Improvised Vocal Ornamentation and German Baroque Compositional Theory: An

Approach to 'Historical' Performance Practice

Author(s): John Butt
Source: Journal of the Royal Musical Association , 1991, Vol. 116, No. 1 (1991), pp. 41-62
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Royal Musical Association

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/766493

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 Improvised Vocal Ornamentation
and German Baroque Compositional
Theory - An Approach to 'Historical'
Performance Practice

JOHN BUTT

Since it has been observed that artistic singers and also instrumentalists have
somewhat digressed from the notes here and there, and thus have given
occasion to invent an agreeable kind of figure; for what can be sung with
reasonable euphony might well indeed also be written down.
Accordingly, composers in the last epoch already began to set down one
thing or another that was unknown to their predecessors, and seemed un
acceptable to the unenlightened, but charming to good ears and musicians
So that by our own time music has attained such a height that - in view of
the multitude of figures, particularly in the newly discovered and ever more
decorated stylo recitativo - it may indeed be compared to a rhetoric.'

BERNHARD'S assertion (c.165-?) is significant as a retrospective view o

the early years of the Baroque era. His theory was designed to show that
music of the seconda prattica could, by means of reductive analysis, b
reconciled with the prima prattica. This he may have developed i
response to the polemics of Artusi, with which he probably became ac
quainted during his visit to Italy.2 Artusi's complaints focus precisely on
that which 'charms the ears' rather than reason, and on composers wh
adopt the accenti (usually upper auxiliary-note ornamentation) tradi-
tionally improvised by singers (preferably with discretion and judgment
at that)." Carl Dahlhaus suspected that the Figurenlehre of Bernhard was
a Germanic apology for Italian vices, one which did not necessarily ac
cord with the motives or theoretical concerns of the Monteverdi school.

1 'Nachgehends hat man observiret, daB kiinstliche Singer auch Instrumentisten . . . von den
Noten hier und dort etwas abgewichen, und also einige anmutige Art der Figuren zu erfinden AnlaB
gegeben; denn was mit verniinfftigen Wohl-Laut kan gesungen werden, mag man auch wohl setzen.
Dahero haben die Componisten in vorigem Seculo allbereits angefangen, eines und das andere zu
setzen, was den vorigen unbekant, auch den Unverstindigen unzuliBlich geschienen, guten Ohren
aber und Musicis annehmlich gewesen. BiB daB auff unsere Zeiten die Musica so hoch kommen, daB
wegen Menge der Figuren, absonderlich aber in dem neu erfundenen und bisher immer mehr
ausgezierten Stylo Recitativo, sie wohl einer Rhetorica zu vergleichen.' Christoph Bernhard,
Ausfiihrlicher Bericht vom Gebrauche der Con- und Dissonantien (MS), edited in Joseph Maria
Miiller-Blattau, Die Kompositionslehre Heinrich Schiitzens in der Fassung seines Schiilers Christoph
Bernhard (Leipzig, 1926), 147. For a translation of Bernhard's treatises see Walter Hilse, 'The
Treatises of Christoph Bernhard', The Music Forum, 3 (1973), 1-196.
2 Hellmut Federhofer, 'Christoph Bernhards Figurenlehre und die Dissonanz', Die Musik-
forschung, 42 (1989), 110-27.
3 Giovanni Maria Artusi, L'Artusi, ovvero, Delle imperfezioni della moderna musica (1600),
trans. Oliver Strunk, Source Readings in Music History, iii: The Baroque Era (London, 1952; repr.
1981), 33.

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 42 JOHN BUTT

Nevertheless the a
purely sensual (an
by Vincenzo Galil
musical aesthetics
Bernhard's histor
and compositiona
penetrating study
celebrated women
order to avoid cla
composers to use
Italian works publ
an incidental feat
feature of the thematic material in several voices'.6
That Bernhard's theories were still significant in German-speaking
lands for several decades after his death is reflected by the numerous
copies of his treatises (for instance by Johann Kuhnau),7 and by the fact
that his figural treatment of dissonance was assimilated by writers located
as far apart as J. B. Samber and Mattheson. Particularly interesting is the
appearance of substantial passages from Bernhard - including that open-
ing this paper - in J. G. Walther's Praecepta of 1708, perhaps the most
significant theoretical source of compositional theory for the early
environment of J. S. Bach.8
Bernhard's assertion that the compositional style of his age was heavily
influenced by ornamental figures is certainly an interesting view of the
relationship between the roles of composer and performer in the German
Baroque. We might immediately ask whether his opinion as a theorist
reflects the reality of German compositional practice (his own included)
and whether this particular conjecture was seriously entertained by other
theorists of the age. Secondly - and more importantly - we might con-
sider the relevance of his comment to the study of performance practice
today. This question should be asked, regardless of the answer to the first;
for even if Bernhard does not reflect the practical or theoretical norm of
his age, his view could still be regarded as the product of an 'authentic
voice, one which should perhaps be taken into account if we are to
understand the context of music in mid-seventeenth-century Germany. If
this music can indeed be viewed from the standpoint of its composer-
performer status, modern concerns for historical performance can more
profitably be directed towards the music itself. Analysis would play a
more important part in the determination of a legitimate interpretation,

