Basso Continuo Research Articles

Encoding Emotion

The paper Encoding Emotion details an experiment conducted on early 18th-century French recitative to determine how composers relate harmony to sung text, if at all. Although the existence of a relationship between harmony and vocal expression is generally agreed upon, it is rarely properly taught to baroque singers, even though harmony is fundamental to the concept of basso continuo. It is also rarely discussed in continuo or singing treatises, either historical or modern, and, if so, never explicitly. The present experiment aims to fill that gap by examining harmony and text in actual written music. To do so, a harmonic analysis was performed on excerpts of secco recitative from French operas and cantatas written by Campra, Clérambault, Jacquet de la Guerre, and Rameau; the significant chords and harmonic passages were then logged in a spreadsheet with their corresponding text. Over two hundred lines of results were then analysed to determine whether patterns could be found associating certain words to chords or harmonic progressions. In the end, the dataset was too small for any general conclusions to be made with certainty, but patterns still emerged. Most notably, the plagal cadence correlated to feelings of love and tenderness, particularly in a sacred or noble context. It was also noted that, though general patterns could not always be identified, some chords or harmonic progressions appeared to have specific meaning for a certain composer. The V of IV, for example, was strongly associated with pleasure in Clérambault's works. Although there is only limited use for these results outside of this study, the identified patterns show that a more extensive dataset would yield enlightening results and give singers access to a remarkably rich tool with which to inform their interpretation.

Il processo rielaborativo di Johann Georg Pisendel in alcune Sonate per violino e basso continuo

A detailed analysis of four concordant movements, taken from five autograph sonatas for violin and basso continuo by Johann Georg Pisendel, allows us to identify some compositional and reworking methods of the German musician. The alternative versions recorded in these manuscripts seem to derive frequently from performing and improvisatory practice.

Circé: cantata for soprano, flutes, strings, and basso continuo by Collin de Blamont, and: Première suite de pièces de clavecin by Gabriel Dubuisson

Reviewed by: Circé: cantata for soprano, flutes, strings, and basso continuoby Collin de Blamont, and: Première suite de pièces de clavecinby Gabriel Dubuisson Devin Burke Collin de Blamont. Circé: cantata for soprano, flutes, strings, and basso continuo. Edited by Graham Sadler. Versailles: Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, 2020. [Intro., p. 3– 12; text and trans., p. 13– 14; score, p. 15– 48; critical notes, p. 49– 51. ISMN 979-0-560-16299-7. $33.] Gabriel Dubuisson. Première suite de pièces de clavecin. Edited by Louis Caste-lain. Introduction by Gaëtan Naulleau. Versailles: Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, 2020. [Intro., p. 3– 14; score, p. 15– 33; critical notes, p. 34. ISMN 979-0-560-16305-5. $30.] This year marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Centre de Musique Baroque Versailles (CMBV). Vincent Berthier de Lioncourt and Philippe Beaussant established the CMBV in 1987 in the wake of the early music revival, and since then the center has become indispensable to both scholars and performers of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French music. The two editions reviewed here represent a sampling of recent publications from the CMBV's editions catalog, which includes over two thousand works published in more than three hundred fifty editions. Their catalog comprises eight different series: works for solo voice-vocal ensemble, choral works, works for choir and orchestra, solo instrumental pieces, chamber music, orchestral works, opera, and aria collections. In addition to these series, the CMBV publishes critical editions of composers' complete works and anthologies of exemplary French music. Beyond its score publications, the CMBV also regularly releases new books and audio and video recordings. These releases frequently contain work that began with or benefitted from the various symposia and seminars that the CMBV organizes. Researchers and performers often learn from each other in these events, and the resulting collaborative relationships are among the defining strengths of the CMBV's work. This review discusses recent editions from two different CMBV series (solo voice-vocal ensemble and solo instrumental pieces). Both editions are standalone works of musical and historical interest, yet one has been recently discovered while the other is more familiar to scholars and performers of French music. Both editions feature introductory and critical notes in French and English, with the critical notes appearing after the score in each case. The critical notes are easy to interpret and are presented in the CMBV's standard tabular format. Parts for the editions with orchestra are sold separately from the score. Graham Sadler's edition of Collin de Blamont's cantata Circéfor high voice and orchestra marks the first appearance of this work in a modern edition. During the 1720s and 30s, Blamont (1690–1760) established himself as one of the most important composers in France, and he represents the type of composer whose engaging and historically significant works might merit little attention today were it not for the efforts of the CMBV. From 1719, when he bought the post of Surintendant de la Musique de la Chambre, until the mid–1740s when illness required him to relinquish most of his professional obligations, Blamont enjoyed high esteem at Louis XV's court. He built his reputation on both his accomplishments as a composer and his skills as a [End Page 437]pedagogue, particularly in the training of singers. One of the values of this edition is that it illuminates both Blamont's skills in composing dramatic music and the development of his musical language across his career. As a composer, Blamont had the most impact in the genres of opera and the orchestral cantata. A decade before Jean-Philippe Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricieupended the landscape of French music, he invented the genre of the ballet héroïquewith Les Fêtes greques et romaines(1723); other operas and divertissements achieved great success as well. Within these works, he introduced several innovations including his use of an increased number of ariettes and his expansion of the orchestral palette. Both innovations anticipated Rameau, and yet Blamont's sparer style meant that Rameau's partisans unfavorably associated him with Lully when the querrellebetween the...

