concluding cadences should be played loud (C. P. E. Bach 1949, 163).

For
example, in the Gloria from the B-Minor Mass, the last two measures may
be played significantly louder than the preceding measures.
It is clear that composers began to use dynamic markings in the early
eighteenth century. Given the emotional nature of Baroque music, it is rea-
sonable to consider the conditions under which crescendos and decrescen-
dos could be employed. Karl Hochreither in his Performance Practice of the
Instrumental-Vocal Works of Johann Sebastian Bach argues that it was not
unusual for musicians to swell and ebb to effectively play a part (Hoch-
reither, 2002, 136), and Donington suggests that terracing dynamics should
follow the rise and fall of musical tension. Since pitch and emotion often
rise and fall together, it makes sense to terrace dynamics based upon the
rise and descent of the musical line (Donington 1974, 416, 420, 422). This
is particularly important in the later Baroque when dynamic shading
became more common. While crescendo ( ) and decrescendo
( ) markings were used in the early eighteenth century, fp and pf
also made their appearance. Donington believes that composers gave mu-
sicians the latitude in determining how to play these markings. The mark-
ing fp might suggest either a decrescendo from forte to piano or a forte
subito piano. The pf might suggest a crescendo from piano to forte or a
sudden forte (Donington 1974, 418). Frederick Neumann advises Bach in-
strumentalists to be aware of markings such as piu p (a decrescendo). Dy-
namic markings made over several measures (for example, piano in one
measure and forte in the next) might suggest a crescendo, and piano,
piano, and pianissimo over three measures could indicate a decrescendo
(Neumann 1993, 169–170). According to Winton Dean, in his classic study
of Handel’s Dramatic Oratorios and Masques, dynamic shading was accom-
plished by using f - p - pp to indicate a decrescendo and p-Ωf- f to indicate a
crescendo (Dean 1959, 118). In sum, the latter Baroque was a period of re-
markable creativity—composers exploring new ways to effectively com-
municate the passion and drama of their music to the musician and, ulti-
mately, to the listener. Regarding dynamic markings, timpanists should be
attentive to changing scoring and performance practices.
Articulation markings became increasingly important in the Ba-
roque. As far back as the ancient Greeks, composers distinguished longer
from shorter notes (West 1992, chap. 5). And this was certainly the case in
the Baroque. As described above, the ligature or slur was used to group
notes, indicate legato, phrase musical lines, and determine the value of
notes. Regarding staccato markings, the Baroque composers used a verti-
cal dash or a wedge (pointing up or down) to indicate staccato notes. By
the end of the Baroque period, the dot indicated a lighter or less abrupt
staccato. While musicians were expected to know how and when to artic-
ulate in the absence of staccato or legato markings, the evolution of musi-
cal markings gave composers greater control over the score and the per-
formance. The dot provided composers a new means of expression. The
wedge or vertical line denoted a note that was not only shorter, but also
more heavily stressed. In sum, the dot gave the composer a shorter note,

74 Timpani Tone and the Interpretation of Baroque and Classical Music