The Art of 'Not Leaving the Instrument Empty': Comments on Early Italian Harpsichord

Playing
Author(s): Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini
Source: Early Music, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Jul., 1983), pp. 299-308
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3138017 .
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Luigi
Ferdinando
Tagliavini
Th e art of ' not
leaving
t h e inst rument
emp t y '
Comment s on
early
It alian
h arp sich ord p lay ing
or\
.At
%
A\
/wo
I
Front isp iece
of A. Ant ico, Frot t ole int abulat e da sonare
organo (Rome, 1517)
Early
It alian t ablat ures and scores were
f requent ly
int ended f or
' any
sort of
key board inst rument ' ,
and
comp osers
t ried
alway s
t o of f er
p ieces p lay able
on all
t h e
t y p es
of
key board
t h at were
normally
available.
Th is of t en means t h at t h e writ t en music
sup p resses
t h e f eat ures of
t ech nique,
t ast e and
exp ressive
language, t h ough
It alian
key board
t ablat ure
(f ar
more
t h an German or
Sp anish )
can reveal
int erest ing asp ect s
of
p erf ormance p ract ice.
Organ
music, f or
examp le,
of f ers
h ardly any
evidence
of t h e use made of t h e
p edals
in
It aly
in t h e 16t h and
17t h cent uries. It seems
imp robable
t h at It alian
p edal
t ech nique
ever mat ch ed t h e level of ref ined
virt uosit y
ach ieved nort h of t h e
Alp s by
Arnolt Sch lick in t h e
early
1500s and t h e cent ral and nort h German sch ool
in t h e 17t h and 18t h cent uries; nevert h eless t h e
It alians must h ave made more use of t h e
p edals
t h an
ap p ears
f rom t h e rare inst ances of
obbligat o p edal
in
t h e It alian
organ
lit erat ure
(e.g.
t h e bass not es in t h e
virt uoso sect ions of Annibale Padovano' s t occat as' or
t h e
long p edal p oint s
in t h e f if t h and sixt h t occat as of
Frescobaldi' s second
book).
One cannot ot h erwise
exp lain
t h e considerable
range
of t h e
p edal
boards on
large 16t h -cent ury
It alian
organs (20 key s, F-d wit h out
t h e f irst t wo
sh arp s),
of t en wit h aut onomous
p edal
regist ers
rat h er t h an a
simp le coup ler
t o t h e
manual.2
Furt h ermore t h ere are
virt ually
no indicat ions in t h e
It alian
key board
lit erat ure of t h e use of
st op s sp lit
bet ween bass and
t reble, wh ich , f rom t h e last decades
of t h e 16t h
cent ury ,
f ound f avour wit h
organist s
and
organ builders, and wh ich Cost anzo
Ant egnat i
des-
cribed in 1608 as a resource
f or' making
dialogues' .3
In
cont rast t o t h e Iberian
comp osers, many
of wh ose
works were labelled as
being
f or
' medio
regist ro'
or
' regist ro p art ido' ,
t h e It alians avoided such
desig-
nat ions,
ap p arent ly
so as not t o rest rict t h e music t o a
p art icular t y p e
of
key board
inst rument .
In t h e same
way
t h e writ t en
p age
does not reveal all
EARLY MUSIC JULY 1983 299
t h e t ech nical and
st y list ic
ch aract erist ics of
h arp si-
ch ord
p lay ing.
Th e
exp ert h arp sich ordist
h as t o t urn
t h e inst rument ' s resources t o
good
account
by
skilf ul
art iculat ion
(sp iccat o)
and, as Dirut a
recommends, by
embellish ing
t h e music wit h ' t remoli and
lovely accent i' .4
Above all h e h as t o
comp ensat e
f or t h e
imp ossibilit y
of
making
sounds last : in
discussing
breves and semi-
breves Dirut a observes t h at ' wh en
y ou p lay
such not es
on a
quilled
inst rument more t h an h alf of t h e
h armony
will be
missing' .
So,
according
t o
Frescobaldi,
elegant
art if ices h ave t o be
emp loy ed
in order ' not t o leave t h e
inst rument
emp t y ' .5
Dirut a' s met h od of
remedy ing
t h e
inst rument ' s
def iciency
is t o
' rely
on t h e h and' s
liveliness and
dext erit y ...
[in] st riking
t h e
key many
t imes,
gracef ully ' .
Frescobaldi leaves t h is t o t h e dis-
cret ion of t h e
p lay er;
t h e t h ird
p oint
in h is
f oreword,
wh ich deals wit h t h e
mat t er,
deserves t o be
quot ed
and
brief ly
comment ed on:
Li cominciament i delle t occat e sieno
f at t e adagio,
et
arp eggiando:
e
cosi nelle
ligat ure,
o vero
durezze,
come
anch e nel mezzo del
op era
si bat t eranno
insieme, p er
non lasciar vot o
l' ist roment o,
il
qual
bat t iment o
rip iglierassi
a
benep lacit o
di
ch i suona
Th e
beginnings
of t h e t occat as sh ould be
p lay ed slowly
and
arp eggiat ed.
In
susp ensions
or
[ot h er]
dissonances, as well
as in t h e middle of t h e work,
[t h e not es]
sh ould be st ruck
t oget h er
in order not t o leave t h e inst rument
emp t y ;
and t h is
st riking may
be
rep eat ed
as t h e
p lay er
likes.
Th is t ext , in
my op inion,
h as almost
alway s
been
misunderst ood. Dolmet sch and
Doningt on6 int erp ret
bat t iment o
(' st riking' )
as
meaning ' arp eggiat ed' ; Pidoux,7
on t h e ot h er h and, sees t h e t erms as
op p osit es,
regarding ' arp eggiando'
as
meaning
a successive
execut ion, and ' si bat t eranno insieme' a simult aneous
sounding
of t h e not es of a h armonic
group ing.
In
my
view it is not a case eit h er of
sy nony mous
or
op p osit e
t erms. In t h e writ t en music of t h e
p eriod
dissonant
not es are not
generally rep resent ed
as
being
st ruck
wit h t h e not es of t h e ch ord wit h wh ich
t h ey
clash : one
or t h e ot h er is
usually
h eld-in t h e case of
ligat ure
(' susp ensions' ),
t h e dissonant not e is t ied and
h eld;
and durezze
(' h arsh nesses' ,
in t h is cont ext ' dissonant
p assing not es' )
occur wh ile consonant not es are h eld.
Given t h e
brevit y
of sound of
quilled inst rument s, one
must st rike t h e h eld not es again
in order t o maint ain
t h e ef f ect and f lavour of t h e dissonance. Th is t ech -
nique
sh ould be used not only f or dissonances, but
also elsewh ere in t h e course of a
p iece (' in t h e middle
of t h e
work' ) t o
keep
t h e sound of t h e inst rument alive
and f ull. Frescobaldi' s aim was, as Dirut a
p ut s it , t o
' p roduce
t h e same ef f ect of
h olding
t h e h armony on
t h e
quilled
inst rument as t h e air does in t h e
organ' .
' St riking t oget h er'
need not be const rued
exclusively
as
p rescribing
absolut e
simult aneit y
and t h us does not
necessarily p reclude
t h e
arp eggio. Indeed, in t h e
f oreword t o t h e
Cap ricci (1624),
Frescobaldi advises
t h at ' in some dissonances one sh ould
p ause, arp eg-
giat ing t h em, so t h at t h e
f ollowing p assage
comes out
more
sp irit edly ' .8
Clearly
wh at was
originally
dict at ed
by p ract ical
necessit y
is t ransf ormed
by
t h e art ist int o an element
of t ast e and
st y le.