Editorial: A special issue in honour of Alison McDonnell: basso continuo of the Common Market Law Review

Editorial: A special issue in honour of Alison McDonnell: basso continuo of the Common Market Law Review

Utwory klawesynowe Weroniki Ratusińskiej-Zamuszko – między przeszłością a współczesnością

Works for Harpsichord by Weronika Ratusińska-Zamuszko—Between the Past and the Present The article is devoted to two works by Weronika Ratusińska-Zamuszko: the cycle Nymphs for soprano saxophone and harpsichord, and the miniature For Berenika. A miniature in the Baroque style. The introduction contains information about the composer and basic facts about the pieces in question. In the following sections of the article the author analyses: harmony (tonal arrangement and harmonic relations), form (formal models, motifs, rhythms), texture and sound as well as aesthetic aspects. Based on these elements, the key determinants of the composer's style are presented, referring to the Baroque techniques as well as those typical of the postmodern musical language, also discussing the issues of non-musical content resulting from the programme titles of the works. In the analytical part, the author presents an innovative analytical method consisting in reducing the notation of the harpsichord part to the basso continuo notation to verify the thesis that the choice of the instrument (in this case, the harpsichord) determines the style of the composition. The analytical argument leads to interesting research conclusions and is an attempt to define the composer's musical language.

Voluntary and Lesson in English Music Sources of the 17th and 18th Centuries

The article focuses on the use Voluntary and Lesson as terms in the English musical practice in the 17th and 18th centuries. Based on the unique example of the interpretation of these terms as synonyms in edition of Carl Trinks’s organ pieces in 1810 (this fact is remained unnoticed in musicology), the author compares Voluntary and Lesson, noting, first of all, significant differences in the use of these specific names of musical compositions and also paying attention to the reflection of this practice in the general and musical lexicographic sources of that time. The author also criticizes a number of ideas that have already been established in Western musicology. For example, he does not agree with the interpretation of a small fragment from the “Mulliner Book” entitled Voluntarye as an independent keyboard piece by R. Farrant, and he doubts the real existence of the 12-movement J. Ch. Pepush’s Voluntary (published only in 1988) as a single musical work. But most importantly, he opposes spread of the Voluntary concept to all polyphonic organ works by English composers of the 17th and 18th centuries (including organ compositions from M. Locke’s “Melothesia”, many Th. Roseingrave’s fugues, etc.). The author notes the term Lesson was used more variously than modern musicology interprets, extending not only to solo (mainly keyboard) music, but also compositions for melodic instruments with basso continuo and even ensembles, as well as instructive exercises and simple compositions for beginners.

