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7 9

Ex. 3.15 Some instances of the 'vocal appoggiatura' as illustrated by G. P. Telernann Cantatas (Leipzig, 1725), Preface n '

Written:

Execution:

nineteenth century, composers tended to indicate precisely the notes to be sung. Interestingly, the appoggiatura from below, demonstrated as a pos­sible solution by Classical theorists but comparatively rarely employed, seems to have gained more credibility in early Romantic recitative when associated w i t h a question in the text.

W i l l Crutchfield raises a further issue regarding the addition of appoggia-turas, this time in the middle of melodic phrases and on top of notes that already function as appoggiaturas. 1 3 ' He claims that these appoggiaturas were most prevalent in music with German texts, 'perhaps because the lan­guage's relative paucity of feminine endings yielded fewer "natural" appog­giaturas than were present in the Italian singing that served as a model'. Crutchfield also mentions the 'divided appoggiatura', which appears to be peculiar to German sources.

Continuo accompaniment

As we noted in Chapter 2, the provision o f an accompaniment from a thoroughbass is essential to most Baroque solo and ensemble performance. The practice had its origins in the sixteenth century when it was common for harpsichordists, organists and lutenists to double singers in both secular and sacred music, largely for practical reasons of ensemble, tuning and substitut­ing for missing personnel. It came to prominence in published form in early seventeenth-century operas, secular monodies and sacred concert! by com­posers such as Viadana, Peri, Caccini and Cavalieri. It may be looked upon as a branch o f improvisation practice, the player complying with the given bass line and harmony (normally outlined by a figured bass but sometimes inferred from the score) and supplying an extempore accompaniment to support and sometimes enhance the main melodic material.

H I S T O R I C A L P E R F O R M A N C E : A N I N T R O D U C T I O N

The sources for continuo accompaniment during the seventeenth and

sighteenth centuries are many and varied, comprising theoretical treatises

0 n continuo realisation, independent keyboard tutors, surviving examples

0 f written-out continuo parts and critical reviews of continuo perfor­

mances.138 The treatises concern themselves chiefly with the rudiments of

harmony and emphasise accuracy, discretion and fluency of harmonic

support in accompaniment. Few give examples of best practice or subtleties

0 f style in realising a given bass-line, 1 3 9 and most are unhelpful in providing

answers to questions regarding the appositeness of adding an accompani­

ment in certain repertories, especially those which lack bass f iguring. David

Fuller points out that it has been established only comparatively recently

that Bach's motets, which lack a figured bass, were performed w i t h harpsi­

chord and string bass instrument in Leipzig; 1 4 " yet 'the overtures, dances

and other orchestral pieces in French opera from Lully to Rameau, long

assumed to require a continuo, are now thought to have been performed

without accompaniment'. 1 4 1

The instruments used for thoroughbass accompaniment differed accord­

ing to period, genre, nationality and even locality. They were only occasion­

ally indicated by composers, so performers are often required to make

decisions regarding the most suitable ones to use for the particular work,

circumstances and musical forces involved. Early seventeenth-century

Italian operas, for example, generally involved a lavish variety of chordal

accompanying instruments such as harpsichords, organs, lutes, chitarroni,

theorbos, harps, l i r o n i , and guitars, as well as one or more melodic instru­

ments, 1 4 2 while a chitarrone (without viol) was popular for solo songs of the

period. Organ continuo was naturally pre-eminent in church perfor­

mances, 1 4 3 many parts being designated as 'basso per I'organo', but the

organ was also used in other contexts, notably in seventeenth-century

English and German consorts and in many eighteenth-century oratorios . 1 4 4

By the eighteenth century, a harpsichord (or sometimes chamber organ)

with a melodic bass instrument such as a cello, bass viol or sometimes

bassoon doubling the bass-line became standard in chamber music. Some of

the larger orchestras o f the time even included two harpsichords, 1 4 5 one

combining with a cello and often a double bass to support solo singers or

instrumentalists and the other collaborating with a cello, double bass and

even a bassoon to underpin the orchestral c o n t r i b u t i o n . 1 4 6 In the early

