Figured Bass Haendel PDF [PDF]

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\IZithacommentatybyDavid Ledbetter

CONTENTS Introduction

1

EXERCISES IN FIGURED BASS Nos. 1-6: Root-positiontriads Nos. 7-9: 6 chords No. l0: Suspensionof the third (4-3)

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No . fi: f;chords

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Nos. 13-14: 2 chords No. 15: Suspensionof the sixth (7-6) No. 16:7 chords Nos. l'l -19: Suspensionof the octave (e-8) Nos. 20-21: Double suspensions(2, nO,

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Nos. 22-24: Practicepieces

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EXERCISES IN FUGUE Nos. I -6

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44

Suggestionsfor Further Reading

62 64

ApppNDrx: SpscrMENREnuzATroNS Exercisesin Figured Bass Exercisesin Fugue

67 96

Note on Figuring Styles

INTRODUCTION Nobody who has acquired the ability to accompany baroque music from a figured bass will be satisfiedto return to using written-out realizations. Apart from the fact that accompanying from figuresis one of the most rewarding of musical experiences,it has immensepractical advantages.By having the bassin direct proximity to the solo line(s) on the page,the continuo player feelsin the closestcontact with the parts accompanied. With an editorial realization there is an intervening stave(which most experiencedplayerswill in any casewant to ignore) putting the bassat one remove from the other parts. The feeling of contact is further enhancedby the layout of original sources,where figures are normally placed over rather than under the bass rvith the result that the player's eyehas a significantly smaller area of the page to take in. But the main advantageis in fact one of the reasonswhy the systemof bassfiguring was originally devised - it allows flexibility in the choice of accompanying instrument, and the same part can be used for organ, harpsichord,lute, or theorbo, each of which has its own accompanimental style. The texture and tessituraof the accompaniment can also be adjusted to suit the instrument accompanied.In the many baroque sonataswhich allow alternativeinstrumentation the accompanimentwill not be the samefor the quiet flute or recorderas it is for the more extrovertoboe or violin. On a more mundane level,it is in fact easierto accompanyfrom figures (when the facility has beenacquired),sincethe player can adapt the accompanimentto his own hand and technique. What is required is often a great deal simpler than that which many writtenout accompanimentsprovide. 'With the general availability of original sourcesin facsimile, there is no longer any excuse for neglectingthis essentialmusical skill. But of the many seventeenth-and eighteenth-century tutors which describechords and basic progressions,very few offer exerciseswhich inspire the musical imagination or take the student in an orderly way from the simplest to the most elaboratetype of realization. Fortunately there exists an exceptionally fine set of exercisesby Handel which amply fulfil both theserequirements.Handel's style has a characteristicsolidity and sonority which, becauseit is so familiar to us, constantly suggestsidiomatic waysof realizing these exercises.They also reveal that he was, when the occasion arose,an inspired teacher. Handel devisedthe exercisesbetween 1724 and the mid-l730s, when he was harpsichord teacherto the PrincessesAnne, Caroline, Amelia, and l-ouisa, daughtersof GeorgeII. Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, was unusually gifted and a lifelong friend of the composer, who clearly thought it worth taking the trouble to devisea comprehensivecoursefor her. The figured bassexercisesform only part of a completecomposition tutor which mngesfrom the most basic note-against-noteexercisesto examples of fugue and canon. A full account of the origin, sources,and structure of the tutor, together with facsimiles, is given by Alfred Mann in a supplementary volume of the Hollische Htindel-Ausgabe (seeSuggestionsfor Further Reading). The figured bassexercisesare of two types. l. Exercises infigured bass These are ordered in an unorthodox but very logical way. Handel's approach is an entirely practical one, based ôn chord shapesand figures rather than on the concept of root-position chords and their inversions.Thus the f chord, the first inversion of a seventhchord, comes