Functional role of the cello in Handel's solo cantatas

The article considers the functional role of the cello in the vocal-instrumental musical works of the Baroque period and attempts to shift the problem from the practical-performing background into the field of professional musicological discourse. Two Italian solo cantatas by G. F. Handel were chosen for analysis, in which the composer clearly structured and used instrumental accompaniment according to the stylistic norms of the instrumental and vocal ensemble of the 17th–18th centuries — as a dialogue of two voices accompanied by others. Emphasis is placed on the differences between the basso continuo and obliggato parts, which reveal the main directions of the functional purpose of the instrument and prove the importance of the cello in the ensemble performance of the Baroque period. It is revealed that the problem of manifestation of performing individuality and interpretation of Baroque works in the concert practice of today is the subject of a separate musicological study and requires more detailed research. In this discourse, Baroque musical literature is a vast field for research, rightly playing a dominant role in contemporary performing arts.

Implizite Theorie

The selection and evaluation of historical theoretical sources depend considerably on our interests and expectations. The importance of basso continuo remains underestimated today, while sources which seem to pave the way for chord-inversion, fundamental bass and “modern” harmony systems are often overrepresented. This article attempts to show that many didactic writings from the 16th to the 18th century contain an implicit theory, which can be highly useful today for practical exercises as well as for analysis. This implicit theory is built upon general concepts orientated towards the surface of composition and not towards hidden structural strata. The metaphor of a musical surface as contrasting to depth and height is derived from Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy and used as a global interpretation of the history of music theories. “Musical surface” here designates the intervallic design of multi-part structures, above all the design of the outer voices, demonstrated prototypically by examples from Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. The art of designing the musical surface serves as the main criterion of a composer’s craftsmanship in numerous treatises. The “theory” documented in these treatises has to be reconstructed today, as it is often not entirely verbalized. The most common didactic tool in these implicit theories is the exemplum. The practical use of exempla helps to transform an implicit into an explicit theory and as a result might also help to reconstruct historic teaching methods. This is exemplified by the discussion of passages from treatises by Christopher Simpson (A Compendium of Practical Musick, 1667) and Giovanni Paisiello (Regole per bene accompagnare il partimento, 1782). This practically oriented approach makes today’s didactics of historical musical styles similar to experimental archeology.

Innovations of Presentation in Antonio Vivaldi’s Concertos and Their Impact on the Development of the Orchestra

Transformation of the presentation in Vivaldi’s instrumental concertos is considered in this paper. It is noted that the Corellian model of the concerto (concerto grosso, changeable number of movements, variety of tempos, thematic unity of tutti and solo episodes, trio-sonata-like instrumentation of the concertino) becomes the basis for Vivaldi’s modifications. His model is based on a solo concerto prevalation, a fast — slow — fast three-movements structure, ritornello musical form in the outer movements and the motivic mosaic of the first tutti. The significance of these transformations gives grounds to define them as a paradigmatic shift in the evolution of the genre. It is emphasized that these changes would be impossible without reviewing of the presentation in the orchestra. Innovations concern the ways of highlighting a soloist, the use of inexact (background-ornamental) doubling, activation of the internal orchestral soloists (especially in concertos for a wind instrument), increasing the significance of alternations, intensification of timbral, register, textural, dynamic, and thematic contrasts, changes in the orchestra’s composition (the double bass), and expansion of a palette of soloing instruments. It is pointed out that all these modifications had a strong impact on the development of the orchestra. First, the rise of wind instruments and reinforcement of expression in their parts resulted in the diversification of the orchestral sound: probably, we would not have heard the Mannheim Orchestra without Vivaldi’s concertos. Secondly, the dominance of the homophonic texture formed a proper basis for internal orchestral soloing and increased the relevance of a particular timbre color. Third, the standardization of a four-parts string section formed the basis for further changes of the orchestra. Fourth, the use of such orchestral techniques as the pedal (the future substitute for the basso continuo in the orchestra of Viennese classics), background-ornamental doublings, unison texture, etc. reflected in ways of musical material presentation in all orchestral genres. Everything convinces that the interdependence between the evolution of the instrumental concerto and the transformations of the orchestra is evident and strong.

