Improvised Embellishments in Mozart's Keyboard Music

Author(s): Robert D. Levin

Source: Early Music , May, 1992, Vol. 20, No. 2, Performing Mozart's Music III (May,
1992), pp. 221-233
Published by: Oxford University Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3127879

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Robert D. Levin

Improvised embellishments in Mozart's

keyboard music
to the disparity between the rapid strides we have wit-
nessed in the mastery of historic instruments versus the
! i

slow progress in reinstating the 18th-century practice of

improvisation. The fact is that all musicians today,
regardless of their preference of instrument (historical
versus 'modern'-the latter word being of course ten-
dentious), are products of a system of conservatory
training that stresses technical security over imagina-
tion, and absolute respect for the sanctity of the printed
text over creativity. The decline in the stringency of
music theory requirements in schools throughout the
world has led to a situation in which performers master
the syllabic surface of the works they play without suf-
ficient knowledge of the language that underpins it. No
wonder, then, that it is still relatively rare to hear a per-
? : : ::!i~ii~i:i!,i:i~iiiii-i; formance of Classical music that goes beyond the
: i~ii i!!ii5iiiiii
printed page; and when it does, the embellishments and
. ....

cadenzas presented are usually the product of careful

preparation rather than risk-laden spontaneity. How
discouraging it is that the lack of freedom in perform-
ances of art music-practised by performers with years
of training-results in far less communicative power
than jazz and popular music, whose equally dazzling vir-
tuosi are often unable to read music but honour their
instincts and always use their language actively. If visits

1 E.
to concerts often seem indistinguishable from attend-
Schu
ance
colour, at church, it is because we have prized heritagec
over
its content.

TheMozart's music adve possessed none of this patina when it

has was written.
wrou His letters reveal a master showman, poised
to delight, astonish, confound and move his audience.
listeners
tempo,
Virtually every listener heard the typical Mozart work in a
1780s Vienna for the first time; there was none of the
inflectio
tion sense of the classic
that subsequently ascribed to his music.
its instruments of execution. It is remarkable that the Nor should we forget that Mozart's virtuosity as a pianist
public has accepted this transformation of a span of rep-was prized above his composing, and his abilities as an
ertory that has already reached well into the Romanticimproviser stood above both of these in the public's
era with far greater enthusiasm than traditionallyesteem. If performers have been slow to realize that true
trained musicians, whose early 2oth-century aestheticrhetorical fluency in Mozart's language cannot be
bias seems to be a more reactionary element than theachieved without mastering its vocabulary and syntax, it
attitude of listeners. is precisely because our current teaching-and the
Perhaps this gap in attitude and acceptance is relatedvalues of a music industry defined by competitions and

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 221

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recordings-stifle risk-taking and invention. Yet we are precondition for the ability to improvise idiomatic
in a better position to define and understand Mozart's embellishments. The more aware one becomes of the
language than his contemporaries, thanks to the inter- idiosyncrasies of each composer, the more vivid one's
vening changes of style and the distance of time. The characterizations and embellishments become. The
existence of cadenzas and embellishments by Mozart melodic elaborations favoured by Mozart in his Salzburg
himself, and of contemporary treatises giving exhaustive years are not always employed in the Vienna works, and
prescriptions for embellishments and cadenzas, give us his overall practice will not necessarily work with equal
all the informationr necessary to master his language.' success in compositions by his contemporaries. Indeed,
Nonetheless, musicologists continue to debate the certain ornaments are peculiar to specific composers
appropriateness of introducing embellishments-pre- and help define their style.
pared or improvised-into modern performances, Embellishment is fundamentally a tactile, physical act
pointing out that reviews in the Classical period often that cannot be mastered by analysis only. Like an
decried the ornamentation wrought by individual per- apprentice jazz musician, the would-be improviser in
formers. Furthermore, some modern scholars, having the Classical style must develop superior reflexes and an
come of age with performances devoid of any embel- appropriate vocabulary of melodic patterns drawn from
lishment, display a musical taste uninfluenced by their the models he or she wishes to emulate. The difference
research. It should be obvious to historian and per- between a performer who prepares embellishments or
former alike that the validity of a practice depends uponcadenzas and one who improvises them is analogous to
the skill with which it is carried out. Ornamentation is the difference between the beginning language student
most effective when it is fully organic to the expressivewho can only replicate sentences taken from a phrase
and dramatic content of the work; it is not an external book, and one who has progressed to the point at which
process carried out upon a piece. A performer with ait is possible to leap into the creative world of defining
thorough understanding of harmonic progression and thoughts within the new language.
voice-leading possesses the prerequisites for the assim- Whether improvised or prepared in advance, embel-
lishments added by the performer are an essential ele-
ilation of Mozart's personal language. This in turn is the

