Third Mixtures in the Time of JS Bach: Implications for Organ Performa
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Major-‐Third Mixtures in the Time of J.S. Bach: Implications for Organ Performance and Registration Thomas T. Pousont Schulich School of Music McGill University, Montreal November, 2014 A paper submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of D.Mus. Performance Studies © Thomas T. Pousont 2014 Table of Contents 2 Abstract (Résumé) 4 Acknowledgements 6 Chapter I: Introduction and Overview 8 8 A. Introduction and Description of the Research Problem 10 B. Terminology 13 C. Mixtures in the time of Bach 14 D. The Organs 18 Chapter II: E. The Temperament, Mixtures of Key, the Texture, Five Organs and Mode 27 27 A. Temperament 31 B. Key 34 C. Texture 36 Chapter D. III: Application Mode of the Research to Performance 46 46 A. The Recital Organ: 1961 von Beckerath 50 Chapter B. IV: The Conclusion Recital Program 64 Appendix A: Additional Recorded Examples 68 Appendix B: List of Recorded Pieces and Texts 70 Appendix C: Specifications of the von Beckerath, 1961 72 Appendix D: Specifications of the Historic Organs 73 Appendix E: List of Web Addresses for the Recorded Examples 78 Works Cited 80 3 List of Figures and Tables Figure 1: Pitch Clarified 10 Figure 2: A 5-‐rank Mixture 11 Figure 3: The Harmonic Series 12 Figure 4: Map of Middle Germany 15 Table I: The Five Historic Organs 17 Table II: The Mixtures of the Historic Organs 19 Table III: Temperaments 30 Figure 5: Autograph Manuscript of BWV 601 33 Figure 6: Toccata in C, BWV 564/1, 1st page 35 Figure 7: The pitches added by a major-‐third rank 37 Figure 8: Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, BWV 661 38 Figure 9: BWV 661 Final Phrase 39 Figure 10: Du, O schönes Weltgebäude, BWV 56/5 40 Figure 11: Christus, der ist mein Leben, BWV 95/1a 41 Figure 12: Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, BWV 637 43 Figure 13: The von Beckerath and Trost Consoles 48 Figure 14: Autograph Manuscript of BWV 642 58 4 Abstract Major-‐Third Mixtures in the Time of J.S. Bach: Implications for Organ Performance and Registration. Thesis in English by Thomas T. Pousont, © 2014. 80 pages, including scores, recordings and illustrations. Key-‐words: Johann Sebastian Bach, Gottfried Silbermann, Tobias Heinrich Gottfried Trost, Joachim Wagner, Zacharias Hildebrandt, organ registration, interpretation, th major-‐third mixture, organ, 18 century, Thuringia, Saxony, Middle Germany, historically-‐informed performance practice, organology. This paper presents the mixtures of organs known to Johann Sebastian Bach and the implications that these various mixtures have for organ performance and registration. Five rgans o built by four of the most important organ builders of early eighteenth-‐century Middle Germany (Tobias Heinrich Gottfried Trost, Gottfried Silbermann, Zacharias Hildebrandt, and Joachim Wagner) are discussed in the context of their mixtures, and whether or not they contain a major-‐third-‐sounding rank. The presence of a major-‐third-‐sounding rank in an organ creates a unique sound, and one that was familiar to J.S. Bach. As such, this unique sound is considered in the context of the organ works of Bach. This paper is divided into four chapters. The first includes an Introduction and Overview of the research problem and the mixtures of five historic organs that were the subjects of the research. Chapter II discusses important issues to consider in the context of the major-‐third mixture: temperament of the instrument; and the texture, key, and mode of the composition being performed. Chapter III applies the research to performance practice. A detailed discussion of a recent performance on a twentieth-‐century North American organ is presented in the context of the major-‐third mixture. The topics of the second chapter are applied in the third, and further reflections of the practical application of the research are given. Conclusions on how the major-‐third mixture impacts the performer and its relevance to performance practice are summarized in Chapter IV: Conclusion. 5 Résumé Mixtures de tierces majeures au temps de J.S. Bach: les implications sur l’interprétation à l’orgue et la registration. Thèse en anglais rédigée par Thomas T. Pousont, © 2014. 