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seventeenth century, a softly played trombone had been a possible alterna­tive to the v i o l o n e ! " 7

The improvisatory aspect of continuo accompaniment differs for each genre, national style, period and individual composer, as well as the venue and other circumstances of performance. Players are required to make instinctive decisions regarding taste and style; these range from questions of texture, arpeggiation, register, harmonic syntax (including the avoidance of consecutive fifths and octaves), appropriate recitative treatment and the introduction of dissonant notes or acciaccature,14* to how much ( i f at all) to double the melody, whether to double fugal entries, how much imitation or ornamentation should be added, or whether or not to delay cadences in recitative. 1 4 9

The various different instruments in use inevitably resulted in a variety of approaches to continuo accompaniment. These practices are investigated wi th in the complementary series of handbooks to this volume. 1 5 0

Realisation in four parts was probably the most common type of simple key­board accompaniment, but many theorists held more inventive aspirations, whether these involved an ornamental role, adding to rather than providing the basic harmonies and improvising melodies and imitations, or whether they were concerned with textural contrast for expressive interest, volume being varied by the number of notes played and the speed of arpeggiation. 1 3 1

Different national idioms also enter the equation, 1 5 2 the often richly decora­tive, Flamboyant Italian approaches (e.g. in seventeenth-century sonatas for viol in and basso continuo or trio sonatas) contrasting sharply, for example, wi th the largely circumspect early French styles. With organ accompani­ment, stops were drawn discreetly, louder passages being realised more through increased texture than change of registration; and German theo­rists and instruments appear to have allowed greater variety of dynamic than the Italian, often employing two manuals (one louder than the other) and encouraging the use of pedals.

Approaches to recitative accompaniment also differed considerably, vari­ants involving instruments, texture, harmony, arpeggiation and chord repe­t i t ion , as well as issues of genre and many other factors which directly affected the continuo players' freedom. Approaches to the constantly chang­ing styles and textures of unmeasured solo recitatives in early seventeenth-century opera and oratorio (on harpsichord) contrast markedly wi th , for

82 H I S T O R I C A L P E R F O R M A N C E : A N I N T R O D U C T I O N

example, recitatives in ). S. Bach's sacred music (involving the organ). In

such recitatives, the bass notes were sometimes writ ten in tied semibreves

and minims; but, as we shall find in the Bach case study in Chapter 5, evi­

dence suggests that the figured chords were played short and the next chord

played (also short) only at the change of harmony, thereby liberating the

singer and allowing the words to be more easily audible . ' 3 3 Evidence for not

sustaining the notated chord durations in recitative also exists for eigh­

teenth-century Italian opera and in the treatises of numerous theorists f rom

Heinichen and Mattheson through to C. P. E. Bach, Petri and T u r k , but it is

unclear whether the bass line itself should be sustained or also played short.

Just as many keyboard treatises included instruction on the rules of

harmony and thoroughbass, so various tutors for the guitar, lute, harp and

cello discussed continuo playing, some cello treatises even encouraging cel­

lists to indulge in f i l l ing out the bass line where musically appropriate

and generally in the absence of a keyboard instrument. Baumgartner's

Instructions de musique, theorique ct pratique, a Vusage du violoncelle (The

Hague, 1774), for example, provides general advice as to how cellists should

adapt chords to suit the prevailing harmonic movement, while Baudiot's

treatise focuses on the accompaniment of recitatives and Romberg's concen­

trates more on cultivating chamber music skills and provides an etude to

demonstrate figured bass realisation. 1 3 4

During the first half of the eighteenth century many composers began to

thin out musical textures. Some dispensed altogether with keyboard accom­

paniment, while others omitted to provide a figured bass part for the key­

board player (e.g. in some French chamber music o f the 1730s). The tasto

solo direction became more common and German theorists such as Daube

and Petri objected to the use of a basso continuo in trios and quartets . 1 5 5 On

the other hand, the presence o f keyboard continuo in Haydn's symphonic

output is still a subject of heated debate, as are the implications of the

figured bass lines or such directions as 'col basso' in Mozart's piano

concertos. ' 3 6