Performance Composition of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Motets: Hypotheses and Discussions

Relevance and scientific novelty of the selected topic of the research. The issues of the performance of J. S. Bach's motets has not been considered in Ukrainian musicology before, and in creative practice it has been decided unequivocally: choirs sang motets a cappella. However, in the world practice of motets today there are three variants of performance: in addition to singing unaccompanied, motets are performed with basso continuo (organ), as well as with basso continuo accompanied by instruments that duplicate choral parts (colla parte). The revision of performance approaches in world concert practice took place in parallel and, apparently, due to scientific achievements in the history of music, source studies and related fields. Cognitive was the discussion of the performance of Bach's motets, which for a long time (since 1904) unfolded in the Germanspeaking musicological environment. A thorough analysis of the historical context, the text of the motets, the connection with the performing practice, and on the other hand — the limited opportunity to get acquainted with German-language materials determine the relevance of this article, which systematizes the arguments and counterarguments of this controversy.
 The aim of the article is to consider the arguments of German scientists (Konrad Ameln, Klaus Hofmann, Alfred Heuss and others) on the tradition of performances of motets by J. S. Bach, to draw the attention of the performing and scientific community to the possibility of the existence of different versions of the performing composition in these works; emphasize the need for a performing search in the field of baroque music, in particular, in those aspects, which in the classicalromantic tradition are considered unambiguously fixed in the musical text.
 The following methods were used in the study: historical (analysed the dynamics of changes in the performing tradition of Bach's motets), the method of generalization (based on the study of musicological literature generalized arguments in favour of three types of performing motets).
 Main results and conclusions. Based on the analysis of information from German-language musicological research, it is stated that in the time of Bach there were three types of performance for his motets: 1) a cappella, 2) with basso continuo, 3) with basso continuo and instruments colla parte. Arguments for each type are systematized depending on whether they come from the study of historical context (external) or based on the study of the original musical text of motets (internal). It is noted that the plurality of variants of the performance composition allowed in today's practice should be realized by the conductor, who should not unconditionally accept the performance version proposed in the motets edition as the only correct one. The choice of performance is made by the conductor depending on the specifics of the performance situation.

Previously Unknown Sources for Johann Philipp Kirnberger’s Flute Sonatas Found in the Former Rzewuski Music Collection from Podhorce (Pidhirtsi)

The music-related sources kept at Tarnów Municipal Library (Department of Early Prints and Nineteenth-Century Books) include manuscripts (PL-TAb 44, PL-TAb 45) which once belonged to the music collection of Wacław Rzewuski’s court ensemble in Podhorce (Pidhirtsi in Ukrainian). These manuscripts contain anonymously entered sonatas for flute and basso continuo, one of which has been recognised as the Sonata in E flat minor by Johann Philipp Kirnberger, previously only known from a Berlin copy. On the basis of comparative analysis with other extant sources, the Sonata in F sharp major found in the same manuscripts can also be attributed to Kirnberger.

