, the musico-rhetorical system was infused with the Lutheran Chorales. The present thesis will focus on this influence on chorale-based organ improvisations in the eighteenth century.
In his Grosse-Generalbassschule Johann Mattheson describes an audition for the prestigious organist position of the Hamburg Cathedral in 1724. The audition consisted of six improvisatory tasks: 1. To improvise a prelude at the moment; nothing previously studied, which can be detected at once. This Vorspiel should begin in A Major and end in G Minor, and last for approximately two minutes. 2. To improvise no longer than six minutes on the chorale, Herr Jesu Christ, du höchster Gut. The improvisation should specifically use two manuals with the pedal in a pure three-voice harmony, without doubling the bass, so that the feet do not know what the hands are doing, yet that each voice sounds optimal with the other voices… 3. To improvise in a fugue setting a given subject against its stepwise countersubject, thoroughly completing the fugue, which can be accomplished in four minutes, as the question is not how long but how successful the fugue is. 4. To submit, within four days, the same assignment in writing, as visual evidence of his compositional skills. 5. To play a sung aria at sight from thoroughbass, and to accompany the aria at first viewing correctly and completely, which will take approximately four minutes. 6. To conclude with a Ciaccona from the given bass, using the full Werck (plenum), for approximately six minutes in length.” 3
3 Quoted in: Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, Bach and the Art of Improvisation (Ann Arbor, MI: CHI Press, 2001), 3. d
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Improvisation was crucial for garnering a Lutheran church position in the eighteenth century. The ideal candidate for the Hamburg position would be not only an accomplished organist, but also a consummate musician, or musicus, intimately familiar with the theory and practice of the common musical style of his time. Only a musicus would be able to execute these improvisational challenges. Mattheson’s second stipulated task is of particular interest to us, for it emphasizes the importance of chorale-based improvisations in Lutheran centers such as Hamburg.
The style of organ improvisations changed progressively throughout the eighteenth century toward the simpler, Galant style. Chorale-based improvisations, however, remained a focus for church organists. In 1787 Daniel Gottlob Türk published On the Role of the Organist in Worship, in which he describes the improvised chorale prelude as one of the main responsibilities of a church organist:
According to convention, the second chief responsibility of an organist [the first being accompanying the congregation] consists of playing a good and suitable prelude, which should be correct according to the rules of thoroughbass and composition and appropriate to the contents of the hymn that follows. [..] the chief objectives of the prelude are: to prepare the congregation for the content of the hymn, to make them familiar with the melody, if this is needed, and to guide them at the same time to the key.4 Türk compares improvised chorale preludes to sermons. A good sermon is prepared but not written. Similarly, an improvised chorale prelude is successful when “one is led to believe the prelude has been composed beforehand.” 5 He urged organists to familiarize themselves with the components of the hymn, such as text, mood, key, and time 4 Johann Gottlob Türk, Von den wichtigsten Pflichten eines Organisten. (Halle, 1787). Translated by Margot Ann Greenlimb Woolard as On the Role of the Organist in Worship. (Lantham, Md: The Scarecrow Press, 2000). 5 Ibid, 34.
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signature ahead of time, and to prepare their improvisations in advance. Türk outlines an improvised prelude in detail: First one selects a melodic idea (appropriate to the content of the hymn) that simultaneously will serve as the introduction. After this theme has been developed for a while, together with a few short interludes, one plays the first line of the chorale melody quite slowly on a different, more fully registered manual (if the contents of the hymn do not demand a somewhat more lively, but never rapid, tempo). Meanwhile, the melodic idea or at least something similar to it is continued in the accompanying voices. This is again followed by a shorter interlude, then by the second line of the melody, and so on. At the conclusion one closes with the main theme, or with a similar secondary theme.6
Türk probably describes the chorale prelude with ritornelli, a genre I will explore in Chapter Three. This, and other typical chorale-based genres in the eighteenth-century relied on two basic techniques: augmentation and diminution. An organ student in the eighteenth century imitated and copied written compositions to learn harmony, voice leading, counterpoint, diminution and augmentation, as well as musical vocabulary such as formal and harmonic and melodic schemes. These students also memorized many of these passages and learned to combine them in their improvisations. Through the process of memorization, students learned basic techniques of augmentation and diminution, which offered schemes for formal, harmonic and melodic development.
Theorists often compare musical improvisations to spoken language. The analogy is especially useful when considering long-term memory in the process of acquiring improvisational skills. It takes an elaborate study to clarify the distinction between memorized and improvised patterns in spoken language or in musical improvisations. To clarify the role of long-term memory and memorized patterns in the improvisational learning process, I use a system devised by Michael Callahan in his dissertation 6 Ibid, 64.
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Techniques of Keyboard Improvisation in the German Baroque.7 Callahan borrows his three labels, dispositio, elaboratio and decoratio, from classical rhetoric.8 He calls memorized musical patterns on the structural level dispositio, on the harmonic level elaboratio and on the musical surface decoratio. These terms designate memorized patterns on various levels of musical structure: dispositio corresponds to large-scale form, elaboratio corresponds to skeletal voice-leading structures and decoratio equates surface-level embellishments. The correspondence between memorized patterns and an inherently layered nature of choralebased works will become clearer in Chapter Two. Memorization is crucial in Baroque improvisation: the player must automatize musical schemes on all three decoratio, elaboratio and dispositio levels.
Callahan explains this concept in the context of improvisational learning: “A hierarchical conception allows existing musical material to be digested on several levels simultaneously; an improviser can consider its large-scale organization, its more local generating principles, and its surface-level realization independently, and commit the music hierarchically to memory.”9 Each level corresponds to memorized patterns that are ingrained in the improviser’s vocabulary and stored subconsciously in long-term and motor memory. Subconscious memorization takes a long time, often several years or decades. Organ playing involves the whole body; it takes a long time until every limb learns its part in executing memorized patterns. Memorization of schemes also takes longer than in repertoire: an advanced Baroque improviser stores his musical vocabulary
7 Michael Callahan, Techniques of Keyboard Improvisation in the German Baroque (PhD. Diss. University of Rochester, 2010). 8 The five traditional parts of classical rhetoric were inventio, dispositio, elocutio, memoria and pronunciatio. Inventio addresses the development of ideas for speech, dispositio their linear arrangement and elocutio addresses their delivery. 9 Callahan, Techniques of Keyboard Improvisation in the German Baroque, 53.
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on a subconscious level, and memorizes the process of development as well as individual schemes. In my context, Callahan’s’ decoratio is the surface-level embellishment of either the melodic or skeletal structures of chorale melodies. In many chorale-based genres decoratio is the embellishment of one or more voices: the soprano, bass or the inner voices. Elaboratio corresponds to the chorale’s harmonic framework that can be augmented or compressed according to the different chorale-based genres, and accommodate various decoratio patterns in any voice. Elaboratio is also associated with harmonic progressions, sequences and common cadential patterns that can be altered in a similar fashion.10 Elaboratio is the most immediate generative level of improvisation: it connects surface level embellishments with the requirements of genres. The interaction of elaboratio with decoratio is the most challenging improvisational level. Dispositio is best understood as the musical elements including form, tempo, style, registrations and types of figurations that make any musical genre recognizable. In most cases, however, I use dispositio to refer to musical form and sound: the formal and sonic requirements of a specific genre. Improvisational learning essentially constitutes two phases: assimilation and execution. The assimilation phase is a continuous process: an improviser enriches his musical language with dispositio, elaboratio and decoratio patterns. The organist and scholar Eduardo Bellotti describes three stages of the improvisational learning process as imitatio, memoria and actio.11 Imitatio is the initial learning phase, where the student learns musical patterns and acquires a firm grasp of the musical idiom through imitation of written repertoire. The corresponding period in language acquisition would be the period when a 10 For a list of elaboratio cadences see Spiridion, and Edoardo Bellotti. Nova Instructio Pro Pulsandis Organis, Spinettis, Manuchordiis Etc.: Pars Prima (Bamberg 1670): Pars Secunda (Bamberg 1671). Colledara: Andromeda Ed., 2003.) 11 Masterclass by Eduardo Belotti on March 6, 2014 at Yale University.
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child repeats words and phrases without totally grasping the meaning behind each word. Memoria is learning musical grammar: the theoretical rules of counterpoint, harmony and thoroughbass. Memoria in improvisation consists of acquiring, practicing and storing patterns into long-term memory, in which schemata are stored in their most abstract forms, similarly to grammatical rules of spoken language. An improvising eighteenthcentury organist would use memorized patterns from repertoire, theoretical treatises and the Lutheran Chorales. Improvised actio is the act of performance wherein the learned idiom becomes an intelligible musical utterance.
Musical improvisation is similar to the sixteenth-century Italian commedia dell’arte tradition, where actors improvised dramatic works with pre-formed characters and schemes. Eighteenth-century Lutheran sermons also used memorized rhetorical formulas to persuade their listeners. Johann Kirnberger compares composition to rhetoric: “The primary attribute of a speaker is that he comprehend the grammar of his language, that is, that he know how to express himself distinctly and correctly.”12 The difference between improvised music and written compositions is similar to the difference between spoken and written word. In spoken word, grammar governs verbal utterances subconsciously, as harmony and counterpoint work through motor memory, bypassing conscious decisions and relying on tactile and acoustic interactions with the instrument. Improvised performance is a subtle act of making decisions as a reflection on the sound of the instrument.
In his study of North German improvisational practice, William Porter examines the relationship between performance practice, improvisation, repertoire and historical instruments. He concludes that the interaction between written repertoire, treatises, 12 Johann Kirnberger, The Art of Strict Musical Composition, translated by David Beach and Jürgen Thym (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1982).
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historic playing techniques and historic instruments is central to the actio of improvising. He illustrates this intellectual, tactile and sonic interaction in two charts:
Figure 1.1. William Porter’s Chart 1
Porter writes: [This chart] is a representation of various factors involved in improvisation in historical styles. The role of the instrument is even more interactive here [e.g. when improvising] than when performing repertoire, as it helps the player to determine not only how to play but also what to play. “What to play,” that is, the improvisation itself, is decided by the player, influenced by the instrument, improvisational method, knowledge of performance practice, and, significantly, knowledge of repertoire itself. Improvisational method is also formed partly by knowledge of the repertoire. It should be mentioned here that the temptation to view the instrument as nothing more than a tool, a view particularly prevalent in our day, is unfortunately a strong one with regard to improvisation. […] The late twentieth century has seen the rise of interest in discovering more about original and inherent characteristics of the repertoire and a corresponding respect for the
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instrument as mediator of those characteristics; the realm of improvisation, on the other hand, is frequently regarded as something much more personal and therefore one in which the instrument plays a more subservient role to the performer. Herein lies the primary challenge to the musician concerned with older traditions of improvisation: to achieve the kind of interaction with the instrument that accords it the role that we now recognize as appropriate for our performance of repertoire. Figure 1.2. William Porter’s Chart 2
Porter writes: Chart two is a hypothetical representation of the relationship of these factors for a seventeenth-century musician. It shows a relationship between repertoire and improvisational practice that is mutually formative, and a relationship with compositional studies in which the study of composition forms improvisational practice as well as repertoire. 13
13 William Porter, Reconstructing 17th-century North German Improvisational Practice GoArt Research Reports Vol. 2: (2000): 28.
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Porter’s point about the role of the instrument in improvisation is worth noting. A good improviser will necessarily adjust his style to each instrument. Therefore, the instrument directly influences every level of improvisation, decoratio, elaboratio and even its style period. The interaction between the instrument and the player determines the outcome of each improvisation. Sonic, tactile and visual characteristics of the instrument thus influence all levels: style period, form, ornaments, touch, agogic accents and embellishments. Improvisations can be effective only if played with proper musical expression, tasteful ornaments, good registrations and expressive touch. Organ registrations are integral to the sonic characteristic to each instrument and will only be briefly discussed in the present thesis.
