Which Bach Wrote What? a Cumulative Approach to Clarification of Three Disputed Works
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WHICH BACH WROTE WHAT? A CUMULATIVE APPROACH TO CLARIFICATION OF THREE DISPUTED WORKS by Mark W. Knoll A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Music: Musicology) in The University of Michigan 1998 Doctoral Committee: Professor David Crawford, Co-Chair Assistant Professor Steven Whiting, Co-Chair Associate Professor Edward Parmentier Professor Edward Rothman MarkÊWilliamÊKnoll © 1998 AllÊRightsÊReserved To Marion ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is my privilege to acknowledge with deep gratitude those who have contributed to make this dissertation possible. First and foremost among them, of course, are my co- advisors, Professors David Crawford and Steven Whiting. Their encouragement and suggestions guided me safely around numerous potential pitfalls, and their editorial expertise saved me from myself on countless occasions and contributed enormously to whatever clarity of thought and expression has found its way into these pages. Professor Ed Parmentier has been a good friend and mentor for many years. His encyclopedic knowledge of and contagious enthusiasm about eighteenth-century music is matched by a rare dedication to passing both on to those fortunate enough to study with him. Professor Ed Rothman provided the statistical expertise necessary for an investigation such as this one. His lucid explanations and invaluable suggestions made it possible for a statistical layman such as myself to explain in layman's terms statistical procedures of considerable complexity. I am particularly grateful for his pointing me in the direction of discriminant analysis as an appropriate tool for resolving authorship disputes. The bulk of this dissertation was written in Berlin, where I was fortunate to have had access to the resources of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and the Staatliches Institut fŸr Musikforschung, both part of the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz. The staffs of both institutions were without exception friendly, helpful, and competent. My thanks are also due the staffs of the music departments of the British Library, London and the Bibliotheka Jagiellonska, Krak—w for providing me first with microfilms of and later access to rare materials in their collections. The funding for two years of research iii overseas was provided by the German-American Fulbright Commission. The Fulbright staff, particularly Reiner Rohr, made sure that my stay in Germany was not only productive, but thoroughly enjoyable as well. Ulrich Leisinger of the Bach-Archiv, Leipzig read a draft of the dissertation and made many valuable and insightful comments. A project the size of a doctoral dissertation benefits immeasurably from a strong network of family support. I consider myself to be unusually blessed in this regard. My parents were always ready to help in whatever way they could and displayed great patience as the projectÕs gestation period seemed to extend indefinitely. My brothers, Steve and Andy, both professional computer programmers, gave unstintingly of their time and knowledge during the development of the computer routines used to extract the raw statistical data from the musical scores. My cousin, Thomas Knoll, and his wife, Ruth, were generous and hospitable way beyond the call of family duty and made my sometimes extended stays in Ann Arbor much less stressful than they might otherwise have been. Finally, my wife Marion created the environment that enabled me to pursue the many unexpected twists and turns of a topic that reaches across several disciplines. She is the silent partner behind every page of this dissertation, and to her the whole is lovingly dedicated. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION .....................................................................................................................ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................iii LIST OF TABLES ..............................................................................................................vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................................................................viii LIST OF APPENDICES .....................................................................................................ix INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 The Problem .................................................................................................1 Why Bother? ................................................................................................3 Source Problems in the Eighteenth Century .................................................4 The Case of the Bachs.................................................................................. 6 The Cumulative Approach ........................................................................10 CHAPTER 1. THE MUSICAL SOURCES ........................................................................................13 The Publishing Activities of the Bach Brothers .........................................13 The Concerto Sources................................................................................. 19 The Sextet Sources .....................................................................................36 Summary ....................................................................................................50 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ..............................................................................................52 Contemporary Review ...............................................................................52 The C. P. E. Bach Estate Catalogue........................................................... 53 The Breitkopf Catalogues ..........................................................................54 The Hartknoch Catalogues ........................................................................55 MeuselÕs Lexicon ........................................................................................59 ForkelÕs Almanac .......................................................................................60 GerberÕs Lexicon......................................................................................... 61 Specialized Literature ................................................................................62 Preliminary Conclusions ............................................................................78 3. ANALYSES OF THE DISPUTED WORKS ...............................................................82 Development of the North German Keyboard Concerto........................... 82 Descriptions of the Genre ..........................................................................88 v General Characteristics ..............................................................................93 Ritornello Form........................................................................................... 98 Riga Concertos .........................................................................................117 Sextet........................................................................................................ 142 4. COMPUTER ASSISTANCE .....................................................................................153 Previous Studies....................................................................................... 153 Methodology of the Present Study ..........................................................158 Tabulation (StatScAn) .............................................................................161 Storage (Main Database) .........................................................................170 5. STATISTICAL EVALUATION OF THE DATA .....................................................172 Introduction.............................................................................................. 172 Statistical Evidence.................................................................................. 173 Conclusions ..............................................................................................191 Further Application of the Method .........................................................195 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................197 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................................371 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Friedrich BachÕs Publications in Chronological Order............................... 16 2. Violins in Thirds: Means and Standard Deviations................................ 178 3. Results of Comparing Unweighted Means for the Concertos .................180 4. Results of Comparing Weighted Means................................................... 182 5. Cumulative Similarity Indexes for the Riga Concertos ............................184 6. Percentage of Known Concerto Movements Correctly Predicted ...........186 7. Results of Comparing Unweighted Means for the Chamber Works .......189 8. Cumulative Similarity Indexes for the Sextet ..........................................190 9. Percentage of Known Chamber Movements Correctly Predicted ...........190 vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Illustration 1. Title Pages from Johann Friedrich HartknochÕs Concerto Editions........... 20 2. Left Side Watermark, Beginning at Chain Line #3 ....................................37 3. Right Side Watermark, Beginning at