Mutual Influence of The Orchestra and Concerto Principle in The 16th – First Half of The 17th Centuries

The interaction between the evolution of the orchestra and the concerto at the end of the late 16th — first half of the 17th centuries has been considered. Three levels of interaction are revealed. The first one is the basso continuo. There is little attention paid to the importance of this technique for the formation of the orchestra: the impact on the formation of instrumentalists’ collectives through the appearance of a homophonic way of presentation; combining different forces of sound of instruments; strengthening the bass line as a solid foundation for the entire vertical structure. The second level is the concerto principle. It is emphasized that during the 16th century the concerto meant ―ensemble‖ of any configuration. The strengthening of the instrumental component in the works of M. Uccellini, I. Baccusi, A. and J. Gabrieli, A. Banchieri had an impact on the transformation of the concerto principle. Initially, the principle appeared through the opposition of pitches and density of texture, eventually extends to the comparison of instrumental, mixed vocal-instrumental and vocal groups, thus stimulating contrast in the middle of an instrumental groups such as ensemble and orchestra. The third level of the interaction is embodied in the genre of madrigal (C. Monteverdi). It seems that the release of instruments, the diversification of their functions, the rejection of the permanent exact duplications and the increased role of the timbre obviously require an instrumental body as a stable structure for the implementation of all above mentioned. The development of musical instruments, the diversification of their functions, the use of sinfonia and ritornellos in the choral composition became a driven force for the modification of the concerto principle resulted in the intensification of the competitive origin in the orchestra with each decade. All the above encourages to revise the depth of interaction between the orchestra and concerto. The orchestra as an organized and multi-instrumental collective, designed to exhibit music beyond the church or theatrical genres, becomes the institutional basis for the embodiment of the concerto principle in a particular genre of the instrumental concerto.

The originality of neoclassic principles reflection in the Sonata for two pianos by Paul Hindemith

Background. The neoclassicism of the first decades of the 20th century turned to be a kind of opposition to atonalism, which captured many radical composers. The supposed “bilingualism” of neoclassicism opened wide perspectives for individual concepts realization, broadening the boundaries of new knowledge of the Baroque and early classicism. Instrumental sonata, including the Sonata for Two Pianos naturally entered the neoclassical trend mainstream in a number of others, non-symphonic classical and romantic genres, compensating for the rejection of effective dramaturgy by enhancing the contrast between the cycle’s parts, thus tending to Baroque cyclic compositions. For Paul Hindemith, whose name is always associated with this art movement, “communication” with musical past was not an instant hobby but something that determined the focus of his creative thought. Objectives. The article’s purpose is to reveal the peculiarity of neoclassic principles embodiment in the Sonata for Two Pianos by P. Hindemith, to consider its composition, semantic and structural units. Methods. The study’s methodology is based on historicism principle, which involves the study of artistic phenomena being connected with the established musical art experience, and a comprehensive approach that allows involving of different methods of music analysis. Results. Sonata for Two Pianos (1942) consists of five movements; each one has its name. P. Hindemith’s individual approach to the sonata genre is usually evaluated in terms of the artist’s refusal of traditional composition, changes in sonata form, which often includes dramatic function changing. This is due to the desire to make equal all the forms involved in the cycle, in particular the most important polyphonic ones. The movements’ names “The Bells”, “Allegro”, “Canon”, “Recitative”, “Fugue” reveal the suite’s features. “The Bells” opening the cycle show a wide range of musical associations: from French harpsichordists gravitating to sound expression to representatives of different national cultures of the 20th century. The textured thematic drawing of the part reveals another modus of play with tradition expressing itself in improvisational principle domination and Baroque fantasy revival. The Old English verse text preceding “Recitative” reminds of 16–17th century program compositions and shows connection with opera art. “Recitative” combines concise musical phrases typical for Baroque culture vocal genres and typical rhythm formulas that embody the freedom of language intonation and bring in improvisation and allusion on basso continuo. The reference to Baroque era polyphony is evidenced by “Canon” and “Fugue”. In the “Canon”, polyphonic interaction is reached by two piano parties and not by individual voices of the four-voice ensemble texture. The slow tempo Lento, the static movement of musical thought, where “step” pulsation is felt in 4/8 metrics, unusual for classic and romantic culture, the predominance of quiet sound implies tragic pathetic element in “Recitative”. These two parts, “Canon” and “Recitative”, constitute a complementary semantic pair as play modes of tragic imagery embodiment through Baroque era high style, its objective and subjective beginnings. Actually, sonata genre is represented only by the second part “Allegro” with its fast tempo, clarity of form, volitional character of the main theme, scherzo grace of the subsidiary theme, large coda. The composer maintains contrast method choosing his complex of expressive means for each exposition sections. The Sonata is finished by a grand three-theme fugue with metro-rhythmic design associated with the corresponding polyphonic music structures, and more, the initial fifth step corresponds to J. S. Bach’s “Fugue Art”. The first theme’s imperative character establishes the dramatic imagery as fundamental in Sonata’s artistic concept. Its intonational content is characterized by fourth and fifth interval structures, some of them are creating the frame of the whole cycle. The second theme is more melodic and contrasting. The bass register of the third theme in rhythmic augmentation, the wave-like pattern of its melodic line covering the range of the diminished octave, is perceived as embodying of the modern thinking tension, the “echo” of Baroque era aesthetic ideas. The artistic idea of the Sonata for Two Pianos by P. Hindemith is built on drama concentration, overcoming suite separation of the parts and reflecting the full life realities and the inviolability of Universe laws. Conclusions. Sonata for Two Pianos by P. Hindemith returns to its origins thanks to the 20th century artists’ interest to the Baroque culture, demonstrating irregular genre boundaries and the ability to maintain high polyphony means, unregulated cycle and synthesis of several compositional principles within one work. The neoclassical principles did not deprive the Sonata of being presented in that time’s social and spiritual events, and allowed it to generalize modern world conflicts with the help of established semantic and compositional units. Thus, P. Hindemith’s Sonata for Two Pianos preserves its own approach to musical experience and possibilities of ensemble technique distinguished in almost full absence of performing competition idea, dialogism in its traditional reflection while retaining the parties’ equality.