Improvisation exists in many varieties. In figured bass accompaniment the left hand is notated and the right hand is indicated with symbols that do not specify voicing or tessitura. In thoroughbass accompaniment, a fixed bass line, with its associated harmonic and voice-leading structure, determines harmony, while free voicings and figurations are improvised. Eighteenth-century thoroughbass methods and figured-bass treatises aimed to develop skills in embellishing a bass progression through memorized schemes. In this type of improvisation, the player has the freedom in voicing and ornamentation. Such decoratio-level improvisations consist of melodic and rhythmic invention relying heavily on surface level patterns, rhythmic alteration. Figured bass accompaniment can be extended to improvisation on ground basses such as ciaccona or a passacaglia. The ostinato bass line provides a harmonic framework, on which different decoratio schemata may be applied. Specifics of derivative, generative and constructive techniques will become clearer in the following chapters.
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Chapter I: The Chorales Chorales have been central in shaping Lutheran culture and identity since the Reformation. The core repertoire of catechetical hymns was composed by Martin Luther himself, who set basic Lutheran doctrines to memorable melodies, often derived from Gregorian chants or popular folk tunes. In the eighteenth century, hymns were essential instruments to convey the Lutheran doctrines to laymen and laywomen in a form they could remember and apply to their lives. An example of this is Christopher Boyd Brown’s account of Joachimstahl, a Lutheran village in the sixteenth-century.14 Brown provides a compelling study of the role of the Lutheran chorale in forming and preserving the community’s Lutheran identity amid the persecution of Lutherans during the CounterReformation era. Similar to the townspeople of Joachimsthal, Lutherans in the eighteenth century sang hymns on the streets, in their homes, and in churches and schools as they taught their children and counseled one another in difficult times. Lutheran families used hymns in their daily devotions and informal musical gatherings, called Hausmusik.
After the Reformation, Hausmusik became a popular pastime for Lutherans.15 This activity originated with Luther himself, who was a prolific composer and lute player, regularly hosting friends and relatives at his home for music making. These gatherings had a twofold purpose: for a participant to “refresh the soul from other kinds of studies”16 and to familiarize oneself with the doctrines of the Lutheran faith as expressed in catechetical hymns. By the end of the seventeenth century, as Hausmusik grew in 14 Christopher Boyd Brown, Singing the Gospel: Lutheran Hymns and the Success of the Reformation (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2005). 15 Johann Wohlmuth, Starck Virginal Book (1689) (Budapest, HU: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Zenetudományi Intézet, 2008), preface. 16 Robin A. Leaver, Luther’s Liturgical Music (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007).
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popularity, instrumental tutors were in great demand and easy keyboard pieces found their way into publications with explicit methodological and performing purposes. The Chorales became the focal point of music education for amateur and professional musicians, reflected in keyboard methods such as Daniel Speer’s Grundlicher kurtz leicht und nöthiges Unterricht der musikalischen Kunst, published in 1687. It opens with a theoretical section about singing, then moves on to continuo playing, playing on string and wind instruments, compositions and easy pieces for performance. Another keyboard method in a similar vein was the 1689 Starck Virginal Book, which was assembled and composed by Johann Wolmuth (1643-1724). It was intended for the education of the eight-year-old Johann Jacob Starck. The volume consists of sixty-one short pieces in two-stave notation for a keyboard instrument, mostly in two or three voices. The pieces are arranged in order of increasing difficulty, covering a great variety of musical styles from preludes, folk dances, popular melodies and Lutheran chorale settings. The following example is a simple, three-part harmonization of the chorale Wenn nun den lieben Gott with bare essentials:
Figure 1.1. Johann Wohlmuth: Wenn nur den lieben Gott
j & b œ ™™ œ œ œ œ œ ™ œ #œ œ Œ nœ œ bœ œ œ bœœ #œœ œ ?b ™™ œ #œ œ œ bœ œ œ Œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ &b ˙™ ? b n˙˙ ™™ ˙™
bœ œ Ÿœ™ œ ˙ œ ™ œ œ œ #œœ ™ œ œ J œ ™™ œ œ bœ bœ œ œ ˙
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˙™
œ
n˙˙ ™™ ˙™
Œ œœ œœ œœ œœ œ œ #œ bœ œ œ œ Œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ
™™
™ œ ™ w w nw w
Besides chorales, the method also explores various styles and keyboard textures that helped students to become familiar with the commonalities in form such as cadential patterns and ornamentation. Through short preludes, dances and folk tunes, students discovered stylistic clichés with their associated kinetic sensibilities at an early age. The following example contains the very essentials for a prelude: Figure 1.3. Johann Wohlmuth: Prelude #2
j œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ‰ œj œ œ ‰ œj œ ‰ j œ ‰ j ‰ & œ œ ‰ œJ œ œ ‰ œJ œ œ ‰ J œ ‰ J œ ? ∑ ∑ ∑
‰ j & œ œ ‰œ œj œ œ ‰ œj œ œ œj œ ‰ j œ™ ‰ J œ w ‰ J œ˙ ‰ J œ ‰ œJ œ j œ ? w ∑ ∑ ‰ œJ œ ‰ œ œ w w œ w The piece consists of the opening scalar motion followed by an arpeggiated figuration, both voices alternating motion of down a third, up a second, closed off by a V-I cadence. The following prelude is structured around an ascending -3/+4 sequence with circular motives in both hands: Figure 1.4. Johann Wohlmuth: Prelude #5
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Both preludes and chorales in the Starck Virginal Book use idiomatic patterns and simple harmonic progressions that students could have easily memorized and used for improvisations. By practicing simple pieces from methods such as the Starck Virginal Book, students might have become familiar with historical fingerings associated with certain figurations and hand positions and burn them into their motor memory. This learning process is the kinetic assimilation of musical grammar into one’s keyboard technique, which starts ideally in early childhood. In her book Bach and the Art of Improvisation, Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra posits that historical fingerings, pedal technique and articulation are crucial elements in improvisational learning. 17 Feenstra compares this type of grammatical learning to childhood language acquisition: If a person does not learn proper grammar as a child or in foreign language studies, he will not hear when his syntax is incorrect. He may struggle for a lifetime to speak and write correctly. If he comes from a home where proper grammar was spoken, or assimilates correct grammar in language studies, he will eventually be able to use appropriate grammar easily and intuitively.18
As shown in early methods such as the Starck Virginal Book, Baroque students started assimilating Figuren as applied to chorales at a very early age. Such short pieces with figures and their associated fingerings would have armed them with the confident technique that Feenstra describes. Through examples similar to Starck’s preludes and chorale settings, subconsciously assimilated schemes built up to constitute musical grammar and vocabulary.
17 Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, Bach and the Art of Improvisation (Ann Arbor, MI: CHI Press, 2011), 20. 18 Ibid, 4.
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Musical instruction in the Baroque era started with figured bass, harmony, counterpoint and the harmonization of memorized melodies. For organ students, thoroughbass accompaniment was central to the improvisational learning process. Reading figured bass, keyboard students learned harmony from an unspecific notation style, where only the bass line is notated and harmony is indicated with figures. Keyboard students also learned to decorate bass progressions with elaborate diminutions, as was also done in the Italian tradition of unfigured bass harmonizations.
In his volume The Art of Partimento, Giorgio Sanguinetti describes education techniques in the Italian Partimento tradition of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.19 Partimenti are compositions notated as unfigured bass lines above which the keyboard player applied realizations in the right hand. Partimenti were more than thoroughbass exercises. They document the composition methodology of the conservatories in Naples, in which students would learn how to recognize and embellish skeletal voice-leading patterns in bass exercises using solfeggi, vocal exercises to memorize upper-voice patterns on common basses. The Italian Partimento tradition relied heavily on memorization, where the player first learned how to recognize a schema on the page and how to embellish it according to his master’s instructions. Robert Gjerdingen understands the realization of an unfigured bass as an applicatio of a specific memorized schema, not the harmonization of the bass line itself. Gjerdingen describes this process as “embellishing not of the bass but of the implicit parts of a particular schema, meaning what was to be played by the right hand on the keyboard.” 20 Indeed, exercises in partimenti aided the player in recognizing, concatenating and memorizing stock progressions with the aim of using them in free improvisations and compositions. However, even with their 19 Giorgio Sanguinetti, The Art of Partimento: History, Theory, and Practice (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012). 20 Robert O. Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 45.
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meticulous rules (regole), Partimento masters failed to record explicit instructions on how to generate these surface-level diminutions as such. Unfortunately for contemporary musicians, most Italian masters exclusively conveyed this kind of instruction orally. The ultimate goal of the Partimento School was imitative counterpoint - the Partimento fugue. A partimento fugue consisted of cues for motivic imitations on a single bass line and required consummate experience in thoroughbass and counterpoint.
Many rules concerning bass harmonization have survived in the regole di partimento; one of the most important is the Rule of the Octave. The RO defines harmonies to be played above certain scale degrees in the bass emphasizing their tonal context. Stable scale degrees are harmonized with stable harmonies (^1, ^4 and ^5), unstable tones are harmonized with passing 6 or 6/5 chords. Sanguinetti describes two ways to accompany a scale in the bass: “The first associates each scale degree with a sonority, which may be modified according to the local circumstances, whereas the second uses the same harmony on several scale degrees.”21 The example below depicts an ascending and descending major scale with associated harmonizations:
Figure 1.6. The Rule of the Octave according to Fenaroli.
# & 44 w w w ? #4 4w 8 5 3
w ww w
6 4 3
w w w
w
6 3
w w w w
w w w w
5 6
21 Giorgio Sanguinetti, The Art of Partimento: History, 56.
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w ww
ww w
6 3
5 6
w
w
w w w w
# & w w w ?# w 8 5 3
w w w w
w #w w w
6 3
H 4 3
w w w w
w w w
w w w w
w
w
6 3 8
6 F 2
w w w
w ww
w
6 4 3
The RO is a powerful tool for tonal coherence, as it defines each degree in the scale with a unique relationship to either the preceding or following chord. For example, the major triad on ^1 of the major scale is followed by an unstable 6/4 chord on ^2 that is followed by a 6 chord on ^3. The stability of these chords defines the position of the bass in the scale. Although the RO applies to a complete scale, sections of it can be used to harmonize scalar passages in chorale melodies. Because many chorale melodies feature stepwise motion, the RO is extremely useful for harmonizations when placing the chorale melody in the bass.
J. S. Bach gives an ascending bass line harmonization with 5-6 progressions and 7-6 suspensions on a descending scale:22 Figure 1.7. J. S. Bach’s harmonization of an ascending scale
? 44 ˙ ?
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
An organist would use similar 5-6 progressions when harmonizing a stepwise ascent in chorale melodies, such as the opening ascending scale in Freu dich sehr: 22 Johann Sebastian Bach, J.S. Bach's Precepts and Principles for Playing the Thorough-bass or Accompanying in Four Parts (Leipzig, 1738): Translation with Facsimile, Introduction, and Explanatory Notes, translated by Pamela Poulin. (Oxford: Clarendon, 1994).
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Figure 1.8. Bach’s scheme applied to Freu dich sehr in the bass:
& 44 œ ?4 4˙
#œ
˙
œ
˙
˙
˙
#œ
Œ
œ
˙
Ó Ó
˙
Describing his father’s teaching method, Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach emphasized that “the realization of a thorough-bass and the introduction of chorales are without doubt the best method of studying composition, as far as harmony is concerned.”23 Bach’s teaching method, as represented in Precepts and Principles is characterized by a set of concise prose rules that are modeled after Niedt’s Musical Guide, with accompanying exercises that invariably are in four voices. Bach’s insistence on four-part thoroughbass accompaniment results in voice-leading problems that arise only in four voices. Below is Bach’s realization of his 5-6 progression for an ascending scale in the bass: Figure 2.39. Bach’s realization of an ascending scale
4 & 4 ˙˙œ œ
˙œœ œ œ
?4 ˙ 4 ˙ & ˙œ ? ˙
œ
˙ œœ œ œ
œœ œ œ œ
˙œœ œ œ ˙ œœ œ œ
˙œœ œ œ ˙
œœ œ œœ œ œ œ œ
œœ œ œ œ
œœ œ
œœ œ ˙ ˙˙ ˙ ˙
œœ œ ˙
œœ œ
˙˙ ˙ ˙
This bass-harmonization exercise avoids parallel fifths and octaves with suspensions and chordal skips in inner voices. The “skipping voice” is in the tenor, and in measure 3 in the soprano. Four-voiced harmony was integral to Bach’s instruction, and unlike Handel or 23 As quoted in the preface of Precepts and Principles by Christoph Wolff.