For lut enist s, t oo, t h e
rep et it ion
of
not es and ch ords so t h at consonance and dissonance
are ' st ruck
t oget h er'
was f ound t o be
indisp ensable;
as
soon as t h e
p ract ice
was
adop t ed
it was f elt t o be
aest h et ically just if iable
and assumed
h igh ly st y lized
f orms. Consider, f or
examp le,
t h e advice
given
in 1623
by
Alessandro Piccinini:
dove la musica e
p iena
di
durezze,
p er
variare riesce molt o buono
suonare alle
volt e,
come
s' usa
a
Nap oli ch e alle durezze ribat t ono
p iut
volt e
quell' ist essa
dissonanza
h or p iano,
&
h or
f ort e,
e
quant o
e
p iut
dissonant e,
t ant o
p it
la ribat t ono.9
wh ere t h e music is f ull of dissonances, it comes out
very
well
f or a
ch ange
t o
p lay
as
t h ey
do in
Nap les, rest riking
t h e
very
same
dissonance,
now sof t , and now
loud, and t h e h arsh er
t h e dissonance t h e more
t h ey rep eat it .
Alt h ough
t h ese
p ract ices
are lef t t o t h e
judgement
and wh im of t h e
p lay er,'
t h ere are cases wh ere t h e
comp oser
t ook t h e t rouble t o not at e t h em, at least in
p art . Part icularly
in t h e
early
17t h
cent ury ,
a
p eriod
of
f erment , research and new
st y list ic ap p roach es,
t h e
balance bet ween wh at was laid down
by
t h e
comp oser
and wh at lef t
op en
t o t h e
imp rovisat ory insp irat ion
of
t h e
p erf ormer
of t en
t ip p ed
t owards a more
p recise
and
exp licit f ixing
of t h e musical t ext . Such cases are
esp ecially
valuable
t oday ,
f or
t h ey p rovide
concret e
evidence of
p ract ices only imp lied
in t h e
majorit y
of
musical t ext s. It is most
int erest ing,
f or
examp le,
t o
f ind t h at a t occat a
by
Frescobaldi in a
manuscrip t
source" cont ains an
exp licit ly
not at ed
rep eat ed
durezza
(' dissonance' )
st ruck
obst inat ely
no f ewer t h an seven
t imes in
succession; t h is,
signif icant ly , ap p ears
t o be
t h e
h arp sich ord equivalent
of t h at manner described
by
Piccinini as dear t o
Neap olit an
lut enist s
(ex. 1).
Ex.l
G. Frescobaldi, Toccat a no.7 in t h e German organ t ablat ure
manuscrip t ,
voLl,
Turin, Bibliot eca Nazionale, Raccolt a R
Giordano,
1,
f f 44-6,
bars 13-15
,-t or r r r r
300 EARLY MUSIC JULY 1983
Th e main
p urp ose
of
st riking
dissonant not es
t oget h er-namely
t o
give
t h e dissonance it s f ull ef f ect
on inst rument s
(lut e
and
h arp sich ord)
wh ose sounds
are of sh ort durat ion-was
very
soon lost
sigh t
of and
t h e
p ract ice
was
adop t ed
t o
h elp exp ress p art icular
af f et t i.
In f act unt ied
susp ensions
and
rep eat ed
dis-
sonances occur even in
p ieces sp ecif ically
f or
organ,
such as t h e t wo
great
t occat as' da sonarsi
all' Elevazione' ,
t h e t h ird and f ourt h in Frescobaldi' s second
book;12
t h e int ense
exp ressiveness
of t h e durezze t h at result
p revent s
our
at t ribut ing
t o
simp le oversigh t
t h e lack of
t ies bet ween t h e
p rep arat ion
of t h e
susp ended
not es
and t h eir cont inuat ion as dissonances.
Th e
quest ion
remains wh et h er
' st riking
t h e
key
many
t imes,
gracef ully ' ,
as Dirut a
p ut s
it , sh ould lead
in cert ain cases t o a
rap id rep et it ion
of one not e,
analogous
t o t h e
early 17t h -cent ury
vocal
t rillo.
I h ave
f ound no
examp le
of such a
p ract ice
f rom t h e f irst h alf
of t h e 17t h
cent ury ,
but t wo sources f rom lat er in t h e
cent ury
seem t o of f er evidence of it : t h e Primi albori
musicali
(1672) by
t h e
Bolognese
Lorenzo Penna
(ment ioned
in
f n.5),
and t h e
Cap ricci
da sonare
cemball
et
organi by
t h e
Neap olit an Gregorio
St rozzi
(1687).13
Th e
t rillo recommended
by Penna14 as
an
ornament
in
basso cont inuo realizat ion combines, at least in it s
not at ed f orm, t h e normal t remolo
(according
t o Dirut a
and
Praet orius, t h e alt ernat ion of t wo
adjacent not es)
wit h t h e
t rillo
(t h e rep et it ion
of t h e same
not e) (ex.2).
In
analogous f igurat ions given by St rozzi, t h e
t rillo
and
t remolo occur
t oget h er' 5
as well as
sep arat ely ,
and are
usually accomp anied by
t h e
indicat ion' t r' (illus.2, ex.3).' 6
Ex.2 L
Penna,
Li p rimi
albori
musicali (Bologna,
rev.
2/1679),
book 3,
p .152
(a)
t t t t
(b)
lef t h and
t t t [t ]
t h t t
righ t h and
t t t t ]
vt
-r
:.i i-:-ii-i-iii__-:--i:
_ii:---i iii-iiiiiii:: -!:- !i
i?
-7f
Smaw
p ili!! i

i!!i!:i
11:
i0"
1 L:
W PM
..........
"lleii~-i~ i' ~-i Fi~,A~iii;ii~i i~~ji~-i' "i r~i~i
JOEi~i
gomo
2 G. St rozzi, Romanesca con
p art it e, t enork e rit ornelli, f rom I
cap ricci
da
sonare
cembali
et
organi (Nap les, 1687), p .75
Ex.3
(a)
G.
St rozzi,
Toccat a
p rima p er cembali et
organi
con
p edarole
e
senza, f rom
I
cap ricci
da sonare
cembali
et
organi (Nap les, 1687),
bar
100; (b)
Romanesca con
p art it e, t enori
e rit ornelli, f rom I
cap ricci
da
sonare, bars 1-2
(a)
(bJ
EARLY MUSIC JULY 1983 301
Ornament s writ t en out in ext enso in It alian 16t h - and
17t h -cent ury
music sh ould be
regarded
as
ap p rox-
imat ions;
t h ey
f orce int o a st if f and
p recise rh y t h mic
sch eme wh at t h e
p lay er
was meant t o execut e wit h
f reedom and
imaginat ion, guarding
well
against
' measuring
out not e
by
not e' as Frescobaldi advises.