FONDAZIONE GIORGIO CINI ANDREA GABRIELI

Istituto per la Musica
[1533]- 1585
OPERA OMNIA
A_: :? CRITICAL EDITION
4 Volumes of historical and critical introduction
and 18 volumes of works published in vita (1-10)
V?,i and posthumous works (11-18)
POSTHUMOUS WORKS
1 4-

Volume 11 (1597)
Concerti di Andrea, et di Gio. Gabrieli ...
libro primo et secondo
1.0000 Venezia, Angelo Gardano 1587
Edited by David Bryant
1st Book 134665
2nd Book 134666

Already published:
HYSTORICAL AND CRITICAL INTRODUCTION
I. The "years of Gabrieli":biography and chronology
(G. Benzoni, D. Bryant, M. Morell) (134347)
WORKS PUBLISHED IN VITA

woe
8 Lower James Street, Volume 9. Psalmi Davidici (1583)
London W1R 3PL
(tD. Arnold, D. Bryant) (134348)
phone: 01 287 5060
RICO(RDI
222 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992

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Ex.i Rondo in A minor, K511; five variants of principal theme
(a)
Andante

p P
_* _ _ _ _ _ _
crcre - scen- - do p

no 1

crc . sc -d
(b)

cre - - scen - - do p

- -

cre - scen - do f3
cr cree scendo p
(c)

creescendodof
rc ceeendo p .
r. r . r. I r. .

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 223

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 (d)
129

crescendo

tr C

crescendo f

(e)

151 C_ _D C

crescendo, p

_-'- _ ~ ~ n~i-~: ___: - _

1 ---"-- ' - -- "-

crescendo

ment in Classical music. The amount of ornamentation

,g Mozart's written-out embellishments and the publi-
z
required from the performer depends upon the ornate- cation history of each work. The first editions of several
ness of the melody: at times the amount of elaboration sonatas published during Mozart's lifetime contain elab-
in the original text precludes additional ornamentation. orate embellishments not found in the autograph. An
An oft-neglected element of idiomatic improvisation oft-quoted example is the slow movement to the Sonata
is the observance of the five-octave range of Mozart's in F major, K332.3 These embellishments, which are
instrument.! Embellishments and cadenzas that other- accepted by scholars as authentic, together with the
wise cohere to Mozart's language yet stray beyond theseautograph embellishments in such works as the A minor
limits will strike the perceptive listener as faulty. rondo or the F major rondo, K494, give the cue to
There are generic places where embellishment is mostMozart's intentions in works that were not issued during
likely to be desirable. The most salient of these is thehis lifetime. The re-emergence of the autograph to the
return of the principal theme in sonatas, and especiallyFantasy and Sonata in C minor, K475/457, sheds addi-
rondos. It is instructive to collate Mozart's written-out tional light upon the relationship between Mozart's
decorations of a work such as the Rondo in A minor, more schematic original concept, reflecting his own
K511 (ex.i). Such decorations provide invaluable abilities to improvise, and the written-out elaborations
examples of spontaneity captured on the page. he prepared for his students (in this case Therese von
It is critical to understand the relationship between Trattner, the dedicatee of the sonata), or for the general

224 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992

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Ex.2 Sonata in C minor, K457, ii, bars 17-23; three versions of autograph: (a) first version; (b) second version; (c) third version

(a) Adagiogcresc, f
Kq-""R k- r- A ..II.IM is
jju
fQ

sotto voce

p cresc, f

f P cresc, f p

(b)
17 CO CO

iv
A Elm f- I f-?If di

IL ;::
dor

r--3 ---1 3

r-1
v I i i ,i V l " I i i I

_ R -

/.?

i"r

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 225

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 (c)

pb

____ 7 >j7__ .. . 1........

Scresc.

