4"
No
CLAVICHORD TRAITS IN SELECTED
LATE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
KEYBOARD PIECES
THESIS
Presented to the Graduate Council of the
North Texas State University in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of
MASTER OF MUSIC
By
Alice Ham Clark, B.M.
Denton, Texas
May, 1983 Clark, Alice Ham, Clavichord Traits in Selected Eighteenth-
Century Keyboard Pieces. Master of Music (Musicology), May, 1983,
121 PP., 75 examples, bibliography, 75 titles.
Several late eighteenth-century keyboard composers indicated
that some of their works were written specifically for the
clavichord, as opposed to the harpsichord or pianoforte. This
demand was indicated by a composer's commentary, remarks made by
a contemporary, or by Bebung and Tragen der Tone indications in the
music. The thesis examines selected works of C.P.E. Bach, Johann
Eckard, Nathanael Gruner, Johann Hassler, Christian Neefe,
F.S. Sander, and Daniel Tt*rk, and discusses elements of the music that seem particularly suited to clavichord performance. These
elements are Bebung, Tragen der TOne, finely nuanced dynamic
indications, certain types of melodic writing, and a thin textural composition. Copyright by
Alice Ham Clark
1983 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES......
Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION...... 1
II. THE POPULARITY OF THE CLAVICHORD IN GERMANY DURING THE LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURYo.o.e...... 7
Composers and Works Represented in this Study
III. CONCERNING BEBUNG.-.-.-...... -...... 20
How Bebung Is Produced How Bebung Is Indicated in the Music Where Bebung Is Performed Frequency in Performance Examples of Bebung in the Music
IV. CONCERNING TRAGEN DER TONE.-.-...... -...... 37
V. DYNAMIC INDICATIONS-...-.-.-.-...... -.50
VI. CONCERNING THE MELODY-.-.-.-.-...... a. 70
"Der Fluss" A "sprechend" Melody Melodic Doubling Ornamentation
VII. CONCERNING THE TEXTURE.-.-.-.-...... 90
VIII. CONCLUSION...... -.....-...... 102
BIBLIOGRAPHY...... -...-...... -...... 106
iv LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES
Example Page 1. The notation of Bebung...... 25 2. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten f!Zrs Clavier oder Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 2, 1st movement (Moderato), measures 1-5...... 29
3. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 2, 1st movement (Andante), measures 21-27...-.-.....-...-...30
4. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten flirs Clavier oder Piano-Forte III (1788), Sonata 1, 3rd movement (Presto), measures 63-69.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-...-.30
5. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten fjirs Clavier older Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 1, 2nd movement (Un poco Andante ed espressivo), measures 30-33...... -.-.-.-.-.-.-.....-...... -31
6. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten fitr das Kiavier (1781), Sonata 1, 1st movement (Moderato assai), measures 25-32.-.-....-.-...... -...... 32
7. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten fir das Kiavier (1781), Sonata 6, 1st movement (Andante), measures 19-23...... -.-.-.--.-.-.--.-...-....-...... 33
8. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten fiur das Kiavier (1781), Sonata 2, 1st movement (Allegro assai con spirito), measures 69-75..-.-.-.-...... -....33
9. Johann H ssler, Sechs leichte Sonaten firs Clavier (1780), Sonata 1, 2nd movement (Adagio), measures 1-5...... -.-.-.-...-.-...... -.-...-334
10. Johann Sander, Sechs Clavier-Sonaten (1785), Sonata 5, 2nd movement (Largo e mesto), measures 1-8...... -...-.-.....-.-.-.-.-.-.-...-.-334
V vi
Example Page
11. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 2, 1st movement (Andante), measures 21-27...... -.-.-.-.-.-- -35
12. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten ftZr das Klavier (1781), Sonata 1, 1st movement (Moderato assai), measures 25-33. ....-...... -...... 36
13. Examples in theoretical works of Tragen der TOne . . . . . 40
14. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 2, 2nd movement (Larghetto), measures 13-18.....-...... 42
15. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten filrs Clavier oder Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 2, 2nd movement (Andantino con grazia), measures 1-12 . . . . 43
16. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten ffr das Klavier (1781), Sonata 6, 3rd movement (Allegretto e dolce), measures 1-28 ...... 44
17. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten filr das Kiavier (1781), Sonata 3, 2nd movement (Larghetto e lusingando), measures 1-4...... 46
18. F.S. Sander, Sechs Clavier-Sonaten I (1785), Sonata 6, 2nd movement (Adagio molto), measures 1-8...--...-.-...... 46
19. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten fttrs Clavier older Piano-Forte IV (1790), Sonata 3, 1st movement (Un poco largo ed espressivo), measures 71-73 ...... 47
20. Johann Hbssler, Sechs leichte Sonaten flirs Clavier oder Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 1, 2nd movement (Andante ed espressivo), measures 72-75 . . . 48
21. Christian Neefe, ZWOlf KLaviersonaten (1773), Sonata 1, 3rd movement (Allegretto), measures 1-28 .-...... -.-..-.-...... 53
22. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten ftur das Kiavier (1781), Sonata 2, 3rd movement (Rondo: Grazioso), measures 1-12 ...... 55 vii
Example Page
23. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten ftur das Klavier (1781), Sonata 1, 3rd movement (Allegro assai), measures 1-8...... -.-.-.-.-.-.. . . . 56
24. Johann HaEssler, Sechs leichte Sonaten frs Clavier oder Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 2, 3rd movement (Allegro assai), measures 1-4 ...... 57 25. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber II (1780), Rondo 3 (Poco Andante), measures 1-5...... 57
26. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten fturs Clavier oder Piano-Forte 11 (1787), Sonata 1, 2nd movement (Un poco andante ed espressivo), measures 79-82 ...... -.-...... -.-.- 58
27. Johann Eckard, Six Sonates pour le clavecin (1763), Sonata 2, 1st movement (Allegro con spirito), measures 13-16 ...... 58
28. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber III (1781), Rondo 1 (Poco Andante), measures 42-43...... 59
29. Johann H ssler, Sechs leichte Sonaten flrs Clavier older Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 1, 2nd movement (Un poco andante ed espressivo), measures 36-37 ...... -...... 59 30. Johann H ssler, Sechs leichte Sonaten fir Clavier oder Piano-Forte 1 (1786), Sonata 1, 1st movement (Allegro), measures 9-17....-.-...... 6o
31. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 5, 2nd movement (Adagio maestoso), measures 11-14 ...... -.-.-.-.-.-..... 61
32. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber V (1785), Sonata 1, 2nd movement (Andantino), measures 90-103 ...... 61
33. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber IV (1783), Fantasia 1, 2nd section (Poco Adagio), measures 1-12 .-.-...... -.-...... 62
34. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber V (1785), Fantasia 2, 3rd section (Andantino), measures 1-6 ...... -.-.-.- 63 viii
Example Page
35. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 4, 3rd movement (Allegro), measures 77-80 ..-...... 64
36. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber V (1785), Fantasia 1, measures 12-17 ...... 64
37. Daniel Tirk, Sechs leichte Kiaviersonaten (1783), Sonata 6, 3rd movement (Balletto: Allegro), measures 50-65 ...... 65 38. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber IV (1783), Rondo 2 (Massig und sanft), measures 17-20 ...... 66
39. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber IV (1783), Rondo 3 (Allegro), measures 47-51 ...... 66
40. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber III (1781), Rondo 2 (Poco Andante), measures 112-115 ...... 67
41. Daniel TtIrk, Sechs leichte Klaviersonaten (1783), Sonata 4, 1st movement (Allegro con spirito), measures 38-40 ...... 67
42. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 6, 1st movement (Allegretto moderato), measures 8-14...... -...... 68
43. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber IV (1783), Rondo 2 (Massig und sanft), measures 1-17...... 72
44. Johann H ssler, Sechs leichte Sonaten ft'rs Clavier oder Piano-Forte I (1786), Sonata 1, 3rd movement (Allegro non tanto), measures 1-8 ...... 74
45. Johann Ha**ssler, Sechs leichte Sonaten ftlrs Clavier oder Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 1, 1st movement (Andantino con affetto), measures 1-8 . . . . 74
46. Johann Eckard, Six Sonates pour le clavecin (1763), Sonata 3, 3rd movement (Vivace), measures 1-4..-. .. 75
47. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten fflr das Kiavier (1781), Sonata 6, 3rd movement (Allegretto e dolce), measures 1-8 .....-.-....-.-...... 76
48. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber IV (1783), Sonata 2, 3rd movement (Allegro assai), measures 1-9 ...... 76 ix
Example Page
49. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 2, 1st movement (Andante), measures 1-8 . . . . 78
50. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 2, 3rd movement (Allegro assai), measures 1-12...... 79
51. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten fihrs Clavier (1770), Sonata 3, 1st movement (Allegro con spirito), measures 1-8....-...... 8o
52. Johann HaEssler, Sechs leichte Sonaten frws Clavier older Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 1, 3rd movement (Presto assai), measures 1-8 ...... 81
53. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten filr das Klavier (1781), Sonata 3, 4th movement (Allegro), measures 1-8 ...... -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--83
54. Christian Neefe, ZwOlf Klaviersonaten (1773), Sonata 4, 1st movement (Allegro), measures 1-8 . . . . 83
55. Daniel TUrk, Sechs leichte Klaviersonaten (1783), Sonata 6, 1st movement (Allegretto: Siciliano e lusingando), measures 1-4 ...... 84
56. Johann Hssler, Sechs leichte Sonaten ftlrs Clavier oder Piano-Forte I (1786), Sonata 1, 2nd movement (Andante), measures 17-25 ...... 85
57. Daniel TUrk, Sechs leichte Kiaviersonaten (1783), Sonata 4, 1st movement (Allegro con spirito), measures 9-12.-...... -.-...... 85
58. Christian Neefe, ZwOlf Klaviersonaten (1773), Sonata 3, 3rd movement (Allegro assai), measures 9-12 . 86
59. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 1, 2nd movement (Andante), measures 1-8 . . . . 86
60. C.P.E. Bach, Achtzehn Probestu2cken in Sechs Sonaten (1753), 1, 2nd movement (Andante), measures 1-12 ...... 88
61. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber II (1780), Rondo 1, (Andante un poco), measures 1-4 ...... 88 x
Example Page
62. Daniel Tuirk, Sechs leichte Klaviersonaten (1783), Sonata 3, 2nd movement (Adagio cantabile), measure 1. .-....-.-...... 89
63. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber II (1780), Sonata 2, 1st movement (Andantino), measure 38 . . . . 92
64. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber II (1780), Rondo 1 (Allegretto), measures 79-82 ...... 93
65. Christian Neefe, ZWOlf Klaviersonaten (1773), Sonata 8, 1st movement (Allegretto e cantabile), measures 34-37 ...... 94
66. Johann H ssler, Sechs leichte Sonaten firs Clavier oder Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 2, 1st movement (Moderato), measures 16-18 ...... 94
67. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 4, 1st movement (Allegro assai), measures 9-12 . . .-.....-.-...-.-...-.-.-..-... 95
68. Daniel Turk, Sechs leichte Kiaviersonaten (1783), Sonata 6, 3rd movement (Balletto: Allegro), measures 17-33 ...... 96
69. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten filr das Kiavier (1781), Sonata 6, 1st movement (Andante), ...... 97 measures 26-28 ......
70. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber II (1780), Rondo 3 (Poco Andante), measures 60-64 ...... 98
71. Christian Neefe, ZwOlf Klaviersonaten (1773), Sonata 6, 1st movement (Poco lento e languido), measures 17-23 ...... 99
72. Daniel Tuirk, Sechs leichte KLaviersonaten (1783), Sonata 4, 3rd movement (Rondo: Allegretto), measures 17-21 ...... 99
73. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten fLurs Clavier oder Piano-Forte I (1786), Sonata 1, 1st movement (Allegro), measures 33-40..-.-...... 100
74. Christian Neefe, ZWOlf Kiaviersonaten (1773), Sonata 9, 1st movement (Moderato), measures 41-47 . . . 100
75. Johann Hailssler, Sechs leichte Sonaten futrs Clavier (1780), Sonata 3, 3rd movement (Presto), measures 5-13 .-...... 101 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
We of the twentieth century have a preoccupation with
finding comprehensive solutions to intricacies of the past. Our
nemesis in this task is perfection; it eludes us in our efforts
to produce answers. The past simply does not uphold the assumption
that events and phenomena always follow a logical progression
through time--that there is a beginning, a middle, and an end.
The complexities of the past force scholars and historians of today
to forge resolutions which, in their attempt to be all-encompassing,
straddle a line between unbiased observation of facts and events,
and creative speculation from a twentieth-century point of view.
Among the difficulties of deciphering the musical past is a
question which arose in the last decades of the eighteenth century
concerning the precise meaning and implications of the word
"clavier." In its earliest existence, "clavier" was a non-specific,
generic designation for any keyboard instrument. Indeed, before the middle of the eighteenth century, the generality of "clavier" meant that the choice of keyboard instruments was determined by
factors such as the availability of the instrument and the function
for which it was to be used, much as consort instrumentation was determined in the music of the Renaissance. In the latter half
1 2
of the eighteenth century, however, the term "clavier" seems to
have been a ,specific designation for the clavichord. This period reflects a shift in composers' keyboard designations from one of general intent to a demand for a certain instrument.
This paper addresses the matter of "clavier" in a specific quarter; that is to say, it attempts to define those features of eighteenth-century keyboard music that support the composers' indications for performance of their works on a clavichord, rather than on some other keyboard instrument. The music chosen for study either presents strong evidence of being intended for performance on the clavichord or carries a specific designation for the instrument. For the most part, this study is limited to only a few years of the clavichord's supremacy, roughly 1760-1790, and to the circle of C.P.E. Bach's influence in Germany. Close examination of particular features of this music will enable us of the twentieth century to determine what other eighteenth-century keyboard works might also be best realized on a clavichord, those pieces that present less than a clear-cut case for performance on one instrument rather than another. Enumeration of the specific musical and
1. There is a general acceptance of these facts, the veracity of which is ascertained by observation of the ways "clavier" was used by composers. For some general discussions of the con- fusion of the meaning of "clavier," see Willi Apel, "Clavier," Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap, 1972), 179; Kenneth Cooper, "The Clavichord in the Eighteenth Century" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1971), 63-81; Arthur Loesser, Men, Women and Pianos (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1954), 16-17; William Newman, The Sonata in the Classic Era, 2nd ed. (New York: W.W. Norton, 1972), 80-89; Friedrich Riedel, "Klavier--Zum Begriff," Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 14 vols., ed. by Friedrich Blume (Kassel: Brenreiter, 1949-1968), VII, cols. 1090-1093. 3 interpretative aspects of music for the clavichord makes the question of,-"clavier" a moot one, for, in this study at least, the music says more than the word.