One
may
t h eref ore ask h ow much t h e not at ion of
Penna and St rozzi t ells us about
p ract ical
execut ion. It
is Bart on Hudson' s
op inion
t h at t h e
rap id rep et it ion
of
a
single
not e in St rozzi' s music is
simp ly
a not at ional
convent ion, and t h at ' several
rep eat ed
not es seem
invariably
t o
require
t h e insert ion of t h e
up p er
diat onic
t one af t er
each ' .17
I do not sh are t h is view, as I cannot
f ind
any convincing exp lanat ion
f or St rozzi' s use of
t wo dif f erent not at ional f orms
(alt ernat ion
of
adjacent
not es and
rep et it ion
of one
not e)
ot h er t h an t h at
t h ey
indicat e t wo dif f erent manners of execut ion. I am
t h eref ore inclined t o believe t h at t h e vocal t rillo did
indeed h ave a
p arallel
in
h arp sich ord
and
organ
p erf ormance p ract ice,s8
and t h at t h e sources of t h is
ref ined
usage
sh ould be looked f or in a
p eriod
well
bef ore t h e f irst known writ t en
ap p earances.
One
sh ould bear in mind, t oo, t h at in
1687,
in t h e dedicat ion
of
t h e
Cap ricci
da sonare
cembali,
et
organi,
St rozzi said
t h at h e was ' in old
age' .
Anot h er means of
lending
ch arm t o
h arp sich ord
p lay ing
and of
p rolonging
t h e
sounds,
as it were, is t h e
arp eggio.
' Take care t o
arp eggiat e' ,
Lorenzo Penna
advises t h e
accomp anist ,
' in order not t o leave t h e
inst rument
emp t y .' 19
Th e f irst
exp licit
ref erence t o
t h is
p ract ice
in t h e f ield of
key board
inst rument s is,
as f ar
as I am aware, in t h e f oreword t o Frescobaldi' s f irst
book of t occat as, wh ich I h ave
already
cit ed. Th e f irst
edit ion
(1615)
reads: ' Th e
beginnings
of t h e t occat as
sh ould be slow, t h e
long
ch ords
(bot t e f erme) arp eg-
giat ed' ;
in t h e def init ive version of t h is
p assage,
wh ich
ap p eared
in t h e revised and
enlarged
edit ion of t h e
collect ion
(1616),
t h e
wording
is
sligh t ly
modif ied
(' Th e beginnings
of t h e t occat as sh ould be
p lay ed
slowly
and
arp eggiat ed' ), p erh ap s
f or t h e
simp le
reason
t h at almost all of t h e t occat as
op en
wit h
long
ch ords so
t h at t o
single
t h em out was
sup erf luous.
A f urt h er
ref erence t o t h e
arp eggio,
also ment ioned above,
is
f ound in Frescobaldi' s f oreword t o t h e
Cap ricci,
in
wh ich h e recommends t h at ' in some dissonances one
sh ould p ause, arp eggiat ing
t h em' . Last ly ,
inst ruct ions
t o
arp eggiat e ap p ear
over rep eat ed
lef t -h and ch ords
lacking
3rds in h is
Cap riccio
sop ra
La
bat t aglia (illus.3),
a
p iece
added t o t h e f irst book of t occat as in t h e
Aggiunt a
TA 11
-
---
.. ..
.
-e K LA
13
t t ~
v7-
::4
= IA
:_;::::_t .21,& A- A A::
3 G. Frescobaldi, Cap riccio sop ra
La
bat t aglia,
f rom Toccat e
d' int avolat ura
di cimbalo et
organo,
p art it e
di diverse arie. e corrent i.
..
libro
p rimo (Rome,
1637), p .89
of 1637.
Many quest ions
can be
p osed
about h ow Frescobaldi
and h is
cont emp oraries
underst ood
' arp eggio' .
Did t h e
t erm mean t h en wh at it does
t oday ?
W as t h e
arp eggio
p lay ed up wards
or downwards or
successively
in each
direct ion? W as it
' simp le' , consist ing only
of
h armony
not es, or could it also be
' f igure' (t o
use t h e t erm lat er
ap p lied by
Saint Lambert t o t h e
t y p e
in wh ich ' one
loans ot h er not es t o t h ose of t h e
h armony
t o make it
more
p leasing' )?20
It
seems
legit imat e
t o ask such
quest ions, esp ecially
since t h e art of
arp eggiat ing
well
ap p arent ly required
a
great
deal of t ast e and ex-
p erience-t o quot e
Saint Lambert
again, ' y ou
cannot
learn it f rom a book,
y ou
must see it done
by
someone' .21
Some clarif icat ion of
arp eggiat ion
is of f ered in t h e
f oreword t o Giovanni
Scip ione' s
Int avolat ura di cembalo
302 EARLY MUSIC JULY 1983
et
organo (1650),
wh ich f ollows Frescobaldi wit h a
f idelit y bordering
on
p lagiarism:
Gl' incominciament i delle t occat e si
f aranno adagio arp eggiando
con
ordine,
senza
conf usione,
bat t endo le
p art i sep arat e
luna
dall' alt rca
ma in modo d unit a armonia
p er
non levare la
vagh ezza
al p asso,
avert endo ancora di non lasciar mai linst roment o vot o.
Th e
beginning
of t h e t occat as sh all be slow,
arp eggiat ed
in
an
orderly way ,
wit h out conf usion, t h e voices
being
st ruck
sep arat ely
f rom one anot h er, but in a
way
t h at f uses t h e
h armony
and does not rob t h e
p assage
of it s ch arm, care
being
t aken at t h e same t ime never t o leave t h e inst rument
emp t y .
But well bef ore
Scip ione,
and even
Frescobaldi,
t ext s
accomp any ing
lut e and ch it arrone
p ublicat ions
discussed t h e
arp eggio
and
gave
inst ruct ions f or
execut ing
it . Th e earliest occurrence of t h e word
' arp eggiare'
known t o me is in an inst ruct ion
by
Giovanni Girolamo
K ap sberger
in h is Libro
p rimo
d' int avolat ura di ch it arrone of 1604.22 Th e
sign -/.
marks
t h e ch ords t o be
arp eggiat ed,
and
K ap sberger
st at es
t h at t h is involves
t occando le corde di
quel colp o sep arat e,
con sonar l' ult ima corda
p rima
& il rest o secondo
quest o esemp io
... reit erando il
colp o
quant o
durera
il
t emp o sop rascrit t oli
avert endo
p ero
ch e
malagevol-
ment e si
h arp eggia
in meno di
quat t ro
corde.
t ouch ing
t h e
st rings
of t h at st roke
sep arat ely , p lay ing
t h e
last
st ring
f irst and t h e rest
according
t o t h is
examp le [t h ree
examp les f ollow],23 rep eat ing
as
necessary
t o f ill t h e
given
t ime,
not ing, h owever, t h at it is h ard t o
arp eggiat e
wit h f ewer
t h an f our
st rings.
Two decades lat er Alessandro Piccinini of f ered
similar inst ruct ions f or
' p izzicat e'
on t h e ch it arrone:
Dunque
dovendo suonare una Pizzicat a nel Ch it arrone di t re
corde,
si debbano suonare in t re
colp t
uno
dop p o I' alt ro, e se sara
Pizzicat a di
quat t ro
corde, in
quat t ro
colp i
e cosi successiv-
ament e...
E quest e
si
ch iamano
Pizzicat e
arp eggiat e p erch e
sono
simili al t occar
dell' Arp a
24
Play
a
p izzicat a
of t h ree
st rings
on t h e ch it arrone in t h ree
st rokes, one af t er t h e ot h er; and if t h ere be a
p izzicat a
of f our
st rings, [p lay it ]
in f our st rokes, and so on25... Th ese are
called ' p izzicat e arp eggiat e'
because
t h ey
are similar t o
h arp
p lay ing.26
Even
p izzicat e of
very sh ort durat ion sh ould, in cert ain
cases, be
arp eggiat ed
in ' f our st rokes' or, according t o
t h e so-called new
st y le, in ' t wo
st rokes' ."27
Like t h e
arp eggios sh own in
K ap sberger' s examp les, Piccinini' s
begin
in t h e bass.