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Niedt, he insisted on keeping the four voices all the time. Niedt advises the student to reduce the number of voices for sixth-chord progressions: “where a sixth is written above the bass note, only the sixth is played, the octave must be omitted both in composing and in playing.” 24 This was common practice at the time and the Italians also dropped a voice when there was a succession of sixth chords. Four-part voice leading was the essence of Bach’s teaching method and his immediate circle of students adopted its aesthetic in their theoretical writings. In this way, students learned how to apply memorized cadences and recognized schemata from looking at a single bass line. In Germany, a Lutheran organist could extract schemata from hundreds of chorales that he became familiar since his early childhood education. These schemata became automatized through practice and became part of his zibaldone of memorized voice leading patterns. Joel Lester stresses the importance of developing automatized voice-leading skills for different harmonic progressions in the context of the Partimento tradition, describing a bass-harmonization with improvised schemata: “the pupil learned voice-leading patterns that could be applied to realizing figured basses as well as to improvising.” 25 The concept of musical schemata is key to our understanding of improvised music in the eighteenth century.26 Robert Gjerdingen’s schemata are stock harmonic patterns for composers to use in their compositions. They were taught by the Neapolitan meastri through unfigured bass progressions, called the partimenti. Through partimenti keyboard students learned harmony and counterpoint and many musical patterns applicable to a 24 Friedrich Erhard Niedt, The Musical Guide, translated by Pamela Pulin, (Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1989), Ch. 2, rule 8. 25 Joel Lester, Compositional Theory in the 18th Century (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992), 64. 26 Robert O Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).
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given bass line. Recognizing schemata, or common melodic patterns, is an essential skill in harmonizing melodies and improvising chorale preludes. German composers traveled to Italy to perfect their art in the renowned Italian tradition. One of them was Johann David Heinichen (1683-1729) who wrote the treatise Der General-Bass in der Komposition, in which he discussed how to harmonize pairs of tones in a bass. He combined several pairs into a larger pattern that he termed a “schema.” 27 His scalar schemata were similar to the RO, but influenced by his travels to Italy to perfect his knowledge of the Italian style. Schemata enabled eighteen-century composers to be incredibly prolific, while maintaining a consistently high quality in their music. Gjerdingen illustrates schemata with gray ovals containing abstract features: Figure 1.9. Gjerdingen’s “Do-Re-Mi” Schema
Gjerdingen’s ovals above include the most important musical features of a schema: the order of stages, scale degrees for the melody and for the bass with figured-bass numbers to indicate harmony. Gjerdingen writes: Standard music notation overspecifies a prototype’s constituent features. The schema […] is a mental representation of a category of Galant musical utterances, is likely in no particular key, may or may not have a particular meter, probably includes no particular figurations or articulations, may be quite general as to the 27 Johann David Heinichen, Neu erfundene und gründliche Anweisung … zu volkommener Erlernung des General–Basses (Hamburg, 1711), 15.
22
spacing of the voices, their timbres and so on. All that useful indeterminacy would vanish were the schema to be presented as a small chorale in whole notes, probably in the key of C major with a 4/4 meter. 28 A typical schema often found in Lutheran Chorales is the “Do-Re-Mi.” The soprano in this pattern represents a scale fragment harmonized with the most logical (^1-^7-^1) bass progression. Many chorales also include long passages with stepwise, diatonic motion. In the eighteenth century, major and minor scales gradually replaced the older church modes. In the eighteenth century stable scale degrees (^1, ^3, ^5 and ^6) were harmonized with stable harmonies, whereas less stable scale degrees (^2, ^4) were harmonized with passing harmonies such as ii, vi, VI, vii or inversions of V7 chords. The “Do-Re-Mi” schema represents this type of harmonization, where the unstable 2^ is harmonized with an unstable chord in the bass. One of the most popular Lutheran chorales in the eighteenth century, Freu dich sehr O meine Seele, consists mostly of scalar motions. At the opening phrase one can easily recognize the “Do-Re-Mi” schema:
28 Gjerdingen, Music in the Galant Style, 453.
23
Figure 1.10. Harmonization of Freu dich sehr A) Chorale in alto part B) in soprano part
The two harmonizations above represent two possible realizations of the “Do-Re-Mi” scheme. Example B represents the conventional way of harmonizing the chorale melody in the soprano, whereas in example A, the melody is in the alto part. The melody of the first version can be played on a solo stop with the thumb on a reed or the sesquialtera creating dynamic and timbral contrast to the other voices.
Gjerdingen’s two-voice representation of the “Do-Re-Mi” schema no longer describes completely what is happening in example A, where the soprano voice acts as a descant above the chorale melody. The melody is prominently part of the harmonic skeleton that still preserves the opening schema’s recognizable features. Even though both harmonizations belong to the many possible elaboratio frameworks associated to this melody, example A suggests registral flexibility. Flexible voice-leading skeletons are similar to the exercises in solfeggi taught by Partimenti maestros. They insisted on their students practicing cadential progressions in all inversions and in open and closed
24
positions.29 With this in mind, we find that the nature of the elaboratio in chorale-based works is best understood as both harmonic and contrapuntal, with significant registral flexibility for the voices.
Other schemata can be detected in the first phrase of Freu dich sehr O meine Seele. The descending fourths in the bass line in measures 2 and 3 are typical of the Romanesca: Example 1.11. The Romanesca
The Romanesca scheme can harmonize any diatonic descending motion in the top voice, or in any of the upper voices. The descending chorale melody would instantly trigger the Romanesca schema for an eighteenth-century improviser, who would be able to flip the voices. The closing cadence with scale degrees 6^ 5^ in the soprano, understood in modern music theory as a half cadence (or an inauthentic cadence) as harmonized in figure 1.10 B, is another example of a schema, which would automatically trigger one of the many interchangeable cadential patterns and final cadentiae found in many eighteenth-century treatises.
29 Following the Dutch tradition of Psalm variations, I have observed Sietze deVries teaching his students to harmonize a chorale melody in each of the four voices, in closed and open hand positions.
25
Chapter II: Genres The Prelude
Preludizing, according to Daniel Gottlob Türk, was one of the chief responsibilities of the eighteenth-century organist.30 A number of eighteenth-century treatises provide instructions on how to improvise preludes. Most authors give models in wide varieties of bass progressions and cadential patterns and they also focus on diminutions, augmentation and bass prolongations. Figuration increases activity on the musical surface and thus has the potential of prolonging tonal areas. Prolongation via surface figurations is a crucial technique in eighteenth-century keyboard preludes. Friedrich Erhard Niedt’s Musical Guide [1700/1721] is a comprehensive treatise for bass accompaniment with a strong focus on diminution techniques.31 Niedt starts with figured-bass realizations, cadential patterns and modulation schemes embellished mostly with arpeggiated figures. His discussion of preludizing and modulating through different keys introduces a concept that modern music theory understands as the phrase model. The phrase model groups together three essential harmonic functions in tonal music: the tonic (T), predominant (PD) and dominant (D).32 The phrase model can be expanded with ornaments and diminutions in the top voice or the bass, thus expanding vertical harmony. The following example shows the three fundamental harmonies embellished with RH and LH arpeggiations:
30 Türk, On The Role o the Organist in Worship, 57. 31 Niedt, The Musical Guide. 32 Christopher Bartlette and Steven Laitz, Graduate Review of Tonal Music (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), Chapters 6-7.
26
Figure 2.1. Niedt’s Bass realizations
& 44
œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙˙ ˙ ? 44 ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
4 & 4 ˙˙˙
˙˙ ˙
˙˙ ˙
˙˙˙
˙˙ ˙
˙˙ ˙
? 44 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ To increase rhythmic activity in the bass line, Niedt provides examples for diminutions connecting structural intervals: Figure 2.2. Niedt’s bass diminutions
?
˙
œœœ œœœ œœ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œœ ‰ J ‰
œ œœ
˙
The following example outlines a bass progression for an improvised organ prelude: 33 Figure 2.3. Niedt’s scheme for a prelude
œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ w
? ˙
6
? w
6 5
6
5 65 3 4 43
6
5 6 5 3 4 43
?
bœ œ œ œ
˙
bœ œ 6
? w 5 d
œ 6 4
œ
6 5
œ œ w
œ œ œ œ ˙
œ
n 5
œ
n 5
œ bœ œ œ ˙
œ œ œ w 5 65 d 4 4d
6
œ bœ œ œ b˙
6
œ œ œ #œ
5 d
6 5 4 4 d
˙
œ
œ
w
6
6 5
5 3
5 4 d
6 5
œ bœ w
5 6 5 d 4 4d
w
œ bœ
6 5
5 6 5 3 4 43
œ œ
˙ w
6 4
5 4 3
In this prelude, Niedt uses three types of harmonic prolongation: 1) the opening chordal 33 Niedt, The Musical Guide, 50.
27
skip followed by a passing tone is a bass prolongation; 2) the figures in measure 2 represent Niedt’s Cadenz-Clausulae, an expansion of V with a 6/4 chord followed by a 43 suspension; 3) in measure 3, the double neighbor motion expands the tonic. 34 The tonic expansion in measure 1 and the Cadenz-Clausula followed by a double-neighbor motion facilitates a smooth modulation with descending thirds. The prelude connects Cadenz-Clausulae with a -4/+1 sequence that is repeated until it reaches the T. The sequence can be illustrated as follows: Figure 2.4. Reduction of Niedt’s schematic cell
w
? w
˙
˙
-4
+1
For the following prelude realization, I used a double neighbor motion in parallel sixths for a sixteenth-note decoratio pattern as advised by Niedt in Part II:35
Figure 2.5. A possible realization of Niedt’s prelude
& œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œ œ œ œœ œœ œ œœ œ œœ œœ œœ œ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œ œœ œ œœœ œ œ œ œ œ w ? ˙ œ œ 6
6 5
5 3
6 4
5 4
6
6 5
œœœœœœœœœœœœœ œ œ œ & œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ #œ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ #œ œœ œ #œ œ #œ œœ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ? œ œ œ Similar surface-level embellishments provide the improviser with a vocabulary of 34 Niedt, The Musical Guide, Ch. 11. 35 Niedt, The Musical Guide, 108.
28
3
schemata for improvisation of preludes on common bass progressions. Spiridione’s Nova Instructio contains hundreds of motivic RH patterns of simple cadences and sequences. Baptized as Johann Nenning, Spiridion a Monte Carmelo (1615-1685) was a German monk who traveled frequently and lived for twelve years in Rome where he assimilated the Italian style. The Nova Instructio pro Pulsandis Organis Spinettis Manuchordiis is comprised of four parts of approximately fifty pages each.36 Spiridion’s treatise is extremely practical; it relies exclusively on musical examples and contains almost no written instructions. His musical examples are arranged in increasing difficulty, which the students are expected to memorize, transpose and concatenate, advancing from simple cadential patterns to complex diminutions. The volume starts with diminutions over a V-I cadence with more than sixty RH variations. Only a few bars are notated; the student is supposed to follow the logic of the pattern and apply it to the elaboratio framework of the bass progression. The first volume is comprised of short cadential patterns such as the Finalia and the longer Cadentiae, and longer, transitory Passaggi are presented in the fourth part. Spiridion instructs his students to memorize and play these examples in succession, bridging various transpositions of Cadentiae with Passaggi: “when a cadentia has been transposed two or three times, a different cadentia or a brief passagio should follow, after which the first cadentia is to be repeated in another key.”37 Spridion’s instructions are extremely pragmatic for an improviser wishing to improvise preludes in a similar fashion to Niedt’s. Spiridion’s examples show flexible voice-leading structures with interchangeable upper voices that make students practice common progressions in various hand positions associated with sophisticated motivic patterns in the style. Spiridion’s examples are not simply realizations of figured bass structures; they are motivic realizations of a three- or four-part skeleton in which each 36 Two volumes are available in a modern edition: Spiridion, Nova Instructio Pro Pulsandis Organis, Spinettis, Manuchordiis Etc.: Pars Prima (Bamberg 1670): Pars Secunda (Bamberg 1671), ed. Edoardo Bellotti (Colledara: Andromeda Ed., 2003). 37 Niedt, The Musical Guide, preface.