Although there are many excellent histories of clavichord construction, and many discourses upon its uses--as if questioning its rights as a musical instrument, there is little precedent for a study of this type. Die deutsche Klavichordkunst des 18.
Jahrhunderts,'~ by Cornelia Auerbach, provides a complete background to the clavichord and includes most of the primary sources essential to its study. Auerbach discusses the clavichord's music, but she is neither clear nor systematic in delineating traits of clavichord music. Kenneth Cooper's dissertation "The Clavichord in the
Eighteenth Century" is an excellent overview of the social, political, and cultural, as well as musical trends in the 1700's. Here, many of the primary sources are translated in English, and although
Cooper provides a selected list of music for the clavichord, he does not examine the music itself.
2. Cornelia Auerbach, Die deutsche Klavichordkunst des 18. Jahrhunderts, 2nd ed. (Kassel: Brenreiter, 1953).
3. Cooper, "Clavichord." 4
The editions of the music which were used in this study are listed below:
C.P.E. Bach, Achtzehn Probe-Stu*cken in sechs Sonaten, W. 63/1-6, H. 70-75 (Berlin: Winter, 1753), ed. by Erich Doflein (Mainz:, Schott, 1935).
C.P.E. Bach, 6 sets of Sonaten, Freien Fantasien und Rondos f1ir Kenner und Liebhaber, W. 55-59, 61 (Leipzig: im Verlage des Autors, 1779, 1780, 1781, 1783, 1785, and 1787), ed. by Carl Krebs (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hrtel, 1895), reprint (New York: Kalmus, n.d.).
Johann Eckard, Six Sonates pour le clavecin (Paris: l'auteur, 1763), in Eckard, Oeuvres Completes pour le clavecin ou le pianoforte, ed. by Eduard Reeser (Amsterdam: Heuwekemeyer-Ba~renreiter, 1956).
Nathanael Gottfried Gruner, Sechs Sonaten far das Kiavier (Leipzig: Breitkopf, 1781), microfilm copy from the Library of Congress.
Johann Wilhelm Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten fturs Clavier (Erfurt: Keyser, 1780), ed. by Erich Doflein (Frankfurt: Peters, 1952).
Johann Wilhelm Hassler, 4 sets of Sechs leichte Sonaten ftirs Clavier oder Piano-Forte (Erfurt: im Verlage des Autors, 1786, 1787, 1788, and 1790), variously in Ha*ssler, Zwei leichte Kiaviersonaten, ed. by Lothar Hoffman-Erbrecht, Organum V/26 (Lippstadt: Kistner and Siegel, 1960); Organum V/28 (1960); Organum V/30 (1961); and in Ha'ssler, Drei leichte Sonaten flIr Kiavier, ed. by Martin Glider, Nagels Musik-Archiv 20 (Hannover: Adolph Nagel, 1928). 5
Christian Gottlob Neefe, ZWOZf Kiaviersonaten (Leipzig: Schwickert, 1773), ed. by Walter Thoene, Denkmaler Rheinischer Mtsik, Vols. 10-11 (DUsseldorf: Schwann, 1961, 1964).
F.S. Sander, Sechs Clavier-Sonaten I (Breslau: Leuckert, 1785), microfilm copy from the Newberry Library.
Daniel Gottlob Tuirk, Sechs leichte Kiaviersonaten I and II (Leipzig and Halle: Breitkopf, 1783), microfilm copy from the Newberry Library.
There are many keyboard pieces by other composers which were
examined during the course of this study, but they were not deemed
essential to its compass. Many of these composers were avowed lovers of the clavichord, and some were known in their day as per-
formers of merit on the instrument. The works listed here could be
important to a broader study of clavichord style, and certainly would be necessary to a study of each individual composer's approach to writing for the clavichord.
Johann Nikolaus Forkel, Clavier-Sonate und eine Ariette mit achtzehn Veranderungen (Leipzig: Breitkopf, 1782), microfilm copy from the Library of Congress.
Dietrich Ewald von Grotthuss, Freude Uber den Empfang das Silbermannischen Claviers (1781), ed. by Alfred Kreutz (Mainz: Schott, 1950). 6
Georg Simon Lohlein, Sei Sonate con variate repetizioni per ii Clavicembalo, op. 2 (Leipzig: Breitkopf, 1768), xerox copy from the Bibliotheque publique et universitaire de Geneve.
Johann Gottfried MUthel, Drei Sonaten und zwei Ariosi mit zwOijf Variationen (Nurnberg: Haffner, 1756), ed. by Lothar Hoffmann-Erbrecht, Mitteldoutsches Musikarchi I/6 (Leipzig: Breitkopf, 1955).
Christian Friedrich Schale, Sei brevi Sonate per Cembalo (Nurnberg: Schmids, 1758), xerox copy from the Biblio- theque publique et universitaire de Geneve.
Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, Sonata per ii Clavicembalo solo (Berlin: Hummel, 1778), microfilm copy from the Library of Congress. CHAPTER II
THE POPULARITY OF THE CLAVICHORD IN GERMANY
DURING THE LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
The clavichord is a modest, barely audible keyboard instrument, whose sound is produced by keys acting as levers which press tangents against strings. The attack, duration, pitch, dynamics,
timbre, color, and release of any tone is directly controlled by
the performer's touch.
The zenith of the clavichord in the second half of the eigh-'
teenth century in Germany was marked by the great favor it found with both the burgher and scholar. It is remarkable that the
clavichord relished such distinction at this particular time, because it had been in unspectacular existence for nearly four centuries. The clavichord had certainly been acknowledged by its devotees previously, but never had it enjoyed such effusive adora-
tion as in these years in Germany. There are several reasons why the clavichord maintained its prominence at a time when symphonists sought dramatic effect through crescendos of sound and keyboardists
were drawn to the possibilities of the stronger tone of the pianoforte. The clavichord had always been utilized by musicians for teaching, quiet practice, and composing, but the last half of the eighteenth century saw the publication of multitudinous methods and
7 8
treatises in Germany, patterned not after the scholarship, but the
success of Q.P.E. Bach's Versuch Uiber die wahre Art das Clavier zu
spielen (1753). Many of these methods spoke highly of the clavichord,
and by ranking it above other keyboard instruments, influenced its
eminence. These methods frequently included discourses on the rela-
tive merits of the harpsichord, the clavichord, and the new pianoforte. C.P.E. Bach influentially intoned his praise for the
clavichord in his Versuch:
* . . I believe that a good clavichord, with the exception that it has a weaker tone, shares in the beauty of [the pianoforte], and has an advantage in that it can produce the Bebung and the Tragen der T3ne. . . . The clavichord is therefore the instrument upon which a keyboardist can be most exactly evaluated. 1
Others were quick to express their pleasure with the clavichord.
Johann Adlung mentions the pedagogical value of the clavichord, and grudgingly adds that
The clavichord is the best. . . even for playing, if one wants to perform the ornaments and affects properly.2
1. C.P.E. Bach, Versuch fber die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen, facsimile of the 1753/1762 edition, ed. by Lothar Hoffman- Erbrecht (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hartel, 1957), "Einleitung," 8-9; * . . ich glaube aber doch, dass ein gutes Clavicord, ausge- nommen dass es einen schwchern Ton hat, alle Schanheiten mit jenem gemein und Uberdem noch die Bebung und das Tragen der Tne voraus hat. . . . Das Clavichord ist also das Instrument, worauf man einen Clavieristen aufs genaueste zu beurtheilen fahig ist."
2. Johann Adlung, Anleitung zu der muskalischen Gelahrtheit (Erfurt: J.D. Jungnicol, 1758), facsimile edition, ed. by H.J. Moser (Kassel: Bbrenreiter, 1953), 568; ". . . ein Clavichord List] das beste Clavier; ja auch zum Spielen, wenn jemand die Manieren nebst dem Affekte recht vorstellen will." 9
Georg Wolf expressed in an uncompromising attitude that all was
successful Qn a clavichord:
A good clavichord is the most comfortable and beautiful instrument for a good performance, and because of its piquant, coaxing, and subtle tones, it has no equal. A piece cannot be as well expressed on the harpsichord and pianoforte as on a good clavichord. 3
Even as late as 1802, the clavichord was praised for its suitability in "realizing the most refined nuances of performance, and in
1805, the forecast for the continuing existence and importance of the clavicord was deemed excellent. 5
Another reason why the clavichord had come into its own was that it was the perfect instrument for the German middle class. It was inexpensive; the cost of a clavichord was only one-third to one- fourth the price of a harpsichord of the same quality and workmanship.
3. Georg F. Wolf, "Clavier," Kurzgefasstes musikalisches Lexicon (Halle: Hendel, 1787), 34; "Ein gutes Clavier ist das bequemste und schnste Instrument zu einem guten Vortrage, und hat wegen seines scharfen, schmeichelnden und biegsamen Tone seines gleichen nicht. Auf allen Ubrigen Clavierinstrumenten, als auf dem Fligel, Pianoforte u.s.w. l.sst sich ein Tonstuck nicht so ausdrucken, als auf einem guten Clavier. . . .1"
4. Heinrich C. Koch, "Clavier, Clavichord," Musikalisches Lexicon, 2 vols. (Frankfurt am Main: A. Hermann, 1802), reprint (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1964), col. 341; "Diese Saiteninstrument unter allen Claviaturinstrumenten zu den feinsten Nuancen des Vortrags geeignet. . . ."
5. Friedrich Guthmann, Methodik das Clavier- und FortepianospieZ (Ntrnberg and Leipzig: Campe, 1805), quoted in Carl Parrish, "Criticisms of the Piano When It Was New, " Musical Quarterly XXX/4 (October 1944), 437.
6. Arthur Loesser, Men, Women and Pianos (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1954), 16. 10
It was simple to maintain, requiring little re-stringing and no
re-quilling. It was small, but noticeable enough to represent an
investment and be a tangible sign of middle-class affluence.
The tenor of the time also helped bring the clavichord to the forefront. The clavichord's quiet, intimate sounds were the con-
veyors of free-ranging, heart-felt emotion, feelings which sought
release in some form of cultural expression. The clavichord seemed
especially appropriate for the humble, inwardly-turned worship music of the devout Pietist. The sentimental movement in literature and philosophy found its musical counterpart in the clavichord as well;
Goethe, Lessing, Klopstock, and many others often eulogized the instrument's effects.
The musical climate was also changing, and the new wind blew favorably in the direction of the clavichord. Eschewed was the grand and learned style of the Baroque masters. The new keyboard music was lighter, simpler in texture, and generally more accessible to a performer of modest technical ability. Seeking lucrative gains, publishers made available to the buying public more keyboard music than ever before. There were simple accompaniments to songs, pieces
"aux Dames," transcriptions of operetta tunes, dances, and a wealth of "kleine" and "leichte" works--many with the thorny designation
"fur das Clavier."
Among this plethora of notes there seems to have been an effort by composers to write some pieces, usually of a more demanding caliber than most, that were to be performed on the clavichord. 11
Daniel Tu*rk includes a substantial list of clavichord composers in his Klavierschule of 1789, and laments
. . .a complete list of all clavichord composers and their works would be unnecessary, because many a teacher is certainly not in the position to procure in a few years scarcely half of the above named works. . . .
An essay attributed to Carl Junker in the MusikaZisches Handbuch auf das Jahr 1782 contains a statement which implies that a distinction between instruments for performance is made in the music:
There is a difference if I compose for harpsichord, pianoforte, or clavichord; a composition meant for any one of these instruments must have a character proper to it.9
The keyboard works chosen for the present study are the result of this effort to compose works solely for the clavichord. They were selected for two reasons. First, they are generally cast in the category of pieces "for clavichord" by either the existence of
Bebung indications or by an avowal made by the composer or another musician of the time that the piece in question was intended for the
T. Ttrk's list includes C.P.E. Bach, Georg Benda, Blum, Gressler, Gruner, Hiller, Hssler, Reichardt, Sander, Schulz, Schmied, Turk, Vierling, Witthauer, Ernst Wolf, and Zinck.
8. Daniel Turk, Klavierschule (Leipzig and Halle: auf Kosten des Verfassers, 1789), facsimile edition, ed. by Erwin Jacobi (Kassel: Barenreiter, 1962), "Einleitung," par. 27, 17; wUrde. . . ein vollstandiges Verzeichniss aller Komponisten und ihrer Arbeiten fur das Klavier ganz iUberflussig seyn; denn mancher Lehrer ist gewiss nicht im Stande, sich binnen etlichen Jahren nur die Hilfte der oben genannten Werke anzuschaffen. . . .
9. Quoted in Kenneth Cooper, "The Clavichord in the Eighteenth Century" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1971), 74. 12
clavichord. Such statements could have stemmed from a comparison
of how the pieces sounded on each of the keyboard instruments, or these affirmations could simply reflect a personal preference. It would be difficult, by any means, to ascertain which of these
instances pertain, but these statements at least give justification
for searching for inherent clavichord traits.
Composers and Works Represented in this Study
There is such a close relationship between the clavichord and
C.P.E. Bach's keyboard style, performance, and influence on others, that the point of departure for this study must be some of his many compositions for keyboard. It was difficult to choose a work or selections of works which would be representative of all of Bach's composition, and which would exhibit clavichordistic traits at the same time.
Emanuel began his long association with Crown Prince Frederick in 1738 and served as cembalist in Frederick's Berlin court from
174o until 1768. In Berlin, Emanuel composed many keyboard works, including concertos and the "Prussian" and "Wihrttemberg" sonatas, and there wrote his famous Versuch. But the courtly routine, a low salary, and the musical stodginess of the monarch led to Emanuel's acceptance of a new post in Hamburg in 1768. Many of the associa- tions Emanuel formed with prominent intelluctuals in Berlin were continued after his move to Hamburg. In Hamburg, he composed more for himself, rather than by commission or for money. 13
The six sets of Kenner und Liebhaber pieces stem from this
period in Emanuel's life and are chosen for this study in their
entirety for several reasons. They are indicative of Emanuel's
synthesis of many musical styles; because most are relatively late
compositions, they are "a compendium of all Bach's musical devices."l0
Although some of these pieces show the influence of the new pianoforte in their full chordal textures and dramatic fortissimos (Bach owned a piano and had played one publicly in 1770)),11 the strong imprint of Emanuel's devotion to the clavichord is still present. There are Bebung indications in one early sonata (written in 1758), and Tragen der TOne articulations are found sporadically throughout the collection. There are few incidences of Bebung, in particular, in any of Emanuel's works. Although Bach had intimated that two of 12 his "Wirttemberg" sonatas were conceived for clavichord, there are no indications for vibrato in any. The dynamic indications in the
Kenner und Liebhaber works show neither the didacticism evident in the Probesti*cke nor the blocked forte-piano specifications of the earlier works. Because of their sensitivity and effect, the dynamics in the Kenner und Liebhaber pieces probably were conceived and heard by Bach on the clavichord. The Wotquenne catalogue numbers
10. Philip Barford, The Keyboard Music of C.P.E. Bach (London: Barrie and Rockliff, 1965), 106.
11. Loesser, Men, Women and Pianos, 108-109.
12. C.P.E. Bach, letter to Forkel, 10 February 1775, quoted in Carl Bitter, Carl Philipp Emanuel und Wilhelm Friedemann Bach und deren Bru7der, 2 vols. (Berlin: W. IMller, 1868), I, 340. 14
of the Kenner und Liebhaber pieces and the new, chronologically-
ordered Eugene Helm catalogue numbers are listed below: 1 3
Set I: W. 55/1-6.
