harpsichord in continuo

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The Role of the Keyboard Continuo in French Opera 1673-1776

Author(s): Graham SadlerSource: Early Music, Vol. 8, No. 2, Keyboard Issue 2 (Apr., 1980), pp. 148-157Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3126772Accessed: 31-10-2015 17:24 UTC

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2/11

T h e

r o l e

o f

t h e

keyboard

continuo

i n

r e n c h

o p e r a

1673-1776

GRAHAM

SADLER

Nil

t

Iti

J:low.

Im

"W

ts

,?j

- --

A4

~?*,:~:~~

1.

Detail of

a

pen

and

ink and

watercolour

drawing

by

J.

B.

MWtoyen

of

a 'Plan

de

la

Musique

du

Roy,

au Grand Theatre

de Versailles'

(1773),

showing

the orchestral

layout

and

the name of each

player

(Bibliothbque

de

Versailles)

The research

for

this article

was

assisted

by

a

generous

award

from

the

British

Academy

Small Grants

ResearchFund in the

Humanities.

The article

is a

revised

version

of

a

paper

read

to

the

North Midlands

Chapterof

the

Royal

Musical Association

at

Birmingham

University

n November

1978.

'No

piece

can

be

performed

well without the

accom-

paniment

of

a

keyboard

instrument.

In

the

most

powerful

pieces,

in

opera,

even out of

doors,

where

one would

certainly

not

expect

to

hear the least

thing

from the

harpsichord,

one misses

it

when

it

is

not

there."

Such a

categorical

statement,

from

C.

P. E.

Bach

in

1762,

attractively

traightforwardhough

it

may

be

as

a rule

of

thumb or the modern

performer,

needs

considerable

qualification.

For even

if

we

exclude

performances given

under

inadequate

conditions,2

here

remains much

evidence that

the

absence

of

keyboard

and

other

chord-playing

continuo instrumentswas

thought

by many

to

be

perfectly atisfactory,

ven desirable

n

certain

ircum-

stances. There

are,

for

example,

accounts

of

such

noted violinists

as

Anet,

Guignon

and Veracinieach

content o

play

with

accompaniment

f no more than

a

melodic

bass.3

We also have nnumerable

itle

pages

7\Yc~~b

~ ? i s ~

h~~P

~ s ?