pp

cresc f

....- - ..
public. The recurrences of mis-
literal reprinting of the theme with its attendant t
slow movement leading implication
to that the composer desired
K457 (ex.2 a note-
graph by the direction
for-note 'Da
reiteration of the opening music. C
written out. An extra leaf contains diminutions for each Given the evidence presented above, it would seem il-
return-unknown before the rediscovery of the auto- logical upon stylistic and expressive grounds for the
graph (ex.2b).4 These in turn are superseded by a more theme of the second movement to the Sonata in B flat,
elaborate set of embellishments on a further leaf, K570, to be performed six times in succession (counting
labelled 'Variationen' in Maximilian Stadler's hand the prescribed repeats) in a single, unadorned state. Ex.3
presents
(ex.2c). It is the latter versions that appear in every mod- sample embellishments for each of its
ern edition. appearances.
The practice of embellishment at returns is docu-
What insight these versions give into Mozart's crea-
mented
tive process! We witness not merely the narrative evo- in Mozart's manuscripts in other interesting
ways,of
lution of an idea as in K494 and K511, but the recastings some of which require particularly creative
solutions:
a single passage. This example documents a notational
practice of great consequence to the question of orna-
1. In several of the piano concertos, the theme is una-
mentation, i.e. the common use of shorthand da capo dorned at reprises in the solo instrument, but deco-
signs rather than renotations of the principal theme.rated
The in the orchestral ritornello that follows (ex.4).
modern performer is unaware of these, seeing onlyItthe
is an essential contradiction of the relationship

226 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992

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Ex.3 Sonata in B flat, K570, ii; sample embellishments of the principal theme

Adagio
(a
2: tr
z: tr

9 (b) 2 tr_ 2
(in L.H.)

(C)
28 nB 3k

(d) tr
44 tr

%;~c
47 CDf

(1: first time; 2: sec

F VAV
PFR7
:::ii-::

J. C. NEUPERT
established 1868

Clavichords- Spinets
Harpsichords ? Fortepianos
Fortepiano after C. Graf
Vienna 1822 D-8600 Bamberg, Zeppelinstr. 3
West Germany Tel. (0951) 31001

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 227

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Ex.4 Concerto in D minor, K466, ii: (a) solo version of theme; (b) elaborated orchestral version
(a)
131

(b)
139

13 9 - __,___,__-- _ --::_ ____ _: _ _.._

ob. __i...
p -

bna

hn. F

(in B b)---

pf _

vl. Pf
F~ll
f

via.

p.

VC.~
db .
f p

betwee
ment of both main themes and subsidiary material.
assump
At times the composer may embellish the return
soloist
section of a sonata, thereby creating a significant
contrast with the first, unadorned treatment of a
played
soloist
given theme. The performer taking both repeats
cedent as will be heard from the orchestra in the note for note in such a sonata movement runs the
consequent. A literal carry-over is not necessary, but risk of turning the flexibility of the composer's
certainly possible. invention into a rigid stylistic exercise: first the audi-
2. A special problem is posed by movements con- ence hears a simple version of a tune twice; then a
taining repeat signs. The repeats invite embellish- highly elaborated one which is also repeated. The

228 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992

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Ex.5 Sonata for piano, four hands, in F, K497, ii; decorations to principal theme in Levin's and Bilson's performance: (a) expo-
sition; (b) repeat of exposition; (c) recapitulation; (d) repeat of recapitulation

(a) Andante

9_7 7,-.. . ...7:

(b)

etc. (as above)

(c)
(C)
64 5-

(b)

P I 1 I I I
33 -I

(d)

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 229

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 Ex.6 Concerto in C, K503, ii, bars 57-64, with sample embellishment
elaborated version

pf.
57 tr ___ _ _ .
via.- - .. ~~~
. . . .-__ _(+hns)
vl.

mfp mfp

db. vc. _ _
ifp lmfp

61 __ __[y _

_ -f-- -f----f-
_ : _~_ _....... (+ wind)
_mfp
_ .__. _-_ _ mfp
_ ..... _ . ...........f
__ -
- - ------- 1
mfp Mfpf

illusion of spontaneity
Mozart's cr
versi
embellishment will be
gressive melo
around by the player's
lutely necessl
incumbent upon
each the pe
recurren
mediate at least differ (or
tinctive flavo
that an organic
etry develop
with an
occurs each time it is hear
Apart from p
the second invite
movement
filling ofo
piano, four hands, K497,
1. Whenever
ing made by the author
slacken with w
While successive embellis
motivation. T
not become ever
a. more in
sequences
ornamentation
b. in the
passagesre
w
mate that it seemed
eated prud
withou
reading for the first
gios time
required

230 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992

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 Ex.7 Concerto in C minor, K491, i, bars 257-64, with filled-in passagework

257

hn.
(E b)

pf.

