book about articulation at baroque keybord instruments

[coulonnus]

Does anybody know a book - downloadable or not - with a good treatment of articulate playing of harpsichord or baroque organ? CPE Bach is laconic about this IMO.

[Vivaletour]

try JJ Quantz' book "On Playing the flute" it says a whole lot about articulation in general. For specifics about articulation on the keyboard, get Paul Badura-Skoda's book (if i remember its entitled something like "Performing Bach on at the Keyboard") another good book is "JS Bach as Organist" it is a compilation of articles by ppl such as Harald Vogel and MC Alain. i can think up more for you if you would like. Historical fingering can seem like a nebulous and slightly pointless concept, however, it is the only way to perform Baroque authentically. the driving concept behind historical fingering is to strive towards a lagato without ever being able to reach it. That is, using techique that forces the accentuation of the beat, yet still allows a controlled articulation for each note. basically, you want each note to be independent and detached, but, still leaning towards legato, with out ever being capable of legato....hope it helps

[coulonnus]

"Vivaletour"]try JJ Quantz' book "On Playing the flute" it says a whole lot about articulation in general.

I had a look, but Quantz's distribution of 'ti's and 'ri's seems to be the opposite of the
usual practice. He claims 'ri's should be on the strong beat.

For specifics about articulation on the keyboard, get Paul Badura-Skoda's book (if i remember its entitled something like "Performing Bach on at the Keyboard")

I know these. Because of the limits of standard music notation, the ideal book
should specify note played/articulation rest with dashes/spaces with the corresponding
length proportions, like sort of a sonogram. (pitch doesn't matter)

another good book is "JS Bach as Organist" it is a compilation of articles by ppl such as Harald Vogel and MC Alain. i can think up more for you if you would like.

Historical fingering can seem like a nebulous and slightly pointless concept, however, it is the only way to perform Baroque authentically. the driving concept behind historical fingering is to strive towards a lagato without ever being able to reach it. That is, using techique that forces the accentuation of the beat, yet still allows a controlled articulation for each note. basically, you want each note to be independent and detached, but, still leaning towards legato, with out ever being capable of legato....hope it helps

I agree. Many treatises advocate the 34343434 fingering for an ascending scale, without specifying articulation rests. Thanks for your help.

[coulonnus]

[...]another good book is "JS Bach as Organist" it is a compilation of articles by ppl such as Harald Vogel and MC Alain. [...]

I purchased that one, but it lacks accuracy.

I found a French book that almost meets my criteria: Antoine Geoffroy Dechaume, Le Langage du Clavecin, ed. Van de Velde. But the "sonograms" lack explanations.

[wlma]

there is one in german,
try DDM-online and scroll down.

the link is:
http://www.chmtl.indiana.edu/ddm/DNbaroque.html



it is:

Lohmann, Ludger.

Studien zu Artikulationsproblemen bei den Tasteninstrumenten des 16. bis 18. Jahrhunderts.
Ph.D., Musicology, Köln, 1981.
DDM Code: 41pfLohL; DA no.: RILM no.: UM no.:

(studies on articulation-related problems of keyboard instruments in the 16.-18. century)

in 1990, it was revised. if you don't find it on amazon, ask the autor
lu.gi.lohmann@t-online.de


w.


.

[coulonnus]

Lohmann, Ludger. Studien zu Artikulationsproblemen bei den Tasteninstrumenten des 16. bis 18. Jahrhunderts.

I've got the 1990 Taschenbuch. A good book, but still misses the accuracy I'm looking for.

But I'll consider asking my questions to the author in private mail. Thanks.

[sbeckmesser]

What specifically about Baroque keyboard articulation do you want to know? When you say a book lacks "accuracy" do you mean it gets the facts wrong? Or perhaps do you mean that it doesn't explain things clearly enough?

I've read through enough Baroque-era treatises on performance to know that you can't blithely apply statements about one instrument (Quantz writing about the flute) to music written for another, such as Couperin harpsichord music. Besides, the fingerings in Couperin's own treatise explain much better how his music should go, at least when played on a harpsichord (not necessarily to his organ music and definitely not to when his music is played on a piano). Even a harpsichord and a clavichord differ in their playing requirements. And the organ has completely different requirements for articulation than all the other keyboard instruments, due to the lack of decay in the sound.

--Sixtus

http://imslp.org/wiki/L%27Art_de_Touche ... 3%A7ois%29

[Lyle Neff]

I wonder whether there also might have been (slight) differences in articulation depending on what part of Europe the music comes from or is in emulation of?

[sbeckmesser]

The French, in particular, had a very distinct performance style when it comes to phrasing and articulation. This was noted by observers in other countries and is documented in many contemporary works (not least among them the Couperin treatise and the writings of Muffat). Unfortunately, a similar amount of detail is not known about the other two principal national schools, the Italian and the German. What does survive is in many ways derivative and deliberately emulative of the French style (such as the Quantz treatise). Overriding all these "schools" is modern research about "rhetorical" principles applied to performance, including phrasing and articulation.

--Sixtus