H. 244, 130, 245, 186, 243, 187. Set II: W. 56/1-6.
H. 260, 246, 261, 269, 262, 270. Set III: W. 57/1-6.
H. 265, 247, 271, 208, 266, 173. Set IV: W. 58/1-7.
H. 276, 273, 274, 188, 267, 277, 278. Set V: W. 59/1-6.
H. 281, 268, 282, 283, 279, 284. Set VI: W. 61/1-6.
H. 288, 286, 289, 290, 287, 291.
Johann Gottfried Eckard (1735-1809) is included as a sort of oddity. Although he was a self-taught student of Bach's Versuch and brought up in an environment saturated with clavichords, he left Augsburg to go to Paris around 1760, and there he became successful as a composer and performer in a country long devoted to the harpsichord. Of his few extant keyboard works, the earliest,
Opus 1 and Opus 2, are for "le clavecin ou le pianoforte." They were published in Paris in 1763 and 1764, respectively. But Opus 1, a set of sonatas, bears the following "Avertissement":
13. Eugene Helm, "C.P.E. Bach," The New Grove Dictionary of Mtsic and Musicians, 6th ed., 20 vols., ed. by Stanley Sadie (New York: Macmillan, 1980), I, 855-857. 15
I have tried to make this work equally appropriate to the harpsichord, clavichord, and piano. It is for this reasonsthat I have felt obliged to mark the softs and louds so often, which [editing] would have been useless if I had only the harpsichord in mind.14
Perhaps this is only a blatant example of commercialism, but it has
been argued that the sonatas from Opus 1 were intended expressly
for the clavichord because of the environment in which Eckard was
raised--that is, with the sound of the clavichord, rather than the
sounds of the harpsichord or pianoforte, in his ears.15 Christian
Friedrich Schubart, a flamboyant personality of the day, affirmed
that Eckard had first been interested in the harpsichord, then the
piano, and finally the clavichord.16
Christian Gottlob Neefe (1748-1798) is best known today as an
early teacher of Beethoven. Neefe was a successful Singspiel composer
and conductor, and his mastery of lyrical melody is evident in his
many compositions for keyboard. The ZwO*lf Klaviersonaten, published
in 1773 in Leipzig, are dedicated to C.P.E. Bach, although it is
generally thought that the dedication stemmed from Neefe's admiration
14. Johann Eckard, "Avertissement, " Six Sonates pour le clavecin, Op. 1 (Paris: l'auteur, 1763), translated by William Newman, The Sonata in the Classic Era, 2nd ed. (New York: W.W. Norton, 1972), 634-635.
15. Wouter Paap, "De Klaviersonates van Johann G. Eckard," Mens en Melodie XII (April 1957), 109-112.
16. Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart, Ideen zu einer Aesthetik der Tonkunst (written 1784-1785), ed. by Paul Alfred Merbach (Leipzig: Wolkenwanderer, 1924), 141. 16
of Bach and not from a personal acquaintance. It is uncertain whether or not Emanuel recognized the dedication publicly.17
Nevertheless, the set is included here because of this respect for
Emanuel, and because of the modest and ingratiating preface to the
set. Neefe humbly says that he has written some sonatas in his
"spare hours" and that
These sonatas are clavichord sonatas: I wish, therefore, that they be played only on the clavichord; for most of them would have little effect on the harpsichord or pianoforte because neither of these is as capable as the clavichord of cantabile and different modifications of sound upon which I have depended. 18
Johann Wilhelm Hassler (1747-1822) was a colorful figure known, sometimes infamously, for his performances on various keyboard instruments. His performance drew uneven reviews, from "his
17. This aspect is discussed in Walter Thoene, "Nachwort" to Christian Gottlob Neefe, Zwt3lf Kiaviersonaten (Duisseldorf: Musikverlag Schwann, 1961), 40; Irmgard Leux, Christian Gottlob Neefe 1748-1798 (Leipzig: Kistner and Siegel, 1925), 127ff; Ernst Fritz Schmid, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach und seine Kavmermusik (Kassel: Ba'renreiter, 1931), 63-64.
18. Christian Gottlob Neefe, Zw~lf Klaviersonaten (Leipzig: Schwickert, 1773), "An den Herr Kapellmeister Bach in Hamburg"; "Diese Sonaten sind Klaviersonaten: ich wollte daher, dass sie auch nur auf deem Klaviere gespielt Wurden; denn die meisten werden auf dem Flu*gel, oder Pianoforte wenig Wirkung thun, weil keines von beyden des Kantabeln und der verschiedenen Modifikation des Tons so fahig ist, als das Klavier, wornach ich mich doch gerichtet." 17 performance on the harpsichord was the most wretched attempt we have heard,"19 to the highest praise:
It is generally said that he [Hssler] is one of the greatest organists, and not less beautifully he plays the piano-forte; but [he also plays] to perfection and admira- tion on a good German clavichord. 20
Of his over one hundred keyboard works, several sonatas from the many sets of six Hassler published at Erfurt in the 1780's are included here as pieces exhibiting clavichord traits. The earliest sonatas examined, from 1780, have the distinction of being from a collection "fu3rs Clavier," "for the clavichord." The others, four sets of six sonatas, are titled "fj*rs5 Clavier oder Piano-Forte," and date from 1786-1790. Many of these works contain sporadic
Bebung indications.
Nathanel Gottfried Gruner (1732-1792) was a well-known composer from the Thuringian town of Gera, where he was cantor of the Landesschule and of the Johanniskirche. His first set of keyboard sonatas, Sechs Sonaten ftr das Klavier, published in
Leipzig in 1781, are chosen primarily for their incidences of Bebung, but their recognition by composers of the day throughout Europe as pieces of merit also justify their inclusion here. A lengthy subscription list published with the set includes illuminaries such as Emanuel Bach and Johann Reichardt.
19. The Times, 14 May 1792, quoted in H.C. Robbins-Landon, Haydn in England 1791-1795, Vol. III of Haydn: Chronicle and Works, 5 vols. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1976), 116.
20. Journal des Luxus und der Moden, 16 December 1791, quoted in Landon, ibid., 117. 18
Daniel Gottlob Turk (1750-1813) was one of many who followed
in the shadow of Emanuel Bach's successful Versuch. TUrk's
Klavierschule of 1789 shows his own preference for the clavichord:
The clavichord, at least in the beginning, is unquestionably the best for learning, because refinement in performance cannot be achieved on any other keyboard instrument as well as on the clavichord. . . . If one can't have both [a harpsichord and a pianoforte as well], one should choose the clavichord.2 1
One of TUrk's students and a chronicler of musical life in the last decades of the eighteenth century, Carl Loewe, wrote that Tuirk was known for his expressive playing, and that
Indeed, he couldn't make himself replace the gentle, old clavichord with the louder pianoforte, made famous first by Mozart.22
TUrk's love for the clavichord is manifested in his many key- board works, and is particularly expressed in his preface to a
1783 set of six sonatas:
21. TUrk, Klavierschule, "Einleitung," par. 20, 11-12; "Zum Lernen ist das Klavier, wenigstens im Anfange, unstreitig am bcsten; denn auf keinem andern Klavierinstrumente l.sst sich die Feinheit im Vortrage so gut erwerben, als auf diesem. . . . Wer nicht beydes haben kann, der w.hle das Klavier."
22. Carl Loewe, Dr. Carl [oewe's Selbstbiographie, ed. by Carl Bitter (Berlin: W. Miller, 1870), 31; "Doch konnte er sich nicht entschliessen das sanfte alte Klavier mit dem lauteren, erst durch Mozart bekannt gewordenen Fortepiano zu vertauschen." 19
I only wish that these sonatas will be played on no other instrument than the clavichord, because they will certainly, for the most part have a very bad effect when played on the harpsichord.2
F.S. Sander (c. 1760-1796) was a Breslau music teacher. His Sechs Clavier-Sonaten are chosen for this study because of their frequent Bebung and Tragen der TOne indications. Sander reputedly preferred the clavichord to either the harpsichord or pianoforte.24
23. Daniel Turk, Sechs Sonaten fir das Kiavier (Leipzig: Breitkopf, 1783), "Vorrede"; "Nur wunschte ich, dass man diese Sonaten auf keinem andern Instrumente, als auf dem Klaviere, spielte; denn ganz gewiss werden sie grastentheils auf dem FlUgel eine sehr schlechte Wirkung thun."
24. Ellwood Derr, "F.S. Sander," The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 6th ed., 20 vols., ed. by Stanley Sadie (New York: Macmillan, 1980), XVI, 465-466. CHAPTER III
CONCERNING BEBUNG
The essence of the clavichord, the way in which its meager
tones were sounded, gave cause for the praise and admissions of
heartfelt devotion showered on the instrument by composers and
performers in the eighteenth century. Music-makers, enamoured
with the clavichord's intimate and expressive qualities, suffered
its inefficient sound production. Indeed, the instrument was revered for having a "special advantage," as Daniel Turk described
it, over all other keyboard instruments. Not only could it
attain degrees of loudness and softness, something which other keyboard instruments were ineffectual in doing, but it could also produce a phenomenon completely individual to the clavichord, the
Bebung.
Bebung, literally "shaking" or "trembling," is an ornamental vibrato produced by the performer varying the pressure of his finger on a depressed key. When the tangent remains in contact with a string, alterations of touch are transmitted to the vibrating string. The clavichordist has the ability then, by regulating his touch, not only to change the dynamics and timbre, but the pitch as well. While the Bebung is essentially a pitch vibrato, it also has a slight effect on the quality of the sound. That Bebung was considered an ornament is confirmed by its frequent inclusion with discussions of other Man'zeren.
20 21
One of the earliest accounts of Bebung may date from as early
as 1668,1 but the first notated example of Bebung did not appear
until 1753, where it was used in two of C.P.E. Bach's Probestcke.
Bebung was notated by means of dots and slurs over the note requiring
vibrato (Example 1). Prior to this time Bebung apparently was not
notated.
Earlier keyboard composers were not compelled to decorate their music with Bebung dots. For example, a voluminous composer
such as J.S. Bach, who meticulously notated other ornaments and provided tables for aid in their realization, offers us instances of vibrato in only a few vocal and instrumental works.2 Although he undoubtedly played and taught at the clavichord, and although it has been suggested that he favored the clavichord above all other
1. Willi Apel, "Bebung," Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1972), 87; This is the date Apel gives for a mention of Bebung in a theoretical work by Wolfgang Kaspar Printz, but he does not include the title of the work. Most likely the treatise in question is either Compendium musical signatoriae et modulatoriae vocalis (1689), one of Printz's most important efforts, or his Musicae modulatoria vocalis oder Manierliche und zierliche Sing-Kunst (1678). None of Printz's works was published in 1668. Johann Mattheson, in Der vollkommener Capelimeister (1739), cites a "Mus. mod." by Printz and deplores Printz's "erring information and invalid examples" when discussing Bebung (Part II, par. 27).
2. Frederick Neumann, Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music, with Special Emphasis on J.S. Bach (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978), 519-520. 22 keyboard instr-uments, he did not once give an indication for
Bebung. Even during the third quarter of the eighteenth century,
in the clavichord's heyday, instances of Bebung marks were few.
Modern scholars are of two minds concerning the frequency of
Bebung in performance. Many, despite the lack of notated Bebung, believe that it was a frequent addition during performance. They
claim the addition of an ornament, such as Bebung, would have been self-evident to composers and performers; hence, they added it in performance as a matter of personal preference. Other modern
scholars feel that Bebung was seldom used. They cite eighteenth- century sources, such as Friedrich Marpurg, who took special note that Bebung sounded "tolerably well only on a few clavichords,"4 and Daniel TUrk, who also indicated an awareness of the close relationship between Bebung and the quality of the instrument upon which it was to be played.5 The connection between instrument and effect may be the reason why keyboard composers added Bebung so infrequently; they could not, in good conscience, guarantee that the effect would sound good.
3. Johann Nikolaus Forkel, Ueber Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke (Leipzig: Hoffmeister & KIhnel, 1802), reprint edition, ed. by Josef M. Miller-Blattau (Augsburg: Barenreiter, 1925), 58-59.
4. Friedrich Marpurg, Anleitung zum Clavierspielen, 2nd ed. (Berlin: Haude and Spener, 1765), Part 1, "Von den Manieren," 46; ". . . auf wenig Clavichorden bringet man sie ertrglich heraus.t"
5. Daniel Turk, Kiavierschule (Leipzig and Halle: auf Kosten des Verfassers, 1789), facsimile edition, ed. by Erwin Jacobi (Kassel: Barenreiter, 1962), Chapter 4, par. 88, "Von der Bebung," 293. 23
The eighteenth-century accounts of Bebung are inconsistent in emphasizing-the several aspects of the vibrato possible on the
clavichord. Not one description includes a complete explanation of Bebung's realization and effects. This is perhaps only a reflection of the writers' unease at clearly defining an effect with which they were not comfortable. Such irregularity of description, coupled with the lack of explicit markings and the imperfection of the instrument, suggest a premise contrary to the assertion that Bebung was commonly added in performance. An examination of the occurrences of Bebung, as well as the few descriptions that appear in the treatises of the time, should be beneficial in clarifying the eighteenth-century consideration of Bebung, and in determining its importance as an inherent clavichordistic trait.
How Bebung s Produced
The effect of Bebung is usually described in the treatises of the time, but sometimes it is not clear what a performer actually does to produce it. In an early account, Mattheson says that the fingertips produce the effect on stringed instruments, and admits that
One may point out where such a wavering or oscillating would occur but cannot show with either pen or symbol how it actually would happen. The ear must teach it.T
6. Johann Mattheson, Der volikommener Capellmeister (Hamburg: Herold, 1739), Part 2, Chapter 3, par. 27.
7. Mattheson, ibid., par. 29; "Man kann woll andeuten, an welchem Orte ein solches Zittern oder Schweben geschehen soll, aber wie es eigentlich damit zugehe, kann weder Feder noch Zirkel zeigen: Das Ohr muss es lehren." 24
Marpurg also vaguely mentions use of the fingertips. Tuirk's
description-is perhaps the most satisfactory:
One lets the finger lie on the key as long as the duration of the prescribed note demands, and tries to strengthen the tone by means of a gentle pressure, several times repeated. I need hardly remark that one releases after each pressure without raising the finger entirely off the key.9
In the 1787 revision of Part One of his Versuch, Emanuel Bach adds
a sentence which hints of personal preference:
The best effect is achieved when the finger withholds its shake [vibrato] until half of the note has passed.10
How Bebung Is Indicated in the Music
Most all of the descriptions of Bebung also agree with the manner of its notation--various numbers of dots encompassed by a slur (Example la). Although TUrk's Klavierschule also includes the notation of the word tremolo with some notes (Example lb), there are no examples in this survey of keyboard pieces which indicate Bebung
8. Marpurg, Anleitung, Part 1, "Von den Manieren," 46; "Diese Bewegung geschicht auf besaiteten Instrumenten, vermittelst der Fingerspitzen, .
