Performance and perception of dotting – A comparison of responses to dotted in 6/8 by experienced and inexperienced listeners

DOROTTYA FABIAN EMERY SCHUBERT School of Music and Music Education, Sydney Australia

1 Aim

In this paper we report on our investigation of the perception of dotted quaver—semiquaver—quaver patterns in a 6/8 gigue. The study is nestled in a more general inquiry into baroque performance practice as evidenced in historical sources and in comparison with the practice of modern sound recordings. It uses Variation 7 of J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations as its test case. At ICMPC6 we reported the results of our first experiment assessing experienced baroque music listeners’ perception of dottedness (Schubert & Fabian Somorjay, 2000). In 2001 we discussed the results of preference response (Fabian & Schubert, 2001). Now we focus on a further aspect of the study, namely the comparison of responses between ‘experienced’ and ‘naïve’ baroque music listeners. In particular, we’ll recount our investigation of whether the dotting illusion identified in our 2000 study could be generalised outside the specialised subset of listeners used in the first study.

Background

During the 20th century revival of baroque music and its historical manner of interpretation the issue of whether or not to use overdotting in Bach's music (or anywhere else, for that matter) has been much debated. The topic received particularly focussed attention during the 1960s and 1970s (Donington 1960, 1989, Babitz 1967, Collins 1969, Neumann 1965, 1966, 1977, O’Donnell 1979 etc.), but publications from the 1990s (e.g. Malloch 1991, Hefling 1993, Neumann 1993, Dirst 1997, Abravaya 1997) suggest that music historians have not yet achieved consensus. Their research relies on the analysis of manuscript sources and historical treatises and attempts to gain an understanding of past performance styles from notation practices and verbal descriptions found in archival documents. The performance of dotted rhythms became a controversial subject because although notation is usually uniform, the sources often mention the desirability of non-literal execution. This enabled researchers to question at least two aspects of the problem: (1) the musical context in which alteration may be appropriate, and (2) the ratio of the dotting. Regarding context, Donington (1989), for instance, believed dotted patterns to be flexible and thus argued in favour of non-literal interpretation whenever this would assist the desired musical character. Most other researchers agreed that certain French genres, such as the French Ouverture had to be performed in a ‘sharply dotted’ manner. Neumann (1982, 1989), on the other hand claimed that modern researchers have grossly misinterpreted the old documents and that ‘drastic’ alteration of the proportion within a dotted pattern had no music theoretical foundation. However, the existence of notated variations of literal dotting is undeniable. Several old and modern sources indicate in notation as well as by verbal description how dotted patterns

2 should be performed. These sources provide information regarding the possible ratios of dotting. Whereas a literal, or mechanical dotting of a dotted quaver—semiquaver (dotted eighth—sixteenth) pattern creates a 3:1 ratio (0.75:0.25), the use of the term ‘double-dotting’ or the notation of a double-dotted quaver—demisemiquaver (e.g. C.P.E. Bach cited in Donington, 1989, p. 443) imply a 7:1 ratio (0.875:0.125). Researchers also debated the correct articulation of the : (a) whether the dotted note should be sustained (b) if not, then how long a portion of it should be substituted by a rest, and (c) whether a rest should be inserted at the point where the short note would have otherwise commenced (e.g. Quantz, C.P.E. Bach, Rellstab et al cited by Dolmetsch 1949, Mendel 1951, Donington 1989). The tenet underlying the favouring of either of these particular suggestions was that it would create a ‘better’ (or ‘more stylish’) musical effect. Given the musicological interest in the topic and its close relation to performance and perception, we decided to approach the problem not by scrutinizing the written sources but by analysing sound recordings and testing how listeners perceive various patterns. Having studied over 40 commercially available recordings of Variation 7 of Bach's Goldberg Variation we noticed a variety of interpretative approaches, some sounding more dotted than others. Because of the prevailing emphasis on the dotting ratio in the literature summarised above, it seemed logical to assume that a changing ratio might be the reason for the difference in musical character. However, systematic measurement of note lengths and inter-onset-intervals (using SoundEdit 16 software) showed that all performances used overdotting (average measured dotting ratio: 0.829:0.171). Furthermore, we noticed that the near identical ratios found in recordings were somewhat less pointed than the ratio of theoretical doubledotting. Therefore, the difference in dotting could not be solely responsible for the difference in interpretation. In light of this, we hypothesised that changing articulation and contributed significantly to changing character and perceived dottedness. Our previous study (Schubert & Fabian Somorjay, 2000) supported the hypothesis. articulations were rated more dotted than articulations even when the dotting ratio remained unchanged. In fact, we discovered that there was an illusion of dotting caused by the alteration (or kerning) of the duration of the last note of the group of three. We called the effect the ‘kerning illusion’. However, that study investigated responses of listeners who were experienced Baroque music listeners (‘Barmusos’). The question remained as to whether the illusion is caused by a low level psychoacoustic phenomenon or whether it is facilitated by musical training. To investigate this, we expanded the ICMPC6 study to less musically experienced listeners and examined their susceptibility to the illusion. The influence of tempo upon the illusion was also investigated.