r e & ~LIL

"P

40Ci~x

~~~Al

:oil

148

EARLY

MUSIC

APRIL 1980



3/11

of

ensemble music

specifying

a continuo section

of

'cello

or

harpsichord';4

and while these must

be

inter-

preted

as

'cello

or

harpsichord

or

both',

they

never-

theless show that

omission

of

the

keyboard

was at least

acceptable,

and not

always necessarily

second best.'

In

addition to this

optional

omission,

composers

sometimes

deliberately

excluded the

keyboard

and

other chord-playing instruments from certainsections

of works with

directions such as

senza

cembalo r senza

continuo.

For

much

of

Europe,

this

practice

does not

appear

to

follow

any

predictable pattern.

In

France,

however,

there is

clear

yet

little-known evidence that

a more

systematic

and extensive

omission

of

these

instruments

was

regularly practised,

at least

in

the field

of

opera.

It was first noted

quite

some time

ago by

several French

scholars:

Henry

Prunieres,

writing

on

the

Lully

operas,

stated that 'the

harpsichord

and wind

instruments,

unless

specifically

indicated,

do not

take

part

in

the

performance

of the

airs de

ballet,

which are

reserved for the strings . .6 Similarly, Paul-Marie

Masson claimed that

'Rameau

temporarily

omitted

the

harpsichord part

in

many

of

the instrumental

passages

of his

operas,

not

only

in

the

symphonies

ut also

in

the

accompaniment

of

certain

airs.'7

But

because such

conclusions were

supported

by

little

real

evidence,

few

have

paid

them the attention

they

deserve,

and

it

would therefore be of

benefit to scholars and

per-

formers

if

the

evidence behind

these statements were

set out

in

some detail. This

article is thus

concerned

not so

much

with what

the

keyboard

continuo

played

as

with

where t

played;

it is

also

restricted

to

perform-

ance

at the Paris

Opera

(the

Academie

Royale

de

Musique)

and

at the

French

Court.

The French attitude to

figuring

As the evidence stems

largely

from

the

pattern

of

figuring

in

much of the

primary

source

material,

it is

important

that we

first

examine the

French attitude

in

general.

Jean-Jacques

Rousseau describes

it

thus: 'It

is

the fashion

in

France

to

load the

basses with a

jumble

of useless

figures. They

figure everything,

even

the

most obvious chords, and he who adds the most

figures

believes himself the most

learned.'8 With

his

characteristic

bias

against

French musical

customs,

Rousseau is

clearly

exaggerating, though perhaps

not

excessively.

Elsewhere,9

he

goes

so far as to

accuse

Rameau of

causing

this

state of

affairs;

and,

while this

too is

obviously

an

over-simplification,

it

is

certainly

true

that French

composers-particularly

those of

Rameau's

generation

and

later-do

figure

their

basses

very

thoroughly,

and

necessarily

so,

given

the richness

of

so

much

of

their

harmony.

The

contrast here with

Italian

practice,

or more

especially

with

Italian

opera,

is

obvious,

and was

already

noted

in

the 18th

century:

'The

Italians

despise

figures',

writes

Rousseau

in

the

Encyclopidie;'o

the

score itself is

hardly

necessary

to them. The

quickness

and

good quality

of their

ears

compensate

for

it,

and

they

accompany

well

without all this

apparatus.'

Significantly

enough,

Rameau

picks up

this

very

point

in

his Erreursur

a

musique

ans

l'Encyclopidie,"

escrib-

ing

it

as

a

'frivolous

remark' and

continuing:

'Without

figures

or

score,

the least

experienced [player

can]

accompany

rondeaux

hat

almost

always

revolve around

2. Detail of a sketchby C. N. Cochinfilsof a scene from Rameau's

LaPrincessee

Navarre,

s

staged

n

the Grande

Ecurie,

Versailles,

in

1745

Paris,

Mus&e

e

l'Op~ra)

il

:.

~7,

.77.

..T

.r...

n

:: P :

V-2

Milk A..t-'?9

Alp~

~1L

?.?-?...

.

~

,

"

.

l

im

EARLY

MUSIC APRIL 1980 149



4/11

two

or

three related

keys.

But

when

it

comes

to

those

modulations of

which the ear cannot be

forewarned

...

that is

where

the

greatest

talents

run

aground

in

the

absence

of

the

[Thoroughbass]

Method.'

Whatever

the

Italian

practice

may

have

been,

it is

clear that

in

France

careful

figuring

was

regarded

as

essential

to

successful

continuo

playing,

an attitude which

helps explain

the

large

number

of

18th-century

French manuals

mainly

devoted to the

simple

realizationof

figures.

Rameau's

figuring

pattern

Our

suspicions

must

surely

be aroused when

we notice

that

many

French

opera

scores,

while

copiously

figured

in

certain

places,

are

regularly

devoid of

figures

in others.

Nor is the

presence

or absence

of

figures

purely

random;

rather,

we

find a

clearly

defined

pattern.

In

investigating

this

pattern,

it is

simpler

to start

not with

Lully

and

the

beginnings

of

French

opera

but with

the

operas

of

Rameau,

for

in

this

later

period

(1733-64)

the

evidence

is

not

only

more

plentiful

but also more conclusive. The source

materials

that

particularly

concern

us are

those which

either

have

the

direct

authority

of

Rameau

himself

or

which

derive

from

early performances

at

the

Op6ra

or

at Court.

They

are: the

dozen

or

so

autograph

or

part-

autograph

scores,

together

with

those

manuscripts

known

to have

been

copied

from

autographs;12

the

surviving

proofs

of the

18th-century

editions

of

certain

operas,

several

containing

detailed

autograph

correc-

tions,

including

some

to the

figuring

(Rameau

clearly

thought

the

figures

too

important

to leave

to a

pub-

lisher's assistant);13 he original editions themselves,

the

production

of which

we

know

to have

been

over-

seen