9. T*irk, KLavierschule, Chapter 4, par. 88, "Von der Bebung," 293; "Man lsst nmlich den Finger, so lange es die Dauer der vorgeschriebenen Note erfordert, auf der Taste liegen, und sucht den Ton durch einen mehrmals wiederholten gelinden Drucke wieder etwas nachlasst, aber den Finger nicht ganz von der Taste abheben darf, brauche ich wohl kaum zu bemerken." 10. C.P.E. Bach, Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments, ed. and translated by William J. Mitchell (New York: W.W. Norton, 1949), 156. 25
in this manner. However, notes with both dots and tremolo are found frequently in the music of Gruner, as shown in Example 1c. Johann Deysinger, in a treatise on the fundamentals of music, includes an interesting notation of repeated tones with a wavy line (Example ld) and says notes with this indication are to be "played or sung almost sobbingly or tremblingly."ll Frederick
Neumann includes Deysinger's comments in a brief survey of how a keyboard vibrato was notated, although the notation of a wavy line with repeated notes is actually an indication for ondeggiando or ondule, an undulating tremolo used in string music of the eighteenth century. It is uncertain whether this is an instance of confusion between vibrato, tremolo, and Bebung in the eighteenth century, or Neumann's misinterpretation.
Example 1. The notation of Bebung.
A very late description of Bebung in a lexicon published in 1802, while suggesting that some composers use the typical combination
11. Johann Deysinger, Compendium musicum oder fundamenta partiturae (Augsburg, 1763), 11, quoted in Neumann, Ornamentation, 521; Isolche Noten gleichsam hetschend oder zitternd spielet oder singet." 26
of dots and slurs, admits that "no indication for this type of
ornament is generally- 1l2 used." This account continues to say that
Various composers are in the habit of indicating with the number of dots the number of motions the finger should make.'3
A few descriptions of Bebung, although not all, mention this correspondence between the number of dots indicated and the number of stresses to be made by the clavichordist's finger. Marpurg's account of Bebung takes note of the relationship between notation and performance but says that such a precise notation "is not use- ful for the clavichord. The effect [of Bebung] cannot be represented
by notes. "14
Where Bebung Is Performed
Few descriptions of Bebung specify unequivocally where in the music the effect is to be performed. C.P.E. Bach suggests that
a long, affettuoso tone is performed with vibrato, but gives no
12. Heinrich Christoph Koch, "Bebung," Musikalisches Lexicon, 2 vols. (Frankfurt am Main: A. Hermann, 1802), reprint (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1964), col. 229; "Zur Bezeichnung dieser Spielmanier ist noch kein Zeichen allgemein eingefiihrt."
13. Koch, ibid.; "Verschie ene Tonsetzer sind jedoch gewohnt, sie mit Punkten iber die Ncten, und zwar mit eben so viel Punkten zu bezeichnen, als der Finger Bewegungen machen soll." 14. Marpurg, Anleitung, Part 1, "Von den Manieren," 46; "Doch ist diese letztere Schreibart nicht so gebruchlich fur das Clavichord. Ihre Wirkung kann man nicht in Noten vorstellen."
15. C.P.E. Bach, Versuch 1) er die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen, facsimile of the 1753/1762 edition, ed. by Lothar Hoffman-Erbrecht (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hrtel, 1957), Chapter 3, "Vom Vortrage," par. 20, 126; "Eine lange und affektuase Note vertrdgt eine Bebung. . . 27
further illumination as to what constitutes "long" or "affettuoso."
Daniel Turk, however, in one of the most complete accounts of
Bebung, states
Bebung can only be used with good success ove a long note, especially in pieces of sad, etc. character.lU
Even though this dictum is widely accepted today, it is perhaps erroneous, as will be seen below.
Frequency in Performance
The aspect of frequency in performance is most puzzling. Some accounts imply that Bebung is performed at will and in profusion.
Johann Petri writes that Bebung
is not indicated most of the time, but is found in per- formance nonetheless. However, to please beginners, who still do not know where they should play ornaments, it can be found indicated thus: 17
16. Turk, KlavZerschule, Chapter 4, par. 88, "Von der Bebung," 293: "* . . nur iber langen Noten, besonders in Tonsticken vom traurigem, etc. Karacter, mit gutem Erfolg angebracht."
17. Johann Petri, Anleitung zur praktischen Musik (Lauben: J. Chr. Wirthgen, 1767), quoted in Cornelia Auerbach, Die deutsche Klavichordkunst des 18. Jahrhunderts, 2nd ed. (Kassel: Brenreiter, 1953), 66; ". . . meistenteils nicht vorgezeichnet, sondern findet bloss im Vortrage statt. Jedoch bissweilen finden man sie Anfangern zuliebe, welche noch nicht wissen, wo sie Manieren anbringen sollen, also vorgezeichnet: 28
Other writers, such as Tu*rk, warn against too much vibrato and the exaggeration of stress.
One should guard against a frequent vibrato generally, and if a vibrato is used, against an ugly exaggeration of the tone by too violent a pressure, a mistake which I have already warned against at another opportunity. 1 8
In a review of a keyboard instruction manual in Marpurg's Historisch- kritische Beytrage, the frequency of Bebung is also discussed:
One does not grace every note, or all long notes. Instead, tones should more frequently be left plain. In the occasional use of ornaments lies the greatest delicacy.19
Examples of Bebung in the Music
In examining the music of some eighteenth-century clavichord composers, it is seen that, indeed, Bebung occurs most frequently
on a single melodic note which is of relatively long duration.
Often the pitch is reiterated several times, but the repetitions
of the pitch may not carry Bebung indications. In Example 2, a
18. TUrk, Klavierschule, Chapter 4, par. 88, "Von der Bebung," 293; "Man hate sich Uberhaupt vor hufigen Bebungen, und, wenn man sie anbringt, vor dem so hsslichen Uebertreiben des Tones durch das zu heftige Nachdruicken. Ein Fehler, vor welchem ich bereits bey einer andern Gelegenheit gewarnt habe. "
19. "Georg Weitzlers kurzer Entwurf der ersten AngangsgruTnde, auf dem Claviere nach Noten zu spielen," Historisch- kritische Beytrage zur Aufnahrne der Musik, 5 vols., ed. by Friedrich Marpurg (Berlin: G.A. Lange, 1757-1758), III, 213; "Man mache nicht bei jedem, auch bei aller langer TOnen Manieren, sondern lass zum 0ftern Tonen ganz bloss. In der Sparsamkeit der Manieren bestehet die grosste Delicatesse." 29
Sturm und Drang sonata by Hassler, the repetitions of pitch serve to emphasize the peak of a phrase. Only the first tone has Bebung indicated.
Example 2. Johann Hassler, Sechs Zeichte Sonaten f'urs Clavier oder Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 2, 1st movement (Moderato), measures 1-5.
Moderafo
40L AR -T 7W
M 4tF
- M, -44-6w--A&---4M4- ' -rT-IL am 1 ir- ;
teni~
I M AMA& go go "r m'fr1f
,
'lii
Emanuel Bach's second sonata from the first book of Kenner und
Liebhaber pieces is the sole example of Bebung from that monumental set of sonatas and rondos (Example 3). Bebung is indicated on the repeated pitches, unlike the previous example. Here the repetitions form a pedal point. The Bebung, like the addition of the mordent in measures 24 and 25, draws attention to the note within the texture rather than colors it. The effect would be the same as that of a trill in a harpsichord piece. 30
Example 3, C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber 1 (1779). Sonata 21, lst movement (Andante), measures 21-27.
I
dk
oo
WWI
41 A Ask
wM
0 41
Bebung is also used to emphasize the final pitch of a repeated phrase, as in Example 4. Here the Bebung strengthens the melodic duration of the note within the chordal texture. The tempo is significantly Presto. Although it is not clear from the transi- tional nature of the excerpt, the character of the movement in general is light and boisterous.
Example 4. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten filrs Clavier oder Piano-Forte III (1788), Sonata 1, 3rd movement (Presto), measures 63-69. 31
A similar instance of the use of Bebung by Hbssler indicates
the vibrato above the highest pitch of a chord (Example 5). It
is unclear, however, whether the entire chord is to be ornamented or just the top note. These and similar examples can be understood as places of a marked agogic accent, where Bebung is added to counteract the quick decay of the clavichord's tone.
Example 5. Johann HIissler, Sechs leichte Sonaten firs Clavier oder Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 1, 2nd movement (Un poco Andante ed espressivo), measures 30-33.
A refinement in the use of Bebung may be seen in Nathanael
Gruner's sonatas of 1781. Although there are some examples of
Bebung indications on long, melodic notes--notes which must be sustained if played on the frail clavichord--Gruner's refinement consists of Bebung indications on notes which are of particular melodic interest, not just repetitions of the same pitch. The notes with Bebung are actually part of a melody. In Example 6, the Bebung serves not only to sustain the tone, but to impart a heightened expressiveness. 32
Example 6. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten ftitr das Klcwier (1781), Sonata 1, 1st movement (Moderato assai), measures 25-320
4W "Iz
td dd :M,1W 4P ;w o
.dqw u, f I
Sometimes chromatic links from one section to another are found with Bebung indications, as in Examples 7 and 8. These are reminiscent of J.S. Bach's notated use of vibrato which also occurred in chromatic passages.20
20. Neumann, Ornamentation, 519-520. 33
Example 7. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten ftlr das KLavier (1781), Sonata 6, 1st movement (Andante), measures 19-23.
tog"** 7-9 I -L- t I
4-
ff
I .Ak 23LAW P., -Af71 OK 1 - I Ami
ff
ALw *MONO FrrN I- di 410
Am
Example 8. Nathanael Gruner , Sechs Sonaten ftir das Klavier (1781), Sonata 2, lst movement (Allegro assai con spirito ), measures 69-750
nc-WON'T up.J ed
Sometimes the incidences of Bebung lend credence to the idea that the number of dots in a Bebung designation reflects the number of vibrato pulsations, as expressed by Marpurg and others. The nine 34
Bebung dots in Example 9 imply a rhythmical division of each beat into three equal vibrations. In Example 10, the half notes in the first phrase are indicated with four Bebung dots, an effect quite readily achieved. For some inexplicable reason, however, Sander adds five dots to the half notes in the second phrase.
Example 9. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten firs Clavier (1780), Sonata 1, 2nd movement (Adagio), measures 1-5.
T 3 f
5 +
Example 10. Johann Sander, Sechs Clavier-Sonaten (1785), Sonata 5, 2nd movement (Largo e mesto), measures 1-8.
Uro e moto 4+ -A* t A LZ IFAF
A94 36
if cre-sc V're
0 -Aw 35
There are other examples which do not seem to specify the
exact number of Bebung pressures. It would be an unrealistic
expectation and quite impossible for a performer to transform each
dot in Example 11 into a vibrato.
Recalling that C.P.E. Bach preferred to add pressures to a
note after it had sounded. half its length, the Bebung indications
in measures 30 and 31 in Example 12 make rhythmic sense. The six
pressures could be added to the last three sixteenth-note divisions
of the beat. In general, it seems impractical that Bebung, a
device whose ultimate purpose was heightened expression, would
have been bound by an attempt to be notationally precise.
Example 11. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 2, 1st movement (Andante), measures 21-27.
It is generally assumed from the composers' indications that
Bebung, if it was added according to a performer's prerogative, was
added to long notes in slow movements of an improvisational, 36
Example 12. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten flr das Klavier (1781), Sonata 1, lst movement (Moderato assai),,measures 25-33.
44*
reflective, and even tragic character. It is true that Bebung was indicated for notes of long duration, but it is quite incorrect to limit the nature of the music thus ornamented to the so-called empfindsam or the more reflective tendencies of the Sturm und Drang.
An excellent refutation of such limitations is the Hassler first sonata from the third set of Sechs leichte Sonaten (1788). As indicated earlier, the Bebung indications are found in a lively
Presto (Example 4). The sonata itself is distinguished by a simple opening chorale and an imitative second movement. Although Bebung certainly appears more frequently in slower movements, it is noL always in a middle movement, and certainly not always in an intro- spective one. CHAPTER IV
CONCERNING TRAGEN DER TONE
Tragen der TOne, literally the carrying or sustaining of tones, is an effect that composers of the eighteenth century describe in the same breath with Bebung. Tragen der Tone is an articulation of a note produced by a single pressure of a clavichordist's finger on a key, rather than the several repeti- tions that characterize the Bebung. The same mechanism of a tangent maintaining contact with a string makes both effects possible.
Today Tragen der TOne is universally translated as "portato," an articulation somewhere between legato and staccato, which is attainable to some degree on practically all instruments. In eighteenth-century keyboard treatises, however, the descriptions of Tragen der TOne state that the effect is possible only on the clavichord, or at least best rendered on the instrument. Both
C.P.E. Bach and Friedrich Marpurg say that this effect is
37 38
applicable only to the clavichord. Even as late as 1791,
Tragen der TOne is described as a phenomenon of the clavichord.2
The descriptions of Tragen der TOne, unlike those of Bebung, are fairly uniform in content. They similarly mention a Druck or
"pressure," which is added to each note after it has been sounded.
Emanuel Bach's account is concise:
The notes. . . are played legato, and each tone carries a noticeable pressure. The binding of notes with slurs and dots in keyboard music is called Tragen der TOne.3
In his introduction to the Versuch, he clarifies that this pressure is added after each stroke. Marpung's Anleitung zun Clavierspielen, published only two years after Bach's -Versuch, contains a description of Tragen der TOne that paraphrases the earlier account:
1. C.P.E. Bach, Versuch 5ber die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen, facsimile of the 1753/1762 edition, ed. by Lothar Hoffman- Erbrecht (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Ha*rtel, 1957), Chapter 3, "Vom Vortrage," par. 21, 127; Friedrich Marpurg, Anleitung zum Clavierspielen, 2nd ed. (Berlin: Haude and Spener, 1765), Part 1, "Von verschiednen musikalischen Zeichen," 29.