Paulus beispiels-weise: Selbstdarstellung und autobiographisches Schreiben im Ersten Korintherbrief

Paulus beispiels-weise: Selbstdarstellung und autobiographisches Schreiben im Ersten Korintherbrief

Bassoon in the 16–17 centuries: the issues of the bassoon practice development

Bassoon in the 16–17 centuries: the issues of the bassoon practice development

«Ансамбль солистов» в фактуре клавирного текста И.С. Баха

The musical text of any of Johann Sebastian Bach’s works for clavier contains numerous artistic signs, semantic fi gures and expressive elements. Some of them bear within themselves signifi cations of diverse nuances of meaning and feelings through recreation of the scenes of music-making. Upon the defi nition of the semantic equivalent they align themselves into concrete plotline situations. The intonational formulas, the vertical and horizontal structures-dialogues, the acoustic images of musical instruments (including the human voice) imprinted in the musical texts of a composition — all of these semantic “characters” and “protagonists” designed to express the spirit of time, omnipresent, old and eternally new. The acoustic images in the structure of the musical texts may be extremely different: in the guises of duos, trios, baroque models with the participation of solo, basso continuo and tutti parts in their various alternations and combinations. The musical materials of suites and partitas are used in the article to trace the intertextual migration of typifi ed models of “migrating” images with the unfolding of the plotlines of “music within music.” Typifi ed dialogic structures are disclosed in the texture of the musical composition, and upon deciphering they become conducive towards a competent expressive articulation.