by

Rameau;

and

lastly

the

regrettably

small

number

of

basse-continue

arts

deriving

from

perform-

ances

at

the

Opera

or

at Court.14

(It

is

worth

remembering

that

the

harpsichordist

at these

per-

formances

played

from

a

part

giving

the bass line

only,

except

in

the

recitative,

where

the

vocal

line

was

usually

added.)

The

pattern

of

figuring

that all

these

scores

and

parts

show

is,

almost

without

exception,

very

straight-

forward:

figures

are abundant

in the solo vocal

music,

including simple and accompanied recitative, airs,

duets

and other

ensembles.

They

are

absent,

however,

from

the

overtures,

the

dances

and

self-contained

symphonies,

nd

the

choruses.

The

extent

of

this lack

of

figuring

can

be seen

at its

most

extreme

in the

pro-

logues

and divertissements,

with their

large

number

of

choruses

and

instrumental

items.

Of the

24

move-

ments

in the

prologue

to

Les

Indes

galantes,

only

a

quarter

are

figured,

and

the

first

figuring

does

not

appear

until

the

seventh

item. A

glance

through

the

volumes

of Rameau's (Euvres

complhtes,

hich

for

all

their editorial

shortcomings,

do

not

normally

distort

the

figuring

pattern,

will

confirm

that

this distribution

is not

particularly

exception

in

such

places.'"

Before

jumping

to what

may

seem

the obvious

con-

clusion,

let

us

consider

an

alternative

explanation.

Could

there have

been,

for

example,

a second

harpsi-

chordist,

an

organist

or even a theorbo

player

who

realized

a

separate

set of

figures

now

lost?

Such

a

suggestion

can

easily

be dismissed: we

are well

supplied

with

lists

of

the

Opera personnel

during

the

period

of

Rameau's

operas,

and

there

is

no indication

of

more than one

harpsichordist

in

the

orchestra at

that

time.'6

Similarly,

we

may

dismiss

the

various

organ parts

preserved

in the

Bibliotheque

nationale,

for

almost all

originate

from

performances

in

and

around

Lille,

some

as late

as the 1770s

or

80s.'7

As for

the two

theorbo

players

listed as

still

belonging

to

the

Opera orchestra in

1719,18

there is no evidence that

they

remained

until

Rameau's

time.

(For

an admit-

tedly

late

seating-plan

see

illus.

1.)

The

only

realistic

explanation

is

that

in

Rameau's

day

the

single harpsi-

chordist either did

not

play

during

the

purely

orches-

tral

music and choruses

or at most

played

the bass

line

only,

either

tasto

solo

(at

pitch)

or

all'unisono

doubling

an octave above

or

below).

There

is,

moreover,

one

further

piece

of evidence

which

makes such

a con-

clusion

virtually

incontestable.

It comes

from a

set

of

117

vocal and

orchestral

parts,

not

of

a

Rameau

opera

but

of Andre

Campra's

Achille

et

Deidamie,

deriving

from the work's first

performances

at the

Opera

in

1735.

The set is

an

especially

convenient

one because

it

is

more

nearly complete

than

any

of the

comparable

Rameau

sets

and,

since

Achille was

never

revived,

contains

few

revisions

and

substitutions

to

complicate

matters.

The

table

below

lists

the

nine

parts

which

between

them

make

up

the

bass

line,

with

the

player's

names

and

their

function:

Andre

Campra,

Achille

t

Deidamie

1735).

Bass

parts

in

Bibliotheque

de

l'Opera

Materiel

18.

[1

(1-117)

Mat. 18 [1 (109) Bassons MrrBrunelle

,,

(110)

Bassons

Mrs

Lenoire

et Chedville

,,

(111)

Bassons

Mrs

Pierpont

et Chedville

,,

(112)

B[asse]

d[e]

v[iolon]

Mrs

Le

Large

et Habram

,,

(113)

B.d.v.

M

rs

Leclerc

et

L'AbC

,,

(114)

B.d.v.

Mrs

Marchand

et

Barriere

,,

(115)

B.d.v.

Mrs

Francoeur

et

Paris

,,

(116)

B[asse]

c[ontinue]

Mrs

Monteclair

et

Charon

[figured]

,,

(117)

B.c.

Mrs

Baudyet

L'Abe

[unfigured]

150

EARLY

MUSIC

APRIL

1980



5/11

1?

IU-I

-

w-

9A',

9 4

1

1W ist-

itII T l Jim

I rw

I

A i

f=-

,

iI

Al

II

o

er

rtJ.

it~*\*

Campra,

Achille t

DWidamie

Paris,

Bibliotheque

de

I'Opera,

Mat. 18

[1]

above left

and

right,

ex.

1,

'M.rs

Francoeuret Paris'

pp.

1-2;

below

right,

ex.

2,

'M.rs

Monteclair et

Chiron'

p.

I

Of

the four basse

continue

players,

L'Ab6

(Labb6)

and

probably Baudy on part 117 were bassede violonplayers,

which

by

this date

simply

meant cellists.

Sharing part

116,

Michel

Pignolet

de

Mont&clair,

the

composer

and

theorist,

had

long

been a

double-bass and

basse de

violon

player

in

the

Op6ra

orchestra,

while Andre

Ch6ron

was the

Opera's harpsichordist

from

1734 to

1737.'9

Not

surprisingly,

figuring

is

absent

in

part

117

with

its two cellists

but

present

in 116 for

Cheron's

benefit.20

When

we

compare

all these

bass

parts

with

each

other

and

with

the

score,

several

important

features

emerge.

Exx.

1

and

2 show

successively

the

first two

pages of one of' the basse de violon parts and the

first

page

of

the

figured

basse

continue.21

The

first

eight

lines

of

ex.

1

comprise

a French

overture

in A

minor. In

ex.

2, however,

this is

simply

not to

be

found.

Instead,

the

placing

of

the

word 'ouverture'

shows the continuo

players

that their

first

piece

is

the

D

major

'Prelude' that we also find

on line 9 of

ex.

1.

This is

in

fact an air

sung by

La

Gloire,

and

her first

words,

'Deux

mortels',

are

given

as a cue

in

both

parts.

EARLY

MUSIC

APRIL 1980

151



6/11

It is

only

after

this

cue,

however,

that

the

figuring

begins

in

the

basse

continue

part

(ex.

2).

Moreover,

it

ceases

whenever

the

singer

rests

(e.g.

line

3,

bars

8-10;

line

5,

bars

5-7),

the

equivalent

bars in

ex.

1 being

characteristically

marked