It is most
int erest ing t o consider t h e
very
f ew
p ieces
exp licit ly int ended f or t h e
h arp .
In t h e
y ear
in wh ich
Frescobaldi' s f irst book of t occat as
ap p eared (1615),
t h e
Neap olit an
Giovanni Maria Trabaci
p ublish ed
h is
Secondo libro di
ricercat e,
& alt ri
varij cap ricci,
wh ich
includes a t occat a f or
h arp -Toccat a seconda,
&
ligat ure
p er l' arp a;28 a st riking
f eat ure of t h is
p iece
is t h e
amp le
descending arp eggio, sweep ing
across t h e wh ole
range
of t h e inst rument f rom
h igh
t o low, wit h wh ich t h e
op ening p assage
ends
(ex.4).
A similar
arp eggio,
assigned
t o t h e double
h arp ,
occurs in t h e t h ird ref rain
of
Orf eo' s
aria ' Possent e
sp irt o'
in Mont everdi' s
Orf eo
(1607).
Ex.4 G. M.
Trabaci
Toccat a seconda &
ligat ure p er I' arp a,
f rom Il
secondo libro de ricercat e. & alt ri
varij cap ricci (Nap les, 1615),
bars 4-5
i.
bas[sa]
Ex.5
Trabaci,
Toccat a seconda ot t avo t ono, f rom Ricercat e. canzone
f ranzese, cap ricci... libro
p rimo
(Nap les, 1603), bars 1-2
Ex.6 G. Picch i, Toccat a, Fit zwilliam
Virginal Book, no.95, bars 1-2
K .
7
(
-
a
Ex.7
Frescobaldi,
Toccat a
no.8
in t h e German
organ
t ablat ure
manuscrip t vol 1, Turin,
Bibliot eca Nazionale, Raccolt a R Giordano,
1, f .46, bars 1-2
IiL
j. 1i
f NNW
Th e same
t y p e
of
descending arp eggio
is f ound in
earlier
h arp sich ord
music of t h e
Neap olit an
sch ool: at
t h e
beginning
of t h e Toccat a a modo de' t rombet t i and in
t h e t h ird and
p enult imat e
bars of t h e
Cap riccio
re
f a
mi
sol29
by
Giovanni de
Macque,
in t h e
ant ep enult imat e
bar of t h e 18t h variat ion f rom Part it e
sop ra Rogiere by
EARLY MUSIC JULY 1983 303
Ascanio
May one,30
and at t h e
beginning
of t h e second
t occat a in Trabaci' s Libro
p rimo (1603) (ex.5).3
Nor was
t h e device rest rict ed t o t h e
Neap olit an
sch ool: t h e
op ening
bars of t wo t occat as, one
by
Giovanni Picch i
(ex.6)
and t h e ot h er
by
Frescobaldi
(ex.7),32
are
among
many examp les
of it s use
by comp osers
out side
Nap les.
An
analogous examp le
f rom
among
t h e works
of Frescobaldi' s f ollowers occurs at t h e
beginning
of
t h e f irst t occat a
(at t ribut ed
t o Giovanni Bat t ist a
Ferrini)
in a
manuscrip t
t o be f ound in t h e Vat ican
Library
(Mus.569).33
It
ap p ears
f rom t h ese
examp les
t h at
early
It alian
h arp ist s
and
h arp sich ordist s,
unlike ch it arrone
p lay ers,
p ref erred
t h e
descending arp eggio.
Th is seems t o be
conf irmed
by
t h e
f requent
occurrence in It alian
collect ions of dances f or
key board34 of accomp an-
iment
f igures
based on broken ch ords, wh ich are
closely
relat ed t o t h e
arp eggio,
even
t h ough t h ey
are
arranged
in a
p recise rh y t h mic
sch eme. Such ch ords
are almost
invariably
broken f rom
t op
t o bot t om. Th e
f irst
examp le
of t h is
t y p e
known t o me occurs at t h e
end of t h e mot et 0 st ella maris in t h e Recerch ari mot et t i
canzoni
(1523) by
Marco Ant onio Cavazzoni da
Bologna,
one of t h e
very
earliest It alian t ablat ures.
Descending
arp eggio f igures
occur even in Claudio
Merulo' s t wo
books of Toccat e
d' int avolat ura dorgano (1598
and
1604);35
t o be sure,
t h ere are also, less
f requent ly ,
examp les
of
ascending arp eggios.36
Th e most
surp rising
is t h e one at t h e end of Toccat a no.9 in t h e second
book; h ere t h e
p recise
not at ion of t h e not e-values
of f ers an
eloquent examp le
of
Scip ione' s
' voices
being
st ruck
sep arat ely
f rom one anot h er, but in a
way
t h at
f uses t h e
h armony ' (ex.8).
Ex.8 C. Merulo, f inal bars of Toccat a no.9, f rom Toccat e d' int avolat ura
d' organo..
. libro secondo
(Rome, 1604)
Ly
1W
Frit z Morel uses t h e last
examp le
t o demonst rat e t h e
p ossibilit y
of
arp eggiat ing
ch ords on t h e organ as well
as t h e h arp sich ord-t h e
t wo books of t occat as by
Merulo are, af t er all, ent it led ' d' int avolat ura
d' organo' .37
In t h is connect ion, h owever, one sh ould remember
Dirut a' s recommendat ion at t h e end of ' How t o p lay
musically on
quilled inst rument s' , p ublish ed in II
Transilvano (see f n.4):
Et
in somma ch i vuol sonarlo con
p olit ezza
e
leggiadria
st udia
l' Op era
del
Signor Claudio,
ch e in
quelle
t rovera
quel
ch e in cio
f a
bisogno.
In sh ort , wh oever want s t o
p lay [quilled inst rument s]
wit h
p olish
and ch arm sh ould
st udy
t h e works of
Signor Claudio,
f or t h ere h e will f ind wh at is needed f or t h is.
Now at t h e t ime t h e f irst edit ion of II Transilvano
ap p eared-
1593-t h ree collect ions of
key board
works
by
Merulo h ad been
p ublish ed:
t h e f irst book of
ricercares
(1567),
t h e masses
(1568)
and t h e f irst book
of canzoni
(1592),
all
designat ed
as ' d' int avolat ura
d' organo' (as
were t h e books of canzoni of 1606 and
1611
and t h e t wo books of
t occat as),
wit h no ment ion of
t h e
h arp sich ord
or
any
ot h er
key board
inst rument . But
it is clear t h at ,
excep t
f or t h e
comp osit ions exp licit ly
f or
lit urgical
use-t h e masses-t h is
designat ion
sh ould not be t aken
lit erally
and does not at all
p reclude p erf ormance
on
quilled
inst rument s
(if
it did
Dirut a' s sent ence would be
inexp licable).
On t h e
cont rary ,
it seems t o me t h at Merulo creat ed some of
h is
p ieces
more f or t h e t ech nical and sonorous
resources of t h e
h arp sich ord
t h an f or t h ose of t h e
organ.
