IRNAMENTATION Ornamentation is the art of adding notes to a musical line to make it more beautiful. Ornamentation can involve the performance of “graces”—the some- what stereotyped decoration of a single note or two—or it can call for the improvisation of “free embellishments’—the spontaneous addition of diminu- tions, cadenzas, and similar flourishes. Although ornamentation has played a role in Western music from the Middle Ages down to the present, it was during the Baroque Period that it became a highly sophisticated and very necessary aspect of performance. This is understandable, since improvisation and surface gesture were basic to Baroque style. After the Baroque Period, ornamentation declined in importance, and by the mid-nineteenth century, it was no longer central to performance and composition. Ornamentation is a highly personal art. Graces were normally indicated, if at all, by, symbols rather than by specific notes, and free embellishment was described in many different ways. These facts suggest that ornamentation calls for interpretative freedom. Thus, the modern player cannot be too dogmatic about ornamentation. Historical evidence serves as a critical guide, but musical judgment and taste play equally essential roles. The best approach to ornamen- tation is to strive to understand past traditions, and then to work within the conventions of those traditions. In this chapter, we present only a brief summary of the most fundamental aspects of Baroque ornamentation. In recent years, ornamentation has become a highly specialized field of investigation, and we urge you, after studying the material here, to consult more encompassing discussions. The most important surveys are David Fuller, “Ornamentation” and related entries in The New Har- vard Dictionary of Music (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1986), and “Beyond Notation: The Performer as Composer” in The Grove-Norton Handbook of Performance Practice (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1989); Robert Donington, The Interpretation of Early Music: New Version (London: Faber and Faber, 1975), Baroque Music: Style and Performance (New York and London: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1982), and “Ornaments” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (London and Washington: Macmillan, 1980); Walter Emery, Bach's Ornaments (London: Novello, 1953); and Frederick Neumann, Ornamenta- tion in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978). Of these, Neumann's volume must be used with caution, since it dwells on exceptional cases to the point of distorting straightforward practices. BAROQUE ORNAMENTATION National Schools ‘As we have seen in Chapter 4, during the Baroque Era, organ building, reper- tory, and registration developed along national lines. It is not surprising to317 discover that ornamentation practices followed a similar course, with each coun- try taking its own approach. The most important national schools can be summa- rized as follows: Italy In Italy, instrumental ornamentation was a “by-product” of vocal embellishment and was closely allied with it throughout the Baroque Era~Me- lodic considerations, as opposed to rhythmic, were first in importance. They determined what types of ornaments were appropriate and how they were to be interpreted. Italian composers approached the notation of ornaments in two almost diametrically opposed ways. Sometimes, they wrote ornamentation directly into the music, in notes of normal size. Although such “written-out” embellishments were notated in strict rhythm, they were to be played very freely, creating the effect of spontaneity (see the examples given later in this chapter). In other instances, Italian composers indicated nothing in the score at all. Instead, they left the embellishment for the player to improvise. Obviously, the Italians were not doctrinaire about ornamentation, and within the country, practices varied greatly from region to region. Although the art of embellishment was oftén discussed in vocal treatises, printed collections of music rarely included ornament tables. France In Francé, keyboard ornamentation evolved to its most sophisti- cated form. During the seventeenth century, a large repertory of graces was developed injlute, viol, harpsichord, and organ playing. By the eighteenth cen- tury, keyboard pieces were commonly dressed in heavy coats of ornamentation (see Couperin’s Récit de Chromhorne, in this chapter), much in the fashion of the fanciful scrollwork on Louis XIV furniture. The ornaments were carefully indi- cated in scores through elaborate systems of symbols The German flutist Johann Joachim Quant nicely described the differ- ence between the French and the Italian approaches to ornamentation: French composers generally write the ornaments directly into the music, and there- fore the performer needs to do little more than play the piece well. In Italian style, no ornamentation at all was given in the past. Rather, everything was left to the discretion of the player.! From the middle Baroque on, French composers normally prefaced their collections of keyboard works with ornament tables (often entitled “Explication des Agréments"), charts showing the principal symbols and their approximate realization. When Bach wished to introduce his eldest son, Wilhelm Freidemann, to the craft of ornamentation, he wrote out a French-type table, borrowing, | perhaps, from one printed in Jean-Henri D’Anglebert's Pidces de Clavecin (1689), which he had copied out by hand some years earlier. Bach seems to have ex- | tracted the most important symbols and incorporated them into the now-famous ornament table that appears in Wilhelm Friedemann’s Clavier-Biichlein of 1720 (see Figs. 1a and 1b). Germany The German approach to ornamentation was eclectic, with ele- ments drawn from the French, Italian, Dutch, and English traditions. German composers did not view this as a shortcoming. On the contrary, they believed that the derivative practice was advantageous, since they could borrow the best from a variety of foreign styles. Itis quite possible that seventeenth-century German organ music was heav- ily ornamented, in the fashion of English and Dutch keyboard works from the cn, inarnoacim Quant, Voth einer Anacinng de Merve zu spielen (Berlin, 1752),318 Margues des Agremenits erleur signification Salm Caine OTHER ASPECTS OF ORGAN PLAYING - Giphiowtion Be oolih mance: is mF pe oom =| = i toot 3 2 eee . Figure 1a Ornament Table from Jean-Henti D'Anglebert, Piéces de Figure Ib_ Ornament Table from J. S. Bach, Clavier-Bilchlein vor Clavecin. ro ‘e Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1720). same period. But German organ music of the High Baroque is fairly conserva- tive—at least, in comparison with French practice —except in pieces specifically written in the French or Italian manner. Hence, for the compositions of Bach and his German contemporaries, the degree and type of ornamentation must be decided on a work-by-work basis, with a sharp eye to stylistic derivation. England In England, too, ornamentation practices were shaped by a vari- ety of traditions, native and foreign. English musicians displayed a good deal of eccentricity, often using unique signs and names for ornaments that in truth were quite conventional elsewhere. The best information on English practices is found in David Wulstan, Tudor Music (London: J. M. Dent, 1985), and in the publications of Donington. The Principal Types of Graces Found in the Organ Music of Bach and His Contemporaries Bach and other Baroque composers occasionally wrote out “graces,” the orna- ments used to decorate a single note or two. More frequently, they used orna- ment symbols, which allowed freedom of interpretation, both in terms of the actual notes used and in terms of the speed at which the notes were played. The realizations given in ornament tables, if played literally, sound stiff and wooden. In reality, a grace was subtly shaped, and thus made musical. Of course, the shaping must not disrupt the metrical flow of the music: An ornament should be free within the larger rhythmic pulse of the passage. In the explanations that follow, we often give two interpretations for an ornament: one based on the strict notation found in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century tables, and one based on the modern crescendo mark note-beam notation (see Ch. 6), which better conveys the type of subtle increase and decrease in motion that often takes place when the embellishments are realized. (With the crescendo mark note- beam notation, it should be remembered that the note beams do not represent absolute values, but only relative speeds.)Ornamentation 319 Trill (French: Cadence, Tremblement, Pincé renversé; German: Triller; tal- ian: Groppo, Trillo; English: Shake, Trill) ‘The will, indicated by av or én, calls for an alternation between the princi- pal note and its upper neighbor. The alternation is usually short, involving a limited number of “shakes.” The trill may be fast or slow, strict or free, depend- ing on musical context: Bach's Possible free D’Anglebert’s Possible free realization: interpretation: realization: interpretation: oS ee Normally, the faster the tempo and the shorter the value of the note on which the till is found, the greater the velocity of the repercussions. Whether the alternation takes place with upper tone or semitone depends on musical context: With ornaments, the auxiliary note or notes should reflect the key of the passage in which the embellishment occurs. (For examples, see under “Mordent” and “Turn.”) ‘A trill can also be much longer, especially when it happens on a note of considerable duration. The extended length is sometimes indicated by the use of more squiggles in the trill sign: ort: But often, only the normal trill sign is given. Here, too, the number and the velocity of shakes depend on context: Bach: Trio Sonata No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 526, movement 1 Possible free interpretation: ‘The trill normally begins on the beat and on the upper note, a tendency verified by ornament tables and treatises of the time. Most frequently, the upper note of the trill forms a strong-beat appoggiatura (see under “Appoggiatura”) with the bass, and the resulting dissonance enhances the harmony. As a conse- quence, the player not