it was much better than what is commonly supposed (Mersenne 1957,

555–556; Altenburg 1974, 122).

In a chamber orchestra, timpanists exercised some influence over the
phrasing of Baroque music. The fermata gave musicians the freedom to
determine the length of the note, and when placed over a rest or bar line,
the musician controlled the amount of silence that fit the musical line. The
luftpause, which separated musical phrases, gave the musician the oppor-
tunity to determine the amount of tone taken out of the earlier note. Also,
musicians were able to determine how much silence to place between un-
marked phrases. Composers occasionally used ligatures over groups of
notes to slur them. Finally, Donington noted that musicians exercised some
discretion in prolonging or shortening notes for expression (Donington
1974, 407–409). Thus, musicians had some latitude in phrasing a musical
line. For timpanists, phrasing included muffling a note and playing a roll
or possibly schlagmanieren (ornamental cadences) under a fermata.
Ligatures, ties, or slurs occur with increasing frequency in the Ba-
roque. Used in 1597, slurs defined which note falling within the slur was
given a longer or shorter value (Donington 1974, 595–597). The slur was
used to tie notes, show extreme legato, to place notes in a phrase, and, in
conjunction with dots and dashes, to show how notes should be bowed.
Slurs could be used to indicate tonguing on wind instruments and note
groupings on keyboard instruments. Thus, slurs were used to shape note
values, to indicate legato, and to phrase (Donington 1974, 407–408; Butt,
1990, 186–206). For the timpani, slurring was used most often to phrase
notes (as in the B-Minor Mass described above) or to connect notes.
Baroque composers are unlikely to employ crescendos and diminu-
endos; although, as the period progressed, the use of dynamic terracing in-
creased. In the early and middle Baroque, composers did not use crescen-
dos and decrescendos. Instead, they used them to alternate between loud
(forte) and soft ( piano) passages (Quantz 1966, 133). Composers gave mu-
sicians the latitude of playing either loud or soft, and C. P. E. Bach notes
that musical context determines what dynamic to play (C. P. E. Bach 1949,
162–164). The choice was structured by the passage, other markings, and
the presence or absence of a choir. In measure 25 of the Gloria of the B-
Minor Mass, Bach scores the orchestra and chorus very lightly and it is ap-
parent that he intended a quieter section. In measure 29, the full choir and
orchestra enter and Bach most likely intended the music to be played at a
louder dynamic level, for example, forte. This movement alternates be-
tween louder and softer dynamic moments based on the entrance of the
choir. Schweitzer believes that Bach should be played with alternating dy-
namics, and musicians should avoid the terracing that occurs ever more
frequently after the beginning of the eighteenth century. That said,
Schweitzer argues that a rising line might justify a slight crescendo; how-
ever, a descending line would never justify a decrescendo (Schweitzer 1966,
II: 376, 380). Writing in 1762, C. P. E. Bach says that discordant notes
should be played more loudly than concordant notes because discordant
notes arouse human feeling while concordant notes quiet it. He adds that

Interpretation of Baroque Music 73