fort.

After

La

Gloire's

air,

both

parts

contain

the

'Entree

de

Melpomene',

but,

as

this is

a

purely

instrumental

movement,

ex.

2

is

sig-

nificantly

without

figuring.

The last

three

lines of

the

bassecontinueconsist of recitative and

petits

airs,

all

care-

fully

figured

and

with

verbal

incipits

('Gloire',

'au

merite'

etc.).

In ex.

1,

on

the other

hand,

the first

17

bars of this

recitative are not

present;

instead,

the

words 'mille

nouveaux

attraits'-the last

words of

the

omitted

passage-are

given

as a

cue,

and the basse

de

violon

players

join

the

basse

ontinue

t 'De

l'empire'.

In

ex.

1

this

leads to a chorus

'Que

la

Gloire',

but

in

ex.

2

the word

'Choeur' in the

bottom

right-hand

corner

shows

that once

again

a

movement has been

omitted.

This

pattern

of

alternating

omissions and of

partial

figuring continues throughout the two sets of parts.

Predictably,

the

passages

omitted

from

the

basse

continue

are all either instrumental movements

or

choruses,

while those omitted from the bassesde violon

are

recitatives,

petits

airsand certain

passages

played

by

bassoons

only. Predictably

too,

the

unfiguredpassages

in

ex.

2

all

occur where the

solo

singers

are

silent.

From

time

to

time

in

the

figured

passages,

we

find

that

somebody-presumably

Charon

himself-has

added

supplementary figuring

carelessly

omitted

by

the

original

copyist.

One

example

of

this can

be

seen

in

ex. 3: both the flat

and the

near-horizontal

stroke

have

been

pencilled

in

above the

3

bar

(line

1),

though

the

distinction between

this and

the

copyist's pen

is

not

clear

in

a

photograph.

4 4

41

e/qt

'//// i @

Ex.

3.

Campra,

Achille

t

Ddidamie

source

identical

to ex.

2),

p.

3

Here

then

is

our conclusive

proof;

for if Andre'

Charon

was the only chord-playing continuo playerin

the

orchestra,

he cannot

have

played

those move-

ments

not

contained

in his

part,

and the fact that he

felt

the

need

to add

supplementary

figures

to

the

part-but

only

to

passages

which were

already

figured-makes

it even

less

likely

that he

played

in the

lengthy

unfigured

passages.

These

must have been

included

for the

benefit

of

Mont&clair,

who shared the

part.

In other

sets

of

original

Opera

parts,

including

those of

the

Rameau

operas,

the

extent of

such

un-

figured

passages

is

actually

greater,

since

it

was more

normal to

include

the

unfigured

bass

line

of

the

over-

ture,

choruses and

dances.22

From

the

evidence of

the

Achille

parts,

however,

we

can

be

virtually

certain that

all

such

passages

were to

be

played

by

the

basses

de

violon

alone,

or

with

harpsichord

tasto olo

at most.

The

most

striking

feature

about the

distribution

of

figuring

in

French

operas

of this

period

is

the

extent to

which it

reflects

the

presence

or

absence of

solo

voices.

In

the

Rameau

operas,

only

a

handful

of

the

many

hundreds

of

instrumental

movements

are

figured

in

reliable sources.

Yet

where,

as

commonly

happens,

a

dance

is

followed

by

a

vocal

parodie,

n

which

precisely

the

same music

is

sung

by

one of

the

soloists,

we find

that

the

harpsichord,

having

remained

silent

during

the

dance,

is then

required

to

accompany

the

singer.23

Similarly,

in

choruses which

incorporate

passages

for

the

solo

singers,

the

figuring pattern

shows

that

the

harpsichord joined in only during the soloists'

passages,

even

though

these

may

last

for

as little

as

one

or

two bars.24

In

the

solo

vocal

pieces

themselves,

Rameau's

pattern

of

figuring

changed

as

he

grew

older.

In

his

earlier

operas,

the basses of

these

pieces,

including

their

ritornellos,

are

normally fully

figured.

Indeed,

we sometimes

find

lengthy,

fully-scored

instrumental

preludes

which are

carefully figured

simply

because towards

the end a

solo

voice

enters-

perhaps

only

to

make-a

transition within a few

bars

to

simple

recitative.25

At

this

stage,

Rameau

evidently

felt

that if the

harpsichord

was

required

towards

the

end

of

the movement to

accompany

the

singer,

it

might

as

well

play

from

the start.

In

his

later

operas,

however,

figuring

is

often

omitted

from the

ritornellos

(see

ex.

4);

although

we

have

already

seen

an

instance of

this

in

Campra's

Achille

et

Diidamie (1735),

it

was

only

in

the

later

1740s

that

Rameau

began

to

adopt

the

practice.

Rameau's

younger

contemporaries

Even

then,

Rameau

did not

go

as far as some of his

contemporaries.

In the

operas

of

Dauvergne,

Laborde,

Philidor and others (produced from the late 1750s

onwards)

it is not

uncommon

to find

that

figuring

is

absent

not

only

from

all the instrumental movements

and

choruses

but also

from the more

fully-scored

arias.

Dauvergne's

Les

Fetes

d'Euterpe

1758)

provides

a

good

example,

for

we have a set of

original

Opera

parts

and a

full score.26Of the nine arias in the first

entrie

of this

opira-ballet,

eight

are

accompanied

by

four-part

strings

at

least,

and none

of these

eight

is

152

EARLY

MUSIC

APRIL 1980



7/11

tr,~? ckMr,t?

,?,,.,

t n i

,,

10

'o

J-

IbI

--ALIAt

i

Ex. 4.

Rameau,

La Naissance

'Osiris,

utograph

score

(Paris,

Bibliotheque

de

l'Opfra,

Res.

206),

p.

15

figured.

The

remaining

aria has

a

much

lighter

accom-

paniment

of solo flute and

continuo,

and

here,

not

surprisingly, the basse continuepartbook is copiously

figured.

From the distribution

of the

remaining

figures

in

this

book,

it

is

clear

that the

harpsichordist's

role

in

this

opera

was limited

to little