only begins the till on the upper note but also—when there is time—often prolongs that initial note slightly, to “draw out” the expres siveness of the dissonance. This was not only described by many theorists but also shown by the longer note value given to the first note of an extended till in many Baroque ornament tables. We indicate the slow start in the preceding examples through the use of a gradual acceleration in the modern crescendo mark note beams. ‘Some situations may warrant beginning the trill on the principal note, such as (1) when the preceding note is tied to the trilled note; (2) when the trill occurs on a weak beat, which an upper-note appoggiatura beginning might unduly strengthen; and (3) when the till is long and sustained, serving as a type of melodic “pedal point.” But even in these instances, a trill beginning on the upper note can be very effective. So a player must experiment and decide. Still, the upper-note beginning seems to have been the norm. Quite often, the trill concludes with a turn to the note under the principal320 OTHER ASPECTS OF ORGAN PLAYING note. This is sometimes suggested by the composer, who writes the turn into the . ‘ passage: ds Jo. or -¢_]4_; or itis indicated by a compound ornament sign (see under “Compound Ornaments”). Many times, however, the turn is simply added by the performer, when appropriate. In most cases, the turn should be organically combined with the trill and made in the same general speed (this is true even when the turn is written out at a speed slower than that at which the trill is taken): Bach: Jesu meine Freude, BWV 1105 Possible free interpretation: When a cadential trill occurs on a dotted note, the dotted effect is com: monly sharpened. That is, the note following the dotted note is often played shorter than its notated value: Couperin: Récit de Chromhorne a Possible free interpretation: In the music of Frescobaldi and other composers following the Italian tradition, written-out trills should not be played in the strict rhythm in which they are notated. Rather, they should be played freely and shaped, in terms of speed, so that they sound musical and spontaneous: Frescobaldi: Toccata VIII (Book I), concluding measure Possible free interpretation: This is also true of the written-out single and double trills commonly found in Buxtehude’s works (and in a number of Bach's early pieces based on Buxte- hude's style, such as the last of the next three examples, which shows a written- out double trill with a concluding turn): Buxtehude: Praeludium in G Major, BuxWV 162, conclusion Possible free interpretation:Ornamentation 321 Buxtehude: Praeludium in G Minor, BuxWV 149, conclusion Possible free interpretation: Bach: Prelude in E Minor, BWV 533/1 Possible free interpretation: In the preceding examples from Frescobaldi, Buxtehude, and Bach, and in vwritterout pill in general, the precise number of repercussions need not match the notated amount. It can be varied, to suit musical taste. Mordent (French: Mordant, Pincé, Pincement, Battement; German: Beisser, Mordant or Mordent; Italian: Mordente) The mordent, indicated by the sign # or f?, calls for a short alternation between the main note and its lower neighbor. The speed of the shake would reflect the tempo of the passage. Whether the lower neighbor is a tone or wemnitone._that is, whether the mordent is diatonic or chromatic—depends on sannvonie context; the lower note should reflect the key of the passage in which the mordent appears: InG minor: wv o In French, mordant means “biting” or “caustic,” and the word pincé—the term commonly used for the mordent during the Baroque—means “pinched.” rieed, the mordent is a kind of musical “pinch,” one that adds “bite” or rhyth- nie arcentuation to a downbeat or an offbeat syncopation. Normally, the mor vent should be performed sharply and quickly (as suggested by the short note value given to the alternation by Bach in his realization). -Ehe mordent usually calls for only one alternation, but it can involve more ‘The French commonly termed the longer mordent a Pincé double—a double Turdent. It is more brilliant in its effect than the simple mordent and is often used on longer notes. The symbol for the double mordent is the same s that eed for the simple mordent. Thus, the player must decide when it is appropri ate to make more than one shake: Gottfried Muffat’s ization (c. 1735): Si SeOTHER ASPECTS OF ORGAN PLAYING Bach: Toccata in D Minor, BWV 565. Possible free interpretation: Turn (French: Double cadence, Double cadence sans tremblement: German: Doppelschlag; Italian: Groppo, Circolo mezzo) The turn, indicated by the symbol «e, calls for an alternation of the main note with its upper and lower neighbor notes. The speed at which it is taken should reflect the tempo of the passage in which it is found. In addition, the turn is sometimes played with a slight deceleration. Normally, the turn begins on the upper note, passes through the principal note to the lower note, and concludes on the principal note: Bach's FW. Marpurg’s Possible free realization: realizations (1756): realization: oS Less commonly, the turn begins on the lower note, passes through the