Methods

3 The experiment used a 2 x 3 x 2 factorial design: dotting ratio (mechanical [0.75:0.25], coded as D0 and overdotted [0.825:0.175], coded as D1), articulation (legato [K0] and two versions of staccato [K1 and K2]) and tempo (crotchet = 80 beat per minute [bpm] and 106 bpm). The dotting ratio and articulation was set according to the information found in historical sources and modern musicological research, and also took into account actual executions found in commercial recordings. The tempo choices reflected the two typical levels of speed mapped out in the studied sound recordings. The synthesized versions were supplemented with two original sound recordings representing a legato (K0), overdotted (D1) slow (80) rendering (Kirkpatrick, 1959) and a staccato (K2) overdotted (D1) fast (106) playing (Leonhardt, 1965). The 14 stimuli (12 synthesised and 2 sound recordings) were presented twice to each participant in a different random order (see Table 1 for a summary). Various synthesized dotting ratios were combined with different articulation modes. The manipulated MIDI stimulus was taken from a student performance and comprised of bars 1-2 of Variation 7 from Bach’s Goldberg Variation (for more details see Schubert and Fabian Somorjay, 2000; Schubert & Fabian, submitted).

Table 1: Independent Variable Levels Independent Levels C Variable ode Articulation Sustained (legato) K 0 First note with rest K (staccato) 1 Third note with rest K (staccato) 2 Dotting ratio of 0.75 (mechanical) D 0 ratio of 0.825 D (overdotted) 1 Tempo Slow (crotchet = 80 bpm) 80 Fast (crotchet = 106 bpm) 10 6

Participants and procedure

In our first experiment 40 musically experienced listeners rated the dottedness of the stimuli. This time we engaged less musically experienced listeners (N = 36).

4 The concept of dottedness was explained and tested at the commencement of the study. Then, participants responded to each performance using rating scales. Their perceived dotting response was recorded on a 9-point scale, where +4 represented ‘Very Overdotted’ and –4 represented ‘Very Underdotted’. (For further detail see Schubert & Fabian, submitted).

Definitions

By legato articulation we mean a delivery when notes are sustained right until the onset of the next note. Staccato articulation refers to a manner of playing when there is a gap between subsequent notes. In our study this gap was created by truncating the length of the sounding note rather than by delaying the onset of the next note. Consequently we termed the gap kerning. Two types of kerning were used because both were observable in the studied sound recordings although only the first type is mentioned in musicological sources. In the first case (coded as K1) the dotted quaver is shortened (_ _ _ _). In the second type (coded as K2) the last note of the group of three is kerned (__ ___).

