Late Baroque Ornamentation: Philosophy and Guidelines1

Late Baroque Ornamentation: Philosophy and Guidelines1 David Lasoc~i N THE PRECEDING ARTICLE, Betty Bang ments) served a number of purposes. First, met with the composers' approval. Wit I Mather has set out with admirable it is worth noting that ornamentation was ness those who voiced their belief that simplicity a highly effective method by an essential component of the Baroque performers lacked the qualities of judge which a recorder player can learn to orna aesthetic. This was the great age of visual ment, inventiveness, and insight that ment a slow movement of a late Baroque embellishment. The basic structure of a Quantz specified. As Birnbaum ex})resse:a sonata, using a vocabulary found in Tele painting or church was always covered by it when defendingJ.S. Bach for writing out mann's "methodical" sonatas (in which the the ornamentation; the straight line was all his ornamentation, "only the fewest composer has written out ornamentation masked by the curve. It may be helpful, [performers} have a sufficient knowledge for the slow movements to serve as mod without attempting to make any direct [of the of ornamenting}. The rest, by els). The appeal of this method is that a correlation ofpurpose between music and an inappropriate application of the man ... performer can learn to the visual arts, to think of the melodic ner, spoil the principal melody, and indeed creditable in a short time. The difficulty skeleton of a Baroque slow movement as often introduce such passages as might is that ultimately the performer is forced a straight line and the ornamentation as easily be attributed to an error of the com to rely on his or her (largely intuitive) its curved manifestation. poser by those who do not know the true sense of late Baroque style, and so, with The second important purpose is that state of affairs:'5 In other words, Birnbaum out further background or preparation, ornamentation, as the great flutist Johann believed that composers needed to defend cannot improve beyond the merely cred Joachim Quantz noted, gave the performer themselves against the performer's imposi itable. "an opportunity to demonstrate his judge tion of something incompatible, in taste or In an attempt to give readers more ment, inventiveness, and insight:'2 The invention, with the composer's work. An guidance, I am supplementing Professor castrato singer Pier Francesco Tosi wrote attraction, but also a danger, ofornamen Mather's article in two ways. First, the that through ornamentation "the judicious tation - at least, from the composer's view present article explores the philosophy of may hear that the ability of the singers is point- was that it could effect "a reinforce late Baroque ornamentation and offers greater; and in repeating the air, he that ment ofthe power of a text [or guidelines to performers on learning to im does not vary it for the better, is no great melody}, or a more or less radical change provise it stylishly. Second, a further ar master."3 of orientation in its expressive quality."6 ticle (to be published shortly) will tackle One of the main differences between the Third, ornamentation seems to have the ornamentation of a specific repertory Baroque performance situation and ours is filled a need for performers at that time. of prime importance to recorder players: that musicians of that time were often Like ja2;2; musicians in our own century, the solo sonatas of George Frideric Han composers or were at least trained in com they evidently were, by training and tem del. position. Ornamentation was a type of perament, incapable of playing the music Let us begin the discussion by defining composition, or rather, recomposition. The exactly as written. 7 Fourth, ornamenta our terms. By "ornamentation" I mean the performer recomposed the work on the tion added verve to the performance. addition of fixed ornaments (trills, spur of the moment according to his own Something fresh was imparted to the work mordents, slides, turns, etc.-generally taste and invention. The greatest com spontaneous recomposition. also called "graces;' "agrements," or simply posers - Bach and Handel, for example ornamentation added variety to "ornaments"; see line 2 of Mather's exam were also great improvisers, able to devise multiple performances of a work. Tosi pie) and other, freer melodic material well-thought-out works apparently with wrote: "Let a student ...accustom himself (Mather'S lines 1, 3-13) to the out effort. Lesser composers could be in to repeat [his ornaments} always different written by the composer. Such ornamen spired by a skeletal composition left by ly.... A singer is la2;y who, on the stage, tation is also sometimes called "arbitrary;' another composer - a slow movement, say, from night to night, teaches all his songs "extempore;' "free;' or "melodic." As the in a