principal note to the upper note, and concludes on the principal note: FW. Marpurg’s realizations (1756): The French occasionally used a five-note turn, realized in D’Anglebert’s ornament table with a deceleration: D’Anglebert’s realization: The foregoing examples show the turn occurring on the beat, in which case it is “accented.” Sometimes, the turn is delayed and placed between beats, in which case it is “unaccented.” Frequently, the unaccented turn is indicated by the placement of the sign, which appears between notes. But often the positioning of the sign is casual, and the player must ascertain, through experimentation, whether the turn is best played on the beat or delayed. The turn is often used in combination with other ornaments (see under “Compound Ornaments”). Appoggiatura (French: Port-de-voix, Appuy, Cheute, Appoggiature; German: Accent, Vorschlag; Italian: Accento, Appoggiatura; Early English: Forefall, Backfall, Half-fall) The appoggiatura is an ornamental, harmonically dissonant note that is resolved to the main note. It is indicated by a small, auxiliary note, 4», or by the symbol ‘f or q- ‘The appoggiatura falls on the beat and increases the harmonic tension of the melody. (If the auxiliary note does not fall on the beat but beforementation 323 it, the ornament is no longer an appoggiatura. It is a prebeat Coulé, which has a different effect and function; see under “Coulé.”) As the great variety of names given to it implies, the appoggiatura was one of the most beloved and widely used of Baroque embellishments. In written-out form, it has continued to play a vital role in music down to the present day. The appoggiatura can approach the principal note from above, in which case it is termed a descending appoggiatura (French: en descendant; German: fallend; Early English: Backfall); or, it can approach the principal note from below, in which case it is termed an ascending appoggiatura (French: en montant; German: steigend; English: Forefall). The appoggiatura can approach the princi- pal note by step (a tone or a semitone, depending on context) or by leap In the seventeenth century, the appoggiatura appears to have been per- formed quickly, taking up less than half of the principal note. This is demon- strated by many of the written-out appoggiaturas in Frescobaldi’s music or in ornament tables of the time: Frescobaldi: Toccata per PElevatione (BVM Mass) Charles Colman's 2) realization (1659): << In the eighteenth century, musicians increasingly cultivated a longer ap- poggiatura, one in which the auxiliary note takes up half or more of the value of the principal note. In music of the late Baroque, the resolution of the appoggia- tura is commonly not rushed. The dissonant note, which produces the “sweet pungency” of the ornament, is often prolonged and drawn out as long as possi- ble, especially in passages with a moderate or slow tempo. In general, the late-Baroque appoggiatura is given half the value of the principal note, as long as the principal note is undotted. If the principal note is dotted, the appoggiatura is often given as much as two-thirds the value of the principal note: Bach's Bach's realization: realization: Bach: Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659 Possible realization: Possible realization: ‘The written value of the auxiliary note may or may not indicate its length as performed, which—once again—is normally half that of the principal note. ButOTHER ASPECTS OF ORGAN PLAYING the duration of the auxiliary may be modified where the musical context de- mands it. In performance, it is common to make a small break before the appoggia- tura—both early and late—to emphasize its strong, downbeat quality. This re- flects the general concern during the Baroque for giving “good” notes a strong rhythmic accent (see the discussion in Ch. 3). On the other hand, the auxiliary note is resolved into the principal note in a smooth, connected fashion—a proce- dure shown in many appoggiatura indications by the presence of a slur: Approximate interpretation: Slide (French: Coulé, Coulade; German: Schliefer; English: Elevation, Dou- ble Backfall) The slide is a type of appoggiatura, beginning a third away from the principal note and resolving to it with a “slide.” Like the appoggiatura, it is usually an accented, on-the-beat ornament, notated either with small notes, Jp, or with the symbol #7 The speed of the slide reflects the tempo of the passage in which it is found. Thus, it may be performed quickly or slowly. But some eight- eenth-century writers describe the slide as an extremely passionate ornament and suggest that it be played in an expressive, “caressed” manner. Thus, even when it is played quickly, it should not be performed in a perfunctory way: Realization given by F. W. Marpurg (1750): Coulé (French: Coulé, Tierce coulée en descendant) In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the term coulé (“slurred”) was used for a variety of ornaments: for a descending appoggiatura, for a slide, and for a type of prebeat grace. It is in this last sense that we use the term coulé here, to signify a prebeat, single-note ornament, normally used to fill in the interval of a descending