Frescobaldi' s f irst book of
t occat as, on t h e ot h er
h and, was
p resent ed
t o t h e
p ublic, by
one wh o bore t h e
t it le
' Organist
of St Pet er' s, Rome' , as ' d' int avolat ura di
cimbalo' ; not unt il t h e f ourt h and f if t h edit ions
(1628,
1637)
was t h e
wording
alt ered t o ' d' int avolat ura di
cimbalo et
organo' .
Here t oo a rest rict ive
meaning
sh ould not
necessarily
be
imp ut ed
t o t h e t it le of t h e
f irst t h ree
edit ions, even
t h ough
most of t h e
p ieces
are
idiomat ically
writ t en f or
h arp sich ord,
and some of t h e
p ref at ory
remarks are
sp ecif ically
direct ed at
h arp -
sich ordist s-
cert ainly
t h ose on ' not
leaving
t h e in-
st rument
emp t y '
and, in
my op inion,
t h ose
concerning
t h e
arp eggio.
Many writ ers, Lorenzo Penna f or
examp le,
con-
sidered t h e
arp eggio p art icularly
suit ed t o t h e
h arp -
sich ord: Saint
Lambert , wh o recommended it t o
h arp -
sich ordist s,
ef f ect ively
denied it t o
organist s, claiming
t h at
' One
does not rest rike ch ords on t h e
organ,
and
one
h ardly
ever uses t h e
arp eggio' .38
An
imp ort ant
manuscrip t
of t h e Toccat a in A
by
Alessandro Scarlat t i
p rovides very int erest ing evidence t h at t h e
arp eggio
was
regarded as exclusive t o t h e
h arp sich ord and t h at
t h e same work would be dif f erent ly t reat ed
dep ending
on wh et h er it were
p lay ed on
h arp sich ord or
organ;
t h e
t it le and
ap p ended inst ruct ions are as f ollows:
Toccat a p er Organo, e p er Cembalo, dov' e arp eggio su
l' Organo
e
t enut a e
dov'
t enut a su
l' Organo,
su
il
Cembalo
s' arp eggia.39
304 EARLY MUSIC JULY 1983
Toccat a f or
organ
and
h arp sich ord,
wh ere t h ere is an
arp eggio
t h e
organ
h olds, and wh ere t h e
organ
h olds, on t h e
h arp sich ord
one
arp eggiat es.
Th ere are, h owever, a f ew
examp les,
isolat ed but
signif icant ,
of
arp eggios
in works
unquest ionably
f or
t h e
organ."
One of t h e earliest occurrences of t h e
word in
any key board
music is t o be f ound in Adriano
Banch ieri' s
Organo suonarino
(3/1622);
in t h e
organ
cont inuo
p art
of t h e mot et Duo ubera f or t enor or
sop rano
t h e indicat ion
' Arp eggiat o' ap p ears
over t h e
set t ing
of t h e word
' vulnerast i' , wh ich occurs t wice.41
St rozzi made considerable use of t h e
arp eggio
in t h e
f our t occat as in t h e
Cap ricci
of 1687: wh ole sect ions
not at ed in
long
not es are t o be embellish ed wit h
arp eggios,
even in t h e Toccat a
quart a p er l' Elevat ione,
wh ich is
clearly
int ended f or
organ.
Th e
op enings
of
Frescobaldi' s Toccat a avant i la Messa della Madonna and
t h e Toccat a avant i il
ricercar
con
Iobbligo
di cant are la
quint a p art e
senza t occarla f rom
Fiori
mrnusicali
(1635)
are
eloquent examp les
of
organist ic st y lizat ions
of t h e
arp eggio f igurat o (ex.9).
Ex.9
Frescobaldi, op ening
bars of
(a)
Toccat a avant i la Messa della
Madonna and
(b)
Toccat a avant i il
ricercar (con obligo.
.
.),
f rom Fiori
musicali
(Venice, 1635)
(a)
(b)
A
p ract ice
relat ed t o
arp eggiat ion
is t h e
breaking up
of t h e
h armony
int o a succession of not es
p lay ed
in
varied order
according
t o a
p recise p lan,
wit h much
use of
comp lement ary
and
sy ncop at ed rh y t h ms;
t h e
t erm used f or t h is device
is' sp ezzare' ,
' t o
sp lit ' .
It h ad a
p arallel
in t h e
p ract ice
of t h e
lut enist s, wh ich was
t aken over
by
t h e French
h arp sich ord sch ool and is
usually called
' st y le
bris6'
or
' lut h ' .42 Yet bef ore t h e
great f lowering of t h e art in France, wh ich st art ed wit h
Ch amp ion
de Ch ambonnieres, t h e
t ech nique of
' sp lit -
t ing' h armony was well est ablish ed.
Alt h ough
t h is
f orm of embellish ment was
originally imp rovised at
t h e
p lay er' s discret ion, elegant examp les writ t en int o
t h e music are not rare. Credit goes t o W illi
Ap el43 f or
h aving
drawn at t ent ion t o t h e Secondo libro delle corrent i
alla f rancese by Mart ino Pesent i (1630), wh ere t h is t y p e
of writ ing is not only used sy st emat ically in f ully
develop ed
f orm but is
sp ecif ically
called
' sp ezzat o' . In
t h e last f ive corrent i
(in
t h ree voices, wh ereas t h e
p receding
19
p ieces
h ave been in
t wo)
t h e
comp oser
p rop oses
t h at t h e
rep eat s
of t h e t wo sect ions be
p lay ed
wit h
sp ezzat o variat ion,
h eading
t h e unembellish ed
version ' Prima
[Seconda] p art e semp lice'
and t h e
alt ernat ive version ' Prima
[Seconda] p art e sp ezzat a se
p iace' (ex.10).
Th e ' alla f rancese' in t h e t it le of t h e
collect ion
may
ref er as much t o t h e f orm and
st y le of
t h e
comp osit ions
as t o t h e
brise writ ing,
since
among
all t h e
p ieces
in Pesent i' s t wo books of Corrent i alla
f rancese44 only
t h e f ive ment ioned h ave
sp ezzat o
rep eat s.
Ex.10 Mart ino Pesent i Corrent e det t a La Priula, f rom Ii secondo libro
delle corrent i alla f rancese (Venice, 1630): (a) Prima p art e semp lice; (b)
Prima p art e sp ezzat a se p iace
(a)
(b)
Th e Pesent i
examp les
are not t h e
only
ones: a
signif icant p recedent
is
f ound, t h ree
y ears earlier,
in
Frescobaldi' s second book of t occat as. Th e Corrent e
seconda alio modo is conceived as a t rue ' double' of t h e
Corrent e seconda: t h e
sp lint ering
of
h armony
in t h e
sp ezzat o
version is
managed
wit h admirable
elegance
(ex.11). Agazzari
is
p robably alluding
t o a similar
p ract ice wh en, in
discussing
t h e art of
accomp any ing
a
f ew voices, h e uses t h e word
' romp ere' ,
' t o
break' ; h e
advises t h e inst rument alist t o
p lay
t h e work' as
p urely
and
just ly
as
p ossible,
not
[int roducing] p assage-work
or
breaking
much ' .45
It is
signif icant
t h at h e links t h e
diminut ion of melodic lines
(by means of
p assage-
work) wit h t h e diminut ion of h armonic t ext ure
(by
' breaking' ). Clear evidence of t h e use of
sp ezzat o can,
in f act , be discerned even earlier. Broken-ch ord
f igur-
at ions in
16t h -cent ury It alian dances f or
key board
h ave
already been ment ioned. And t h e works of
Merulo also
p rovide int erest ing examp les of t h is
EARLY MUSIC JULY 1983 305
Ex.I11 Frescobaldi, Corrent e seconda, f rom II secondo libro di t occat e (Rome, 1627, 2/1637), bars 8-13: (a) simp le version; (b) sp ezzat o version
A
--
.,,
;;Z~lrGod
I e u
Ph .L' ~ i. i
op
asp ect
of
h arp sich ord t ech nique;
besides t h e
arp eggios
already cit ed,
p at t erns
based on broken h armonies
may
be f ound in t h e t h ird t occat a of book
1 (bar 30)
and
t h e t h ird and nint h t occat as of book 2
(bars
43 and
51-2
resp ect ively ) (ex.12).