Music Received

Music Received Compiled by Kathleen A. Abromeit INTRODUCTION This column presents a comprehensive list of new music publications that have been sent recently by publishers and distributors for possible review in Notes. Self-published music is listed when a source of acquisition is provided. The primary aim of this column is to provide brief listings of a broad range of new editions of music, thereby assisting in selection and ordering for libraries or personal collections. After the listing is prepared, the publications are sent selectively to Matthew Ertz, the "Music Reviews" column editor. Many thanks to Jake Balmuth and Julia Harbutt for their assistance with this column. ORGANIZATION AND SCOPE NOTES Scholarly & Historical Editions: Primarily volumes of collected editions and monumental series. Extensive critical apparatus is generally assumed and therefore not noted in the entries. Facsimile Editions: Limited to publications presenting a reproduction of an item that emphasizes its nature as a primary source rather than its simple intellectual content. Orchestral Music: Works for full and chamber orchestra, and chamber groups of more than nine players. Full scores of concertos are included, but reductions for solo instrument(s) with keyboard are listed in the appropriate chamber music category. Band Music: Brass and wind ensemble music intended for more than one player to a part, and wind chamber groups of more than nine players. Choral Music: Includes all types of nondramatic choral works, in full scores or vocal scores. Dramatic Music: Operas, musicals, and ballets, in full or vocal scores. Chamber Music with Strings; Chamber Music without Strings: Duets through nonets other than one instrument with keyboard. "Strings" includes harp and guitar, but excludes keyboard instruments. String Instrument with Keyboard; Woodwind Instrument with Keyboard; Brass Instrument with Keyboard: Includes reductions for one solo instrument with keyboard (including organ). Music for more than one instrument with keyboard is listed as Chamber Music. Music for solo instrument with basso continuo is listed here, however, since the bass part is often presented as optional or for a choice of instruments. Solos for Bowed or Plucked Strings, Unaccompanied; Solos for Wind Instruments, Unaccompanied: Music for single solo instrument. Studies are included here unless they are technical exercises, orchestral studies, or methods. Music for Organ: Solo organ music, duets, arrangements, and reductions. Music for Piano or Harpsichord: For any keyboard instrument other than organ. Includes solo music and like-instrument ensembles such as 4-hand piano and 2-piano duets, keyboard reductions of piano concertos, and larger keyboard ensembles. Music for Percussion: Includes percussion solos (with or without keyboard accompaniment) and ensembles. Chamber music with other instruments is listed in the appropriate category above. Music for Voice: Music for one or more solo voices (one singer per part) with any accompaniment, including chamber ensemble. Opera excerpts, such as collections of arias, are included, but complete opera vocal scores are listed under Dramatic [End Page 167] Music. Other works for solo voices with chorus are listed under Choral Music. Methods and Studies: Includes method books, technical exercises, and orchestral studies; studies that might be used in performance are listed above as solo music. Music for Children: Materials designed for study and performance by children of preschool or elementary school age. Miscellaneous: For music that defies inclusion in the categories above. CITATION STYLE Citations include publishers' numbers or plate numbers, ISBN, and ISMN, where available. In order to keep the citations brief, description of introductory notes, critical reports, etc., is not included unless the material is considered unusual for the type of publication, or an indication of languages is warranted. Abbreviations for publishers are listed at the end of the column with complete imprints, U.S. distributors, and Web sites. Some well-known collected works series titles are abbreviated according to usage in works lists of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed. Most other abbreviations follow The Chicago Manual of Style and the Notes Style Sheet. ORCHESTRAL MUSIC Beethoven, Ludwig van. Symphonie Nr. 9 d-moll, Opus 125. Edited by Beate Angelika Kraus. Breitkopf, 2020. PB 14619. ISMN 9790004214947. vi p.; Score, 247 p. $114. Callahan, Charles. A Christmas Prelude: For Flute (Solo Violin) and String Orchestra or Quintet. MorningStar, 2020. MSM-25...

Music-Making Women-Aristocrats

Abstract The present article reflects on the shortage of studies concerning music-composing women in the 18th-century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and focuses on one unique figure among those female musicians – Maria Antonia Walpurgis, an aristocrat of Polish descent, who demonstrated versatile talents. Thoroughly educated in her childhood, she was a poet, composer, singer, and director of her own stage works. This paper discusses the aristocratic artist’s most important experiences and achievements in the field of music, as well as analysing her earliest surviving work, the cycle of 6 Arias for Soprano, Strings and Basso Continuo (1747), which Walpurgis may well have performed herself. The arias have been preserved in a manuscript kept at the Sächsische Landesbibliothek in Dresden, shelf mark Mus.3119-F-11. My analysis assesses their style and aesthetic.