29
voice, including the bass line, is subject to motivic treatment.
Spiridion introduces the four crucial components of the eighteenth-century musical language: cadences, sequences, imitation and harmonic prolongation. He instructs students to memorize and combine these patterns in an improvised piece. Like Niedt, Spiridion also focuses on surface-level embellishments on bass progressions. His method is very useful for student improvisers, as his examples are unfinished, the student is supposed to continue the decoratio and apply it on the given elaboratio progression. Organ preludes often begin with the prolongation of two structural harmonies: the tonic and the subdominant over a pedal point. These two harmonies are expanded with surface figurations as in the following cadentia prima:
Figure 2.6. One of Spiridion’s Cadentia Prima realizations
# œœ œ & ≈ #œ B # #œw
≈ œ œ œ œœ
≈œœœœ
≈ #œ œ œ
œ
œ œœœœœ
œœœœœ
≈ œ œ œœœœ œœœ œœœœœœ œ œ w #œ œ
# œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & #œ œ œ œ œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ B # œw œ œ œ œ
œ œ
w w w w w
This cadentia establishes the key in A major with the rich diminutions prolonging the cadence, finally resolving it to D major. Modulations in preludes are easily introduced via inserting accidentals in figuration. For instance, an identical cadential pattern could actually stay in its initial key with the insertion of G# at the end. Accidentals in diminutions have a crucial role in establishing the tonality of certain passages over a
30
pedal. For example, a G natural over a pedal on A constitutes a ^4 in D Major that tends to resolve to ^3, thus establishing a V6/4-V7-I cadential pattern in D Major. G # over A is a ^7 that prolongs A Major. The use of accidentals in improvisation is the result of linearized harmonies, best acquired through embellishments, diminutions and harmonic prolongation of existing melodies. The following example modifies Spiridion’s cadentia with the insertion of the G# in the last group of sixteenth notes prolonging A Major.
Figure 2.7. Modified Cadentia Prima
# œœ œ & ≈ #œ B # #œw
≈ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
≈ œ œ œ œœ
≈œœœœ
œœœœœ
≈ œ œ œœœœ œœœ œœœœœœ œ œ w #œ œ
# œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ w & #œ #w w œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ w B# w w Following Spridion’s instructions, a student would be able to combine this cadence with a sequence and transpose it to another key. A series of transposed cadences connected with a series of sequences make a satisfying prelude.
Michael Wiedeburg was organist at the Lutheran Ludgeri church in Norden, where he played the Arp-Schnittger organ. In Die sich selbst informierende Clavierspieler he presents copious examples of bass realizations, chorale harmonizations and figured-bass
31
patterns.38 A practical theorist, Wiedeburg first addresses the RO, then illustrates it through chorale harmonizations and extensive examples of counterpoint over various skeletal harmonic structures. Wiedeburg’s cadential patterns are very similar to Spiridion’s:
Figure 2.8: Wiedeburg’s Cadentiae Simplex
& œ˙ ? ˙
Ÿ œ
Ÿ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
˙ ˙ ˙
Ÿ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙˙ & œ œ ? ˙ ˙
Ÿ œ œ œœ œ ˙ œœœ œ œœ˙ ˙ ˙
Ÿ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Ÿ œ œ œ œœ ˙ œœœœ œ ˙ ˙ ˙
His V-I cadences (cadentiae simplex) with decoratio ornaments are arranged in increasingly complex forms and lengths, up to four measures long. The following examples of Wiedeburg’s variations over a dominant pedal line are ingenious examples of a twovoiced expansion of a V-I cadence, veritable alter egos of Spiridion’s Cadentiae Prima. Figure 2.9. Wiedeburg’s Augmented Cadentiae
& ˙w ˙ w w ? w w
œ œœœœœœœœœœœ œœœœœœœœ w œ œ œ œœ œ w w w
˙ œœ œ œ˙œœœœœœœ w œ œœœ œ w w
38 Michael Wiedeburg, Der sich selbst informierende Clavierspieler, oder deutlicher u. leichter Unterricht zur Selbstinformation im Clavierspielen (Halle:Verlag der Buchhandlung der Weisenhauses, 1765-1775).
32
Unlike Spiridion’s motivic and imitational patterns, Wiedeburg’s variations consist largely of three basic figures: the Schleifer, Doppelschlag and Schneller, all of which are in a narrow intervallic range and in the same hand position. His kinetic considerations show Wiedeburg’s practical side: the figures are extremely comfortable to play. Improvisational patterns can be different for each player, as one adopts the most comfortable patterns to fit one’s particular technique and fingering habits. Wiedeburg provides his students with decoratio patterns on a two-voiced elaboratio framework (over a pedal point) that can be practiced with associated hand positions and probable fixed fingerings, mapping them into motor memory. His pedal-point diminutions exhibit three common features: 1. Rhythmic complementation: one sustains while the other is moving (extremely comfortable to play). 2. Imitation: similar harmonic modules are applied in two voices (motivic and kinetic symmetry). 3. Parallel motion: this is found exclusively in sixths and thirds (as wider intervals would be extremely difficult to grab in one hand). The improvisational potential and the ease of application of Wiedeburg’s examples over a pedal point can be best understood by playing through the following example:
Figure 2.10. Wiedeburg’s prolongation of V-I over a pedal point
j œ C & œ œœ œ œ œœ œ œ œœ œ œ œœ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ J ?C ‰ w w
œœœœœœ w œ œ œ & œ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œœ œœ œ œœ œœ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œœ œœœœ w ?
w
w
w
33
The constant alternation between 6/4 chords and root position chords with neighbor motion give these examples their potential for tonal prolongation. Wiedeburg’s pedalpoint figurations can be transposed and connected through sequences in the same manner as Spiridion’s and Niedt’s. These authors’ examples also provide exercises for sequences and harmonic progressions that can be directly applied in many chorale genres.
I based the following prelude improvisation on a hypothetical dispositio of Mattheson’s Vorspiel for the organ audition in Hamburg: it establishes A Major, then modulates to G Minor by descending through the circle of fifths in mm. 5-9. I used the elaboratio structures of harmonic prolongation as found in Wiedeburg’s and Niedt’s methods and decoratio patterns such as those of Schneller, Schleifer and Doppelschlag. The following example notates the prelude’s harmonic dispositio:
Figure 2.11. Dispositio for a prelude improvisation
? ### ? ###
w
˙
w ˙
˙
˙ ˙
w
˙
˙
˙
˙
n˙
w
˙
˙
nw
Congregational Hymn Accompaniments
Even the simplest chorales may provide excellent opportunities for improvisation. The sonic spectrum of a North German Baroque organ is designed to bring out melodies with solo stops, which can be beautifully embellished with ornaments and diminutions. Multiversed congregational hymns also provide opportunities for variations through different registration, harmonizations and voice-leading choices. The organist may, for example,
34
keep the harmony unaltered while using different voice-leading structures or bringing out the melody in different voices. Variations during congregational singing, however, ought to always serve the meaning of the hymn text. In his Historisch-kritischen Beitragen zur Aufnahme der Musik, Friedrich Marpurg condemned organists who excessively improvised variations during congregational singing:
If organists would only realize that during the singing of hymns, it is the organ that must keep the congregation in tune and in order. However, the way most organists play one would think that the congregation sings the canto firmo (the melody) in order for the organist to rummage all over it with hands and feet. The resulting dissonances are so disagreeable to listen to that they defy description. Since these organists are so enamoured of their rambling and noisy variations, they play so irresolutely that it sounds as if they were unfamiliar with the melody and needed to learn it from the congregations, for they continually lag behind, instead of keeping pace with them.39 Improvisation during and between congregational verses in the eighteenth-century descended from an earlier tradition, where the organ played in alternum with the congregation. By the late Baroque period this tradition gradually dropped in favor of congregational organ accompaniment. Between 1750 and 1850, organists often inserted interludes between each chorale phrases to give the congregation some time to read the text of the next line and reflect on the text. These interludes had a variety of names, such as Zwischenspiele, Passagien or Läufer, and were played in a characteristically free improvisatory style. Gottlob Türk discusses the composition of these interludes in his book Kurze Anweisung zum Generalbassspielen:
39 The Historisch-kritischen Beitragen zur Aufnahme der Musik, one of three periodicals written by Friedrich Marpurg, appeared from 1754-62 and in 1778. The journal features reviews of books on music, short biographies of musicians, as well as general observations on the musical scene.
35
In this instance, the chorale player should definitely not demonstrate the dexterity of his fingers (or feet), at least not without sufficient restraint, but merely introduce the following note, and – if it can be done without inappropriate or intrusive tone-painting – simultaneously express the meaning of the words, or play serious interludes, suitable to the place and subject. Meanwhile, some more or less lively interludes, runs Passagen and the like, can be presented for stanzas of cheerful contents.40 With the following example, Türk demonstrates an acceptable Zwischenspiel connecting the first and second phrases of Allein Gott:
Figure 2.12.
# & Ó
˙
?# Ó
˙
# U ˙ & ?#
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙ ˙
œœ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ #œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙
∑
This cadential passagework extends the tonic by elaborating a very common formula, Gjerdingen’s Quiescenza of scale degress ^8, 7, ^6, ^#7, 8. The success of this Zwischenspiele, however, largely depends on its rhythmic proportions and its metric and harmonic relationship with the perceived pulse of the chorale, and less on its melodic content. Such toccata-like arpeggiations are similar to the French stile brisé, an idiomatic technique for the harpsichord, employed by Böhm in his partita on Ach wie nichtig. 40 Daniel Gottlob Türk, Kurze Anweisung zum Generalbassspielen (Leipzig und Halle: Author, 1791).
36
Linearization of harmonies is a crucial compositional tool for developing longer passagework and diminutions. Niedt’s counterpoint examples include extended arpeggiations of harmonies that are similar to techniques in chorale variations.
Melodic Ornamentation in Chorale Variations Melodic ornamentation is the most immediate level of improvisation that connects linear intervals with figurations. Seventeenth-century Figurenlehre mainly focused on figuration and elocutio, the art of delivery and embellishments. 41 This technique is used in nearly all eighteenth-century chorale-based genres, including chorale partitas by Georg Böhm and Johann Pachelbel. The following example by Georg Böhm, Ach wie nichtig, ach wie flüchtig, demonstrates an idiomatic melodic embellishment for the upper voice:
Figure 2.13. Böhm’s figuration on Ach wie nichtig, ach wie flüchtig
& 44 œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œœœœœœœœœœ œ œ 4 &4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Böhm uses Schleifer and Schneller figures to directly embellish the chorale melody. This decoratio does not always place the structural notes on the strong beats (such as on beat four in measure 1) but always follows the contour of the melody.