Introduction

(No. 12)whereit followsnaturallythe chordintroducedin No. 11,and earlyin the exercises ! precedes the seventhchordin root positionin No. 16.Eachexercise introducesa new chord, or a newuseof a chord, and neatlyconsolidatesmaterialalreadycovered.The set'sgreatmerit involvingthem, is that, aswell asgivingthe basicchordsand the most commonprogressions of baroque harmony may broadly The materials in musical way. it weavesthesetogether a Whereas other tutors formulas. and cadence be reducedto t\ryoelements- scalesequences possibilities of a given the givethesein abstractfragments,Handelin eachcasedemonstrates progressionin a logical way and providescompletepiecesof.musical characterwhich are gratifying to play. 2. Exercisesin fugue Improvisinga fugue may initially seema dauntingexercise. We tend to think of a fugue as somethingintellectuallyconceivedand carefullyworkedout on paper,needingtime and patience to perfectits details.This is becausewe aremost familiar with onetradition of baroquefugal writing wherethe fugueis obbligatoin all its parts,i.e.it is in a setnumberof independent partsand capableof beingwritten in openscore(asweremany fugal works for keyboard,from the Fantasiasof Frescobaldito Bach'sArt of Fugue)and of beingperformed,in theory at least, on melodyinstruments. Handel'sexercises relateto anothertradition,that of the improvisedfugue.Herethe fugue hardlyhasa settexture,still lessa fixedform, but is morean effect.Its only distinguishingfeature is that thereshouldbe a principal subjectwhich enterssuccessively at differentpitch levels. Integrityof partsis not necessarily maintained,and connectingmaterialis madeup from what are essentiallyelaborationsof basiccontinuo formulas.Handel'sown keyboardfuguesare written-outexamplesof this tradition, as arethe fugue-typesonatasof DomenicoScarlatti. Thesearejust the sort of exercises with whichthe youngHandelwouldhavebegunhis study of fuguewith his teacherZachau.The approachis purelypractical,the processes arequiteclear, and thereis nothingarid or intimidatingaboutthem.Theyareexcellentpracticefor continuo players,in that theyaredesignedto cultivatea senseof line and an ability to think in independent parts ratherthan merelyto follow the mechanicalhabits of the hands. The commentarieson individual exercisesare designedto give only the essentialinformation neededfor their interpretation.I havetried to keepthem as brief as possible,although thoseon the earlierexercises are necessarily longer sincethey definebasicprinciples.Since examplescangiveinformation moreclearlyand conciselythan words,I haveincludedspecimen realizationsfor all of the exercises in an appendix.Theseare no more than my own humble suggestions, but I hopethat they may clarify many individual points and be a usefulmodel againstwhich studentscan checktheir results. Assertionsmade in the commentariesare basedon the consensusof a wide range of and eighteenth-century treatises.It would be cumbersome and unhelpfulto give $ seventeenthreferences for all of thesein what is intendedas a basictutor. I haveincludedbrief noteson the most helpful treatisesin the Suggestions for Further Reading,and playersare strongly encouraged to explorethese. The complexitiesof figuredbassnotation will be much simplifiedif it is borne in mind that there are only nine basicfigurings: 6 and ! for the first and secondinversionsof triads; 7,9,t, and 2 fol seventhchordsand their inversions;and 4-3,7-6, andg-8, for the threetypes of suspension. Most of the restareextensionsof thesewhen accidentalsarerequired.Thereare

Introduction also a few figuresfor appoggiaturachordsor chordsovera pedalwhich aremore complex.In the commentaries,I havereferredto chord factorsentirely in terms of figuredbassnumerals. It would be extremelyconfusingto mix thesewith the numeralsusedin traditionalharmony textbooksto denotethe function of notesin a chord. Pitchesare referredto bv meansof the Helmholtz svstemas shown here.

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I E X E R C I S E S IN F IGU R E D B A SS Root-positiontriads No. 1

This first exerciseis designedfor practisingthe threemost commonbassprogressions using root-positionchords:progressions by fourthsand fifths (bb. l-3, 6-7);by falling thirds (bb. 3-a); and by risingseconds(bb. 4-5, b. 6). you shouldkeepstrictlyto thetraditional In orderto getmaximumbenefitfrom the exercise, disciplinesof elementaryf,guredbassplaying.Thereare threebasicprinciples. l. Play onenotein the left hand (rn) and threein the right (nu). The RHnotesarethe octave, fifth. and third abovethe bass. positionof the nextchord.The essence 2. Move to the nearest.ay_qr.fablg in f,gured of CI,uency 6asab-iâtingis that youihould be equallyfamiliar with all the possiblenH s*hapes of each chord.Thusthe first chordhasthreepossibleshapes,dependingon whetherthe octave,third, nn chordwill dependon your or fifth is on top (Ex. 1).The shapeyou usefor the succeeding Ex. I

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