(Pf. i _!1- _h- ... . - - ___ . _-

vl.

db.

261

- - ____ - . --.-cresc.

elaborated version

or

_ Ey 3 # t- ~ z m - __ - - - -- -------------

cresc.

cresc. f

cresc.
f

W f F

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 231

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 Ex.8 Concerto in B flat, K595, ii, bars 49-58, with sample embellishment

pf. P

Solo

vl. I 0 Solo p
Solo

vla.---_ Solo

db. 1.1_. ._M- - -

P

elaborated version

.--_ _ _ __ 7.. 7 %- - -. -& yi

54
54 , .--..,._ _ _ _ ,hi_ _ _ - a_ . _ _
iO

_ f-Ac

These occur dated

in the 9 June
piano c
K482; in B flat major,
'something K
m
minor, K491. They
confirmedare
thi
because the orchestra's
deficiency rh
as
eclipses that cadenzas'.
of the soloist
Eve
2. The 'pianoelaborate
recitatives'
ver
Mozart's burg-presum
concertos, in whi
right hand, punctuated
the starkerby o
repeated ship
chords inbetwee
the st
found in the expected.
concertos It
in is
D
K466; in C will
major, be inspir
K467; in
('Coronation'), K537; and
embellishmen in
generally other Mozart
known, concert
ness of the ments
passage haveK4
from b

232 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992

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Ex.9 Trio in B flat, K498, ii, bars 38-41
38

3 3

Ex.lo

Ti-

" "I"I # - ? ?

relati
enlightening to me because, while thoroughly idiomatic
ofto Mozart's language,the
they are different from the ones
3. that form my personal
Iso vocabulary. Mozart's oeuvre is so
ment
immense! There is so much to be inspired and influ-
I have
enced by, that a performer displaying insight and stylis-
oric
tic awareness can develop an individual vernacular of o
ornamentation that will be as distinctive as her or his
Nonet
harm
performing style.
conce
relate
Robert Levin is a leading performer on both period and
that
modern pianos whose performances include innovatory p
is giv
improvised cadenzas and fantasias on Mozartean themes.
mulas
He is also a pioneering scholar whose completions of
certo
Mozart fragments have been widely performed: the latest is
impro
a new version of the Requiem premi&red in Stuttgart in
August 1991.

'For discussion of these sources see R. D. Levin, 'Instrumental

Ex.11
Ornamentation, Improvisation and Cadenzas', Performance Practice,
ed. H. Mayer Brown and S. Sadie (London, 1989), pp.267-91.
SwI - " g P [ K- T I l 2Only one keyboard work, the Sonata in D major for two pianos,
8 .. [ i .-. ' [ I I
K448/375a, contains a note outside this limit: f"# (in the first piano
part), and we know from a letter that Josepha von Auernhammer
played that part, so she must have possessed a fortepiano that extended
How restrictiveup to are
g"'". the criteria exp
my experience, not3The two versionsat
are not reproduced
all. here, as they
Notare found in vir- that
tually every modern edition: cf. also the article cited in n..
in styles other than Mozart's
4Bars 20ff. in ex.2b are similar to bars 41ff. of the third version of the
hav
before-especially in
autograph. the
However, bars late
41ff. in the second 19th
version are different. a
turies; but let us return for
'The unpopularity of second repeats a momen
in sonata movements is per-
haps not entirely unrelated to performers' anxiety about this challenge
different versions of
to the imagination.
a single idea, a
could have written another
6For extended discussion ten
of such passages, see the essay referred to if h
in n.i.
ments had mandated it. More to the
lishments I have encountered in the work of such 7See n.1 and Levin, 'Improvisation and Embellishment in the
Mozart Piano Concertos' Musical Newsletter, v/2 (Spring 1975),
informed colleagues as Malcolm Bilson have always beenpp.3-14.

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 233

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