Results

Using ANOVA, there was no significant difference (at p = 0.05) in the perception of dottedness between trained musicians with an interest in listening to baroque music (‘Barmusos’) and less experienced listeners (‘Non-Barmusos’). The existence of the kerning illusion was supported with a significant main effect of kerning upon the judgment of dotting (p < 0.0001). However, the illusion was strongest for the experienced listeners (Figure 1a). Therefore, the current study confirms the existence of a kerning illusion. But the results do not conclusively indicate whether the effect may be attributed to musical training, or to a lower level psychoacoustic phenomenon because the responses of less experienced listeners did not produce statistically distinct results from experienced listeners. There were no significant differences in the effect of tempo upon dotting across the two listener groups. For unkerned (legato) performances, faster tempi were perceived as more dotted, regardless of the physical dotting ratio (Figure 1b).

Figure 1. Interactions for Dotting Responses a. interaction between Kerning and Musical Experience b. Interaction between Kerning and Tempo

5 Conclusions and discussion

Researchers arguing for flexible or overdotted interpretation seem to be justified. The studied sound recordings – representing some 50 years of performance history and a variety of artists with widely different interpretative aesthetics – all show a universal application of overdotting and a fluctuating dotting ratio. This lends considerable credence to Donington’s claim that ‘every alert musician will sharpen a crisp rhythm without noticing that he is doing so’ (1989, p. 447), and makes the musicological argument regarding the appropriate context of overdotting academic. Our study suggests that even less experienced listeners are susceptible to the subtle distinctions in various realisations of dottings, though perhaps not to the same extent as more practiced listeners. While our investigation of whether the kerning illusion is facilitated by musical training did not produce conclusive data, it is clear that the kerning illusions and tempo effects operate on inexperienced as well as experienced listeners. Neither tempo nor the possible kerning of the third note of the dotted quaver—semiquaver—quaver unit (____) are mentioned in musicological discussions of interpreting dotted rhythms, yet both impact on the perception of dotting for experienced as well as inexperienced listeners. Consequently our findings provide a new perspective on the issue. When tempo is increased the absolute note durations are shortened. Although in our overdotted examples the length of the short note following the dotted one remained constant (demisemiquaver), with the increase of tempo its shortness could have contributed to the increased dottedness effect. Similarly, the third note kerning also produced a pattern in which a non-dotted note became shorter. It follows that a plausible explanation of the kerning illusion and the tempo effect is that it is the shorter note that bears greatest importance on the perception of dotting, and not the dotted note itself. This is interesting because of the innocent preoccupation music historians have had in examining the duration of the dotted note, not necessarily ignoring the shorter note, but certainly never quite emphasizing its potentially dominating roll.

6 Address for corresondence: DOROTTYA FABIAN EMERY SCHUBERT School of Music and Music Education The University of New South Wales Sydney NSW 2052 Australia Email: [email protected] [email protected]

7 References

Abravaya, Ido (1997), ‘A French overture revisited’ Early Music 25, 47-61

Babitz, Sol (1967), ‘Concerning the length of Time that every note must be held’ The Music Review 28, 21-37

Baud-Bovy, Samuel (1944), ‘L’interprétation rythmique des Ouvertures pour orchestre de J.S.Bach’ Schweitzerische Musikzeitung - Revue Musicale Suisse 84, 181-84

Collins, Michael (1969), ‘A Reconsideration of French Over-Dotting’ Music & Letter s 50, 111-23

Dirst, Matthew (1997), ‘Bach's French overtures and the politics of overdotting’ Early Music 25, 35-44

Dolmetsch, Arnold (1949), The Interpretation of the Mus ic of the 17-18th Centuries London: Novello, R1969 (fir st published 1915)

Donington, Robert (1960), Tempo and Rhythm in Bach’s Organ Music School of Bach-Playing for the organist Vol. 3, Gor don Phillips (gen. ed.) London: Hinrichsen

Donington, Robert (1989), The Interpretation of Early Music London: Faber Rev.: 1973 (firs t published 1963)