2. Georg LOhlein, Clavier-Schule, 5th ed. (Zillichau and Freystadt: Waisenhause & Frommannische Buchhandlung, 1791), 19.
3. Bach, Versuch, "Vom Vortrage," par. 19, 126; "Die. . . befindlichen Noten werden gezogen und jede kriegt zugleich einen mercklichen Druck. Das Verbinden der Noten durch Bogen mit Punckten nennt man bey dem Claviere eigentlich das Tragen der TOne."
4. Bach, ibid., "Einleitung," par. 11. 8-9; ". . . weil ich nach dem Anschlage noch jeder Note einen Druck geben kan." 39
- - . the notes. . . should be distinguished through a somewhat stronger pressure of the fingers and should be as connected as in ordinary progression. 5
The description of Tragen der TOne found in the main body of Turk's
Kiavierschule implies that the effect is a legato touch as we would understand it today, attainable on any keyboard instrument:
The dot indicates the pressure which every key must receive; the player is reminded by the slur to hold the tone after the pressure until the duration of the note is complete. 6
An earlier footnote to paragraph 30 of the "Einleitung" clearly describes how Tragen der TOne is produced, and so links the effect to the clavichord:
Tragen der Tone means tones are connected so that there will be no interruption of the sound in the progression
5. Marpurg, Anleitung, Part 1, "Von den Manieren," 46; * . dass die damit bezeichneten Noten durch einen etwas strken Druck mit den Fingern markieret, und als wie im ordentlichen Fortgehen zusammen gehanget werden sollen."
6. Daniel Tuirk, Klavierschule, (Leipzig and Halle: auf Kosten des Verfassers, 1789), facsimile edition, ed. by Erwin Jacobi (Kassel: Barenreiter, 1962), Chapter 6, par. 37, 354; "Das Pinktchen bezeichnet den Druck, welchen jede Taste erhalten muss, und durch den Bogen wird der Spieler erinnert, den Ton nach dem Drucke so lange auszuhalten, bis die Dauer der Vorgeschriebenen Note vollig voruber ist." 4o
from one note to another. On the clavichord, this so-called sustaining is easily attained, because one can give an additional pressure after striking the key. T
The notation of Tragen der TOne is usually shown in these music guides as dots and slurs articulating a stepwise-moving line (Example 13a). In addition, Lhlein extends the usual four
stepping tones to a scalar pattern (Example 13b), and TUrk indicates
Tragen der TOne with repeated tones (Example 13c). Turk also says the effect can be shown by the word appoggiato (Example 13d). Franz Rigler gives an example with skips rather than steps (Example 13e).
Example 13. Examples in theoretical works of Tragen der Tne.
Tragen der T3ne is not very common in the music selected for this study, and the few instances of it are often dissimilar to the examples in the treatises. A twentieth-century musician is therefore uncertain of the purpose intended by an eighteenth-century musician when he indicated Tragen der TOne. It is clear from the
7. Turk, ibid., "Einleitung," first footnote to par. 30, 20; "Unter dem Tragen der TO5ne versteht man das Aneinanderha.ngen derselben, so dass beym Fortschreiten von einem Tone zum andern keine LUcke (Pause) entstehe. Auf dem Klaviere ist dies so genannte Tragen sehr gut zu erreichen, weil man der Taste nach dem Anschlage noch einen Druck geben kann." 41 accounts that the eighteenth-century musician was describing an effect that could only be rendered on the clavichord, so the aspects of Tragen der T5ne are important to the study of traits inherent in clavichord music. If Tragen der TOne is performed according to the descriptions in the treatises, four effects-- sometimes indistinguishable one from the other--are produced:
1. a vibrato that is differentiated from Bebung by its slowness and rhythm;
2. a greater duration of tone;
3. an articulation similar to our modern finger legato; and
4. a pitch alteration.
Bach's description of Tragen der TOne follows his brief account of Bebung. This has suggested to at least one scholar that Tragen der TOne is merely a very slow vibrato, and so, like Bebung, only used to ornament especially expressive notes.
Franz Rigler's 1779 description of Tragen der TOne corroborates this idea in its use of the same verb for both effects. Tragen der TOne occurs "when the key is rather continuously rocked" and
Bebung "when the tone is quite clearly rocked according to the
8. Kenneth Cooper, "The Clavichord in the Eighteenth Century" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1971), 34ff. 42
number of dots, and without repeating the finger stroke."9 Just
as Bebung adds an expressive length to a note, Tragen der T3ne adds
greater duration to a series of tones. The effect of a slow
vibrato is secondary, and only apparent to the listener when the
tones are repeated. In C.P.E. Bach's second Kenner und Liebhaber
sonata (W. 55/2; H. 130), the only one that contains Bebung indi-
cations, Tragen der TOne is indicated in the Larghctto movement over repeated, unaccompanied melodic notes (Example 14). Even if a slow, ornamental vibrato is produced, the predominant effect is of lengthened, expressive tone and a legato articulation.
Example 14. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 2, 2nd movement (Larghetto), measures 13-18.
14V'
9. Franz Rigler, Anleitung zum Clavier flir musikalische Lehrstunden. . . , Part 1, 2nd ed. (Vienna: Ignaz Alberti, 1791), 19; "wenn man die Tasten ein wenig anhaltend wiegt"; "wenn der Ton nach Anzahl der Punckte ganz deutlich, und ohne wiederholten Anschlag, herausgewieget wird." 43
The tones in the first measure of Example 15, which are on
the same pitch, are given articulation by Tragen der TRne. When
the theme is repeated, however, the indications are conspicuously
absent. Perhaps this implies that the composer employed Tragen der
TUne to give the sound greater duration in the opening, the same
effect achieved by the fuller texture, arpeggiation, and higher
dynamic level at the theme's return.
Example 15. Johann Ha**ssler, Sechs Leichte Sonaten f'Gr Clavier oder Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 2, 2nd movement (Andantino con grazia), measures 1-12.
Anlant i no co la 2a
In the following seven-phrase (aabbcdd) section (Example 16), an anacrusis is repeated with each phrase pair. The articulations vary: the first and second phrases bear no special indications; the second pair of phrases is characterized by a staccato articulation; 44
Example 16. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten fi~r das Kiavier (1781), Sonata 6, 3rd movement (Allegretto e dolce), measures 1-28.
A1lIcretto c Joicc
F 4 j 4'5
the final phrase pair has Tragen der TOne indications. Gruner
seems to seek a variety of articulations, variations that would
characterize and, at the same time, distinguish one phrase pair from another. It is curious, however, that Tragen der T5ne is indicated on an upbeat which is doubled at the third. Melodic doubling, discussed in Chapter VI, is a frequent compositional device in this music that increases tonal volume. The doubling in this instance would certainly accomplish the same effect as the Tragen der TOne. Perhaps Gruner intends only that these doubled thirds be legato.
A Tragen der T3ne that produces a sort of vibrato seems suited to melodic figures. Frequently, however, dots and slurs are found on static accompaniments. In Example 17, the effect seems to be an articulation that lengthens the tone and provides a legato connection, thereby distinguishing the accompaniment from the melody.
Most of the descriptions of Tragen der TOne show dots and slurs articulating a moving melodic line, implying that the effect would be demanded in similar instances in the music. However, incidences of this kind seldom occur in this music. Example 18 is an exception; Tragen der T~ne is integral to the articulation and characterization uf the theme. The passages in measures 2 and
6 are partially chromatic. It has been suggested that performers on the clavichord used the instrument's ability to alter the 46
Example W7. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten fthr das Klavier (1781), Sonata 3, 2nd movement (Larghetto e lusingando), measures 1-4.
Larihetto e lusinjanJo
v alp Atd
07: (Iola, t b, 0 lisp- Wz Al -
SIV
low do
Example 18. F.S. Sander, Sechs Clavier-Sonaten I (1785), Sonata 6, 2nd movement (Adagio molto), measures 1-8.
Ada3 lo lko
ccesc 1
CVC5C
si -7 sound of a note after it had been struck in order to correct
haphazard pitch.10 The pitch may need to be corrected in performance, and so the composer has indicated or drawn attention to this possibility. If a fretted clavichord were used, a chromatic passage may also necessitate a non-legato articulation, although Tragen der TOne markings would suggest a legato execution. Similarly, Tragen der T5ne is indicated over an ascending
chromatic line in Example 19. In addition to showing where any wayward pitch could be corrected, the composer may have sought a portamento effect that would intensify the dramatic dynamic change from piano to fortissimo.
Example 19. Johann Hssler, Sechs leichte Sonaten fjrs Clavier oder Piano-Forte IV (1790), Sonata 3, 1st movement (Un poco largo ed espressivo), measures 71-73.
In Example 20, Tragen der TOne is used in a similar fashion to articulate a descending pattern of octaves. Hssler probably intends a finger legato.
10. Wilhelm Dupont, Geschichte der musikalischen Temperatur (Nordlingen: C.H. Beck'sche Buchdruckerei, 1935), cited in Hanns Neupert, The Clavichord, 2nd ed., trans. by Ann P.P. Feldberg (Kassel: Barenreiter, 1965), 42. 48
Example 20. Johann HaEssler, Sechs leichte Sonaten ftr Clavier oder Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 1, 2nd movement (Andante ed espressivo), measures 72-75.
These examples of Trczqen der J25ne are drawn almost entirely
from movements in slow tempo. It is curious that Bebung, often considered a feature of slow movements, is instead found in pieces of various tempo and character. Tragen der Tc'ne, which is translated as "portato"? and used in all music, appears to be an expressive device restricted to slow movements. There may be two reasons for this. First, Tlragen der T~h~ne is an articulation that must be deliberately executed, so it would logically be found in pieces with a slow rhythmic movement . Second, its effect enhances the quick decay of the clavichord tone, something not needed in faster movements.
Tragen der Thne is an enigma. Although one can divine from the descriptions how the effect can be produced, and it is made clear that this is an effect possible only on the clavichord, the exact purpose for which composers used Tragen der T~ne is uncertain. If Tragen der T~ne indications are employed to show notes deserving of a vibrato or a larger, longer sound, then it is useful, but the composers seem neither confident nor consistent in using it in 49
these ways, and the difference between Bebung and Tragen der Tone remains unclear. The clavichord's weak tone would benefit from some sort of effort by the performer to lengthen the tone, but it is puzzling why a composer would attempt to indicate this in such a sporadic manner. While the notation of Tragen der Tone may look like the "portato" of Italian string and vocal tradition, it would be more accurate for us to translate the phrase literally into a "sustaining" or "carrying" touch. It is this sustaining effect which is probably most important. CHAPTER V
DYNAMIC INDICATIONS
Emanuel Bach wrote in his Versuch, "on [the clavichord] all varieties of loud and soft can be expressed clearly."l Bach was not alone in praising the dynamic effects possible on the clavichord.
Daniel Ti*rk stated that the ability to produce "the greatest possible gradations of loud and softs" was an absolute necessity for a good clavichord. Other notable musicians of the day, such as Charles Burney and Johann Reichardt, were enthralled with the dynamic effects C.P.E. Bach was able to achieve on his own
Silbermann clavichord. C.F.D. Schubart used the descriptions
"musical coloring" ("der musikalischen Lokalfarben") and "notes swelling and dying away" ("das Schwellen und Sterben der Tne") when writing about the clavichord. "Mitteltinten" or "middle shades," also a favorite phrase of his, referred to the blending of tones and their timbres throughout the entire dynamic spectrum.
A review in Cramer's Magazin der Musik describes a melody "diffused with ever-varying light and shadow" ("das vielfach darfiber
1. C.P.E. Bach, Versuch iuber die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen, facsimile of the 1753/1762 edition, edited by Lothar Hoffman-Erbrecht (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hrtel, 1957), Chapter 3, "Vom Vortrage," par. 29, 129; "Damit man alle Arten vom pianissimo biss zum fortissimo deutlich zu haren kriege. .
2. Carl Friedrich Cramer, ed., Magazin der Musik, 2 vols. (Hamburg: Westphal, 1783, 1784 and 1786), I, 1238.
50 51
verbreitete Licht und Schatten") as characteristic for the clavichord. The practical considerations of Bach and Turk con- cerning the attributes of a good clavichord, the poetic descriptions of Schubart and Cramer's reviewer, as well as others, all describe the subtle and pleasing dynamic effects possible on the clavichord,
and characteristics of music for the instrument.
Of course, both the clavichord and the pianoforte of the eighteenth century were capable of gradual or sudden changes in volume. We must not naively presuppose that because a keyboard piece of this time contained dynamic indicatons, it was meant
for the clavichord. It is helpful to remember, however, that the pianoforte was new, and that for one accustomed to the Saitengef1hl of the clavichord, the piano, because of its radically different
playing mechanism, must have required a great adjustment in a performer's technique. In an effort to give the instrument wider
appeal, the builders of the time often outfitted the pianoforte,
just as they had the harpsichord, with stops which produced various
effects and changes in timbre. Carl Parrish has postulated that
this indicated the builders' slowness to realize the progressive-
ness of the dynamic-changing possibilities of the pianoforte.3 As
a corollary to this, it might also be suggested that the buying
public was not eager to accept either a replacement for or an improvement upon the clavichord. They were tantalized into purchasing a pianoforte by the novelty of its noisemakers. One might further
3. Carl Parrish, "Criticisms of the Piano When It Was New," Musical Quarterly XXX/4 (October 1944), 430. 52 postulate that in view of such unfamiliarity with the piano's natural expressive abilities, the dynamic indications in keyboard music of the time might reflect special expressive nuances associated only with the clavichord. At least they may represent the changes in volume expected on a clavichord.
The manner and frequency of a composer's uses of dynamic indications is an important aspect of his style. Dynamic contrast, perhaps more than any other feature of this music, intimates the affinity a composer might have for the clavichord. Since all of the works examined here were chosen primarily because the composer explicitly indicated that they were pieces for clavichord, their dynamic marks can be examined to determine whether or not such features of the music imply intentional composition for the clavichord.
The dynamic indications in this music are of five types:
I. dynamic markings with precedence in the earlier part of the century, such as blocked dynamics, and other effects associated with the harpsichord;
2. successive or graduated dynamics;
3. dynamic indications that serve as guideposts, frequently implying a crescendo or diminuendo;
4. markings that delineate motives or phrases; and
5. special effects produced by dynamic markings.
There are numerous examples that have both a specific clavi- chord designation and dynamic indications. Yet there are others, such as Example 21 from Neefe's first sonata from his set of 53
Example 21. Christian Neefe, ZwO/f4Klaviersonaten (1773), Sonata 1, 3rd movement (Allegretto), measures 1-28.