simple melodic style. The composi to the audience, who, by hearing them al term "extempore" suggests, it was general tional style of the movement could be ways without the least variation, have no ly improvised by the performer: relative changed in the process. Geminiani's or difficulty to learn them by heart:'s ly few written-out examples survive. namentations of Corelli's violin sonatas, Sixth, ornamentation was expected. for example, are in the style of the genera Whether performers had the ability to im The purposes of ornamentation in the late tion after the composer's.4 Geminiani re provise or not, they must have felt Baroque newed these works for himself by recom to try to satisfy their colleagues and au During this period, the ornamentation posing them in his own style. diences. That this was a fairly common of slow movements (and even fast move- Not that these creative efforts always problem is suggested by the written-out February 1988 7 examples of instrumental works surviving Baroque music, from Mendelssohn to the in manuscript and by the numerous books widespread adoption of instruments based Whom Can of ornamented arias with generic caden, on historical models, few people knew or zas that have come down to us from the cared that Baroque music should be be or' eighteenth century. 9 By writing down namented. The situation during the past You Trust? their ornamentation, such performers twenty years or so has become almost the were able to present a finished product reverse: a great many performers, teachers, Sheila Beardslee that sounded the same as the improvised and listeners know and expect that any version. performance of a Baroque work, by ama, Martha Bixler teur or professional, should include orna, Kees Boeke 'The purposes of ornamentation today mentation. Indeed, they would be disap Daniel Bruggen Next, let us examine our own reasons pointed, perhaps even scandalized, if it did for ornamenting late Baroque music. The not. Such ornamentation, moreover, is Frans Bruggen usual motive, the most respectable but often taken as a measure of the performer's Gerry Burakoff also the most problematical, is that we are skill, not necessarily in providing some' Bertho Driever trying to perform the music "authentical, thing appropriate, but in creating some, ly':" to restore period style as closely as we thing novel. Shelley Gruskin can. The principal difficulties with this ap' The problem has been compounded by R.ichard Harvey proach, as Richard Taruskin has recently the change in performance conditions and Bruce Haynes set out, are that 1. we do not have enough repertory since the Baroque era. Although performance practice documents to be some music late in that period was per Gunther Holler able to know with certainty how the formed many times by the same perform' Edgar Hunt music was performed; 2. even if we did ers for the same audiences - and, as we Kay & Michael Jaffee know, we might not actually like the per' have seen, variety in multiple perfor, formance styles ofthat period; and 3. our mances was one of the purposes of orna, Hans Maria Kneihs concept of Baroque style-or should we menting - the vast majority of the music Paul Leenhouts say "concepts;' since our ideas change was not intended for repeated hearing. Eva Legene every few years? - has been shaped by One public performance situation in par' modern attitudes to performance and is in ticular was not even dreamed of by Ba, R.ainer Lehmbruck fact a product of our own times.lO Taruskin roque composers: the modern recording, Sonja Lindblad has argued persuasively that it can be just in which exactly the same performance of Hans...Martin Linde as legitimate to perform in modern styles the music - even if the ornamentation is that owe more to the conservatory tradi, improvised in the studio - is heard in' Michala Petri tion of performance (e.g., at modern pitch, definitely. How Tosi would have thrown Philip Pickett with smooth articulation and no metrical up his hands in dismay! Steve R.osenberg accents, with few or no ornaments, etc.). Should we, pandering to the expecta, For him, the only touchstone is whether tions of our colleagues and audiences, or, Michael Schneider the performance is convincing. An "au' nament in order to satisfy their thirst for Karel van Steenhoven thentic" performance will be convincing novelty? If we pander to them, do we Nina Stern only if it succeeds in renewing the Baroque always give them fireworks, or can we work, rather than merely attempting to combine novelty with appropriateness? Han Tol restore it. This is not the place to go into Each performer must answer such ques, John Tyson these ideas any further, but they should tions for himself or herself, but I believe Walter van Hauwe give us pause for thought. It only needs to the questions need to be posed.

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