The Accompaniment in "Unaccompanied" Bach

Interpreting the Sonatas and Partitas for Violin

Stanley Ritchie

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9780253021984
• eBook ISBN:
  9780253022080
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music

Known around the world for his advocacy of early historical performance and as a skilled violin performer and pedagogue, Stanley Ritchie has developed a technical guide to the interpretation and performance of J. S. Bach's enigmatic sonatas and partitas for solo violin. Unlike typical Baroque compositions, Bach's six solos are uniquely free of accompaniment. To add depth and texture to the pieces, Bach incorporated various techniques to bring out a multitude of voices from four strings and one bow, including arpeggios across strings, multiple stopping, opposing tonal ranges, and deft bowing. Published in 1802, over 80 years after its completion in 1720, Bach's manuscript is without expression marks, leaving the performer to freely interpret the dynamics, fingering, bowings, and articulations. Marshaling a lifetime of experience, Stanley Ritchie provides violinists with deep insights into the interpretation and technicalities at the heart of these challenging pieces.

CHAPTER ONE

Principles of Interpretation

My purpose in this opening chapter is to summarize information about various aspects of the topic, which will be alluded to throughout the book and provide the basis for clearer understanding of ideas that may frequently be novel or at odds with contemporary concepts of interpretation.

Notation

My suggestions for interpretation are based on the use of the facsimile of Bach’s autograph, with occasional reference to the copy by Anna Magdalena. Once one becomes used to reading it, the notation in both manuscripts is fairly clear, and if one is to arrive at an independent interpretation, their use is essential. Bear in mind that any “Urtext” edition has involved decision making on the part of the editor, whose task it is to decipher the numerous ambiguities. One of my goals in writing this book is to help readers in this process in the hope of liberating them from reliance on editions of any kind.

We should also be aware that any system of notation represents the closest possible approximation to the composer’s intention, and that it was only in the twentieth century that composers began to micromanage, even to the extent of dictating the duration of notes. It is important, therefore, to familiarize oneself with certain conventions spelled out in treatises of the period that have to do with rhythmic alteration and rubato. Since the only information we’re given is the notes themselves, we must learn to read between the lines.

Polyphony

Examination of the facsimile will reveal an important feature:

Bach never wrote two notes on one stem.

This notational convention clearly shows that Bach was always thinking polyphonically. Hence, a double-stop, or a three- or four-voice chord should never be perceived as a vertical entity except for the purpose of harmonic identification: it is a point at which the separate voices coincide. The concept of vocal coincidence helps us to give each line its appropriate weight, according to whether its function is primary or accompanying.

Harmony

Awareness of the function of each chord—whether consonant or dissonant—and the nature of the harmonic progressions is essential to determining the dynamic shape of gestures and phrases, and consequently the organization of the music. Generally speaking, a dissonance will resolve on a consonance and be dynamically stronger, but as with most generalizations, you will encounter occasional exceptions according to context. I point out to my students that we, in the twenty-first century, have heard everything—or think we have—but if we are to react to music as eighteenth-century musicians did, we need to be surprised by and respond to harmonies such as the diminished-seventh chord that are familiar to us but novel or even shocking to them.

Metre

The metre of a movement is an essential factor in the determination of its tempo. One of my cardinal rules of interpretation is that all music is in one, by which I mean that there is one strong beat per measure and one weak, an ancient practice referred to as tactus. This concept enables us to differentiate between similar metres—

and

,

and

—and to understand why a composer chose one rather than the other. In the case of triple metres, in which the “tactus” will be irregular, the irregularity will be dictated by the sequence of harmonies, sometimes one-two, sometimes one-three, but only rarely one-two-three even when there are three different chords.

In principle, then, when a composer has chosen

over

, the eighth-note, which is a subdivision in

, is the basic unit in

. The affect will usually be more energetic, and the tempo at times relatively slower, due to the frequency of strong beats. Indeed, Bach’s puzzling use of

as the metre of the B-minor Tempo di Borea, notated as four quarter-notes per measure, might be interpreted as his way of indicating a moderate tempo, for there are certainly two strong beats in many bars.

Alla breve, or “cut time,” a term that refers to there being one strong beat per two measures, is usually indicated symbolically. However, it is important to recognize that more often than not, throughout the Sonatas and Partitas, the second bar of a pair is weaker harmonically, thereby creating what is essentially alla breve. Note also how Bach chose

with half bar-lines as the metre in the G-minor Presto and for the B-minor Corrente—a type of alla breve—but with normal, full bar-lines for the Double of the latter, which has the effect of holding that section in check despite the tempo mark of presto.