80 pages, incluant partitions, enregistrements et illustrations. Mots clés: Johann Sebastian Bach, Gottfried Silbermann, Tobias Heinrich Gottfried Trost, Joachim Wagner, Zacharias Hildebrandt, registration d’orgue, interprétation, e mixture de tierce majeure, orgue, 18 siècle, Thuringe, Saxe, Allemagne centrale, interprétation historiquement documentée, organologie. Cet ouvrage traite des mixtures d’orgues connues de J.S. Bach et de leur impact sur l’interprétation et la registration. Cinq orgues construits par quatre des plus importants facteurs d’orgues de l’Allemagne centrale du début du dix-‐huitième siècle (Tobias Heinrich Gottfried Trost, Gottfried Silbermann, Zacharias Hildebrandt, et Joachim Wagner) sont discutés dans le contexte de leurs mixtures et de la présence ou non d’un rang de tierces majeures. La présence d’un tel rang dans un orgue produit un son unique, connu de J.S. Bach. Ainsi, ce son unique est analysé en relation avec les œuvres pour orgue de Bach. Cet ouvrage est divisé en quatre chapitres. Le premier chapitre inclut une introduction et un survol de la problématique et des mixtures des cinq orgues historiques constituant le cœur de la présente recherche. Le deuxième chapitre traite de questions fondamentales liées aux mixtures de tierces majeures : le tempérament de l’instrument, ainsi que la texture, la tonalité et le mode de l’œuvre interprétée. Le troisième chapitre discute de l’impact de cette recherche sur l’interprétation, appliquant les sujets discutés dans le deuxième chapitre et incluant une discussion détaillée d’une performance récente sur un orgue nord américain du vingtième siècle, suivi d’une réflexion sur l’aspect pratique de la présente recherche. Finalement, l’impact de ces mixtures de tierces majeures sur l’organiste et leur pertinence quant à l’interprétation historique de l’instrument est résumé dans le quatrième chapitre. 6 Acknowledgements A project of this nature can only be realized with a great deal of support. I would like to begin by acknowledging the many great people at McGill University that have supported me through this process. In particular, I would like to thank: -‐The staff, librarians, and fellow students who are too numerous to list individually. -‐Professor Emeritus John Grew and Professor William Porter for their support and guidance in the early stages of my graduate studies at McGill. -‐Professor Wieslaw Woszczyk for his generosity with his time and valuable instruction for the recording aspect of my research. -‐The members of my Doctoral Committee: ~Professors Hank Knox, William Porter and Nicole Biamonte for their valuable feedback and encouragement. ~Dr. Eleanor Stubley, Chair of Graduate Studies, for her tireless commitment to the Schulich School of Music and all of its graduate students, and specifically for her guidance and inspiration throughout this project. ~My thesis advisor, Professor Hans-‐Ola Ericsson, for his generosity over many hours of discussions and assistance in arranging my field research. Perhaps most importantly for his tireless support and contributions to the field of organ performance, which are an inspiration. -‐The Deutsche Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) and the Schulich School of Music for the financial support of this research project. 7 -‐Professor Emeritus Quentin Faulkner (University of Nebraska-‐Lincoln) for generously sharing his translations, time and enthusiasm for the Middle th German organs of the 18 century. -‐The two McGill graduate students who assisted me with the Lecture-‐Recital: Mike Ardagh for sound system, technical matters and editing sound files; Adrian Foster for his assistance as registrant for the recital. -‐Dr. Nikolas Fehr, Dr. Deborah Katz, Dr. Grant Moss, and Professor Lena Weman Ericsson for advice, proofing and support. -‐ Dorian Pousont for his support, constant encouragement, and assistance. 8 Chapter I: Introduction and Overview A. Introduction When it comes to the organ, one can make the claim that no other composer’s oeuvre is as significant to the instrument as is that of Johann Sebastian Bach. The idea of finding the ideal “Bach Organ” is an old one, and has led to many important organ projects and restorations in Germany and elsewhere. It is hard to find a stone that has been left unturned in this area. However, one important aspect of the organs that Bach knew has had little attention: many of these organs possessed mixtures that contained a rank that sounded the major third. This significant fact has not been adequately addressed in the published literature. This paucity of information was the genesis of this research project. As the presence of a major third within a mixture is a unique sound, and as this is a sound that Bach knew and worked with, it needs to be studied and understood. This project focused on five historic organs from Bach’s homeland, built 1 by four of the most significant organ builders of Bach’s mature period: Tobias Heinrich Gottfried Trost (c.1680-‐1759); Gottfried Silbermann (1683-‐1753); Zacharias Hildebrandt (1688-‐1757); and Joachim Wagner (1690-‐1749). These four builders differed in this important aspect of mixture construction: Silbermann and Hildebrandt built their mixtures without major-‐third-‐sounding ranks while Wagner 2 and Trost included a major-‐third-‐sounding rank in their mixtures. 1 The organs selected for the project were built between 1714 and 1746. 2 These five organs differ in many ways other than in the construction of their mixtures, but a full discussion of the individual nature of these instruments falls outside the scope of this paper. 9 In order to study these mixtures, visits were made to organs built by these organ builders and the same program was recorded on each instrument.