Theorists considered figuration crucial to musical composition: thus it became a central topic of a number of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century treatises. 42 Wolfgang Caspar for example, Joachim Burmeister’s Musica Poetica (1606), Michael Praetorius’s Syntagma Musicum (1616) and Athanasius Kircher’s Musurgia Universalis (1650). 42 Such as Wolfgang Printz, Phyrinidis Mytilenaei oder Satyrischen Componisten (1696) and Johann Moritz Vogt’s Conclave Thesauri Artis Musicae (1719). 41 See,
37
Printz defined Figuren as devices for improvisation and composition: “[Figure is] a Certain module [Modulus] which is formed out of a division of one or more notes, and which is applied in a manner appropriate to it.” In Phyrinidis Mytilenaei, Printz provides copious lists of melodic patterns embellished with Figuren. He categorizes them according to their basic shapes--such as Figura Corta, Messanza and Figura Suspirans--and lengths, such as simple (einfach) and compound (zusammengesetzt). Printz’s examples provide patterns for chorale variations: an improviser would apply these patterns to chorales with similar melodic contours: Figure 2.14. Printz’s diminutions
Printz’s figures are presented without their underlying interval; however, it is easy to detect that these examples are embellishing a repeated note. In the same treatise Printz also provides one hundred RH variations on a descending bass line to demonstrate how these figures, combined with a structural bass, yield to longer-range melodic coherence. These variations constitute a two-level hierarchical system, where an intervallic elaboratio framework provides melodic consistency to surface elements. Printz also introduces the concept of the Schematoid: the augmented version of the Figuren to create variations. His definition of Schematoid is “a module equivalent to some figures in its intervals but
38
distinct from the figure in its rhythm.”43 The concept of Schematoid is similar to augmentation, and suggests a way in which one can discover variations by changing the rhythmic shape of certain melodic patterns.
Another diminution treatise is Johann Moritz Vogt’s Conclave Thesauri Artis Musicae. 44 Vogt presents a comprehensive list of melodic elements as applied to harmonic patterns to demonstrate how a voice-leading structure can accept many surface figures. His figures on the decoratio level embellish an elaboratio framework, similar to Spiridione’s Cadentiae. Below are three of Vogt’s phantasies of rising fourths and falling fifths with mezzanzae, tirata, groppo figures, and a fourth with a combination of groppo and circulo figures.
Figure 2.15. Vogt’s diminutions
In all three examples Vogt places the structural note on the first position in the group. Similar to the rich variety in Böhm’s figures, Vogt encourages a combination of many different modules, but also advocates coherence by pointing to an underlying harmonic 43 Callahan, Techniques of Keyboard Improvisation in the German Baroque, 111. 44 Johann Moritz Vogt, Conclave Thesauri Artis Musicae, (Prague: Lebaun, 1719).
39
framework. One of the most important innovations in Vogt’s treatise is the concept of augmentation pertaining to the figure’s underlying harmonic framework. The example below shows the augmented versions: the sixteenth-note figurations cover a longer distance between structural note values, thus yielding to greater potential combinations and a greater need for melodic coherence. Figure 2.16. Vogt’s Phantasia Duplex (alternating 4ths and 5ths)
& 44 ˙
˙
˙
˙
œ œœœœœœœœ œ œœœœœœœœœœœœ & 44 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ In Die sich selbst informierende Clavierspieler, Michael Wiedeburg presents figures that are directional, leading effectively from point A to point B. He advocates their artful concatenation into a larger unit, for instance, connecting various intervals with Schleifer, Doppelschlag and Schneller motives in various orders and forms. In the following example we see four possible embellishments of underlying structural intervals of a unison, ascending second, third, and a fifth with Wiedeburg’s figures.
40
Figure 2.17. Wiedeburg’s Schleifer (a) and Doppelschlag (b), on simple intervals
#2 & 4≈ œ œ œ œ #2 & 4≈ œ œ œ œ #2 & 4≈ œ œ œ œ
#2 & 4 œ
≈ œ œ œ œ
≈
œ œ œ œ
≈ œ œ œ œ
≈ œ œ<#>œ œ
≈ œ œ œ œ
≈ œ œ œ œ
≈ œ œ<#>œ œ
≈
≈ œ œ œ œ
#2 & 4≈ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
≈ œ œ œ œ
œ
œ
≈ œ œ œ œ
œ
œ
≈ œ œ<#>œ œ
œ
œ
Ascending and descending figures can be generated from the same principles and are inversions of each other, but have quite a different aural effect. Wiedeburg focuses on the artful connection of these limited gestures, creating a great number of interludes of any length. The example below shows the assembly of these figures over augmented structural intervals in their ascending, descending and compound forms.
Figure 2.18. Schleifer (a), Doppelschlag (b) and Schneller (c) on augmented intervals
# œœœœœœœ ˙ & 44 ≈
≈œœœœœœœ˙
≈œœœœœœœ˙
#4 ≈ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ & 4
≈œœœœœœœ˙
≈œœœœœœœ˙
# œ & 44 ≈ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
# & 44 ˙
˙
≈œœœœœœœ˙
˙
˙
≈œœœœœœœ˙
˙
˙
Wiedeburg’s exercises can be applied to the harmonic elaboratio framework of any chorale melody. In the following figure I have composed three written-out applications of
41
Schleifert, Doppelschlag and Schneller applied on the intervallic elaboratio framework of the first phrase of Freu dich sehr: Figure 2.19. Simple application of Schneller (a) and Doppelschlag (b) on Freu dich sehr
#2 œ & 4 ≈œœœœœœœ œ œœœœœœ œœœœœ œœœ œœ œœœœœœ #2 & 4 ≈ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ# œ œ œ œ œ# œ œ œ œ œ œ # & 42 œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
#
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
∏∏∏∏
&
∏∏∏∏
# & œœœœœœœœ œœœœœœœœ œœœœœœœœ œœœœ # & œ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ
œœ œ œœ œ
˙
The concatenated decoratio figures owe their coherence to the shape of the chorale melody. The example above represents a straightforward application of the figures onto an existing intervallic framework, in which I kept the structural notes of melody on strong beats. Similar models of melodic figurations have come down to us in seventeenthcentury Dutch Psalm variations, such as in Anthoni van Noordt’s Tabulatuurboeck (1659). Psalm variations in the Dutch tradition rely heavily on melodic ornamentation played on characteristically bright registrations of Dutch and North German organs. Anthoni Van Noordt treats the Psalm melodies in three ways: cantus planus (simple
42
melody) cantus coloratus (ornamented melody) and in combination.45 Thomas Morley referred to this technique as breaking the plainchant, a term adopted in the Netherlands as “breecken van den psalmen.” 46 Cantus coloratus variations have extensive right-hand figurations with simple accompaniments:
Figure 2.20. Van Noordt: Cantus Coloratus Variation on Psalm 24
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & œ œœœœ & w w ? w
&
Ϫ
& ˙ ˙ ? ˙
w w
#w œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
nœ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
˙ ˙ ˙
Noordt’s beautiful setting of long scalar motions covers a wide tessitura and does not follow the contour of the original melody. Georg Böhm uses similar figuration his partita on Herr Jesu Christ; however, he structures them around the notes of the melody:
45 Jamila Javadova, Anthoni Van Noordt: Historical and Analytical Aspects of His "Tabulatuurboeck Van Psalmen en Fantasyen" of 1659 (DMA Diss, University of North Texas, 2008). 46 Thomas Morley, A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practical Music, ed. Alex Harman (New York: W W Harman, 1969),172.
43
Figure 2.21. Variatio 5 of Herr Jesu Christ
& b 32
˙
˙
˙
∑
w
˙
& b 23 ‰ j œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & b 23 ˙˙ ˙˙ ˙˙ ˙˙ ˙ ˙˙ ˙˙ w ? b 23 ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ &b w
n˙
˙
w
œ œ œ œnœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœœ b œ œ &b œ œ œ œ œœ &b ˙ ˙ ? ˙ b
˙ ˙ ˙
&b w
˙˙
w w
˙
w
˙
w
˙˙ ˙
˙
w
œ
˙
œœœœœœœœœœœ ˙˙ ™™ ˙™ w
œ
œ ˙˙ œ œ ˙ ˙
&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & b ˙w
˙
?b w
˙ ˙ ˙
˙ ˙ ˙™
œ˙ œ ˙ œ ˙
w w w
˙ ˙
For the following example I have composed a melodic embellishment on Nun Danket All in cantus coloratus style:
44
Figure 2.22. Cantus Coloratus and the melody of Nun Danket All
4 & b4 Ó
≈
4 & b4
œœœœ œ œœœœœœœœœœ œ œ œœœœœœœœœœœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ ∑ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ
&b œ
œœœœ
œœœœ
&b œ
œ
˙
œ œ œœœœœœœœœœœœ œœœ œœœœœœ œ œ œ œ œœœœœœ œœœ œ
Œ œ
œœ ˙ &b œ œ œ œ œœœœ œœœ œ œ ˙ &b w
œ
˙
˙
bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ
˙
œ
˙
&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ œ œ &b œ ˙ œ &b œ &b ˙
œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
w
In this setting, similarly to Böhm, I have preserved the contour of the melody on strong beats. The opening scale has important metric features: it offers an energetic opening and anticipates the motoric drive of the movement, constituting the main decoratio element in
45
this variation. At the memoria phase of improvisational learning, an organist commits similar decoratio patterns to memory and becomes familiar with their metric and harmonic attributes: he then tries them out in every possible metric and harmonic position.
Melodic figuration can lead to compound melodies and polyphonic textures, as well. Compound melody is in fact a linearization of harmony, often suggesting two or three voices that are treated with correct voice leading. In the following example, I have applied chordal leaps and scalar motions to the elaboratio framework of Freu dich sehr. The first is a compound melody and the second is a two-voice counterpoint:
Figure 2.23. Application of a compound (a) and two-voiced (b) decoratio on the elaboratio framework of Freu dich sehr
#4 & 4
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ# œ œ œ œ œ œ œ# œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ# œ œ œ œ œn œ œ œ #4 ‰ j ‰ j ‰ j ‰ & 4 ‰˙ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ ‰˙ œ# œ œ œ œ œ ˙‰ œ# œ œ ˙ œ œ œ ˙ œ# œ œ ˙ œj œn œ J ˙ J J ‰J #4 ˙ ˙ ˙ & 4˙ ˙œ ˙ œ ˙œ # œ ˙ œ n œ ˙ #œ ˙ #˙ ˙
˙ ? #4 4œ
œ
œ
˙™
6
œ
œ œ œ œ
6
6
œ œ œœ
œ
#
œ œ œ œ œ œnœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ m # j & œ œ œ ‰˙ œ œnœ ˙‰ œ œ ‰ œj œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ ˙˙ J œ™ œJ œ ™ œJ ‰ J œ ˙ J œ˙ ‰˙ # ˙ ˙ ˙ œ ˙œ ˙ ˙ ˙ & ˙ w œ œ ˙ œ ˙ &
∏∏∏
?#
˙
œ
˙
œ
œ œ œ œ
6
6
46
œ œ œ œ
Œ
œ
œ œ 6
˙
˙
The first and the second versions contain identical decoratio patterns. However, the second version contains longer structural notes that clearly differentiate tones of figurations from structural tones. Space between structural notes is usually extended in cantus firmus-based genres such as the bicinium or the chorale prelude. Augmentation is an essential organizing principle inherited from the Renaissance that allowed Baroque composers to enlarge musical form and use more advanced harmonies. For example, the harmonic rhythm of a congregational hymn is quicker than the chorale prelude: in the former, the harmony corresponds to one chorale note; in the latter, two or more harmonies correspond to one note. Harmonies on weak beats can be dissonant, as their function is to pass between two consonances. An organist wishing to improvise cantus firmus-based chorale preludes needs to slow down the harmonic rhythm of the melody by using two or more harmonies per chorale note. The example below is the “secondspecies” harmonization of Freu dich sehr:
Figure 2.24. Augmented harmonization of Freu dich sehr
& bC w ? bC ˙ &b w ? ˙ b 6
w
w ˙
n˙
˙ w ˙
˙
˙
˙
w ˙
˙
6
w
˙
6 5
˙
˙
6 5
§
w ˙
˙
In this example, the even-numbered bass notes are chordal leaps and passing tones that connect the consonant downbeats of the two-part, outer-voice structure. The relationship between this and a simple chorale setting is similar to the difference between first- and second-species counterpoint. The methodology of Fux’s Gradus ad Parnassum presents
47
gradual steps from structural voice leading (first species) to florid counterpoint (fifth species) in a series of exercises with controlled parameters. Augmentation techniques in chorale harmonizations have similar stages: simple, double, triple and quadruple harmonizations ultimately result in hierarchic distinction between structural and secondary harmonies.