more

than

the

accom-

paniment

of

the

recitatives."2

We can thus see the

process

which

led to the

eventual

abandoning

of the

harpsichord

at the

Opera.

Indeed,

Grimm

tells

us that

in

1770,

when Rameau's

Zoroastre

as

revived,

there

was

no

keyboaird

instru-

ment

in

the

orchestra

at

all.28

The

harpsichord

did,

in

fact,

linger

on for

a

few more

years;

but with

the

arrival

in

Paris of

Gluck's

operas

in

the mid-1770s

there must have seemed even less reason for retaining

it,

for not even

the recitatives now

required keyboard

accompaniment.

After 1776 it ceases to

appear

in

the

annual

listing

of

the

Opera

orchestra

published

in

the

Almanach

des

spectacles.

Having

so

far considered

only

the final

stages

of

the

harpsichord's

deployment

at

the

Opira,

we must

now

return to

the

operas

of

Lully,

where the

evidence

will

be

easier to

interpret

n

the

light

of

later

practice.

In the absence

of

autograph

manuscripts

of the

Lully

operas

or of

bassecontinue

partbooks

which can

be

linked

indisputably

with the

first

performances

in

the

1670s

and

80s,

the

most

reliable

source material

for our

present purpose

is

the set

of full-scores

printed

by

Christophe

Ballard from 1679 onwards. If

we

examine these in the order in which the

operas

were

composed, a patternof figuringdoes emerge, but with

a

number

of

puzzling

inconsistencies.

If,

on the other

hand,

we restrict

ourselves

to

those editions

printed

during Lully's

lifetime,29

he

production

of

which was

almost

certainly supervised

by

the

composer

himself,

then all but the most trivial inconsistencies

disappear.

The

pattern

in

Lully's operas

The

distribution of

figuring

in

these scores

is

broadly

as

follows: the

unfigured passages

at

this

stage

are limited

to

the

airs

de ballet

and

many

of

the other

independent

symphonies-including,

as a

rule,

the overture.

This

means

that,

in addition to the solo vocal

music,

figuring

is

also

found

in

the

choruses and

in

a number

of those instrumental movements

paradoxically

en-

titled

ritournelle

ven

though

they

do not

normally

'recur'.

Such

ritournelles

re more

likely

to be

figured

if

they

are

for two

violins

and

bass than

if

they

involve

the full

five-part

orchestra.30

An

important

feature

of

Lully's

figuring pattern

is

that the

presence

or

absence

of

figuring

is

closely

linked with the

presence

or

absence

of

the

words

BASSE-

CONTINUE.f a

piece

does contain

figuring,

these words

will normally appear not just at the beginning of the

movement but underneath

every

system

of

the

piece.

We

do

not, however,

find this

indication

in move-

ments which lack

figuring."3

t is

surprising

that this

simple

fact

(clearly

demonstrated

by

ex.

5,

from

Acis

et

Galatie)

s so little known. Yet almost without

excep-

tion we find a

clear

distinction

in

these scores between

the line marked BASSE-CONTINUEnd the line

(usually

unlabelled)

to be

played

by

the

bassesde violon

of the

grand

cheur

(ripieno).

In

many

choruses,

these two

lines

may

be identical

apart

from

the

continuo

figuring,

and

yet they

are

printed separately through-

out. The distinction is clearlyseen, too, in ex. 6 where

an

ensemble of solo

voices

accompanied

only

by

con-

tinuo contrasts with the full chorus and orchestra. The

orchestral basses

(second

stave

up)

are

given

a

separate

line even

though they merely

double

the

notes of

the

continuo

part.

Where these two

groups

of instru-

ments are

required

to

play together

in movements

other than

choruses,

they usually

share the same

stave,

which

bears the words

'Basse-continui

et de

violon'-

EARLY MUSIC

APRIL 1980

153



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paii

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Vls

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fafst.

Above:

Ex.

5.

Lully,

Roland

Ballard:

1685),

pp.

118-19

Below: Ex.

6. Ballard's

1686

edition

ofAcis et

Galatte,

pp.

xxviii

and xxix

l.

ACIS

&.

1

A

L

A':TIPFTRACGEDI

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9/11

again,

under each

system.

Sometimes

the

contrast

between

the two

groups

is

exploited

(as

in ex.

7,

from

Persee),

yet always

the contrasts are

clearly

labelled,

and,

inevitably,

such

figuring

as there

is

appears

only

in

the sections marked

for the

basse ontinue.

On

its

own,

this

exceptionally

close link between

the

presence

of

figuring

and basse ontinue

markingsmight

not

entirely satisfy

the

sceptic

that as

early

as the

1670s

27Z

E

KR

E

E,

nou.

Vangcons

Mcdufe,vgc6s

nous,vange6s-

os.VangeonsMcdu(e,vwge6s

ous,v

geo

nous.

VaIgCons

Medufc,vigc6s-nous,vangc6s

nous.VangconMcdufc,vigc6s

nous,vrgcons-

violons.

1?-Coatbiu2.

Violons.

Baffc-Cuntmai.

Ex.

7.

Lully,

Pers

e

(Ballard:

1682),

p.

172

and 1680s

the

chord-playing

continuo

instruments

remained

silent

during

the

symphonies.

ut,

quite apart

from the

clear connection with later

practice

at

the

Opera,

we have one other

piece

of

evidence,

con-

tained

in

a set of printed partbooks of Lully's Isis

issued

by

Ballard

in

1677-again,

during

the

com-

poser's

lifetime and

almost

certainly

with his

approval.32

In

this

set,

the basse

continue

part

is

quite

separate

from

the

basse

de

violon,

and its

title

page

runs

significantly

as

follows:

'Basse

continue.

Qui

comprend

toute

la

Piece,

excepte

les

Airs

de

Danse

qui

sont

dans la

Basse de

Violon.'33

Presumably

these

part-

books were

issued

for

private

performances,

and

were

not

used

(as

far as we

know)

by

the

Opera