third (for this reason, the modern harpsichordist and editor Ken- neth Gilbert has called it the coulé de tierce mélodique—the “coulé of the melodic third”). The coulé is usually indicated with a small auxiliary note, in the manner of, an appoggiatura: » Unlike the appoggiatura, however, it takes its value from the note that precedes it rather than the note that follows it. Thus, the coulé functions quite differently from the appoggiatura. It serves as an elegant passing tone rather than a pungent dissonance: Francois Couperin: Récit de Chromhorne a Possible realization: 11 1m 325 The prebeat coulé is normally used at the end of a phrase, or to fill in the interval of a descending third, when the third occurs from a strong beat to a weak beat. Compound Ornaments The trill, mordent, turn, and appoggiatura were often combined in various ways to form compound ornaments. The realizations given by Bach and others indicate the general shape of the compound orna- ments—that is, the way in which they begin and end—but the specific number of shakes in between was normally determined by musical context. The compound ornaments most commonly used in Baroque organ music are shown in the following list. Trill and mordent (French: Tremblement fermé, Tremblement et pincé; Bach: Trillo und mordant): Bach's Possible free realization: interpretation: = & Turn (from below) and trill (French: Cadence, Tremblement coulé en montant; German: Triller von unten; Bach: Doppelt-cadence): Possible free interpretation: eee Turn (from above) and trill (French: Cadence, Tremblement coulé en descen- dant; German: Triller von oben; Bach: Doppelt-cadence): Bach's realization = Turn (from below), trill, and mordent (Bach: Doppelt cadence und mordant): Bach's realization: eee SS Turn (from above), trill, and mordent (Bach: Doppelt cadence und mordant): oy Bach’s realization; | Seana eS CmnlyOTHER ASPECTS OF ORGAN PLAYING Appoggiatura and trill (French: Tremblement appuyé, Cadence appuyée; Bach: Accent und trillo): Bach's realization: a oJ Appoggiatura and mordent (French: Port de voix simple; Bach: Accent und mordant): Bach's realization: The Need for Spontaneity and Flexibility When Bach wrote the ornament table into Wilhelm Friedemann’s Clavier-Biich- lein, he took great pains to form the signs carefully (see Fig. 1b). In actual practice, however, his script is much less distinct. Quite often, in the course of writing a piece, he added no more than indistinct squiggles over notes that were to be ornamented. That these squiggles were interpreted in different ways is verified by the fact that various students, copying under Bach's supervision, often marked different types of ornaments over the same note. Moreover, when Bach wrote out a work more than once, he sometimes used different ornaments in each copy. These inconsistencies are not easily communicated in a modern printed edition, in which an editor has to pick one ornament for the final text, even when several types appear in extant manuscripts. Thus, modern editions unavoidably bestow a misleading “definitive” look upon ornaments. Bach and his contemporaries had a flexible, spontaneous approach to the graces. In many instances, what Baroque composers seem to be saying with ornament symbols is, “Embellish here,” leaving the particulars to the performer. Itis helpful to keep this in mind when playing Baroque music. Normally, there is no definitive interpretation to an ornament, even when the symbol in the score is that given by the composer. The final criterion must be musical judgment: The ornamentation should be appropriate to the piece and the passage at hand. To provide practice in playing graces, we present Francois Couperin’s Récit de Chromhorne, a French Classical work that displays many of the ornaments we have discussed. Observe the following: 1. It may be helpful to first play through the piece without realizing the embellishments, to make certain that the overall rhythmic structure is clear. This is especially true of mm. 18-20, in which the rhythms are somewhat complicated. 2. Then, add the graces. Read and follow the suggestions for practicing orna- ments, given in the section Practice and Performance, later in this chapter. 3. Ona separate treble staff, we present sample realizations. These are sug- gestions only, giving the shape of each ornament and the general speed of the auxiliary notes 4, In practicing an ornament, it is often helpful initially to use the minimum number of shakes and to play them in strict rhythm. Then, more repercus- sions can be added gradually, and more rhythmic freedom can be intro- duced.Ornamentation 327 5. After you have mastered the ornaments as presented, we urge you to experiment with other interpretations. We have realized the ornaments uniformly, for sake of practice. But in performance, it would be more interesting to vary them, playing some faster than others, and some with more repercussions than others. Composer's suggested registration: Grand Orgue: Jeu doux (Bourdon 8, Flute 4’) Positif: Chromhorne (Cromorne 8', with Prestant 4’ and perhaps Bourdon 8! as well) Récit de Chromhorne Frangois Couperin (1668-1733) Trill Possible realization Jeu doux