The harmonies on the weak beats serve as extensions of the first harmony, and, at the same time they transition to the subsequent harmony. In the first bar, for example, the second harmony provides smoother voice leading between F Major and G Minor, and similarly in the second bar the C Major chord is a dominant of the next chord. The F Major chord followed by a G Minor chord would be not a good choice, as it would cause parallel fifths and octaves.
The Bicinium
A bicinium is a two-part chorale variation that consists of a florid, contrapuntal line and an augmented chorale melody, or cantus firmus. Improvising a bicinium essentially requires three types of techniques: augmentation, first-species counterpoint and diminution. In the augmented cantus firmus section species counterpoint governs the relationship between the melody and the accompaniment, which is embellished with diminutions. A bicinium may open directly with the cantus firmus directly, as in standard bicinia of the eighteenth century. More often, however, more elaborate bicinia start with a Vorimitation section, in which a melodic fragment of the chorale melody serves as thematic motto. The following example presents a bicinium by Johann Kirnberger on “Ach, Gott von himmel sieh darein.” The first phrase of the melody uses the opening of the
48
chorale and morphs into fourth-species counterpoint as soon as the cantus firmus enters:47 Figure 2.25. Bicinium by Kirnberger
# & #c
∑
# ˙ &#
˙
™™ Ó
? ##c ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ™™ œ J
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ
˙
Ó
Ó
˙
˙
? ## #œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ#œ œ œ œnœ œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ#œ#œ œ
˙
œnœ œ œ œ œ œ
# ˙ ˙ ˙ ™™ ˙ Ó &#˙ œ œ œ œ #œ œ #œ ? ## œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ™™ The short Vorimitation starts in the “wrong key” on scale degree ^5 and the cantus firmus enters in the “right key” on ^2. Vorimitation on the fourth below (or the fifth above) is very common in short bicinia for a practical reason: the initial chorale can conveniently enter on the tonic without need to establish the key and modulate back to the tonic. Composers often expand the Vorimitatio to a ritornello that provides harmonic closure with a cadence or a harmonic progression. A good example for this is the opening of the second partita of J. S. Bach’s Sei gegrüsset, Jesu gütig BWV 768, which also uses free, florid presentation of the chorale melody.
The compound bicinium has two structural elements: the opening ritornello or Vorimitation that is derived from the first chorale phrase, and a section with free counterpoint against the chorale. The opening motto can be rounded up with a short 47 Kirnberger, The Art of Strict Musical Composition, Example 11.54.
49
sequence and a cadence to constitute a ritornello. A harmonically closed ritornello itself has two sections: the opening motto and a bridge of continuous faster pulses. It achieves harmonic closure with a cadence, as opposed to a harmonically open ritornello, which simply morphs into free-counterpoint to accompany the cantus firmus. Subsequent ritornelli are transposed to the key of the last notes of the chorale phrases; these interludes may vary in length and they might also introduce more distant tonal areas. The role of the ritornello is twofold: introducing the key of the next entrance and breaking up the chorale. The following examples illustrate different ritornelli as applied to Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein:48 Figure 2.26. Kirnberger’s bicinium on “Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh uns darein”
# & #c
∑
™™ Ó
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
œ œœœœœœœ œœœ œœœœ ? ##c ‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ™™ œ œ œ#œ œ#œ œ œ J In the opening, Kirnberger uses the first phrase of the melody - transposed to the fifth below - consisting of two eight-note Schleifer figures that are immediately converted to free counterpoint, with elements of the cantus firmus returning as Schleifer motives multiple times. In order to achieve more tonal definition, I have composed an expanded version of Kirnberger’s opening that starts in the tonic and leads through the dominant area.
48 Kirnberger, The Art of Strict Musical Composition, Example 11.54.
50
Figure 2.27. Modified bicinium on Ach Gott vom Himmel
? ## ˙ # &#
œ
∑
œ
œ
œ
œ œ œ
∑
œ
œ œ #œ œ œ œ Ó
˙
? ## œ #œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ The opening phrase quotes the melody on the second scale degree, which ends on a strong metric position: the downbeat of measure 3. At this point it turns into a Schleifer figure, outlining a descending fourth-progression and briefly touching a dominant section through measures 8-10. The primary purpose of the following harmonic progression is to establish the tonic and provide a strong sense of pulse equating half notes. The quarter notes in measures 7-9 line up with the odd beats of the 2/2 time signature. These, together with the following eighth-note figures, are perceived as a strong pulse reinforced by a descending fourth progression, which is broken off just before the entrance of the cantus firmus on the weak beat of measure 10. This metric structure emphasizes the upbeat quality of the first cantus firmus entrance.
A ritornello in a bicinium consists of the combination of its opening with the metric and harmonic structure of the progression that follows. Printz’s Schematoid helps to understand how to transform shorter chorale fragments into larger phrases followed by simple intervallic progressions; improvising a Vorimitation in a bicinium is indeed an inverted Schematoid process, which involves creating diminution figures from the intervallic content of a fragmented chorale phrase. (I usually start improvising bicinia by first imagining the bipartite phrase structure of the ritornello, then transforming the first
51
chorale phrase into that rhythmic structure before starting to play.) During interludes, there are many opportunities to explore distant keys and experiment with irregular cantus firmus entrances.
In the following improvisations, I chose a similar tonal design (dispositio): the opening always starts on ^5 and then modulates to the cantus firmus entrance on ^2. The Vorimitation in Example A reaches tonal closure with the V-I cadence in measure 4 that accents the next bar where the chorale entrance is perceived like an unaccented passing tone between ^1 and ^3: Figure 2.28. Example A
# & #c
∑
∑
∑
˙
Ó
∑
œ œœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ? œ œœœœœœ B ##c Œ œ œ œ œ œ In Example B, the ritornello uses an extended harmonic progression to establish the tonic. The chorale entrance in measure 8 on ^2 sounds quite dissonant after such a final cadence, and the energy is difficult to maintain after the descending scale: Figure 2.28. Example B
B ## ˙ # &#
œ œ
∑
œ
œ œœœ
œ œœœœœœ
∑
∑
B ## œ œ œ#œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
?
52
œ œœœœ œ
œ œœœ œœ #œ Ó
˙
#œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
In Examples C and D, the ritornelli start in the “right key” on ^2 and modulate to ^5: Figure 2.29. Example C
# &#
? ## ˙ # &#Ó
∑
™™ œ œ
∑
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ ™™ #œ œ œ
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ ? ## œ œ œ œ œ#œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œœœ #œ ˙
˙
˙
In Example D, the chorale entrance (in the lower voice) is part of the cadence V-I, and it confirms the tonic with ^3 on the downbeat of measure 5. This preserves the momentum of the opening by using the pickup of the chorale as part of the cadence: Figure 2.30. Example D
# &#˙ ? ##
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ ∑ ∑ ∑ Ó
B
For Example E, similar to Example C, I have used the same harmonic progression as before to extend the ritornello and cadence on the downbeat of measure 8: Figure 2.31. Example D
## & ˙
œ œ
œ
œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ
m œ œ™ œ œ #œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ # œ # œ # œ œ œ œ J œ œœ œ ˙ ? ## œ œ #œ œ #œ#œ ∑ ∑ Ó # &#
53
In the second movement of his partita on Herr Jesu Christ, Böhm uses a simple, embellished descending scale as ritornello: Figure 2.32. Example E
3 & b2
∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœœœ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œœœœœ œœœœ ˙ ? b 23 Œ ˙ m œ n œ ™ œJ w™ ˙ ˙™ ˙ œœœœœœœœœœ œ œœœœœœœ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œœœœœ œ ?b œ œœœœœœœœœœ œ ˙
&b ˙
m w
Böhm does not quote the chorale melody in the ritornello; instead he uses a pattern that supports the ascending triad of the chorale, a “Do-Mi-So” schema. The neighbor motion constitutes an effective and extremely economical decoratio to connect the structural notes of the first-species counterpoint. Elaboratio here consists of a two-voice, first-species counterpoint, where one voice constitutes the chorale and the other is embellished with figures. At the end of the chorale phrase the ritornello is transposed to the last note of the chorale melody on ^5. Figure 2.33. 2-part elaboratio framework of Böhm’s Herr Jesu Christ
&b ˙
˙
m w
˙
˙
q q q Bb q œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ m œ b n œ ™ œ w™ & ˙™ J œ œ œ œ œ œ œ q Bb q œ œ
q œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 54
In summary, improvised bicinia are dispositio-level structures, starting with an imitation of the first chorale phrase followed by a two-part contrapuntal section where the chorale melody, with its associated intervallic patterns, acts as a two-part elaboratio framework. In the cantus firmus section, decoratio figures such as Schleifer, Doppelschlag and Schneller are applied to adorn the two-voiced elaboratio structure. Also, voices can be flipped easily; one can put the chorale in the soprano as well as in the bass. This form has enormous potential for improvisational learning, as it yields to experimentation with phrase structure, form, imitation, invertible counterpoint and modulations.
Figurations and Cantus Firmi in Inner Voices
Chorale improvisations often require harmonizing the melody in any voice. This tradition stems from sixteenth-century hymn settings that set the melody in the tenor voice.49 Also, in the seventeenth century, most keyboard music was transmitted on handwritten copies using the so-called New German Tabulature, a script notation without staves, noteheads or key signatures. In the New German Tabulature, pitches were designated by letter names written in script, durations by flags, and octave displacement by octave lines drawn above the letters. Organists compiled their repertoire by hand-copying tabulatures, where specific textural clarity was secondary. In contrast, however, in his Tabulatura Nova Samuel Scheidt used regular staff notation. This indicates the author’s keen interest in registral specificity. Although registration choices are rarely specified, most chorale variations in the Tabulatura Nova are associated with specific organ stop selections. In its new edition, Harald Vogel provides two individual versions for each of several movements, using alternative registration choices for each. For instance, in one 49 The first hymnal that set the chorale melody in the soprano was Lucas Osiander's Fuenfzig geistliche Lieder und Psalmen published in 1586.
55
the chorale can be played on either the Cornet 2’ in the pedal or with the right hand.
50
Scheidt often placed the cantus firmus in a variety of inner voices, and often in the pedal, leaving the hands free to play florid diminutions. Improvising inverted voicing is a crucial technique in seventeenth-century organ improvisations, which inverts the role of the pedal from thoroughbass to soprano and the role of the left hand from inner voices to a florid bass line. In such improvisations kinetic habits are challenged with the inverted hands-feet setup, and the organist develops highly flexible contrapuntal skills. It is particularly stimulating when placing the cantus firmus in the pedal with the Cornet 2’ stop in soprano, Clarin 4’ in alto and the Trompet 8’ in tenor voicings. Invertible voiceleading can also lead to the discovery of new harmonizations and voice-leading patterns; the organist can highlight the melody in the bass, or in any of the inner voices. These registrally flexible voicings largely went out of fashion by the mid-eighteenth century Germany, and only survived in the Netherlands and North Germany partly because of the disposition of the Noth-German organs.
Chorale preludes with the melody in the tenor and bass were typical to the seventeenth century, but theorists sporadically describe this technique in the eighteenth century. Johann Kirnberger writes: “the main melodic line or cantus firmus can be placed in any voice when writing for more voices; however, when it is placed in the bass, one must be careful that it conclude with cadences that belong to the main key.”51 The sonic parameters of registration and voicings on the organ are interconnected and are almost inseparable from each other. Solo register choices strongly determine the voicing of the chords: a Krummhorn 8’ sounds usually the best in the tenor range, whereas a Sesquialtera is mostly used for solos in the soprano or alto voice. In the figure below, I present five 50 The Cornet 2’ stop, a small trumpet typical of North German and Dutch organs is designed specifically for chorale playing. 51 Kirnberger, The Art of Strict Composition, 198.
