| Contents |
Part I. General problems of interpretation. An authentic eighteenth-century performance: Source: C. F. Colt's organ barrels -- Studies in rhythm. Strict time: rigidity or flexibility? ; Emphasis, declamation, and period structure ; The interaction of rhythm and dynamics in polyphonic works ; Deviations from regular metre in homophonic movements ; Rhythmic notation that differs in modern practice ; Rubato, syncopation, notes inegales -- In search of the correct Bach tempo. Tempo: information supplied by Bach's contemporaries ; Bach's tempo marks ; Dances in Bach's suites and partitas ; Tempo in Bach's overtures -- Bach's articulation. Walking basses: non-legato ; Articulation problems associated with 'Bach rhythm' (figura corta) ; Mixed articulation ; Staccato ; Legato ; Legato and non-legato in arpeggios and broken chords -- Dynamics. Terrace dynamics ; Echo dynamics ; When should one play piano, and when should one play forte? ; Dynamic gradations, concluding crescendos -- Problems of sonority. Instruments in the age of Bach ; Church and chamber organs ; Stringed and plucked instruments ; Stringed keyboard instruments ; Bach's attitude to stringed keyboard instruments ; Once more to the question: harpsichord or piano? -- Problems of harpsichord and piano technique, and of expressive playing. The position of the body, hands, and fingers ; Problems of touch in Bach ; Playing legato and cantabile -- The Urtext problem: an imaginary interview -- Rendering the structure as a whole -- Prelude in E flat minor and fugue in D sharp minor, WTC 1, BWV 853: an analysis for performance. Prelude in E flat minor ; Fugue in D sharp minor ; Editions of the prelude in E flat minor and the fugue in D sharp minor, WTC 1 -- Part II. Studies in ornamentation. The development of ornamentation in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Italian ornamentation - trills and pralltriller ; The trill and the mordent in France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries ; Trills, pralltriller, and mordents in Germany ; C. P. E. Bach's treatise ; The treatises of J. J. Quantz and other German theorists ; Once more to C. P. E. Bach's treatise -- J. S. Bach's ornaments: some general remarks. J. S. Bach's ornamentation signs ; The interchangeability of different trill signs ; The connection between ornamentation and composition: part-writing and melodic patterns ; The Clavier-Buchlein for W. F. Bach and its significance for the ornamentation and performance of Bach's keyboard works -- Pralltriller. Summary: the two forms of the pralltriller in theory and practice from the seventeenth century to the twentieth century ; Pralltriller after preceding upper second ; Pralltriller on the second of two repeated notes (accentus formula) ; The trilled (or snapped) turn ; Pralltriller after leaps ; Pralltriller on detached notes and in rapid passages ; The interchangeability of the pralltriller and the short appoggiatura -- Appoggiaturas. Long appoggiaturas ; Passing appoggiaturas (coules) and short appoggiaturas (ports de voix) ; Coule followed by a pralltriller -- The longer trill. The start of the trill ; Ascending and descending trills ; Trill suffixes ; The speed of the trill ; Accidentals and trills ; Technical problems associated with playing trills -- Bach's mordent. Introductory remarks ; Mordents on initial notes ; Mordents after leaps ; Further uses of the mordent -- Arpeggios. Figured arpeggios ; Playing the arpeggios in the chromatic fantasia and fugue -- The application of ornaments that are not notated. Erroneous ornament signs in Bach's texts ; Adding ornaments that are not notated -- Free embellishments in Bach's keyboard works. Fermata embellishments ; Embellishment of slow pieces -- Appendix 1. Some recommended editions of Bach's keyboard works -- Appendix 2. Some textual and interpretational problems in Bach's chromatic fantasia and fugue, BWV 903 -- Appendix 3. J. M. Gesner, 'Johann Sebastian Bach as conductor, keyboard player, and organist' (Gottingen, 1738) -- Appendix 4. Excerpt from the article 'Takt' in J. G. Sulzer's Allegmeine Theorie der schonen Kunste, vol. ii (Leipzig, 1774) -- Appendix 5. The dedication of partita no. 1 (BWV 825) and the dedicatory poem -- Appendix 6. Friedrich Blume and Hans Joachim Moser. |
| Abstract |
The ever-increasing number of performances of Bach's music is a sign of its enduring vitality. But perhaps no other composer is subject to such a wide diversity of interpretation--assessing the merits of these many interpretations and unravelling the sources and documents on which they are based can be extremely difficult for the modern performer. In this important new book, the author draws on forty years of studying and performing Bach to present startling new insights into many different aspects of Bach's music. He looks at rhythm, tempo, articulation, and dynamics; examines the instruments for which Bach's music was intended, and considers problems of sonority. He then discusses ornamentation in depth, analyzing each of the signs and symbols used by Bach, and argues that much of Bach's ornamentation in current performance is monotonous and fails to reflect the actual Baroque style. Sometimes contentious, always stimulating, Badura-Skoda's book conveys a passion for an informed interpretation of Bach's music based on a recognition and respect for Bach's actual intentions. Copiously illustrated with musical examples, the book will take its place as a standard work for all students and performers of Bach's ever-popular keyboard music. |