Teil Chromhorne Trill Tail Mordent + Prebeat coulé328 OTHER ASPECTS OF ORGAN PLAYING Trill Appoggiatura Trill: Trill Mordent Slide + Trill + Trill Mordent ao _—_ Prebeat ‘Trill Trill Trill Trill Trill Taill ‘TrillOrnamentation 329 ‘Teill Mordent = Trill Trill i Trill Trill Teill ‘Till Trill + turn Mordent Tail Trill Trill Till Mordent Trill330 OTHER ASPECTS OF ORGAN PLAYING Trl Trill Tum (unaccented) Trill Mordent From Pieces d’orgue consistantes en deux messes (“Organ Warks, Consisting of Two Masses"; 1690) COMMENTARY m.2. In this measure and elsewhere, when tills occur on long dotted notes, the short notes that follow could be rhythmically sharpened 7 m.3. tis quite possible that the pairs of conjunct eighth notes should be performed inégale, that is, unequally, in a lilting manner, with the first note given a slightly longer value than the second: kh 3 ao ‘The foregoing triplet figures represent approximate values only. m. 13 In this measure and those that immediately follow it, one could also perform the trills and ending figurations as continuous, long ornaments: up nbn ‘The precise number of shakes need not be fixed.ion 331 EMBELLISHING BAROQUE SCORES One aspect of instrumental study passed down from the first half of the twenti- eth century is the concept of “faithfulness to the score”—that is, the performer should play precisely what is on the printed page, no more, no less. This ideal was epitomized by the approach of Arturo Toscanini, who strove to interpret the classic masterpieces “objectively,” without Romantic excesses. A major discovery of the early-music movement, which gained momentum after 1950, was that complete fealty to the score does not apply to a great deal of the early repertory. Ivis clear that Baroque composers left much to the discretion of the performer, especially in the realm of ornamentation. Composers commonly assumed that their works would be fleshed out by the player, who would add both graces and free embellishments, according to taste and ability. This was not done in a totally unbridled manner, however. It was normally carried out within the confines of established conventions. The Appropriateness of Ornamentation Ornamentation is as necessary to the Baroque repertory as dynamic markings are to nineteenth-century music. It is the task of the performer to ascertain when, where, and what type of graces and free embellishments would be appro- priate in a particular piece. Several basic factors should be taken into consider- ation. First, itis helpful to appraise the genre of the work at hand. For instance, in a melodic piece with an expressive solo line, embellishment would probably be appropriate. One might add ornamentation, if little is marked in the score. But in a German or an Italian fugue with a dense contrapuntal texture, it would probably be better to let the music speak for itself. One might add a few cadential embellishments, if they are not already indicated, but profuse decoration would disrupt the work’s strong rhythmic drive. These divergent tendencies can be observed in Couperin’s Récit de Chromhorne and Clérambault’s Basse et Dessus de Trompette, in this volume. In the Récit, a slow melodic piece, Couperin calls for a good amount of ornamentation. In the Basse et Dessus, a gigue-derived work in 6/8 meter, Clérambault requests little embellishment. Second, one should consider the national school of composition. If the work is a French Classical piece, then itis likely that most of the ornaments have already been placed in the score by the composer. If the piece is Italian, it may be more prudent to consider filling in lines with graces and free embellishments, especially in slow, expressive pieces. German and English music falls in between these two schools, and works must be evaluated on an individual basis. Third, itis also helpful to consider the habits of the composer in question. Some composers marked their scores more carefully than others. Francois Couperin, for example, developed a very complex system of ornament symbols and used it with great care in his keyboard music. In the Preface to his Troisiéme livre de pieces de clavecin (1722), he insisted that performers follow his directions and not add to what is written or subtract from it. Couperin’s organ works, written at an earlier date, seem to require more “filling out” than the harp: chord compositions of 1722 and later. Still, Couperin’s remark points to his desire that performers stick to the score. Other composers were less dogmatic and encouraged performers to ornament “wherever appropriate.” Bach seems to have either marked or written out the basic ornamentation in many of his works, but it is clear from the manuscripts of his students that additional decora- tion was tolerated, if not encouraged. Ornamentation, then, should be appropriate to a work's style, national school, and composer. As is true of organ registration, the best way to acquire aOTHER ASPECTS OF ORGAN PLAYING “feel” for ornamentation is to become familiar with a broad range of Baroque music, through studying scores (especially original scores, now commonly avail- able in facsimile), attending concerts, and listening to recordings. And