Al retfo
AM- A 4 -OF
Ilk
Im Ow ji
WANII
-o-arls I I T Fz: go-u- 3 fu L" Plm ow T- - Pwovom-- al M-- UP- - 407
AR-A U- I 'e, Tio NOW ry S& I f
mL
W. Li *a !mp, Ij
ALA v- AT oil
30
loomm%
V, v
6AM
or
A l low AM ORWAh..L- ML rip 54
Example 21. -- Continued
twelve, all designated for clavichord, which have no dynamic
marks at all. Neefe's Allegretto, although invention-like in its
two-voice texture and hints of imitation, certainly does not pre-
suppose a monochromatic coloring of one dynamic level, but neither
does it lend support to Neefe's statement that his sonatas are
clavichord pieces.
A few treatments of volume intensity and change in this
music stem from the past. The Baroque effect of terraced dynamics,
where notes or lines are gradually added or subtracted to produce
more or less volume, is not applicable to non-contrapuntal,
eighteenth-century keyboard music. However, a similar technique
using blocked dynamics, where one section or phrase has one dynamic
marking and another section or phrase is at a different level, is
surprisingly common in the music of this period. In Example 22, the phrases are clearly delineated by the dynamic indications. 55
Example 22. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten filr das Klavier (1781), Sonata 2, 3rd movement (Rondo: Grazioso), measures 1-12.
Rondo: Grazioso
Manual changes, as produced on a harpsichord, are also some- times imitated. In Example 23, the octave of the accompaniment is changed in measure 5, and this change is magnified by a change in dynamic level from forte to piano. 56
Example 23. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten f5r das Kiavier (1781), Sonata 1, 3rd movement (Allegro assai), measures 1-8.
Alle8ro assai"
64-4. wl jol
Pff
IL- 1 IL- -TT Sm
l1w
1-goll do 40 1
4w dr -#4
I I I I
Air Poll- domw ct w c >$.- $ I f$ -r------7- 1 1, IF IPA 4 I i ii I t f
In a similar fashion, echo effects are common in repetitions of motives or phrases. Example 24 is a very clear "echo phrase," but Example 25 from Emanuel Bach's Rondo Number 3 presents a little more subtlety.
Effects like these are familiar friends from the past and not particularly innovative or expressive. Register changes, terraced passages, echoes, and the like are compositional devices which helped create dynamic shading in music for the harpsichord. Use of two manuals, manual couplers, the judicious addition and 57
Example 24. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten ftlrs Clavier oder Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 2, 3rd movement (Allegro assai), measures 1-4.
Allegro assai
11 :
Example 25. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber II (1780), Rondo 3 (Poco Andante), measures 1-5.
Poco Andante e7L mt " ~slim wf E I. #ijj-
subtraction of notes, deft control of articulation, and changes
of speed in the music were ways a performer could create the
aural illusion of a crescendo or diminuendo on the harpsichord,
but actual change in amplitude was possible only on the clavichord
or pianoforte.
In much of the music presented in this study, crescendos and
decrescendos are created by a progression of dynamics, such as P, mp, ft ff, or ft p, pp. The motivic writing of the Galant, because
it progresses in small, often repetitive units, is particularly
appropriate for this type of dynamic indication. The closing measures of a sonata movement by Hassler contain a dynamic progression 58 which achieves a diminuendo (Example 26). The pf marking means poco forte, and falls between forte and mezzo forte in intensity.
It was common to the music of the late eighteenth century.
Example 26. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten filrs Clavier oder Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 1, 2nd movement (Un poco andante ed espressivo), measures 79-82.
IX L --- v 14 1 j i I
KY -X*iVA p POWINR--T-T---T T T-r T- I I "T T r m I 9z lp op Ap 4w %14P 0 0 qp %,40 4 40 40 A..AP 4P 11 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
For some reason, a crescendo accomplished by graduated dynamics is not found as frequently in this music. Eckard designates a crescendo with only p, f, and ff in Example 27.
Example 27. Johann Eckard, Six Sonates pour le clavecin (1763), Sonata 2, 1st movement (Allegro con spirito), measures 13-16.
f4 ( 1 C7 ~ff- 1% w 40 . i I . I .w :.W,5 I 1& 0 0 - ---- b f - f T, - ;
-W AE-.--L AIL An l1w .Alil- 12L. No -1 w MK. As
M -:y il:7747= 59
As an extreme, a progression of dynamics is found on virtually every beat in Examples 28 and 29. This careful shading results in subtleties which demand a dynamic-sensitive instrument--either the clavichord or the pianoforte.
Example 28. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber III (1781), Rondo 1 (Poco Andante), measures 42-43.
Example 29. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten ftUrs Clavier oder Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 1, 2nd movement (Un poco andante ed espressivo), measures 36-37.
Ha*ssler is the only composer of the several included in this study who uses both crescendo and diminuendo and their corresponding signs with any frequency. The indications, particularly 6o and , did not gain currency in the keyboard music of north Germany until the end of the century. The dynamic indications in Example 30 logically follow the rise and fall of the phrase.
Example 30. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten filrs Clavier oder Piano-Forte I (1786), Sonata 1, 1st movement (Allegro), measures 9-17.
Ju. ctesc. dlw. crescj Ii y I ty ------
I p
tV W -OU
When dynamic indications are correlated with a more flowing or linear style, as in Example 31, the progression from forte to piano implies that there is a constant change in volume, rather than a dynamic change accomplished in stages. Dynamic markings such as these serve as guideposts. In Example 32, the guideposts in the first phrase (measures 90-93) are piano and forte; a crescendo is implied and is also musically sensible because of the rising phrase. The next three phrases, however, exemplify
4. Robert Donington, "Crescendo," The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 6th ed., 20 vols., ed. by Stanley Sadie (New York: Macmillan, 1980), V, 32. 61
Example 31. C.P.E. Bach, Xenner und Liebhaber 1 (1779), Sonata 5, 2nd movement (Adagilo maestoso), measures 11-14.
I"V /000 A7 A J AFIL
Iz ;w IWO
-P IT f
A "IN I IL
Example 32. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber V (1785), Sonata 1, 2nd movement (Andantino), measures 90-103.
00000I
T L AIR i 4--
T-- PW I I Pf
-71
10"
a z 11IN
......
eQ
^4m 44A 14
"o...... I. 40,
Aw Eff 62 the more straight-forward, written-out succession of dynamic levels.
The two techniques are juxtaposed.
In Example 33, a diminuendo is implied in most of the successive two-measure phrases. The forte and piano outline the dynamic change, which is also corroborated by the downward melodic movement. The dynamic markings represent an attempt to notate an expressive element, and should not be thought of as blocked dynamics, or a simple loud and soft phrase. The forte represents a renewed emphasis, a stress as would be found in a vocal line.
Bach's empfindsam tendencies offer many opportunities for similar dynamic coloring.
Example 33. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhcaber IV (1783), Fantasia 1, 2nd section (Poco Adagio), measures 1-12.
Poco AAaj;* Aw
I]CA Aft
m dl m Ir JTM
AM .1L w All -1p
*W41 in Iffil L I I I I -f I .*A& U m - I t v Liw I I -. j T- V. V Ll N u- law kid m I 44 it ift I ML.. I OIM 1 :1 id , Alp, WN: PIP 6,owowmw 63
Emanuel Bach's music exhibits a sensitivity and sophisti-
cation in his use of dynamic levels and changes which sets it apart from most of his contemporaries' compositions. His keyboard pieces contain many instances of subtle dynamic shading. Bach wrote in his Versuch that releases of appoggiaturas are to be pianissimo.5
He frequently designates the effect of diminishing sound in his
music, as in Example 34.
Example 34. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber V (1785), Fantasia 2, 3rd section (Andantino), measures 1-6.
AnAan~gno 1 7
Similarly, releases of any type--suspensions, two-note slurs or slurs of other small units, the ends of phrases--are lower in dynamic intensity. Sometimes they are clearly marked so. Perhaps Example 35 also exhibits an implied decrescendo from ff to p. Bach
5. Bach, Versuch, Chapter 2, "Von den Manieren," par. 18, 68; "Alle diese VorschlHge, nebst ihren Abzu'gen, wenn sie zumahl haufig vorkommen, thun besonders bey sehr affecktuasen Stellen gut, indem der letztere oft mit einem Pianissimo gleichsam verloscht. . ..0 64 was particularly meticulous in his indications of many of these releases, as again in Example 36. The right hand contains piano releases; the dynamics of the left hand broken octaves produce a subito piano effect.
Example 35. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 4, 3rd movement (Allegro), measures 77-80.
Example 36. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber V (1785), Fantasia 1, measures 12-17.
+ f fi
In Example 37, TUrk exhibits consummate skill in delineating motives through dynamic indications. These marks suggest that there is an agogic stress on the first note of each motive and a gentle release at the end. Each motive (as in measure 54) is carefully delineated by dynamic marks. When these motives are repeated in measures 62-64, the effect is intensified, not only by a higher 65
Example 37. Daniel Turk, Sechs Leichte KLaviersonaten (1783), Sonata 6, 3rd movement (Balletto: Allegro), measures 50-65.
I |111# W de11I 4011d o
dynamic level, but also by the turn on the first of each phrase.
These dynamic markings lend weight to the statement in Bach's
Versuch that certain ornaments "are very much characterized by dynamic shading."
Sometimes a dynamic indication is used to produc.e a special effect, one which would not occur naturally. Example 38 is an excerpt from the Bach Rondo that incited the descriptions of
6. Bach, Versuch, Chapter 3, "Vom Vortrage," par. 29, 130-131; .t.a.&in so feine der Vortrag dieser Manieren sich mit dem forte und piano beschaffigt, in acht zu nehmen." 66
dynamic shading by the reviewer for the Magazin der Musik, which
was mentioned above. The natural tendency in playing the phrase
would be to accent the high point--the B would be louder than the rest of the melody. Bach compensates for this tendency by marking
the end of the phrase, where the large leap occurs, piano.
Example 38. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber IV (1783), Rondo 2 (Ma'ssig und sanft), measures 17-20.
A similar effect is found in another piece from the Kenner und
Liebhaber set (Example 39). The dynamic change also produces an echo.
Example 39. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber IV (1783), Rondo 3 (Allegro), measures 47-51.
An accent is implied by careful dynamic markings in some of this music. Sometimes the effect approximates a sforzando, an effect we today associate primarily with the piano. The notation in Example 40 by Bach seems to us a little crude or at least 67
superfluous, because both an increase from forte to fortissimo and the Strich are used. Yet another example of an accent produced by dynamic indications is shown in Example 41.
Example 40. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber III (1781), Rondo 2 (Poco Andante), measures 112-115.
eI 7
4Wi-4 ff5'____ Wf___
Example 41. Daniel Turk, Sechs leichte Kiaviersonaten (1783), Sonata 4, 1st movement (Allegro con spirito), measures 38-40.
AM I 7f*- r4 P, - - - -6 o.
ff
Vc
of
In Example 42, the extreme change from forte on the beat and the upbeat to piano on the succeeding portions of the beat unmistakably produces a sforzando effect. To the eye, the effect is portentous of Beethoven, but if the music is played on a clavi- chord, the result is a dramatic rhythmic stress. 68
Example 42. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 6, 1st movement (Allegretto moderato), measures 8-14.
IT p LMHI IlFo - 1 Wr~
ff ff
A fortissimo of the volume and intensity to which we of the twentieth century are accustomed is impossible on the clavichord, so markings in this music must be considered relatively, with ff representing the greatest amplitude available. This fact forces one to contemplate how inadequate dynamic markings are in indi- cating subtlety and nuance. These keyboard pieces, perhaps more so than any other representative of a given period in music, exhibit both their composers' determined effort to show dynamic shading and their success at doing so. The dynamic indications that delineate motives or phrases are probably the most easily identified aspects of clavichord music. The shading suggested by 69
these markings presupposes the use of a dynamic-sensitive instru- ment, like the clavichord; however, the inclusion of dynamic indi-
cations does not mean a piece was unequivocally written for the
clavichord. It is simply that the refinement of the dynamic
indications makes one believe that such effects were important to composers, and so it is reasonable to assume the musicians composed
for the instrument best suited for conveying their ideas. CHAPTER VI
CONCERNING THE MELODY
The few works chosen for this study reflect the concoction of styles and trends in idiomatic keyboard composition of the important last decades of. the eighteenth century. Today there is often a common misconception that clavichord music is slow in tempo and pathetic or tragic in character. While it may be true that the empfindswner Stil, with all its meanderings of rhetoric and mood, its introspective and emotional qualities, is particularly idiomatic to the clavichord, it would be wrong to assume that the best clavichord music is written in the "sensitive" style alone.
Indeed, most of the music examined in this study is written in a
Galant style. Its melodies are periodic, motivic, finely nuanced, and not as subjective as an empfindscon counterpart. The harmonies tend towards the mundane, rather than the exceptional. Style is of concern here only to the point that a style can constitute a sound ideal. One must remember that the composers specified the clavichord for performance of their pieces because of a sound ideal they sought, not because their compositional style demanded it. Stylistic preconceptions of the suitability of a piece for a particular instrument must be avoided. Instead, we must traverse the almost two centuries which insulate us from the musical intuitions
TO 71 and sense of an eighteenth-century musician. We must discover what he considered clavichordaassig, or especially suited to the clavichord.
"Der Fluss"
Eighteenth-century writers offer us several accounts of what they considered the most pleasing and effectual clavichord music.
An invaluable bit of evidence in the search for effects and characteristics that were considered clavichordmanssig in the late eighteenth century is a review of Emanuel Bach's fourth set of
Kenner und Liebhaber pieces. This appeared in Magazin der Nusik, a journal devoted to criticism of concerts and new music. The work in question is the second rondo in E major, a piece
. . . definitely intended for the clavichord, [for] only that instrument can bring to it the expressive nuances which it demands. The piece is made suitable for this first of instruments by the flow and the closeness of its melodic intervals, the light and shadow with which it is suffused, the use of a certain musical chiaroscuro, and the almost complete abstention from those arpeggios and passages consisting of mere broken chords. . . .1
Of the qualities enumerated in Cramer's review, "der Fluss, das Aneinanderha'*ngende des Gesangs" describes what at least one
1. Carl Cramer, ed., Magazin der Musik, 2.vols. (Hamburg: Westphal, 1783, 1784 and 1786), I, 1245-1246; "Uebrigens ist sowohl dieses Rondo, als die vorhergehende zweite Sonata ganz vorzUgleich fu{rs Clavier bestimmt, und auch nur darauf ihres gebUhrenden, mannigfaltig nUancirten Ausdrucks fahig. Der Fluss, das Aneinanderh~ngende des Gesangs, das vielfach darilber verbreitete Licht und Schatten, der Gebrauch eines gewissen musikalischen Helldunkels und die fast gnzliche Enthaltung von Harpeggios, springenden und in bloss gebrochenen Harmonien bestehenden Passagen . . . qualifizieren sie fur dieses Erste der Instrumente." T2 musician of the time considered an important dimension of melodies in pieces intended for clavichord. The Bach Rondo in Example 43 opens with a flowing scalar line which rarely pauses in its sixteenth-note movement. This melody is minimally supported by a single-note bass. The result of "der Fluss" is not tunefulness, but an affettuoso lyricism which is certainly attainable on the clavichord.