Ex.12 Merulo, Toccat a no.9, f rom Toccat e
d' int avolat ura d' organo...
libro secondo
(Rome, 1604),
bars 51-2
S
d
I
In conclusion I sh ould
emp h asize
t h at t h ere
h as
alway s
been a
discrep ancy
bet ween writ t en music and
act ual sound. Th e
imp rovisat ory
and f ancif ul
st y le
of
t h e It alian t occat a, wh ich , like t h e
equally
f ree French
p relude
non mesure,
' must not be
subject
t o t h e
beat ' ,46
can be
rep resent ed
in not at ion no more t h an
ap p rox-
imat ely .
In
writ ing
such
p reludes
t h e French abandoned
t h e indicat ion of not e-values
alt oget h er, p resent ing
t h e
p lay er merely
wit h an out line. Th e
ap p arent ly
p recise
not at ion of t h e It alian t occat a is
decep t ive,
f or
it , t oo,
is
really only ap p roximat e.47
Th e role of t h e
p lay er
in t h is music is never, t h eref ore,
simp ly
t o
' rep roduce'
it ; h e h as t o summon
up
h is
cap rice,
t ech nical
virt uosit y
and invent iveness t o
give
def init e
f orm t o t h e sket ch of f ered
by
t h e t ext . Th is
is
esp ecially
t h e case wit h music writ t en f or
' any
sort of
inst rument ' or ' suit able f or
singing
or
p lay ing' .
Yet at
t imes t h e
comp oser
h imself assumed t h e role of
int erp ret er, f ixing
h is
t h ough t
in
writ ing
wit h
great er
p recision
and
t h ereby reducing
t h e
p lay er' s margin
of
f reedom. In t h ese inst ances
asp ect s
of
t ech nique
and
p erf ormance p ract ice, normally only imp lied,
are
revealed, and a close examinat ion of such t ext s can
h elp
t h e musician of
t oday
t o
recap t ure
t h e aut h ent ic
sound of musical works of t h e
p ast .
Translat ion
by
Barbara
Sach s
Th is art icle is a revised t ranslat ion
of ' Lart e
di "non lasciar
vuot o
lo
st rument o' : ap p unt i sulla p rassi cembalist ica
it aliana nel Cinque-
e
Seicent o'
wh ich
ap p eared
in ' Rivist a
it aliana
di
musicologia,
10
(1975), p p .360-78.
' A. Padovano, Toccat e et
ricercari dorgani (Venice, 1604);
ed. F.
Benet t i, A. Padovano,
Comp osizioni p er organo (Padua, 1962). Only
t h e
f irst t occat a h as a
p art exp licit ly
f or
p edals
and it is in
alp h abet
not at ion
(t h e only
such case in It alian
organ lit erat ure); h owever,
similar use of t h e
p edals
is
p robably
assumed in t h e ot h er t occat as;
see
I. Fuser, Classici it aliani
dell' organo (Padua, 2/1971), p .
14.
2See, among ot h ers, K .
Jep p esen,
Die it alienisch e Orgelmusih
am
Anf ang
des
Cinquecent o (Cop enh agen, 2/1960), 1, p p .28f f ,
and 0.
Misch iat i, Lorgano
della
ch iesa
di S Marco a Milano
(Milan, 1975),
p p .6f f .
In
It aly
not
only organs
but also
h arp sich ords
and
sp inet s
were
very
of t en f urnish ed wit h
p edal key boards;
see J. D.
Sh ort ridge,
' It alian
Harp sich ord-building
in t h e 16t h and 17t h Cent uries' , Unit ed
St at es Nat ional Museum Bullet in, 225
(W ash ingt on, DC, rev.
2/1970),
p p .93-107.
A let t er of 3
May
1503 writ t en f rom Ferrara
by
Isabella
d' Est e t o h er h usband, Francesco
Gonzaga, gives
an
int erest ing
account of virt uoso
p edal- p lay ing
on t h e
h arp sich ord by
t h e f amous
organist
and
h arp sich ordist
Vincenzo da Modena: ' On
Monday my
f at h er . . . wish ed me t o h ear Vincenzo da Modena
p lay
t h e
h arp sich ord-on
t h at
day
h e h ad t o
p lay
f or
(f o
ale
p rove cum)
Ant onio
dall' Organo
di Ferrara. It was
amazing
t o see such
velocit y
on t h e
p edals. In t h is h e h as much
p erf ect ion' . (Mant ua,
Arch ivio di
St at o, Arch ivio
Gonzaga, F.II.6, envelop e 2115; see A. Luzio,
' Isabella d' Est e e i
Borgia' , Arch ivio st orico lombardo, ser.5, 41
(1914),
p .698)
3C.
Ant egnat i, L' art e organica (Brescia, 1608), f f .7v, 9r
4G. Dirut a, ' Modo di sonar musicalment e nell' ist rument o da
p enna' , II Transilvano
dialogo sop ra
il vero modo di sonar
organi
et
inst roment i da
p enna, 1 (Venice, 1593),
f f .5v-6r.
5G. Frescobaldi, Toccat e e
p art it e d' int avolat ura
di cimbalo. . . libro
p rimo (Rome, 1615; rev., enlarged 2/1616).
Th is advice is
rep eat ed
word f or word
by
Giovanni
Scip ione (Int avolat ura
di cembalo, et
organo
(Perugia, 1650))
and Lorenzo Penna
(Li p rimi albori musicali
(Bologna,
1672),
book 3, ch ap .20, no.19);
t h e f ormer is h ere
quot ed
on
p .303.
6A. Dolmet sch , Th e
Int erp ret at ion of
t h e Music
of
t h e XVII and XVIII
Cent uries
(London, 2/1946), p p .260-62; R. Doningt on,
Th e
Int erp ret -
at ion
of Early
Music
(London,
rev.
3/1974), p .278
7P. Pidoux, ' Vorwort ' , G. Frescobaldi, Orgel-
und
K lavierwerke,
3-4
(K assel, [1950])
8G. Frescobaldi,
II p rimo
libro di
cap ricci f at t i sop ra
diversi
sogget t i
et
arie
in
p art it ura (Rome, 1624).
Frit z Morel
(Girolamo
Frescobaldi
organist a
diSPiet ro di Roma
(W int ert h ur, 1945), p p .38, 55)
claims t h at
it is t h e resolut ion and not t h e dissonance t h at is t o be
arp eggiat ed.
I
f ind t h is
op inion unjust if iable. In my
view Frescobaldi is
ref erring
t o
t h ose dissonant ch ords, wit h
susp ensions,
t h at of t en mark t h e
beginnings
of brief
imp rovisat ory
t ransit ional
ep isodes
bet ween t h e
306 EARLY MUSIC JULY 1983
sect ions of
cap riccios
and canzoni; such dissonances are
generally
f ollowed
by
a f ancif ul
p assage,
wh ich sh ould be
p lay ed ' sp irit oso' .