orchestra.

Yet

the

exclusion of

such

movements

must add

strong

support

to the

evidence in

the

scores,

for it is

difficult

to see why else the instrumental pieces should have

been omitted if

this

had not

been

established

practice

at

the

Opera.

The

practice

itself

may

be

older

still,

for

most of

the

airs

de

danse

in

Lully's

ballets

also

lack

figures.

The

evidence

here

is

inconclusive,

however,

as

figures

are

almost

as

often

absent from

the

vocal

pieces,

and

the

number

of

figured

dances

is

substan-

tial

enough

to

cast

doubt on

the

idea."4 We

also

know

that the

ballets

used a

very

large

number of

continuo

instruments,

and it is

unlikely

that these were

reserved

for the

comparatively

small number

of

vocal

movements.35

In

the

operas,

Lully

was to reduce

the size of

his

continuo

section,

though

in addition to

harpsichord

and basses

de viole it still included

two

theorbos,

at

least.36

But,

while it is

rarely possible

to

specify

where

each of these instruments

played,

we can now

be

sure of the movements in which none of them

played,

even

if the

number of these is

comparatively

small

by

later standards.

From

Lully

to

Rameau

The

consistency

of the

figuring pattern

in the

printed

scores

appearing

during

Lully's

lifetime is almost

as

impressively

consistent

as in Rameau's scores of half

a

century

later.37

Unfortunately,

this

consistency

was

not

maintained

during

the

intervening

period.

In the

early

years

after

Lully's

death,

it is

true,

disciples

such

as

Collasse

produced

full scores which

in their

distribu-

tion of

figuring

follow

Lully

to the

letter.38

But it soon

became more common

to issue

operas

in

reduced

score,

with

the inner

parts

of chorus and

orchestra

normally

omitted. To

compensate

for the

omissions,

many

of

these scores were

figured throughout,

and this

practice frequently

extended

to the

smaller number of

full

scores that

appeared during

those

years.

The

further

removed a score is

from

the

original

perform-

ances,

the more

likely

it is

to be

entirely figured;

a

number

of

fully-figured

second and third

editions

survive of

operas

whose

first

editions follow

the now-

familiarpattern of partialfiguring.39Such figureswere

doubtless

added

primarily

with

the amateur

in

mind,

so

that

those

unable to

muster

the full

forces or do

without

continuo

support

could

still

make use of

the

edition.

Indeed,

we do

occasionally

find

players

adding

their own

figuring

to

some

unfigured

passages

in

reliable full

scores:

ex. 8 is from

a

score that

appears

Ex.

8.

Lully,

Atys

Ballard:

689),

p.

1

(Bibliotheque

ationale,

Vm224)

:O-lL

T

-If*

=-

-El

S

I

r

M

EARLY

MUSIC

APRIL

1980 155



10/11

in no

way

to have been connected

with

performances

at the

Opera

or at

Court.

By

no

means all

French

opera

scores of the

early

18th

century

are

fully figured,

however.

Altogether,

about a

quarter

of the editions issued

between 1687

and 1733 follow our

established

pattern-a

large

enough proportion

to indicate

that

the role of the

continuo instruments remained

much as

in

Lully's

day.40

It is

not

entirely

clear

from

these sources when

the

practice

was extended to include

the

choruses,

but

this

seems to have

been

a

gradual

process.

As

early

as

1712 we find a

few

instances of

unfigured

choruses,4"

while

gradually

during

the

next decades

the

number

grows.

The

process

was

certainly

completed by

the

early

1730s

and

possibly

earlier,

though

we cannot be

entirely

sure

because of the

higher

proportion

of

fully-

figured

and

therefore

unreliable scores

in

the

previous

decade.

The

practice

of

limiting

the

continuo's role

may

haveemergedbecause Lully'sfull five-part scoringand

the

presence

of

a

regular

conductor

in

the

Opera

orchestra

usurped

many

of the

continuo

players'

func-

tions.

If it

were as

simple

as

that,

one would

have

expected

to find

the

continuo

players

silent

during

the

choruses also. On

the other

hand,

the fact that

com-

posers

gradually

became

aware

of

the

incongruity

of

including

the

harpsichord

in

choruses

and

other

fully-

scored

passages

does lend

the idea some

support.

Whatever the

reason,

the

practice

seems to have

been

limited in

France

to

opera,

for

there is no hint

that

it

spread

to

other secular

genres

or to

church

music.

(This is

possibly

why

the

practice

does not

appear

to

have been taken

up

outside

France

by

composers

influ-

enced

by

other

features

of

the French

style.42)

Yet

it

is

clear that

French

opera

composers

were,

from the

very

beginning,

acutely

aware of the

distinctive tone-

qualities

of the

chord-playing

continuo

instruments,

and

developed

firm

ideas on where it

was

appropriate

to use

them. This

is an

aspect

of

the

performance

tradition

of a

large

and

important

repertory

that

editors

and

performers

alike

ought

no

longer

to

ignore.

*aA. L

In the

1979

English

Bach Festival

performances

of

Rameau's

Zoroastre and

Hippolyte

et Aricie

(both

edited

by

Graham

Sadler)

the

harpsichord

ontinuowas

employed

n

the manner

suggested

by

this

article.

156

EARLY

MUSIC

APRIL

1980

'

Versuch

iber

die

wahre

Art

das

Clavierzu

spielen,

2

(Berlin, 1762),

Introduction

?7.

Translations

throughout

this article are

by

the

author.

2

See,

for

example,

ibid,

Introduction

??

4 and 8.

3

For Anet

and

Guignon

see Mercure e France

April

1725),

p.

836;

for

Veracini see

Charles

Burney,

A General

History

f

Music

London,

1776)3,

p.

568.

4

See

Henry

Burnett,