Example 43. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber IV (1783), Rondo 2, (Massig und sanft), measures 1-17.
WW rJp
lak, 73
Johann Forkel, in his review of a set of sonatas by Daniel TU**rk that was published in 1776, speaks appreciatively of a flow in the melodies. Forkel says this type of writing, which is well-suited to the clavichord, is derived from instrumental performance.
The extraordinarily flowing, communicative song of these pieces has a certain something which derives from the characteristic performance of the violin, and produces an especially good effect on a good clavichord (on which the composer has expressed that all of these sonatas should be played). 2
There are several examples from this music that fulfill the requirement that a clavichord melody should be flowing. Johann
Hassler's melodies often match the quality and fluidity of those of Bach, as in Examples 44 and 45. Although these melodies are to be performed at different tempos, their overall effect is the same: a lyrical flow accomplished (at least in these instances) by downward scalar motion, with moments of repose indicated by harmonic change and a meagerly filled-out bass. In Example 46, the extended scalar pattern by nature is flowing, but it is also not as expressive or finely nuanced as some of the above examples.
Although there are examples of melodies that are unequivocally flowing in this music, melodies that are composed of shorter motives
2. Johann Forkel, Musikalisch-kritische Bibliothek, 3 vols. (Gotha: C.W. Ettinger, 1778-1779), II, 303; "Der ausserordentlich fliessende und fassliche Gesang desselben hat etwas gewisses in sich, welches vom eigenen Vortrag der Violine abstammt, und auf einem guten Clavichorde (auf welchem Instrumente riberhaupt der H[er]r V[erfasser] alle diese Sonaten vorgetragen wissen will) von besonders guter Wirkung ist." 74
Example 44. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten firs Clavier oder Piano-Forte I (1786), Sonata 1, 3rd movement (Allegro non tanto), measures 1-8.
Alero non tanto
L liml &Z- S
Example 45. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten fzlrs Clavier oder Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 1, 1st movement (Andantino con affetto), measures 1-8.
Axa-nfti, con affetto
IL 6 75
Example 46. Johann Eckard, Six Sonates pour le clavecin (1763), Sonata 3, 3rd movement (Vivace), measures 1-4.
Vivace
and repeated or sequenced figures are much more common. "Der
Fluss," as we understand from the phrase's use in the Cramer review, is obscured by the construction of melodies with smaller and smaller units. The melody of the Allegretto in Example 47 is scalar, and it maintains a constant eighth-note rhythm. It is also motivic, but the motive is shorter than the scalar figures in
Examples 44 and 45, and repeated more often throughout the phrase.
A listener is first aware of the motivic construction; the flow is secondary.
In Example 48, Bach's melody is not only motivic, but harmonically sequential. This construction, compounded by the cessation of the sixteenth-note rhythm on the first beat of most of the measures and the change from that rhythm to triplets at the closing cadence, intrudes on the overall flow of the melody.
A "sprechend" Melody
While Forkel and Cramer describe a flowing clavichordmanssig quality in keyboard music, others advocate music that imitated the patterns of speech and the flux of emotions. C.F.D. Schubart cites 76
Example 47. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten ftir das Klavier (1781), Sonata 6, 3rd movement (Allegretto e dolce), measures 1-8.
AIretfo e Joke
/000"N~
Example 48. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber IV (1783), Sonata 2, 3rd movement (Allegro assai), measures 1-9.
Idw IAL 'm 77 the reasons for his choice of the clavichord in an excerpt from the rhapsodic Ideen zu einer Aesthetik der Tonkunst:
Here I must recommend that Neefe's Klopstock Odes and Lieder can be performed best on a good clavichord, because one can best express the tender places--the sighing, lamenting, crying the soft transitions, the sorrows and middle shades.
Johann Kirnberger speaks of the clavichord as "the Mother of all musical instruments," in part, because of its
speaking tones, by which . . . real emotion and musical character can be portrayed. 4
Schubart and Kirnberger describe some of the empfindsam qualities of music of the time and link this style of composition with the clavichord.
There are examples of empfindsaon writing in the music selected for this study which, because of its characteristics, is unequivo- cally not flowing. A good example of abstruse writing is Emanuel
Bachts second sonata in the first Kenner und Liebhaber set. The
3. C.F.D. Schubart, Ideen zu einer Aesthetik der Tonkunst (written 1784-1785), ed. by Paul Alfred Merbach (Leipzig: Wolkenwanderer, 1924), 79-80; "Noch muss ich die Bemerkung machen, dass Neefes Klopstocksche Oden und Lieder auf einem guten Klavichord am besten vorgetragen werden kannen, weil man hier die gefhlvollen Stellen--das Seufzende, Klagende, Weinende, die sanften Uebergange, die Trger und Mitteltinten am besten ausdrUicken kann."
4. Johann Kirnberger, "Nachricht ber die Herausgabe neuer Clavier-Compositionen," Magazin der Musik I (Hamburg: Westphal, 1783), 512; "sprechenden T~ne, durch welche sich wahre Empfindung . . . und Charactere musikalisch schildern lassen." 78 first movement (Example 49), while it contains Bebung indications
(the paramount indication of intentional clavichord music), does not in any manner exemplify "der Fluss." The movement's convolu- tions of dotted rhythms and rich ornamentation obscure any hint of the flow. Instead, these elements emphasize dissonance and consonance, tension and release. The Larghetto movement of the same sonata is relatively unencumbered, but the third movement is full of broken-chord figuration, a feature, it may be recalled, that was eschewed by the Cramer reviewer mentioned earlier
(Example 50). Although this criticism is probably in reference to accompaniment and texture, we may also apply it to the use of passages of this sort in the melody.
Example 49. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 2, 1st movement (Andante), measures 1-8.
AnJante I- - # w r4 /W I I I R' L- Fft -desk 79 1 I rTN V
I
mu
dF-
ten 79
Example 50. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 2, 3rd movement (Allegro assai), measures 1-12.
Alle5ro assai "v ten. ten, Un,
wow-
Aa v N
Aa i
on
It has been suggested that "der Fluss, das Aneinanderhangende des Gesangs" could be applied to this sonata in terms of the relationship of the movements. The turgidity of the first move- ment is gradually relaxed throughout the rest of the sonata. This interdependence between movements, or "aneinanderhngend" quality, is expressed by an unfurled flow from movement to movement. 5 This interpretation seems to be far-fetched, for it forces an entire piece to fit the criteria set forth by Cramer and others. When they wrote of melodic flow in a clavichord piece, they did not imply any other application of the phrase.
Not all the melodies in the music chosen for this study are acquiescent to either a basis of fluidity or empfindsam rumination.
5. Christopher Schmidt , "Philipp Emanuel Bach und das Clavichord," Schweizerische Musikzeitung XCII (1952), 443. 8o
Although conjunct motion is the norm, melodies sometimes are
delineated by skips rather than steps. The "rocket" of the
Mannheim symphonists is imitated in some of the keyboard writing of the time. In Examples 51 and 52, Hassler juxtaposes the bold opening skips with a contrasting stepwise motion. In the second example this ultimately becomes a doLce legato melody.
Example 51. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten ftirs Clavier (1770), Sonata 3, 1st movement (Allegro con spirito), measures 1-8.
Aleyro con s5irito
)4ff j :
Melodic Doubling
Songfulness or a cantabile style was not a new demand made upon keyboard music in the eighteenth century. In the seventeenth century, Frescobaldi, in the preface to his 1637 collection of
Toccate e partite, made clear his musical involvement with an expressive ideal which emanated from song. In the next century, 81
Example 52. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten flrs Clavier oder Piano-Forte 11 (1787), Sonata 1, 3rd movement (Presto assai), measures 1-8.
rrcito assai el
J.S. Bach encouraged his students and followers "most of all to achieve a cantabile style in playing." And in his autobiography
Emanuel Bach wrote
My main efforts . . . have been directed towards playing and composing as songfully as possible for the clavichord, notwith- standing its lack of sustaining power. This is not at all easy, if the ear is not to be left too empty and if the noble simplicity of the song is not to be disturbed by too much bustle.7
6. Johann Sebastian Bach, Preface to Two- and Three-Part Inventions, autograph of 1723, facsimile in Willard Palmer, ed., J.S. Bach, Inventions and Sinfonias (Port Washington, New York: Alfred Music Co., 1968), 1.
7 . EC.P.E. Bach], Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Autobiography (Hamburg: Bode, 1773), facsimile edition, ed. by William Newman (Hilversum: Frits Knuf , 1967), 209; "Mein Hauptstudium ist besonders in den letzten Jahren dahin gerichtet gewesen, auf dem Clavier, ohngeachtet und dafur zu setzen. Es ist diese Sache nicht so gar leicht, wenn man das Ohr nicht zu leer lassen, und die edle Einfalt des Gesanges durch zu vieles Gerausch nicht verderben will." 82
cantabile A style was equated with the clavichordts sound
ideal in the eighteenth century. Although instrumental music had
long imitated song, even if the early eighteenth-century had
concentrated on keyboard forms such as the fugue and toccata,
late eighteenth-century music for the clavichord at its best
represented a congenial blend of idiomatic keyboard figuration
and expressive, songful, often speech-like melody. If a modern
observer isolated individual elements, such as an especially "vocal" leap or a poignant stream of suspensions, and called them elements of a clavichord style, his observations would be biased because of his exposure to music since the eighteenth century. To lose our subjectivity we must examine the techniques eighteenth century musicians might have used to make their music more cantabile, and therefore more clavichordmdssig.
Much of the clavichord music selected for this study is predominantly homophonic, although it is rarely totally chordal.
Homophonic writing causes the top voice to be doubled at the intervals of a third, sixth, or tenth. A texture resulting from this type of writing is so common in this music that doubled melodies must be considered a feature well-suited to the eighteenth- century sound ideal.
In the opening of a sonata movement by Gruner (Example 53), a simple texture of melody and single-note bass is enriched by the doubling of the melody at the third, thus reinforcing the sound while maintaining the light texture. 83
Example 53. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten f7lr das Kiavier (1781). Sonata 3, 4th movement (Allegro), measures 1-8.
Alle ro
All +,
The same effect is produced by Neefe, who doubles the melody only in the consequent phrase. The additional effect of expressive contrast between phrases is evident (Example 54).
Example 54. Christian Neefe, Zw~lf' Klawiersonaten (1773), Sonata 4, 1st movement (Allegro ), measures 1-8. 84
Although Example 55 has almost a full chordal texture, the lilt of the 6/8 meter and absence of chordal harmony in the bass maintain the sense of melodic reinforcement. Perhaps this reflects Emanuel- Bach's statement that "the noble simplicity of the song"
should not be obscured.
Example 55. Daniel Tuirk, Sechs leichte KLaviersonaten (1783), Sonata 6, 1st movement (Allegretto: Siciliano e lusingando), measures 1-4.
Algrcfo: La iano e lusinanJo
Melodies were also written in octaves, with and without accompaniment. All'unisono was used by Bach in reference to accompaniment from a figured bass, but it could also be applied to passages in these clavichord pieces which are in octaves, for it fulfills the essence of Emanual Bach's remark that beauty is attained "through the omission of harmony.?"
In slow movements octave doublings are used melodically, but never virtuosically, as in Example 56. In faster movements, however, unison passages are frequently in imitation of instrumental effects, such as the "orchestral tutti," illustrated in Example 5T. 85
Example 56. Johann H Essler, Sechs leichte Sonaten f'irs Clavier oder Piano-Forte I (1786), Sonata 1, 2nd movement (Andante), measures 17-25.
11:
Y L UP ELM WF ( I 41 a a[ VIP 99
AM A A& ( I f - -- L -T
Example 57. Daniel TUrk, Sechs leichte Kiaviersonaten (1783), Sonata 4, 1st movement (Allegro con spirito), measures 9-12.
Passages of thirds or sixths alternating with unisons or octaves also produce an instrumental effect. In Example 58, Neefe wites an effect where an orchestral tutti alternates with the solo violins .
Occasionally the imitation of instrumental composition is not so obvious or unrefined. For example, in the first Kenner und hiebhaber sonata, the second movement begins in a flowing keyboard 86
style, but in the second phrase, the same sort of solo-tutti alternations are present (Example 59).
Example 58. Christian Neefe, Zw*lf KLaviersonaten (1773), Sonata 3, 3rd movement (Allegro assai), measures 9-12.
AO
tat r% L 40
W wx
Fr- F
Example 59. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 1, 2nd movement (Andante), measures 1-8.
Ardante 77 3 f 4) 4w
7T
__ I ~4-4iiI~IZ~ tw 7f7 1-i .. i I i -IwoIin I. I
Ornament at ion
Ornamentation was considered an essential addition to the melodic line. Its addition or omission was a matter of personal, yet not whimsical taste in the eighteenth century. The frequency 87
or kinds of ornamentation indicated in the score cannot be merited
as clavichordistic traits. Ornamentation in general does not presuppose performance of a piece on one instrument or the other. Nonetheless, there is an instance cited by Emanuel Bach, in which
he says that an appoggiatura should have a pianissimo release.
It can follow, then, that any release or end of a phrase should be
released at a softer dynamic level. Bach was particularly mindful
to indicate this dynamic nuance, for almost every phrase in
Example 60 ends in a piano sigh. Such a refinement in dynamics was
discussed in Chapter V as highly clavichordistic, because the
instrument demands subtlety in execution.
Frequently in this music, an ornament--a trill, or turn, or
the prallende Doppelschlag, a combination of the two--appears at
the end of a phrase or on the release of an appoggiatura. This
appearance of an ornament on the end of the melody may lend further
support to the determination of a piece for the clavichord
(Examples 61 and 62). If a composer indicated an ornament (which
would normally accentuate or lengthen a note) on the end of a phrase, then he required performance of his piece on an instrument that would musically justify the addition of an ornament and that would be capable of making the dynamic definition. Ornaments that
articulate changes in dynamic level are a small, but important
consideration of clavichordistic traits.
8. C.P.E. Bach, Versuch i*ber die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen, facsimile of the 1753/1762 edition, edited by Lothar Hoffman- Erbrecht (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Ha-rtel, 1957), Chapter 2, "Von den Manieren," par. 18, 68; see Chapter V of this paper, 63. 88
Example 60. C.P.E. Bach, Achtzehn Probestucken in sechs Sonaten (1753), 1, 2nd movement (Andante), measures 1-12. And ma innocentemeiae
12
Example 61. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber II (1780), Rondo 1, (Andante un poco), measures 1-4.
Anlante un poco JL-- A AA-- , 9f tell, itelit. 77mmo =
I~* 89
Example 62. Daniel Turk, Sechs leichte Klaviersonaten (1783), Sonata 3, 2nd movement (Adagio cantabile), measure 1.