as with registration, experience and experimentation play critical roles. Adding Graces When approaching a new work, the performer should take the preceding factors into consideration and then ask: “What will be accomplished by supple- mentary graces?” If additional decoration serves principally to exhibit the per- former's digital dexterity, it is probably inappropriate. But if additional graces serve to reinforce and enhance the innate musical characteristics of the piece, they are probably appropriate. For instance, in Baroque music, principal cadences are normally enhanced by some sort of ornamentation. So conventional was this practice that composers commonly did not indicate cadential ornaments but assumed, instead, that the player would fill them in in performance. Trills should nearly always be added to the dotted figures that appear in the upper voice at cadences: Bach circle: Prelude and Fugue in B-flat Major @ ow Mordents, by contrast, are employed for rhythmic accentuation, to sharpen the “attack” of a note. Quite frequently, they are added to offbeat notes, to emphasize syncopations: Bach: “Dorian” Fugue in D Minor, BWV 538/2 wy Ca oe . oy Appoggiaturas can be used with great effect to add harmonic color to downbeats, especially at the resolutions of cadences: Lidon: Sonata de 1° tono a Free Embellishment Of course, ornamentation can go beyond simple graces, to free embellish- ment, Musical lines were often filled in in fast, virtuosic pieces, in which a bravura effect was achieved by the creation of “diminutions” (smaller notes):Ornamentation 333 Bach: Prelude in C Major, BWV 545/1 Early version Late version 0) A But it was also done in slow, expressive, Italianate movements, in the works of composers such as Corelli, Vivaldi, and Handel. In many cases, the simple melodies in these movements would be “naked” without considerable embellish- ment. Bach normally writes such “diminutions” into his scores: Chorale, Wenn wir in héchsten Noten sein, first phrase a Bach: Wenn wir in hochsten Noten sein, BWV 668 (a contrapuntal setting of the chorale) Bach: Wenn wir in héchsten Noten sein, BWV 641 (a melodic setting of the chorale) * », But there are passages in Bach’s music, too, that seem to call for enhance- ment, When a phrase in an Italianate slow movement is repeated note-for-note, for instance, one might go beyond the written text and embellish the melodic line with additional notes: Bach: Toccata in C Major, BWV 564, Adagio Possible interpretation of phrase when it is repeated at m. 20:OTHER ASPECTS OF ORGAN PLAYING Evaluation by Analogy In these cases and others, it is always helpful to look at similar passages in analogous works. Quite often, pieces written in the same style provide ideas for embellishment that may not come instinctively to a modern performer. One should also consider hints by the composer. If ornaments appear in the first few measures of a piece but soon trail off, it usually means that the composer wants ornamentation in the work but felt it was sufficient to provide just a few initial examples. In both modern performances and modern editions, there has been a tendency to “regularize” ornamentation—that is, to take the initial examples provided by the composer and to apply them in the same way throughout the piece. But C.P.E. Bach and others warn against this practice, suggesting that if embellishments are uniform, the listener knows what to expect and soon loses interest. It is usually preferable to vary the ornamentation during the course of a phrase or a piece. This is true even in fugues, where there is frequently a compulsion by modern players to carry the ornamentation of the subject through all entries. The evidence, however, is that even here, the ornamentation was often varied or omitted (when it was inconvenient to play). Practice and Performance When practicing graces and free embellishments, employ the same principles used for learning difficult passages. 1. Play graces very slowly at first, in strict rhythm, until the fingers come under full control. Only then increase the tempo and introduce rhythmic freedom. 2. Often, it is helpful, in learning a particular ornament, to begin by reducing the number of repercussions to a minimum. Gradually add shakes as the ornament is mastered. 3. Consciously relax the hand each time you approach an ornament. 4, Experiment with different fingerings. For instance, most players find it easiest to play a straightforward, right-hand trill by alternating between the strongest fingers, 3 and 2. Others find it easier to use 3 and 1 instead. 5. With free embellishment, try a number of possibilities for filling in a spe- cific passage. It is helpful, at first, to write out the embellishments and practice them in strict rhythm. Work out an appropriate fingering and learn the notes before attempting to introduce rhythmic freedom. In the end, graces and free embellishments should sound fresh, free, and spontaneous. As David Fuller has nicely put it: “The modern player should perform a Baroque work as if he or she were the composer, sitting down and creating the music for the first time.” In this challenging task, ornamentation is a critical tool.