9A. Piccinini, ' Del suonare
p iano,
e f ort e' , Int avolat ura di
liut o,
et di
ch it arrone libro
p rimo (Bologna, 1623), ch ap .3; ed., wit h f acs., M.
Caf f agni, Ant iquae
musicae it alicae, Monument a bononiensia, 11
(Bologna, 1962-5)
' OAt t h e end of ' Del suonare
p iano,
e f ort e' Piccinini writ es about
st riking
a dissonance several t imes: ' ma verament e
quest o
suonare
riesce
meglio
in f at t i, ch e in
p arole,
e
p art icolarment e
a ch i
gust a
il
suonare af f et t uoso'
(' really
t h is
[way of ] p lay ing
comes out bet t er in
p ract ice
t h an in words, p art icularly
wh en one likes
exp ressive
p lay ing' ).
"Toccat a no.7 in t h e German
organ
t ablat ure
manuscrip t ,
vol.
1,
Turin, Bibliot eca Nazionale, Raccolt a R. Giordano, 1, f f .44-6; ed. S.
Dalla Libera, G. Frescobaldi Nove t occat e inedit e, Monument i di
musica it aliana, ser. 1, vol.2
(Brescia, 1962), p . 16, and W . R. Sh indle,
G.
Frescobaldi
K ey board Comp osit ions
Preserved in
Manuscrip t s, Corp us
of
Early K ey board Music, 30
(Dallas, Texas, 1968), 1, no.17
' 2Frescobaldi,
II secondo libro di t occat e
(Rome, 1627); see, in
p art icular,
Toccat a no.3, bars 8, 20, 22, 26, 31, 33, 44, 50, 54, 55, 60,
64, 65, and Toccat a no.4, bars 32, 45
(=
bars
31,
43 in Pidoux'
edit ion).
' 3G. St rozzi, Cap ricci
da sonare cembalL et
organi (Nap les, 1687); ed.
B. Hudson, Corp us
of
Early K ey board Music, 11
(Dallas, Texas,
1967).
' 4Penna, op cit , book 3, p assim;
see also F. T. Arnold, Th e Art
of
Accomp animent f rom
a
Th orough -bass (London, 1931), p p . 138-46, and
E. Harich -Sch neider, Die K unst des
Cembalo-Sp iels (K assel, 3/1970),
p .62.
"5Th e
ornament
beginning
wit h t h e alt ernat ion of t wo not es and
cont inuing
wit h t h e
rep et it ion
of one not e
only
is f ound in vocal
p ract ice
and is
t y p ical
of Mont everdi; see also M. Praet orius,
Sy nt agma musicum, 3
(W olf enbiit t el, 1619), p .237.
' 6In St rozzi' s
t rilli t h e
rep eat ed
not es are somet imes connect ed
by
slurs
(see ex.2, remembering
t h at t h e
original
is in
op en
score and
p rint ed
f rom movable
t y p e
so t h at consecut ive not es of values
smaller t h an a crot ch et are never
beamed).
Th e
ap p earance
of t h e
not at ion recalls t h at of t h e much lat er
Bebung
of t h e German
clavich ordist s; h owever
inap p rop riat e
such an ef f ect
may
seem in
t h is cont ext it cannot be ruled out , f or t h e clavich ord
(manicordo
or
manacordo)
is known t o h ave been used in
It aly
in t h e 16t h and 17t h
cent uries.
' 7' Edit orial Pract ice' , Corp us
of
Early K ey board Music, 11;
see also
B. Hudson, ' Not es on
Gregorio
St rozzi and h is
Cap ricci' ,
JAMS 20
(1967), p p .209-21.
Th e
op p osit e op inion-t h at
St rozzi' s t rilli are t h e
same as t h ose illust rat ed
by
Caccini in Le nuove musich e
(1602)-is
h eld
by
W illi
Ap el (' Die suidit alienisch e
Claviersch ule des 17.
Jah rh undert s' ,
Act a
musicologica,
34
(1962), p p . 128-41, and Gesch ich t e
der
Orgel-
und K laviermusih bis 1700
(K assel, 1967), p .668).
Hudson
also believes
(JAMS, p .215)
t h at t h e measured alt ernat ion of
adjacent
not es t h at occurs in St rozzi' s music
may
be ' an ef f ect ive, if
clumsy ,
device f or
not at ing
a measured
t rill' .
I cannot
agree
wit h
h im: in
my op inion
t h e ' measured' not at ion of t rills, cust omary
in
It aly
in t h e 16t h and 17t h cent uries, is
simp ly
a
grap h ic
f orm. I h ave
st ressed t h at Frescobaldi warns
against ' measuring
out
[t rills]
not e
by not e' ; a similar caut ion seems t o be
imp licit
in t h e indicat ion ' t r'
wh ich St rozzi
caref ully p laces
over most of h is writ t en-out t rills
(see
p art icularly
t h e not at ion of t h e
long t rill
in
quavers,
wh ich
cert ainly
does not
imp ly
a slow measured
p erf ormance,
at t h e
beginning
of
Toccat a
no.3).
' 18Furt h er examp les
of t h is t rill not at ion occur in t wo t occat as
by
Giovanni Salvat ore, anot h er
Neap olit an,
in
Nap les,
Bibliot eca del
Conservat orio, 34.5.28, dat ed 1675; ed. B. Hudson, G. Salvat ore,
Collect ed
K ey board W orks, Corp us
of
Early K ey board Music, 3
(Dallas,
Texas, 1964), p p .76-9.
Th e second of t h ese is an
abridged
variant of
Toccat a no. 1 in Ricercari a
quat t ro
voci canzoni
f rancese. ... libro
p rimo
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29 MOUNT SION
TUNBRIDGE
W ELLS, K ENT,
TN1 1TZ,
ENGLAND
EARLY MUSIC JULY 1983 307
(Nap les, 1641) (comp are Hudson, p p .44-7).
Th e
manuscrip t
version
h as a t rillo
(rep eat ed not e)
at bar 14, t h e
p rint ed
version h as t h e more
usual t remolo
(alt ernat ion)
at bar 13.
19Penna, ' Alcuni avvert iment i da f arsi, & alt ri da
f ugirsi
nel
suonare
l' organo
su la
p art e' , op cit , book 3, ch ap .20,
no. 19.
Desp it e
t h e
ch ap t er t it le, t h e
p assage
cit ed
clearly
ref ers t o execut ion on t h e
h arp sich ord;
' ist rument o' , in f act , generally
meant a
quilled
in-
st rument
(see
M. Praet orius, Sy nt agma musicum, 2
(W olf enbf it t el,
2/1619), p p .62f ).
20M. de Saint Lambert , ' De
l' h arp eg' ,
Les
p rincip es du clavecin
(Paris, 1702), ch ap .26, p p .54-6
21M. de Saint Lambert , Nouveau t rait e de
l' accomp agnement du
clavecin de
lorgue
et des aut res inst rument s
(Paris, 1707), p .62
22See t h e ' Avvert iment i' and t h e
[Toccat a]
Seconda
arp eggiat a.
23Using
a
t uning
in A, K ap sberger' s examp les
would be realized as
f ollows:
Ex.13
IF
- -
---,
Th e
unisong
in t h e f irst and t h ird
examp les
are
p lay ed
on t h e
op en
f ourt h
st ring
and t h e second
st ring
at t h e t h ird f ret .