56
examples based on a single harmonization of the first line of Freu dich sehr, where I placed the chorale in soprano, alto, tenor and bass and then again in the soprano, played on the 2’ Cornet in the pedal (Rp: Rückpositiv, Ow: Oberwerk). Figure 2.34. Melody in the soprano
#4 & 4˙
˙
˙
˙ ? #4 ˙ 4
˙˙
? # 44 œ
˙ ˙™
˙
˙ ˙
˙
˙
œ˙ # œ ˙˙
œ
˙ œ œ
œ
˙
µ ˙
Figure 2.35. Melody in Alto
#Œ & ˙
˙
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In the last example the chorale melody starts in the soprano and ends in the tenor, demonstrating the flexibility of an improvised voice-leading skeleton. Bass harmonization, such as in figure 2.36, requires the Rule of the Octave. As Kirnberger points out, chorale harmonization in the bass requires a slightly different harmonization than any other voice due to the harmony-generating quality of the bass in the Baroque style. Chorale harmonization in the bass, and in the inner voices traditionally played an important role in hymn accompaniments and was still taught by late eighteenth-century theorists.
Johann Philipp Kirnberger extensively wrote about all aspects of music -- including a
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large chapter on chorale harmonizations -- in his Die Kunst der Reinen Satzes in der Musik. He stressed the importance of the study of chorales, where he clearly distinguished a structural voice-leading skeleton from surface level ornaments in free compositions, such as arias: Every aria is basically nothing more than a chorale composed according to the most correct declamation, in which each syllable of the text has one note, which is more or less embellished according to the demands of expression. The true basis of beauty in an aria always depends on the simple melody that is left when all its decorative notes are eliminated. If this simple melody is incorrect in terms of declamation, progression, or harmony, mistakes cannot be hidden by embellishment.52
In sharp contrast to the seventeenth century, Kirnberger views a chorale’s underlying elaboratio as a two-voiced structure for the bass and soprano. He should first compose an elaboratio that is musically satisfying in its own right, embellished with decoratio patterns. His reduction of two arias demonstrates these two levels.53 The opening two phrases of an aria from Tamerlano, by Carl Heinrich Graun, embellish a “Do-Re-Mi” schema with neighbor-tone motions and using suspensions and a single chordal leap in measure 7.
52 Kirnberger, The Art of Strict Musical Composition, 235. 53 Such reductive analyses were quite rare in the eighteenth century. Spiridion’s cadentiae are inverted reductions; however, Johann David Heinichen provides voice-leading reductions in his Generalbass in der Composition [1728].
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Figure 2.40. Kirnberger’s reduction of Tamerlano
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The opening of the second aria, “Silla”, has a similar melodic shape with Schneller figures.
Figure 2.41. Kirnberger’s two-level reduction of an aria from Graun’s Silla to decoratio structures (a, b) based on its elaboratio framework (c)
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In one of his examples, Kirnberger provides a five-part harmonization of Ach Gott vom Himmel where the melody is in the alto voice. The descending “Mi-Re-Do” in the
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melody, in m. 2, is harmonized with contrary motion in the bass and the repeated ^5 in mm. 2-3 is harmonized with a chromatic neighbor in the bass. This reflects the aesthetic of J. S. Bach, following strict voice-leading principles: Figure 2.42. Kirnberger’s harmonization of Ach vom Himmel sieh darein
Kirnberger provides 26 different bass lines for Ach Gott und Herr, wie gross und schwer to demonstrate these lines’ potential to highlight the meaning of the text and connect or disrupt phrases with harmonic rhythm. In figure 2.43 I have listed #’s 18-26. Putnam Aldrich discussed the ways that Kirnberger uses harmony to both articulate or avoid articulation of melodic phrases and phrase divisions.54
54 Putnam Aldrich: “Rhythmic Harmony as Taught by Johann Philipp Kirnberger,” in Studies in Eighteenth-Century Music: A Tribute to Karl Geiringer on His Seventieth Birthday, ed. H. C. Robbins Landon (New York: Oxford University Press, 1970), 37–52.
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Figure 2.43. Kirnberger’s harmonizations of Ach vom Himmel
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In harmonizations 20 and 26, Kirnberger uses secondary dominants to emphasize certain words (such as “gross”) and to connect ending phrases with the first notes of the next phrase. Putnam writes: “[a] dissonant chord totally negates the feeling of a phrase division (even though the melody here has all the characteristics of a cadence) and makes further progression even more necessary.”55 For the same reason, connecting words such as und are also harmonized with more dissonant harmonies. An experienced eighteenthcentury organist would have selected a Zwischenspiele to separate or a secondary dominant to connect chorale phrases in improvised congregational accompaniments, and would have followed the meaning of the words. Kirnberger’s examples provide various schemata for accompanying chorales.
In addition to his bicinium, Kirnberger provides examples of three- and four-voice structures on Ach von Himmel sieh uns darein. His trio on the same chorale, like his bicinium, opens with a Vorimitation section followed by the cantus firmus entrance in the middle voice. The opening is a two-voice invertible counterpoint followed by a modulation to the subdominant and the dominant with salti composti figures:
55 Aldrich, Rhythmic Harmony as Taught by Johann Philipp Kirnberger, 32.
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Figure 2.44. Kirnberger’s trio on Ach vom Himmel
Doppelschlag figures are particularly idiomatic in parallel thirds and sixths such as in measures 6 and 7. In the following four-part setting of Es ist das Heil Kirnberger uses similar figures to fill third leaps in all voices.
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Figure 2.45. Kirnberger’s quartet on Ach vom Himmel
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The extensive eight-note patterns that connect third leaps most certainly have a pedagogical intent. Students in composition recognized the easiest places to ornament and started with the most idiomatic and convenient patterns to do so.
Chapter III: Model-based Improvisations The function of memorized elements in improvisation is best illustrated with model compositions. As I showed earlier, the interaction between decoratio and elaboratio is the most generative level for improvisation. In the following model compositions, decoratio and dispositio are closely modeled on repertoire so that we can learn from the way past improvisatory masters have handled certain problems. Great repertoire shows great solutions for different problems: for example in the opening chorus of the cantata Nun komm der heiden Heiland, BWV 61, Bach applies French decoratio patterns to a chorale setting, which is a challenging compositional task. In the following sample improvisations I will use decoratio and dispositio material from two of Bach’s compositions and alter them to fit a different chorale melody. I will first analyze the two pieces focusing on their decoratio patterns, and then I apply these patterns to the melodies of Freu dich sehr and Aus tiefer Not.
One of the best examples of omnes versus 56 chorale preludes is J. S. Bach’s O Lamm Gottes Unschuldig, BWV 656, which effectively merges two genres: seventeenth-century cantus firmus and figurative chorale variations. Throughout the piece, the figurations are applied to all voices equally, while preserving the chorale melody largely unadorned. Nikolaus Decius’ three-versed chorale “O Lamb of God Pure and Holy” is a substitute for the Agnus Term usually applied to cantatas: each verse corresponds to a movement, in this case to a variation. 56
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Dei in the Lutheran Ordinary Mass, which, by the eighteenth century became an accepted Lenten Hymn.57 Theological allegories are present throughout Bach’s setting. For example, he has set the melody in three verses, with one variation for each voice in descending order: soprano, alto and bass. This registral descent reflects the centrality of incarnation and suffering in Lutheran doctrine as represented Decius’ text: Jesus paid the price for human sin by his redemption through suffering on the cross. The piece has many direct Trinitarian representations: the opening major triad on “Lamb of God” has long been associated with the Trinity, the first and second verses have three voices and the piece is in a three-sharp key signature, also symbolizing the Trinity and the cross. Decius uses the same words for the all three verses.58
The form of BWV 656 is quite simple: it consists of three sections, two three-voiced, manualiter settings and a four-voiced pedaliter setting. The first verse uses scalar motions, the second cross motives, and the third is a beautiful wave-shaped melody in triple meter rounded with a double-metered coda. This dispositio provides a gradual increase of intensity in volume (assuming the organist adds stops for each verse), in texture (the addition of the pedal for the last verse), and rhythm (tripled motions and fast diminutions in the coda). BWV 656’s decoratio complements its dispositio. Bach uses perfect patterns: the scalar motions in the first verse are consonant and soothing, the cross motives of the second verse provide rhythmic and harmonic tension between the melody and the two voices; and finally the opening motive of the third verse evokes soothing and comforting feelings.
57 Anne Leahy, J. S. Bach’s Leipzig Chorale Preludes, ed. Robin A. Leaver, (Lantham, Md.: The Scarecrow Press, 2011), 95. 58 Lutheran Service Book (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2006).
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The first variation opens with the ornamented versions of the chorale accompanied by Schleifer and Doppelschlag figures in the alto line. These are very flexible patterns that ensure the variations’ strong imitative character. Bach accents this entrance with a subtle voice exchange typical for keyboard writing of the period: he allows a “false” entrance for the CF, then drops the extra accompanying voice in measure 11. Measure 10 is the most dense measure texturally in this verse, which prepares the climax of the cantus firmus entrance: Figure 3.1. Cantus firmus entrance in the top voice
Bach uses figuration for textural contrast between phrases of the chorale. Below is a a long Schleifer passage in unison that marks the formal division between the chorale’s Stollen and Abgesang sections: Figure 3.2. Formal articulation with texture
In the second variation, the chorale descends to the alto voice, accompanied with the cross motive: a joined chordal skip with a neighbor tone, similar to Printz’s salti composti:
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Figure 3.3. Figures in the second variation
Bach’s equal distribution of passagework is an organic development of melodic embellishments of Böhm-type variations. Improvising such decoratio figures requires memorizing various augmented harmonizations of the chorale that can be embellished with passagework in any voice. The last variation is marked by the entrance of the pedal, and a shift from double to triple meter. The opening motive mimics the ascending and descending shape of the chorale melody, followed by a coda that recycles scalar motions of the first verse.
BWV 656 may provide dispositio and decoratio patterns for improvisation. An improviser can use its formal structure and decoratio patterns or any combination of those. In the following example, I have kept Bach’s decoratio and applied to the melody of Freu dich sehr in three variations following the dispositio of BWV 656. The first variation uses scalar patterns, while the second uses the cross motive and a wave-shaped melody, stolen from Bach. The main difficulty was to apply Bach’s decoratio to the elaboratio framework of Freu Dich Sehr. First, I had to use a rhythmic variant of the chorale to fit the 3/2 time signature of Bach’s dispositio:
Figure 3.4. Original melody by Louis Bourgeois
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Figure 3.5. Version by Pachelbel
In verse I, I had to alter the descending Schleifer motive of BWV 656 in order to line it up with the chorale. The main decoratio pattern of the first verse is:
Figure 3.6. Main decoratio pattern in variation I.
The length of decoratio patterns varies according to their metric position in relation to the chorale melody. Similarly to Dutch cantus coloratus techniques, an improviser needs to be flexible enough to apply learned patterns to a recognized schema. In our case this also means distributing figurations equally between the inner voices. On beat three in m. 1, for example, the scalar figure lands on the F# harmonizing with the bass, as suggested by the “Do-Re-Mi” schemata. However, on beat two of m. 2 there is no time to conclude the figure in a similar direction, which would have created parallel fifths between the soprano and bass. To keep the rhythmic flow constant, the eighth-note motion has to continue with Schneller figures in the alto voice. Technical considerations influence certain passages: for example in measure 3 the alto voice’s comfortable upward Schleifer in a single hand position. Also, in measure 4, the descending alto line is comfortable to play in one hand position.
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Figure 3.7. Schleifer decoratio of BWV 656 as applied to Freu dich sehr
Verse 2 contains more technically demanding passages. The chorale in the middle voice blocks out an important portion of the keyboard that is difficult to cross with figuration. The bass and the soprano lines have a limited range, while the thumb has to play the chorale melody. In a different dispositio, the chorale melody could be played on an Octave 4’ or Cornet 2’ in the pedal, solving these textural problems.