Fabian, Dorottya and Schubert, Emery (2001), ‘Dotted Rhythms: Perception, Prefer ence and Implication for Per for mance Practice’ Proceedings of the Spring Meeting of the Japanese Music Perception Society (Fukuoka, May 19-20)

Fuller, David (1985), ‘The Dotted style’ Peter Williams (Ed.) Bach Handel, Scarlatti - Tercentenary Essays Cambridge: CUP, 99-117

Gabrielss on, Alf (1987), ‘Once again: The theme from Mozart’s Piano Sonata in A Major K 331’ A. Gabrielss on (ed.): Action and Perception in Rhythm and Mus ic Royal Swedish Academy of Mus ic No. 55, 81-103

Harnoncourt, Nikoluas (1988), Baroque Music Today: Music as Speech Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press (English translation by Mary O’Neill); German original: Musik als Klangrede Salzburg: Residenz, 1982

8 Hefling, Stephen E. (1993), Rhythmic Alteration in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Music New York, Schirmer

Malloch, William (1991), ‘Bach and the French Ouverture’ Musical Quarterly 75, 174-201

Mendel, Arthur (ed.) (1951), Bach: St John Passion vocal score New York: Schirmer

Neumann, Frederick (1965), ‘La note pointée et la soi-dis ant “manière française’ Revue de Musicologie 51, 66-92, trans . as ‘The dotted note and the so-called “French style”’, Early Mus ic 5 (1977), 310-324. Reprinted in Neumann, 1982, 73-98

Neumann, Frederick (1966), ‘External evidence and uneven notes’ The Musical Quarterly 52, 448-464 Reprinted in Neumann, 1982, 69-72

Neumann, Frederick (1977), ‘Facts and Fiction about overdotting’ The Musical Quarterly 63, 155-185 Reprinted in Neumann, 1982, 111-133

Neumann, Frederick (1982), Essays in Performance Practice Ann Arbor, Mich: UMI Research Press

Neumann, Frederick (1989), New Essays in Performance Practice Ann Arbor, Mich: UMI Research Press

Neumann, Frederick (1993), Performance Practices of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries New York, Schirmer

O’Donnell, John (1979), ‘The French Style and the overtures of Bach’ Early Music 7, 190-196 and 336-345

Schubert, Emery and Fabian Somorjay, Dorottya (2000), ‘The Perception of Dotted Rhythms and the Kerning Illusion’ in C. Woods, G. Luck, R. Brochard, F. Seddon, & J. A. Sloboda (eds.) Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition Keele, UK: Keele University Department of Psychology, 2000 CD-ROM

Schubert, Emery and Fabian, Dorottya (submitted), ‘The Golden Goldberg: Preference and perception in dotted 6/8 patterns by experienced and less experienced baroque music listeners’ Journal of Music Perception and Cognition

9 Williams, Peter (1989), ‘French overture conventions in the hands of the young Bach and Handel’ Don O. Franklin (ed.) Bach Studies Cambridge, CUP, 183-193

10 Figure 1

Interaction Line Plot for Dottedness (4 very overdotted;-4 very underdotted) Effect: Kerning * Barmus * Error Bars: ± 2 Standard Error(s) 2.6 2.4 2.2 2 K1 (First Note Kerned) 1.8 K2 (Third Note Kerned)

1.6Cell Mean No Kerning (Legato) 1.4 1.2 1 .8 Barmuso Non Barmuso Cell

Figure 2

Interaction Line Plot for Dottedness (4 very overdotted;-4 very underdotted) Effect: Tempo * Kerning Error Bars: ± 2 Standard Error(s) 2.4 2.2 2 1.8 1.6 Fast (106 bpm)

1.4Cell Mean Slow (80 bpm) 1.2 1 .8 .6 No Kerning (Legato) K1 (First Note Kerned) K2 (Third Note Kerned)

Cell

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