Adjio cana1ile
The qualities of the melody in an eighteenth-century clavi- chord piece help substantiate that the piece was conceived for the clavichord. A clavichordistic melody was variously described as fliessend or sprechend, according to the stylistic turn of the piece. Although both qualities are apparent in the pieces examined in this paper, their application to a study of clavichord- istic traits is limited because the descriptions themselves are encompassed in one or another style. It has been suggested in this paper that the qualities of cantabile, usually considered in terms of execution or performance, were manifested in a doubled melodic texture in eighteenth-century clavichord music. Because of its frequency in the music, the sound of doubled intervals caused by a homophonic compositional style must have been pleasing to an eighteenth-century musician. It is increasingly apparent in studying the melodies of these pieces that the way a piece sounded, the way its notes were put together, offers us insight into what qualities an eighteenth-century composer considered clavichordistic, and defines their sound ideal. CHAPTER VII
CONCERNING THE TEXTURE
The consideration in the previous chapter of various melodic features has suggested a relationship between some of those features and a sound ideal that the eighteenth-century musician sought. Because the composers considered many of the pieces included in this study to be best rendered on the clavichord, it is reasonable to assume the musicians thought the clavichord ful- filled certain qualities of sonority and aesthetics. Any evidence to support this premise must be drawn from the occasional eighteenth-century commentary, or from the music itself. As in the earlier chapter, it is necessary to avoid the delineations or confines of any one compositional style. These works are of varied styles and represent the different creative approaches of each composer.
One of the facets of the music that can offer a broader under- standing of the listening realm of the eighteenth-century musician, without bothering with the restrictions of a single style, is texture. The ways in which notes are sounded together in a late eighteenth-century clavichord piece and the sonorities they produce would be vital to the workings of any sound ideal the musician of the time might honor. These clavichord pieces are generally light
90 91
and transparent. Notes are sounded consecutively rather than
simultaneously. Many of the melodic, harmonic, and accompanimental
figurations that create texture in this music are found repeatedly and are, according to some, characteristics of music of the Galant.
In reality, they are the essentials of many compositional styles; the figurations that create these textures can be found in most keyboard music. It seems more prudent, therefore, to investigate these figurations as they create a particularly clavichordistic texture, one that is distinguished by its thinness and its consecutive-note construction.
A thin texture is manifested by five recurrent patterns in these works. These single-note or consecutive-note patterns con- tribute to an overall texture that seems idiosyncratic to the clavichord. This texture is represented by
1. single-note patterns as they occur in melodies or in alternation between hands;
2. extended arpeggios for one or both hands;
3. a type of style briss, used to sustain harmonies;
4. harmonically oriented melodic figurations in broken patterns; and
5. accompanimental patterns found in such figures as the Alberti bass, broken chord contrived as melodic doublings at the third or sixth, Murky and Tromrel basses, and their combinations.
A figuration created by the alternation of notes or groups of notes between hands is quite common to this music. In Example 63, single notes are played by alternating hands, and the result is the barest of textures, a single line. Although it is possible for this 92
passage to be played with only one hand, the notation in two clefs and with individual note stems implies two hands are to be used.
Example 63. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber II (1780), Sonata 2, 1st movement (Andantino), measure 38.
L k & & k cm I Aw Is PWl FJ V4 -V A& -73 - "--Iw -Y-f V low I Aft db b
An amplification of the single-note pattern is found in the alternating figures in Example 64. The pattern is used to sustain harmony rather than to create a single melodic line. The sonority can be intensified by adding octaves, broken octaves, or other broken intervals to the alternating texture.
In Example 65, Neefe, without indicating any dynamic levels, accomplishes an increase in sound by changing from single-note alternation to broken-octave alternation. This juggling of material from one hand to another can take on virtuosic proportions, and in some instances, the effect sounds unabashedly pianistic (Example 66).
A second pattern that is common is arpeggiation. The figura- tions played by one hand rarely exceed an octave in range; instead they are smaller units of broken chords exchanged from hand to hand. A beautiful example of alternating broken-chord figures is found in
C.P.E. Bach's fourth Kenner und Liebhaber sonata (W. 55/4; H. 186) 93
(Example 67). Through the easy exchange of a single-line melody from hand to hand, a crystaline texture is achieved.
Example 64. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber II (1780), Rondo 1 (Allegretto), measures 79-82.
9- jib bow- writ wp
AIN JJ ___m ME 7A-
-1-N Lf fi& Ift dft
ALA ra Comm i 5 roor
Art-
OP
40
7 A-
rT-l 4br Ak
LAVI 94
Example 65. Christian Neefe, ZW3lf Klaviersonaten (1773), Sonata 8, 1st movement (Allegretto e cantabile), measures 34-37.
() I - .17- IF 1,7-- Arl- WIN I ( J .- *-ad ~I Q)j Erv .- 1 i UP: w , im 1. A ?Mr I ( two I
Example 66. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten fturs Clavier oder Piano-Forte II (1787), Sonata 2, 1st movement (Moderato), measures 16-18.
By itself, alternation of snatches of music from one hand to the other is not remarkable, but the texture which results from notes played successively is. This texture generates in part the sound ideal which found expression at the clavichord in the late eighteenth century. Often the texture of a piece is accomplished by some form of alternation of material between hands. 95
Example 67. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Liebhaber I (1779), Sonata 4, 1st movement (Allegro assai), measures 9-12.
The third textural pattern can be seen in Example 68. The texture is predominantly a consecutive-note texture. Alternately, the right hand presents the melody and then the left hand offers a minimal harmony. The imitative aspects of this example and the overlapping of tones, both melodic and harmonic in function, create an eighteenth-century version of the seventeenth-century lutenists' style briss. This technique created both melody and harmony, and was necessary because of the nature of the instrument. A clavichord style briss, on the other hand, added duration and sonority, which the clavichord tone lacked. Such textural writing seems to achieve effects similar to those produced by Bebung and Tragqen der TLh3ne.
There are other permutations of broken-chord figures found in this music that add sonority or lengthen harmonies. These are devices drawn from the heritage of non-sustaining keyboard instru- ments, such as the harpsichord and the clavichord itself, and result 96 in a fourth texture: harmonically oriented melodic patterns.
Gruner uses-,such a figuration to outline the harmonic movement toward the cadence at the close of the exposition in Example 69.
Example 68. Daniel Turk,, Sechs leichte Klaviersonaten (1783), Sonata 6, 3rd movement (Balletto: Allegro), measures 17-33.
117 M IIda
Similarly, C.P.E. Bach uses another figuration to outline movement toward the cadence, but the simultaneous use of detached sixteenths in the left hand and the unrelenting clattering of broken chords suggest a robust sound ideal, one perhaps more suited to the piano than to the clavichord (Example TO). 97
Example 69. Nathanael Gruner, Sechs Sonaten flur das Kiavier (1781), Sonata 6, 1st movement (Andante), measures 26-28.
The final textural pattern appears in the accompaniment patterns of the Alberti and Murky basses, the standardization of which occurred toward the end of the eighteenth century. These are sounds that many modern listeners associate with Viennese classicism, but they actually gained widespread use in the early eighteenth century. The Alberti bass, for example, was heard first on the harpsichord as early as the 1730's, and it became an element of the sound ideal represented by the clavichord long before it was associated with a pianoforte style. This accompani- ment bass, made up of broken-chord and octave figurations similar to the ones seen in previous examples, was also used by the clavi- chord composer to create a texture which maintains a balance between harmony and melody.
Ieefe is one of the few composers in this study to use a strict Alberti bass pattern (Example 71). Other composers use 98
Example 70. C.P.E. Bach, Kenner und Llz*ebhaber II (1780 ), Rondo3 (Poco Andante),,measures 60-64.
.3il
accompanying patterns which double the melody at consonant intervals, successfully integrating melody and harmony (Examples 72 and 73).
The doubling of melodic notes, as it pertains to a cantabile style, was observed in Chapter VI.
Broken-chord basses, particularly idiomatic to the keyboard, create a pleasing mingling of tones because of the sounding of the 99
Example 71. Christian Neefe, ZWO5lf Klaviersonaten (1773), Sonata 6, lst movement (Poco lento e languido), measures 17-23.
JOI
Example 72. Daniel TU*rk, Sechs leichte Kiaviersonaten (1783), Sonata 4, 3rd movement (Rondo: Allegretto), measures 17-21.
notes of a harmony one at a time. Although they figure prominently
in the keyboard music of this time, Murky, Trommel, and other repeti-
tive accompaniments, on the other hand, are derived from instrumental
practice. These basses, simple reiteration of one tone, imitate
string tremolos. On a keyboard instrument, as in their instrumental
counterparts, repetitive accompaniments also sustain sound. Their
clavichordmdssig qualities, however, become apparent only in context. In Example 74, the change in the dynamic level from p to ff, rather than the figuration, is the most easily definable clavichordistic 100 trait. Similarly, the sequential alternation that follows the repeated note accompaniment in Example 75 substantiates that this piece was written for the clavichord.
Example 73. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten frs Clawier oder Piano-Forte I (1786), Sonata 1, 1st movement (Allegro), measures 33-40.
( I z i I cy
_oce
I AV I w I
I UFA v 17 ts 16 I A A f &w- m A I
l o t ...... - - 1-i AMB
Example 74. Christian Neefe, ZwOlf Kiaviersonaten (1773), Sonata 9, 1st movement (Moderato), measures 41-47.
AT- -T- -w- Ah ak
C.1
ff r t, T I JIM i7m and
All A& Ah -41L m 'N' wr w w 1 -- * f
dl( 101
Example 75. Johann Hassler, Sechs leichte Sonaten firs Clavier (1780), Sonata 3, 3rd movement (Presto), measures 5-13.
Considerations of these figurations and the resulting textures by no means includes every clavichord piece from the late eighteenth century. The aspect of simplicity of texture is perhaps singularly most important in defining the traits of clavichord music from that period. The texture of the music hints at the sound ideal that the keyboard composers of the late eighteenth century were seeking. Texture, more so than any other element, is also what influences a modern musician when he says, "this piece sounds like a clavichord piece." CHAPTER VIII
CONCLUSION
The findings of this study have been based on explicit evidence
found in the music. Bebung indications and Tragen der T3ne articu-
lations are the clearest substantiations of the suitability of a
piece for performance on the clavichord, simply by reason of their
appropriateness only to that instrument. It was discovered that
Bebung and Tragen der T5ne were indicated infrequently in the
music, and that there was little obvious consistency in their use.
Bebung was usually indicated on single notes of relatively long
duration, but in one instance it was indicated on a chord. The
tempo and mood of the pieces was also varied. The purpose of
Tragen der Tune could never be exactly pinpointed, mainly because
the articulation occurred in many places, with different effects.
With this evidence came the realization that the observation of
other musical elements would be necessary to brighten any light we
wished to shed on clavichordistic traits, especially if we wanted to
understand a clavichord style as the eighteenth century expressed
it. The qualities of expressive, gradient dynamics, a cantabile melody, and textural composition were examined in the effort further
to define clavichordistic traits. With the exception of Bebung and
possibly of Tragen der T5ne, no single quality or lack thereof was
102 103
entirely conclusive. The determination of whether or not a piece
is specifically or even appropriately written for the clavichord
should be made with equal consideration of the features discussed
in these pages.
The selection of qualities and factors that contribute to the final determination of the best instrument for performance of an individual piece must not be limited to the music itself, for the prejudices of the musicians of the eighteenth century must also be taken into consideration. A certain part of the vogue for the clavichord undoubtedly could be attributed to the unfamiliarity of some musicians with the new pianoforte, as well as their general reluctance to accept new trends. Mattheson and Marpurg, for example, as members of the older generation, expressed a con- servative view towards the new keyboard instrument. Marpurg never mentions the pianoforte in any of his guides to keyboard playing,1 and Carl Cramer, whose review of Emanuel Bach's Rondo mentions several traits Cramer considered clavichordistic, was one of the pianoforte's bitterest foes. It is not possible to determine the extent of objectivity an eighteenth-century musician applied in his preference of keyboard instruments. Most of the time, it cannot be ascertained how much or what kind of exposure a musician had to the new instruments. Opinions may have been formed after hearing a piano played poorly, or simply having heard a poor instrument.
1. Arthur Loesser, Men, Women and Pianos (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1954), 45.
2. Carl Parrish, "Criticisms of the Piano When It Was New," Musical Quarterly XII (October 1944), 439. lo4
Just as likely, such prejudices may have resulted from a musician
having heard or played a clavichord with emotionally satisfying
effect. In other words, we cannot be certain of the eighteenth-
century musician's point of reference. This fact does not jeop-
ardize the validity or pertinence of any of the contemporary
accounts concerning keyboard instruments. It just makes more
apparent to us the significance the eighteenth-century musician
placed on choosing the proper instrument for his musical
expressions.
With an awareness of the attributes of late eighteenth-century
clavichord compositions, a modern keyboardist can come a little
closer to unravelling the puzzle of articulation of early key-
board pieces in general.3 Knowing that the harpsichord, clavi-
chord, and pianoforte produce sound in distinctly different ways,
one might suspect the eighteenth-century musicians' approach to
articulation differed from one instrument to another. In particular,
the aspects of Bebung and Tragen der To5ne as articulations pertaining
to only the clavichord could add authenticity to our own empirical
observations. There is such meager evidence left us by musicians
of any age concerning articulation and touch on keyboard instruments,
that the few insights a study of traits particularly inherent to the
clavichord might produce would be beneficial to the understanding of the instrument in general.
3. See Walter Thoene, "Zur Frage der Artikulation im Cembalo- und Clavichordspiel.," Festschrift Karl Gustav Fellerer, ed. by Heinrich HUschen (Regensburg: Gustav Bosse, 1962), 535-548. 105
Because the issue of the clavichord and its music was a personal one, one often emotionally felt by the musicians of the eighteenth century, it may be that the further delineation of a clavichord style would be more appropriately determined on an individual basis rather than by consideration of the works of a number of composers, as has been done here. For example, a study of only Emanuel Bach's keyboard works in an effort to distill his clavichord style might draw conclusions quite different from those stemming from a study of Neefe's works.
The individual musician remains the fulcrum in any discussion of clavichordistic traits. He balances an objective, cognitive ability with an emotionalism, a personal identification with his art and instrument. Any extrinsic values of this study, objectively gained from either the music or from eighteenth-century commentary, are counter-balanced by the irrefutable fact that the clavichord and its music always will be inexorably bound to the musical per- ceptions of its followers. The clavichord was a tool, a means for personal, intimate expression, chosen above other keyboard instruments.
It is this tie between instrument and performer that makes a study such as this unlike a discussion of something material or tangible, such as the execution of an ornament or the derivation of a form.
The nature of the clavichord forces a mutuality between a clavichordist and his instrument that is really no different today than in the eighteenth century. BIBLIOGRAPHY
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