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Figure 3.8. Salti composti decoratio of BWV 656 as applied to Freu dich sehr
Technical convenience is hugely important in determining the choice of improvised patterns. Some patterns, especially the intricate voice leading of BWV 656, are simply too difficult to improvise. Therefore, an improviser would attempt to evoke the essence of the piece using simplified decoratio patterns, altering them according to the demands of the chorale melody and his or her technical limitations:
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Figure 3.9. Triplet decoratio of BWV 656 as applied to Freu dich sehr
The descending decoratio pattern of Bach’s third verse is designed to harmonize with the “Do-Re-Mi” schema of the bass line as transposed to scale degree ^3. In the improvisational learning phase, an improviser would try out all the possibilities to fit this pattern to other basses. Similar to opening notes of O Lamm gottes, the melody of Freu dich sehr opens with a “Do-Re-Mi” schema (not counting the pickup). The improviser would only need to recognize that pattern and transpose its decoratio down a third:
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Figure 3.10. Two transpositions of the triplet decoratio pattern
The second phrase segment of Freu dich sehr requires a slightly different motivic treatment, introducing the C# over the cadential descent to ^5. Figure 3.11. Cadential decoratio patterns
Figure 3.12. Less dissonant cadential pattern
Figure 3.13. Two-voiced cadential pattern
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In the imitatio phase, an improviser would become familiar with the inherent possibilities of any particular decoratio pattern, practice it with different harmonic progressions and would apply it to any given elaboratio in improvised actio. The result is an amalgam of memorized and improvised elements that draws on elements stored subconsciously in long-term memory.
Applicatio: Improvised French Ouverture on Aus tiefer Not In the opening movements of BWV 61 Bach integrates the Advent chorale Nun komm der heiden Heiland in two contrasting ways. First, the chorale is sung by the choir in unison, in a hybrid cantus firmus and chordal treatment, while the orchestra is assigned to ritornelli in a characteristic French Overture form with dotted rhythms and runs. The writing clearly focuses on the challenge of combining the fixed French ouverture form with an innovative cantus firmus treatment. The majestic opening evokes a festive occasion, the first Sunday of the church year and the processional interpretation of the words “Now come, Savior of the Gentiles.” The augmented melody is first quoted in bass of the orchestra, then sung by all four voices in turn, first in unison, then in harmony. The faster fugal section is a transformation of the second line of the chorale into triple meter: Figure 3.14. BWV 61’s middle section derived from the chorale
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The contrast between the free, imitative writing for the choir and the strict canon in the orchestra can be interpreted as the Lutheran distinction between Law and Gospel, the first being the commandments, the second our salvation through Christ’s sacrifice. The original melody of Aus tiefer Not is in the Phrygian mode, as defined by the cadential descent with flat ^2 at the end of the second phrase. I have used the original version, even though many eighteenth-century composers often normalized it to a minor mode:
Figure 3.15. Phrygian and minor versions of Aus tiefer Not
The French character of BWV 61 largely owes to the dotted rhythms and scalar ornamentation that are clearly presented in the opening ritornello. This ritornello is a veritable mini-prelude: it constitutes a phrase model of T-PD-D-T that establishes the tonic and it incorporates the melody of Nun komm den heiden Heiland in the bass:
Figure 3.16. Opening phrase of BWV 61
In the imitatio phase, an improviser needs to personalize the material borrowed from repertoire. I have altered Bach’s ritornello with various bass lines to substitute for the chorale quotation:
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Figure 3.17. Opening phrase of BWV 61 with alternative bass line
In addition to this harmonization, there are many other harmonic solutions, such as harmonizing the melody in b minor (first bass line of the example below). It is also remarkably easy to modulate to the relative major by transposing the second half of the phrase up a third:
Figure 3.18. Opening phrase of BWV 61 with two modulating bass lines
Different bass lines helped me to understand the structural and harmonic potential inherent in Bach’s material. This learning phase was essential for me to have the structural understanding to feel comfortable adapting decoratio and elaboratio to a different chorale melody. The following example shows the dispositio of the opening two phrases of my improvisation on Aus tiefer Not:
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Figure 3.19. Dispositio of my improvised overture
The ritornello is transposed to the last note of the chorale phrase, a standard practice in chorale preludes. The first note of the chorale is ^5, easily harmonized with the tonic. Below is the dispositio of the ritornello, followed by the chorale entrance in the soprano (notated an octave lower): Figure 3.20. Melody in the top voice
When the melody is placed in the bass, the phrase structure expands with an extra measure, which reasserts the tonic followed by a direct modulation to the dominant. The cantus firmus in the pedal repeats the tonic-dominant-tonic progression, resulting in a repetitive elaboratio structure. Figure 3.22. Melody in the bass with extra measure
Adding decoratio patterns make this harmonization possible, but it is harder to embellish repetitive harmonic structures lacking clear harmonic goals. Therefore, it is preferable to use a harmonic progression or a secondary dominant to transition from the ritornello to the cantus firmus entrance:
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Figure 3.21. Melody in the bass
Such details of structure are often decided during the improvised actio, even though these choices more immediately influence the elaboratio of the material and have implications on the dispositio as well. As we have seen in these two applicatio examples, improvised dispositiones are flexible schemes that can accept many different versions, forms of elaboratio and decoratio. Voicing the cantus firmus in the soprano or the bass has major implications on the form, as well as on the harmonic structure of any dispositio: these levels are intricately interconnected.
The rest of the improvisation works according to similar patterns: the chorale melody is harmonized either in the soprano, the pedal, or an inner voice (as in the third phrase, for example) and the ritornelli are transposed to the cadential notes of each phrase, bridging the gaps between them. At the end, I have used a longer cadential formula on a pedal note, similar to a cadenza by Spiridione with a different decoratio patterns.
Conclusion In recent years many musicians have become increasingly interested in historical improvisation techniques, in part because of increased interest in historically informed performance practice. But equally important, Baroque improvisational skills offer us a historical understanding of music theory, which is absent from much music theory education today. I believe that historical improvisation bridges the gap between the two extremes of classical music education: music theory curriculum, which can be overly
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analytical and removed from real music-making, and, at the other extreme, performance education, which can emphasize technical athleticism at the expense of musical understanding. Improvisation necessarily involves the simultaneous use of music theory principles and performance techniques. Beside the pursuit of improvisation as an end in itself, there are benefits of improvisation that are immediately practical to today’s performer: ornamentation, for example, is a crucial expressive element to master for repertoire of the eighteenth century. Even with limited training in the partimento tradition, a keyboard player, for instance, would be able to better distinguish structural notes from embellishments and learn to fluently invent personal ornaments and stylistic alterations in any repertoire. Robert Levin is one great example of this type of performer/composer.
I believe that any organist can and should learn chorale-based improvisations and it should be integrated in every major musical institution’s theory curriculum. I can think of no better way to connect theoretical understanding deeply, on a physical level, with a player’s relationship to his instrument and practical music-making. One might say that improvisation is not an academic subject; I argue that it needs to become one. Many contemporary composers still compose at their instrument, and improvisation was the trigger that made composers of many performers. Improvisation tightens the tactile and sonic relationship between the performer and the instrument, a relationship which has limitless potential for engendering new musical ideas.
Historical improvisation also connects our creative process with our Western musical heritage, as music history connects performance practice with its history. What better way to interact with the music of improvisatory masters such as Bach than by practicing the discipline in which they were saturated? Improvisation is also highly relevant to modern life, musical and otherwise - improvised communication is part of our everyday
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life, and it is the defining characteristic of Jazz. Introducing improvisation to the classical music curriculum for historical styles will make these styles more approachable, flexible and alive. European schools have long excelled in the teaching of improvisation. The organ department of Paris Conservatory, for example, focused on improvisation for much of the nineteenth century. The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, McGill University and the Eastman School of Music have been distinguished by excellent instruction of historically informed performance and improvisation practices. I believe that every student should be given the opportunity to interact with theory and their instrument, learning from this dynamic, inspiring, and challenging element of our musical heritage. Improvisation cements the bond between performer and instrument, just as it did for Bach, and in so doing, the art of improvisation cements our musical bonds with the masters that came before us.
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Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1987. Gebhard, Hans. The Practice of Organ Improvisation: A Method Book. Frankfurt: C.F. Peters, 1987. Gjerdingen, Robert. Music in the Galant Style. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. Krieg, Gustav. Cantus-Firmus Improvisation auf der Orgel. Colone: Verlag Dohr Köln, 2008. Leahy, Anne. J. S. Bach’s Leipzig Chorale Preludes. Lantham: The Scarecrow Press, 2011. McCreless, Patrick. “Music and Rhetoric,” in The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory, edited by Thomas Chirstensen. 848-860 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Porter, William. “Improvisation: Methods and Models,” in Generative Processes in Music, ed. John Slobodan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 129. ______. “Observations Concerning Contrapuntal Improvisation,“ in GOArt Research Reports, vol. 3, ed. Severer Jullander, (Güteborg: Güteborg Organ Art Center, 2003). ______. “Reconstructing 17 -Century North German Improvisational Practice: Notes on the Perambulate with a Report on Pedagogy Used in December 1995,” in GOArt Research Reports, vol. 2, ed. Severer Jullander, 25-40. (Güteborg: Güteborg Organ Art Center, 2000). th
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Shannon, Robert. Improvising in Traditional 17th -18th Harmonic Style. Colfax, NC: Wayne Leupold Editions, 1990. Schubert, Peter. “Counterpoint Pedagogy in the Renaissance,” in Cambridge History of Western Music Theory, edited by Thomas Christensen, 503-533. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Schulenberg, David. “Composition and Improvisation in the School of J. S. Bach,” in Bach Perspectives 1, edited by Russel Stinson, 1-42. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995. Snyder, Kerala. Dietrich Buxtehude: Organist in Lübeck. 2nd ed. Rochester: University of Rochester Press. 2007. Williams, Peter. Figured Bass Accompaniment. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1977. Wolff, Christoph. Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2000. Historical Treatises:
Bach, Johann Sebastian. Vorschriften und Grundsätze zum vierstimmigen Spielen des GeneralBass oder Accompaniment. Leipzig: 1738. Translated by Pamela L. Poulin as J. S. Bach’s Precepts and Principles for Playing the Thorough-Bass or Accompanying in Four Parts. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Heinichen, Johann David. Neu erfundene und gründliche Anweisung … zu volkommener Erlernung des General–Basses. Hamburg: Author,1711. Kirnberger, Johann. The Art of Strict Musical Composition. Translated by David Beach and Jürgen Thym. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982. Morley, Thomas. A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practical Music. ed. R. Alec Harman. 2nd ed. New York: W W Norton, 1973. Niedt, Friedrich Erhard. Die musicalische Handleitung. Hamburg: B. Schiller, 1706-1717.
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Translated by Pamela L. Poulin and Armgard C. Taylor as The Musical Guide. New York: Oxford, 1989. Quantz, Johann Joachim. Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen. Berlin: Johann Friedrich Voss, 1752. Translated by Edward R. Reilly as On Playing the Flute. New York: Schirmer, 1985. Spiridionis a Monte Carmelo. Nova Instructio pro Pulsandis Organis. Bamberg, Immel: 1670. Repub., edited by Eduardo Bellotti. Colledara: Andromeda, 2008.
Türk, Daniel Gottlob. Von den wichtigsten Pflichten eines Organisten. Halle: 1787. Translated by Margot Ann Greenlimb Woolard as On the Role of the Organist in Worship. Lantham: The Scarecrow Press, 2000. Wiedeburg, Michael Johann-Friedrich. Der sich selbst informierende Clavierspieler, oder deutlicher und leichter Unterricht zur Selbstinformation mi Clavierspielen. HalleLeipzig: Verlag der Buchlandung der Weissenhauses, 1765-1775.
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