'The Bowed

String

Instrumentsof the

Baroque

Basso

Continuo

(c

1680-c

1752)

in

Italy

and

France',

Journal

of

the

Viola

da

Gamba

ociety

f

America,

(1970),

pp.

65-91;

8

(1971),

pp.

29-

63.

5

David

Boyden,

The

History

of

Violin

Playingrom

its

Origins

o 1761

(London, 1965),

p.

279,

cites G. M. Bononcini's

Arie,

correnti,

sarabande,

ighe,

& allemande

violino,

violone,

ver

spinetta

..

op.

IV

(Bologna,

167

1),

the violone

part

of which contains the

following:

'It

should

be

noted that the

violone

will

make

a better effect

than the

spinetta,

ince the basses are more

appropriate

to

the one

than

to

the

other.'

6

J.

B.

Lully,

(Euvres

compldtesLOcl,

Les

Operas,

2,

Alceste

Paris,

1932

R

New

York,

1966),

preface p.

xxii.

IP.

M.

Masson,

L'Opira

de Rameau

Paris,

1930 R

New

York, 1972),

p.

514.

8

J.J.

Rousseau,

Dictionnaire

e

musique

Paris,

1767),

p.

93.

9

Rousseau,

Examen

e

deux

principes

Paris, 1755),

pp.

368-9.

InJ.-P.

Rameau,

Complete

Theoretical

Writings,

d.

E. R.

Jacobi

(American

Institute of

Musicology,

1969)

5,

pp.

282-3.

10

Encyclopidie,udictionnaireaisonnidessciences, es artset desmitiers,

ed. Denis Diderot

(Paris,

1751)

1,

art.

'Accompagnement'.

"

Paris,

1755R New

York,

1969,

p.

6.

12

The

principal

fully-autograph

manuscripts:

Les

Paladins, Paris,

Biblioth~que

nationale

(Pn)

Res. Vm2. 120;

Nelie et

Myrthis

and

Ziphyre,

Paris,

Bibliotheque

du Conservatoire

(Pc)

MS.

372;

La

Naissance

d'Oszris,

Paris,

Biblioth

que

de

l'Op

ra

(Po)

Res.

206;

Anacreion

nd

LeRetour

'Astrie,Po,

Res.

207;

Daphnis

t

Egli, Po, R&s.

208.

Partly-autographmanuscripts:

Les

Boriades,

Pn,

Res.

Vmb. MS.

4;

Le

Temple

e

la

Gloire,

Pn,

Vm2.

359;

Acante t

Ciphise,

Po,

R&s.

A.174.b;

Les

Paladins,

Po,

Res.

A.201;

Hippolyte

t

Aricie,Po,

A.

128.a;

LesFites

de

Polymnze,

o,

A.156.a;

Le

Temple

de la

Gloire,

Po,

A.157.a;

Les

Surprises

e

l'Amour,

o,

A. 196.c.

Of the

manuscripts copied

from

autographs,

the

most

important

are

the

Recueil

de

[8]

ballets n un

acte

. . rassemblist

copids

ur es

partitions

originals

e

l'auteur,Pn, Vm2.

309-316. For

evidence

that other scores

in

the Decroix collection

may

be based

on

autographs,

see

my

article

'A

Letter

from

Claude-Francois

Rameau

toJ.J.

M.

Decroix',

Music

&

Letters,

9

(1978),

pp.

139-47.

13

See

Po,

Acante

t

Ciphise,

Res.

A.

174.a;

La

Guirlande,

A.173.a;

Zais,

A.161.a; Platie,

A.164.a;

Les

Fites de

l'Hymen

t de

l'Amour,

A.163.a;

Dardanus,

Res.

A.

145.b. The first three contain corrections

to

the

figuring.

14

See,

for

example,

Anacrion,

Pn,

Vm2.393;

Daphnis

t

Egli,

Pn,

Vm2.

395;

La

Naissance 'Osiris,

Pn,

Vm2.

323;

Les

Indes

galantes

2e

entree,

'Les

Incas'), Po,

Fonds La

Salle 66

[76;

Platie,

Po,

Materiel.

"

(Euvres

complites

ROcJ

Paris,

1902

R

New

York,

1968).

Although

the

figuring

in

these scores

is

generally

reliable,

the

markings

'avec

clavecin',

'sans

clavecin'

etc,

are almost all

editorial,

and are

frequently

misleading.

16

See, for example, Nicolas Boindin, Lettreshistoriquesur tous les

spectacles

de Pans

(Paris,

1719),

cited

in

Maurice

Barthelemy,

'L'Orchestre et I'Orchestration des

(Euvres

de

Campra',

Revue

musicale,

numero

special

226

(1955),

pp.

97-104;

'Academie

Royale

de

Musique,

Etat

genbral

des acteurs et actrices du

chant,

danseurs et

danseuses,

symphonistes

de l'orchestre ... Premier Avril

1750',

Paris,

Archives

nationales,

AJ

xiii

1,

iv. See also the annual roster of

Opera personnel published

in the Parisian

Almanach

des

spectacles

friom

1752 onwards.

"

See

E.

Lebeau,

'J.

J.

M.

Decroix

et sa collection

Rameau',

Milanges

d'histoire

et

d'6sthetique

musicales

offerts

d

Paul-Marie

Masson

(Paris,

1954)

2,

pp.

81-91.



11/11

'"

Boindin,

loc

cit,

p.

97.

'9

While

Boindin

(loc

cit,

p.

97)

lists two

Baudy

brothers

as

basse

de

viole

players

in

1719,

Michel

Corrette tells

us in

1741 that 'at

present

in

the

royal

orchestra,

at

the

Opera

and in

concerts,

it

is the

cello

that

plays

the

basse continue'

MWthode

e

violoncelle,Paris, 1741,

preface).

The two Labb?

brothers,

playing

from

parts

113

and 117

are

specifically

called

'violoncelles'

byJ.

B.

de Laborde

in

Essai ur a

musique

ncienne

t moderne

Paris,

1780)

3,

p.

489.

He

goes

on

to

describe the

younger

brother,

Pierre,

as

'one

of

the

most

able cellists

of

his

time;

it was

he

who

caused

the

viol to

go

out of

fashion

by

the

fine tone quality that he drew from his instrument'. On Mont&clair,

the most

up-to-date

information is

contained

in

the

preface

to

his

Cantatas

or

One and

Two

Voices,

d.

J.

R.

Anthony

and

D.

Akmajian

(Madison,

1978).

On

Ch&ron,

ee

Pierre

Barthdlemy's

article

on

the

composer

in

MGG

2,

columns

1167-70.

20

At

some

stage,

the

last

pages

of both

basse

ontinue

partbooks

have

become

detached,

and have been sewn back

comparatively recently

in

such

a

way

that

the

unfigured

book has the last

page

of the

figured

part

and vice versa.

2'

The

two bassecontinue

parts

(116

and

117)

are

virtually

identical

except

that one

is

figured

and the other not. The four

bassede

violon

parts,

also,

are

for

practical purposes

identical

with

each other.

22

The

orchestral

bass

parts

of

J.J.

Mouret's

Le

Temple

e

Gnideof

1741

(Po,

Materiel)

were

prepared

by copying

the entire bass line

and then

suppressing

certain

passages,

either

by

pasting paper

over

the

appropriate passages, by sewing pages together,

or

by deleting

with

red

crayon.