Cadence formulas in instrumental music of the Renaissance and early Baroque in the context of that time’s theory of music and composition practice

Cadence (ending) formulas are one of the most intriguing phenomena in music. They occur in works of all historical periods and styles and they have a variety of forms: from melodic and harmonic turns to rhythmic or even dynamic ones. However, this issue is important not only from the perspective of theory of music or composition technique but also performance practice as the way how a singer or instrument player understands the functioning of separate elements of a piece will impinge on the sound shape of the work presented to the public. Reading the extramusical message hidden in the structure of a piece should be regarded particularly significant for the interpretation of pieces written in times when adding precise performance guidelines in the score was not practiced. In case of compositions written in the 16th and the first half of the 17th centuries, the way how ending formulas functioned was a result of the specificity of that time’s modal system and the principles of polyphonic composition, in which the role of melodic (horizontal) thinking prevailed over the harmonic (vertical) one. The issue of cadences gains special importance while analysing instrumental works in which the absence of verbal text hinders the division of the piece into segments. It only becomes possible thanks to analysing the structure of the piece, including the allocation of modal ending formulas in separate voices of the composition. Howsoever the topic of cadences in music of the 16th and 17th centuries has been discussed many times in the literature on the subject, it has had no satisfactory presentation related to that time’s instrumental repertoire. The present article is an attempt to elaborate on the deliberations on the topic of modal cadence formulas in instrumental works from the 16th and the first half of the 17th centuries. Its first part has an introductory character and it touches on the notion of cadence in modern theoretical-musical and encyclopaedic texts compared to composition theory and practice in the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. The second part of the article is an analysis of selected instrumental works from the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th centuries meant for different types of line-ups – the four-voice canzona by Florentio Maschera, canzona by Girolamo Frescobaldi for solo instrument with basso continuo and one of the ricercati by Giovanni Bassano meant for solo melodic instrument without accompaniment.

Performance topics in harpsichord music in the second half of the 18th century – Part 1

The present article is connected in terms of its topic with the text entitled Harpsichord or piano? Different concepts in the 18th century keyboard music published by the author in “Notes Muzyczny” no. 1 (9) 2018, and it is the continuation of the discussion on the capacities and ways of performance of music from the Classical period, which is now understood as piano music, on the harpsichord. Subsequent parts will touch on peculiar performance topics connected with the role of the harpsichord in that period: the understanding and rendering of the dynamics, the performance of arpeggios, and the ornamentation. The starting point of the author’s deliberations is the textbook by Daniel Gottlob Türk entitled Klavierschule oder Anweisung zum Klavierspielen für Lehrer und Lernende mit kritischen Anmerkungen. (Leipzig, Halle 1789) and textbooks by other theoreticians of that period (J. J. Quantz, C. Ph. E. Bach), as well as modern publications (F. Neumann, C. Brown, S. Rampe, J. Trinkewitz). The possibility of the rendering of the dynamics understood as the capacity to influence the strength of single sounds is not the necessary condition for performing keyboard compositions from the second half of the 18th century. Neither is it the feature placing keyboard instruments in any particular hierarchy of values. In the 18th century sources it is hard to find any opinions stating that harpsichords were perceived as worse than other keyboard instruments due to the impossibility of shaping the dynamics of individual sounds. The most significant remarks referring to the performance are the topics connected with expression. The dynamics is not the only mean thanks to which a performance becomes expressive. It is possible to play in an expressive way on the harpsichord, yet it is achieved thanks to articulatory measures, agogic nuances, the right way of hitting keys and the proper selection of texture while playing basso continuo.