Dear Jorge, Many thanks for the quotation from Gaultier's Preface, which tells us how we should interpret the comma in baroque lute music. I would like to add to what he has to say, and hopefully clarify things.
As I understand it, the comma is an appoggiatura. As Stephen Arndt says, if the ornamented note is short, an appoggiatura is all you have time for. __c,__ = __d_c__ or __e_c__ ______ _______ _______ ______ _______ _______ ______ _______ _______ ______ _______ _______ depending on the key you are in. To that extent, it is reminiscent of Thomas Robinson's "little touch or jerk" for ornamenting quick notes. The word appoggiatura - which means leaning - gives us a clue as to its interpretation. We need to lean on the appoggiatura, maybe giving it a little more time than the following note, thus emphasising the dissonance it creates. Ed Durbrow asked why the two notes should not be written as two equal notes. If they were written that way, we would play them equally. By writing the two notes as one note with an appoggiatura, we are invited to give more importance, more weight, more time, to the dissonant note than to its resolution. The appoggiatura must be played on the beat, not before the beat, so the resolution comes in a weaker position after the beat. The fact that the appoggiatura comes on the beat, helps to give it greater prominence than its resolution. If there is enough time, it is appropriate to add a trill to the appoggiatura. The number of turns is dictated by the length of time available and the musical context - slower trills for slower-moving music. I think it is a mistake to think of baroque trills as starting on the upper note, even though, in practice, they appear to do so. Instead, I think it is helpful to think of baroque trills consisting of three elements: 1) The appoggiatura, which is one step higher than the written note, which creates a dissonance, and, as Markus Lutz points out, may last at least as long as the rest of the ornament. For c, (i.e. c with a comma) play __d_________________c_ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ 2) The trill, which starts on the written note, and can be extended as far as good taste will allow, e.g. __d________c_d_c_d_c__ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ 3) The termination, which, if present, is either an anticipation of the final note after the trill, or a little turn before it. So _c,_|_a_ could be played with an anticipation (i.e. the _a_ at the end of the bar anticipating the _a_ at the start of the next bar): __d________c_d_c_d_c____a___a_ __________________________|___ __________________________|___ __________________________|___ __________________________|___ __________________________|___ or with a two-note termination such as the _a_c_ tacked on the trill at the end of the 1st bar: __d________c_d_c_d_c_a_c____a_ __________________________|___ __________________________|___ __________________________|___ __________________________|___ __________________________|___ Terminations add an extra level of elaboration, and tend to come with final cadences at ends of sections. They would normally be notated, but a player should feel free to add a suitable termination, if he deems it appropriate. To summarise, the appoggiatura is essential, the trill is desirable if time allows, and the termination is only for extra-special cadences. I am very much looking forward to your article in the JLSA, where we can compare what different 17th-century players had to say about it all. Best wishes, Stewart McCoy. -----Original Message----- From: Jorge Torres [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 20 August 2008 15:49 To: Stephen Arndt Cc: Markus Lutz; baroque lute list Subject: [BAROQUE-LUTE] Re: a very basic question The comma is in baroque lute tablatures is a French ornament, and the French did not cal it an appogiatura, but a tremblement (Gautier ca. 1670, Gaultier ca. 1672, Gallot, 1684). Calling it an appogiatura confuses the issue. To the French it's a trill, not an appogiatura. Regarding how many times one executes the movement, the following is from Gaultier's ca. 1672 preface: "When one puts a comma after a letter, that signifies that one must pull off the string with a finger of the left hand; You should do once when there is only an eighth note on the letter, twice when there is a quarter note, and several times when there is a dotted quarter, while making the trill (tremblement) until the conclusion of the termination (cadence)* that one will find marked." *This is the two-note suffix to the trill. They may begin either from the upper note or the lower note and use one or two fingers of the right hand. The ones beginning on the upper note are usually notated with a diagonal line joining the two letters in the tablature indicating that those two letters are to be played with one finger of the right hand, usually the index. The resolution of the cadence is played with the middle finger of the right hand. The above quote is taken from my recent article "Performance Practice Technique for the French Baroque Lute: An Examination of Introductory Avertissements from Seventeenth Century Sources" (JLSA volume 36). Best, Jorge Torres On Aug 20, 2008, at 10:04 AM, Stephen Arndt wrote: > Does the length of an ornamented note make a difference? I have > noticed on recordings that eighth notes and quarter notes tend to > have an appogiatura, whereas dotted quarter notes tend to have a > trill. > > -----Original Message----- >> From: Markus Lutz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> Sent: Aug 20, 2008 8:49 AM >> To: baroque lute list <baroque-lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> >> Subject: [BAROQUE-LUTE] Re: a very basic question >> >> In fact in baroque times it seemed to be the rule to play an >> appogiatura >> as long or longer than half of the note. In a 3/4 measure an >> appogiatura >> on an dotted minim should even last for two quarters (2 thirds of >> the note). >> >> But very often in tablature appogiaturas are the only ornaments, >> meaning also trills ... >> Weiss for instance uses nearly solely this sign also for trills. >> >> If you look at Quantz you also see, that not only ornamented notes >> can >> be ornamented, but also nearly every other note - with a great >> liberty >> (sometimes in his examples the melody can hardly be >> reckognized ;-) ). >> >> So I think it is mainly a matter of (good) taste, when and how >> often to >> trill notes (for sure it can be annoying if that is used too often)). >> >> Best regards >> Markus >> >> Dale Young schrieb: >>> C.P.E. Bach wrote that in the appogiatura, the dissonance >>> should be >>> held AT LEAST half the value of the written note. Most preformers >>> cheat >>> on this, making these "graces" sound more like annoying speach >>> impediments. Even more annoying, I also hear single comas played as >>> trills. We all need to listen to good keyboard interpretations of >>> music >>> from our time period and geographical region of choice. There are >>> a lot >>> of good keyboard players. Not so many lutenists. >>> >>> >>>> So many players interpret the comma ornament as an appogiatura in a >>>> measured way. If this is correct, why didn't the composer just >>>> write >>>> a note? >>>> >>>> Ed Durbrow >>>> Saitama, Japan >>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>>> http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/ >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> To get on or off this list see list information at >>>> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >>>> >>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> >> Markus Lutz >> Schulstraße 11 >> >> 88422 Bad Buchau >> >> Tel 0 75 82 / 92 62 89 >> Fax 0 75 82 / 92 62 90 >> Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> Homepages >> http://www.die-soehne-edgars.de (Die Söhne Edgars) >> http://www.slweiss.com (Silvius Leopold Weiss) >> >> > > Jorge Torres Associate Professor of Music 237 Williams Center Lafayette College Easton, PA 18042 (610)330-5365 [EMAIL PROTECTED] :::::::::::::::::::::::::