The two

basse

ontinue

parts--one

figured,

the other

not-contain

the

entire

bass,

though

the

pattern

of

figuring

corre-

sponds

exactly

to that in

the Rameau

and

Campra

works

already

discussed.

23

See Le

Temple

de

la Gloire,I.ii,

instrumental

air

with

parodie

Le

dieu des

beaux-arts';

instrumental air with

parodie

Descends,

dieu

charmant'.

The

figuring

pattern

in

ROc

14,

pp.

98-102

corresponds

to that in

the

part-autograph manuscript,

Po,

A. 157.a.

24

For

instance,

Ziphyre,

cene

viii,

Duo and

Chorus

'Amour,

sois

le

Dieu'. The distribution

of

figures

in

ROc

11,

pp.

342-51

is

derived

from the

autograph manuscript,

Pc,

MS

372.

25

See

Hippolyte

t

Aricie,

V.iii,

prelude

to

Aricie's recitative

Oui

suis-

je?'.

26

Po,

Parties

separees(Materiel);

score

published

in

Paris,

1758.

27

A

curious feature

of

the

figured

basse ontinue

partbook

is that in

two of the fully-scored arias ('Quoi I'Amour est votre vainqueur'

and 'Se

peut-il qu'un

si

beau

jour')

the

copyist

has,

as we have

noted,

included no

figuring,

yet

the

harpsichordist

has

added

on

the

last

chord

only

one

symbol-a

natural

in

the

first

case,

a

sharp

in

the

second-in red

crayon.

It

seems

most

unlikely

that

he

played

throughout

from an otherwise

entirely

unfigured

line;

rather the

symbols

suggest

that,

as both arias are followed

by

recitative,

the

player

actually

entered

on the last chord

of

the

aria in an

attempt

to

disguise

the break between

aria and

recitative.

28

FriedrichMelchior

Grimm,

Correspondance

ittiraire,

hilosophique

t

critique,

d.

M.

Tourneux

(Paris,

1879)

8,

p.

451.

29

Bellirophon

1679),

Proserpine

1680),

Persie

(1682),

Phaeton

1683),

Amadis

(1684),

Roland

(1685),

Armide

(1686),

Acis

et

Galatie

(1686).

We

might

also include the scores of

Thisee

1688)

and

Atys

1689)

which

may

well

have

been on their

way

through

the

press

at the time

of

Lully'sdeath in 1687.

30

Most

though

not all of the ritournelles

di

3

would have been

played

by

the

petit

choeur,

or concertino

group.

For the best discussion of

this and other features of

Lully's

orchestra,

see

Jurgen

Eppelsheim,

Das

Orchester

n den

WerkenJean-Baptiste

Lullys (Tutzing,

1961).

31

Very occasionally,

as a result of the

printer's

carelessness,

these

words

may

be found on an isolated

system

in

the

middle of an air de

ballet.

32

See

Eppelsheim,

op

cit,

pp.

247f.

It was

this

set

of

parts

that

gave

rise to

Prunibres'

statement cited above

(see

note

6).

Eppelsheim

was

understandably

cautious about

accepting

the idea of a limited role

for

the

continuo on this evidence

alone,

for

the link between the

figuring

and

basse

continue ndications had

not at that

time been

noticed.

"

The

system

used

to show the

two

groups

of

bass

players

where

to

be silent

or to re-enter

is

exactly

as in

the

18th-century

Opera

parts,

illustratedabove

by

the

Campra

Achille

et.

4

Most

important

sources

of

the

ballets,

in

fact,

contain

no basse

continue

figures

at all.

See

LOc,

Les

Ballets,

1-3;

also

Meredith

Ellis,

'The Sources

ofJean-Baptiste

Lully's

Secular

Music',

'Recherches'

ur

la

musiquefrancauselassique,

8

(1968),

pp.

89-130.

"

Eppelsheim,

op

cit,

pp.

150-7.

36

ibid,

pp.

1511f

31

Apart from those already discussed, the only figured instru-

mental movements in these scores are the

overture

to

Bellirophon,

and a number

of

passacailles

nd

chaconnes.

he

latter are

not sur-

prising

where the movement

also contains

sections

for

voices,

but

figures

do

sometimes

appear

in a

few

that

contain

no such vocal

passages

(e.g.

Persie,V.viii,

passacaille).

38

See Pascal

Collasse,

Enie et

Lavinie

Paris,

1690 R

Farnborough,

1972);

Marc-Antoine

Charpentier,

Midie

(Paris,

1694 R

Farn-

bordugh,

1968).

In this

latter,

figures

are

found

in a

larger

number

of

symphonies,

ncluding

the

overture,

chaconne

and the

trios de

hautbois;

ut

the

close association

of the

figuring

and the

words

basse

continue

s as

clear

as in

Lully's

scores.

39 Compare

the three

Ballard editions

of

Destouches'

Issi.

The

first

(1697)

is

a reduced

score,

but

follows the

partial

figuring pattern

of

the

Lully

operas.

The second

(1708)

begins

in the same

manner,

but

contains progressivelymore figures, until by Act IV the figuring

is

continuous.

The

third

(1724)

is a full

score,

figured

throughout.

4o

See,

for

example, Campra,

Les

Muses

(Paris,

Ballard:

1703),

Bourgeois,

Les

Plaisirsde la

paix

(Paris,

Ribou:

17

15), Mouret,

Ariane

(Ballard:

1717),

Collin de

Blamont,

Les

Festes

grecques

t romaines

(Ballard:

1723).

41

See La

Coste,

Creuse

Ballard:

1712).

42

A hint that the

practice spread

to

English

Restoration

theatre

music

is

found

in

the

first edition

of'Thomas

Shadwell's

adaptation

of

The

Tempest

T.N.

for H.

Herringman,

London

1674),

in which

the.

stage

direction

before

Act

I states

that

'the

Band of 24

Violins,

with

the

Harpsicals

and Theorbo's

which

accompany

he

Voices,

re

plac'd

between

the

Pit and the

Stage'

(my

italics).

Music

for this

produc-

tion

was

by

Matthew

Locke,

Pietro

Reggio,

the elder

John

Banister,

G.

B.

Draghi

and Pelham

Humphrey,

the last-named

providing

a

very

obvious

French connection.

In

general,

however,

the

figuring

pattern of Restoration theatre music is very much less consistent

than

that

in

contemporary

French

opera.

Early

Music

will

continue

to

publish

important

articles

on the

keyboard

throughout

1980

EARLY MUSIC

APRIL

1980

157

harpsichord in continuo

Documents