Dynamics

The dynamic structure of the music is governed by several factors:

the overall architecture of the movement

the prevailing affect

the alternation of consonance and dissonance

tessitura (the vertical range of pitches)

linear direction

the use of rhetorical devices

Although symbolic dynamic indications are rare in Baroque music, becoming familiar with composers’ use of the features I have listed will lead to a better understanding of appropriate concepts of expression. Each of these topics will be referred to at times in the course of the book.

Inequality

The Baroque concept of inequality—“good” and “bad” notes, strong and weak syllables, dissonance and resolution, the subdivision of beats and measures into stressed and unstressed elements—applies throughout and is an essential aspect of effective interpretation. In certain contexts, the concept also applies to rhythm, especially in French music, where a series of eighth-notes may be played with long-short inequality, not unlike the jazz tradition of “swinging,” to enhance the flow. So-called Lombardic (short-long) rhythm will occasionally be applied as an ornamental variation of “straight” notes. The practice is discussed at length in chapter 7 in the section on the Minuet.

Fingering

The polyphonic nature of the music demands great clarity, and for this reason it’s best to favor fingerings in low positions unless higher ones are specifically implied or unavoidable. It is best, also, not to run up to third and fourth position in order to avoid string crossings, which are often much more desirable musically, and technically quite practicable, especially when using a period bow. This topic is treated in detail in chapter 12.

Note Length

Clarity of voice-leading requires careful control of note length so as to avoid confusion. For instance, there will usually be one accompanying note in a double-stop and one melodic, and even though they may be identically notated, the melodic note should generally be held longer than the accompanying one. (An exception is to be found in a passage such as mm. 156–160 of the A-minor Fuga, where two voices move in parallel sixths.)

Bow Direction

Many passages are most effective when bowed “as it comes,” because the use of repeated up-bows often draws attention to notes that are relatively unimportant. Neither is it essential to play a strong beat with a down-bow, even when it occurs on a three- or four-note chord. In principle, of course, it is better to use bow direction in accordance with the harmonic context (i.e., with a down-bow on a strong harmony resolving to an up-bow), but this will not always be possible. One frequently encounters passages in which the best effect is to be found in the use of bow direction that may seem counterintuitive: Bach does indeed expect one to bow in reverse at times, and bowing “as it comes” often produces a much more satisfactory reading. In “three-and-one” passages, one should avoid the use of the “hook-stroke,” which has the simultaneous undesirable effects of flattening texture and reducing resonance. It is, of course, a variety of martelé—short, stopped strokes—which did not become a part of normal right-arm technique until the nineteenth century.

Articulations

Articulation in speech or music may be defined as the separation of one sound from another: in musical terms an articulation, or “sound,” can refer to a single note or else two or more notes under a slur. In eighteenth-century music, a slur should be treated as a type of ornament—not a technical suggestion that may be altered at the whim or for the convenience of the performer. Because of our training, it is normal to perceive slurs as “bowings,” and therefore changeable when inconvenient or awkward; in eighteenth-century music, nothing could be further from the truth. In Bach’s music, slurs create variety of texture and are an important part of the language and reflect the aesthetic ideals of his time. In attempting to arrive at an interpretation that does justice to his intentions, one should remember that by all accounts Bach was a fine violinist, and start by following the markings he provided.

At times, the precise length of a slur is difficult to determine, and one must make an artistic decision about the number of notes it encompasses. In Bach’s manuscript, many slurs are quickly and imprecisely drawn, as if to say, “It’s obvious what I mean—I don’t need to waste time being careful.” On the other hand, there are instances where he goes to great pains to ensure that his intention is unmistakable. When encountering a slur that could be read in various ways, weigh the choices both musically and technically: more often than not, the musically desirable solution will also turn out to be violinistically logical.

Finally, one difference between modern notation and that of Bach’s time is that then a slur from a pair of tied notes would always start from the second note of the tie. Because of this, if there is ambiguity, always consider the possibi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1—Principles of Interpretation
• 2—Dance Forms
• 3—Analytical Methods and Exercises
• 4—The Improvisatory Movements
• 5—The Fugues
• 6—The Ostinato Movements
• 7—The Dancelike Movements
• 8—The Virtuoso Movements
• 9—The Philosophical Movements
• 10—The Lyrical Movements
• 11—Right-Hand Technique
• 12—Left-Hand Technique
• Last Words
• Bibliography