(It
sh ould be
remembered t h at t h e f irst t wo
st rings
of t h e ch it arrone are an oct ave
lower t h an t h ose of t h e
lut e.)
24Piccinini, ' Come si debbano f are le
p izzicat e
nel ch it arrone' , op
cit , ch ap .29
25Several examp les
f ollow:
(1)
in t h ree st rokes; (2)
in f our st rokes;
(3)
in f ive st rokes; (4)
in six st rokes. (Th is t ranscrip t ion
is based on a
t uning
in
A.)
Ex.14
(1) (2)
(3) (4)
_
26Unlike t h e
arp eggio
on t h e ch it arrone, t h e lut e
arp eggio
recommended
by
Piccinini is not wh at is
usually
meant
by
t h e t erm.
It is a
p art icular
mode of execut ion
closely
bound
up
wit h t h e
t ech nical resources of t h e inst rument :
' Arp eggiare
nel Liut o,
s' int ende
quando
si f anno t irat e,
6
p assaggi
con
l' indice,
e det o di
mezo, e col
p olice
si va t occando alt ra
p art e
il
qual
suonare rende
grandissima commodit a,
& ancor
vagh ezza
al' orecch ia.'
(' To arp eg-
giat e
on t h e lut e means t o execut e runs or
p assages
wit h t h e index
and middle
f ingers,
wh ile t h e t h umb
p lay s
anot h er
p art ,
wh ich
brings great
ease and
y et beaut y
t o t h e
ears.' ),
' Dell'
arp eggiare
nel
liut o, ch e cosa s' int ende' , op cit , ch ap .11;
see also ' Come si deve
arp eggiare' , ch ap .12.
Th anks are due t o Dr Mirko
Caf f agni
f or h is
suggest ions
and clarif icat ions
concerning
lut e and ch it arrone
p ract ice.
27Piccinini, ' Segni
de i
luogh i st raordinarij
dove conviene
arp eg-
giare' , op cit , ch ap .30.
Th ese
rap id p izzicat e carry
a 4 or a 2 over t h e
value
sign (crot ch et ), indicat ing
wh et h er
t h ey
are t o be execut ed in
f our or t wo st rokes. Even ' p izzicat e of t h ree st rings' can be execut ed
in f our st rokes:
Ex.15
or in t wo, by p lay ing t wo not es (usually t h e h igh est and t h e lowest )
t oget h er and t h en t h e ot h er:
Ex.16
' E
quest a
maniera
d' arp eggiare
e
nova, e
f a
bonissimo ef f et t o, e
massimament e suonando con misura
alquant o
st ret t a.'
(' Th is way
of
arp eggiat ing
is new and makes a
very good ef f ect , esp ecially
in a
quick t emp o.' )
28Th is book cont ains ot h er
comp osit ions ' p rop ort ioned
f or t h e
h arp '
but
p lay able
also on t h e
h arp sich ord:
Part it e
sop ra Zef iro, nos.2,
8, 9, 1
I1,
and t h e
madrigal
wit h diminut ions Ancidet emi
p ur.
But none
of t h ese includes
t y p ical arp eggio f igurat ions.
29Ed. J. W at elet ,
C. Guillet ,
G. (de) Macque C. Luy t onr W erken voororgel
of
voor vier
sp eelt uigen,
Monument a musica
belgicae,
4
(Ant werp ,
1938), p p .33-6,
67
30A.
May one, Primo libro di diversi
cap ricci p ersonare (Nap les, 1603);
ed. C.
St embridge (Padua, 1981), p .54
31G. M. Trabaci, Ricercat e,
canzone
f ranzese, cap ricci
... libro
p rimo
(Nap les, 1603), p .111;
Toccat a no.2
rep r.
in Fuser, op cit , p p .95f
32Toccat a no.8 in Turin, Bibliot eca Nazionale, Raccolt a R. Gior-
dano, 1, f .46; ed. Dalla Libera, op cit , no.8, and Sh indle, op cit , no. 18.
See f n. 11 above.
33Ed. in B. Joh nsson, Roman
K ey board
Music
of
t h e 17t h
Cent ury .
t h e
Manuscrip t Vat Mus.569 f rom
t h e Vat ican
Library (Egt ved, 1981)
34lnt abolat ura nova di varie sort e di balli da sonare
p er arp ich ordi
claviciemball sp inet t i
et manich ordi libro
p rimo (Venice, 1551);
M.
Facoli, Il secondo libro
d' int avolat ura
di balli
d' arp icordo (Venice, 1588);
G. M. Radino, Il
p rimo
libro dint avolat ura di balli
d' arp icordo (Venice,
1592);
G. Picch i, Int avolat ura di balli
d' arp icordo (Venice, 1621)
35Ed.
S. Dalla Libera, C.
Merulo.
Toccat ep erorgano (Milan, 1959),
see
esp .
Toccat a no.3 in t h e second book, bar 43.
36See book 1, Toccat a no.5, bar 29; no.6, bars 42-3, 47; no.9, last
bar.
37Morel, op cit , p .37
38Saint Lambert , Nouveau t rait W de
laccomp agnement ,
p .63
39Toccat a no. 11
I
in A. Scarlat t i, Toccat e
p er cembalo, Yale
Universit y
Library , Higgs Manuscrip t .
In Modena, Bibliot eca Est ense, Camp .
2404, f f .30-36v t h e same t occat a carries a similar inst ruct ion; ed. as
Toccat a no.2 in R. Gerlin, ed., A Scarlat t i Primo e secondo libro di
t occat e, I classici musicali it aliani, ser. Bravi, 13
(Milan, 1943).
40As in t h e cases of durezze st ruck
t oget h er
in
organ
music and
inst rument al
st y lizat ion
of t h e vocal t rillo, we are h ere
dealing
wit h
t h e t ransf er of an idiomat ic
exp ression
f rom one medium t o anot h er
(f rom h arp
t o lut e and
h arp sich ord,
and t h ence t o
organ).
41Pet er W illiams
gives
one
p ossible
realizat ion of t h is
arp eggio
in
Figured
Bass
Accomp animent (Edinburgh , 1970), 1, p .37.
42See F.
Coup erin,
Lart de t ouch erle clavecin
(Paris, 1717), p p .36,
61;
ed. A. Linde
(Leip zig, 1933), p p .22,
33.
43Ap el,
Gesch ich t e der
Orgel-
und
K laviermusik
bis 1700, p p .474-6
44Th e f irst edit ion of t h e f irst book is lost ; only
t h e second
p rint ing
of 1635 is known.
45A. Agazzari,
Del sonare
sop ra ' 1 basso con t ut t i li st roment i e
dell' uso
loro nel concert o
(Siena, 1607), p .6
46Frescobaldi, f oreword t o Toccat e e
p art it e...
libro
p rimo
47For an
int erest ing comp arison
of t h e t wo
t y p es
of not at ion-
t h at of t h e
p r6lude
non mesure' and t h at of t h e It alian t occat a- see A.
Curt is,
p ref ace,
L
Coup erin, Pieces
de clavecin, Le
p up it re, 18 (Paris,
1970),
and D.
Moroney ,
' Th e
p erf ormance
of unmeasured
h arp -
sich ord p reludes' , Early Music, 4/2 (Ap ril 1976), p p . 143-51.
From 1984
EARLY MUSIC
will
ap p ear
in t h e second mont h of each
quart er,
t h at is in
February , May , August
and November
308 EARLY MUSIC JULY 1983