4 Carl Dahlhaus, 'Seconda pratica und musikalische Figurenlehre', Claudio Monteverdi.

Festschrzft Reinhold Hammerstein zum 70. Geburtstag, ed. Ludwig Finscher (Laaber, 1986),
141-50.
5 Anthony Newcomb, The Madrigal at Ferrara 1579-1597, 2 vols. (Princeton, 1980), i, 59
6 Ibid., 76. See also Imogene Horsley, 'The Diminutions in Composition and Theory of Com
tion', Acta musicologica, 35 (1963), 130-2.
7 Miiller-Blattau, Die Kompositionslehre, 8, 12; Hellmut Federhofer, 'Marco Scacchi's "Crib
musicum" (1643) und die Kompositionslehre von Christoph Bernhard', Festschrift Hans Engel
70. Geburtstag, ed. Horst Heussner (Kassel, 1964), 76-90, esp. p. 86.
8 Johann Gottfried Walther, Praecepta der musicalischen Composition (MS, 1708), ed.
Benary, Jenaer Beitrige zur Musikforschung, 2 (Leipzig, 1960).

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VOCAL ORNAMENTATION AND GERMAN BAROQUE COMPOSITIONAL THEORY 43

since much of the desired historical performance style lies already encoded
in the music, itself a distillation of 'original' performance practices.
An approach to these considerations is outlined in this article. First, the
basis of vocal ornamentation in seventeenth- and early eighteenth-
century Germany can relatively easily be assessed by surveying the large
body of contemporary literature addressed to the performer.' The ma-
jority of this is designed for the students in Latin schools, while some
primers - particularly the more advanced - cater for young performers in
court institutions. Such was the structure of education and the function
of music in Lutheran Germany that most of this material is directed
towards singers. Singing, at all levels, was a fundamental element in
general education, since it provided a vehicle for the dissemination of the
newly translated scriptures and particularly for that most potent tool of
Lutheran indoctrination, the chorale. Wherever instrumental practice is
also outlined in these writings, the nature of ornamental figures is essen-
tially the same as that prescribed for singers; sometimes differences be-
tween the two are mentioned, but seldom to any explicit degree.
The second stage is an examination of the ornamental figures described
in treatises specifically directed towards composition rather than perfor-
mance: do these reflect Bernhard's view that the composers were absorb-
ing and synthesizing the mannerisms of singers? If so, was this a literal
annexation of the figures concerned, affixing them to an existing musical
structure, or were ornamental devices to be integrated more tightly into
the compositional fabric? A study of selected compositions which show
composers consciously notating ornamentation derived from perfor-
mance style - and particularly those providing a simpler, unornamented
version concurrently - will help to establish how closely the theories cor-
respond to practice. The results of this study will qualify us to answer
more readily the second question posed at the outset: the relevance of the
cross-fertilization of performance and composition to modem concerns
with performance practice.

IMPROVISED ORNAMENTATION IN THE GERMAN VOCAL TRADITION

As Bernhard's reference to 'the last epoch' implies, the p

elaboration of notated musical lines was by no means new to G
formance practice at the beginning of the seventeenth centur
advice and examples are found in some surviving German trea
sixteenth century,'1 there is nothing as extensive or exhau
methods published in Italy at that time; presumably perfo
trained orally and the practice of elaboration varied from one
to another. A specifically German pedagogic tradition for emb

9 For a comprehensive survey of Italian practices in the sixteenth century, see

Brown, Embellishing Sixteenth-Century Music (London, 1976); for a general survey
composition and practice, see Ernest Thomas Ferand, Die Improvisation in
Musikwerk, 12 (Cologne, 1956), and Horsley, 'The Diminutions in Composition
Composition' .
10 For example, Adrianus Petit Coclico, Compendium musices (Nuremberg, 1
Finck, Practica musica (Wittenberg, 1556).

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 44 JOHN BUTT

was however fou

Praetorius's Synt
who have particul
rent Italian manne
an orator, and ho
order to move the
singer and then e
prescribes the spe
tremolo, gruppo,
various kinds); each
patterns and int
(acknowledging th
that is new; howev
categorization ren
of his age. It migh
diminution which
quently style) fro
Although such in
sistently to be fou
the seventeenth ce
was an appreciab
nered' singing is p
the pupil's ground
diums which cover
was taught only to
for the major figu
J. A. Herbst pla
(1642), although t
a large Italian tut
some advice and
remarks in his int
J. H. Schein and
nered singing but
G. Falck (1688) con
amples from a re
comments also lie
(1703) and M. H. F
the latter author
format are still ev
1739.

" Michael Praetorius, Syntagma musicum, iii (Wolfenbiittel, 1619), 229-40.

12 The third section, 'Exercitatio', was never written.
13 For extensive, but dated, overviews see Hugo Goldschmidt, Die italienische Gesangsmethode
des 17. Jahrhunderts (Breslau, 1890; repr. 1978); Max Kuhn, Die Verzierungs-Kunst in der
Gesangs-Musik des 16.-17. Jahrhunderts (Leipzig, 1902; repr. 1969); Albert Allerup, Die 'Musica
Practica' desJ. A. Herbst und ihre entwicklungsgeschichtliche Bedeutung (Kassel, 1931).
14 Johannes Criiger, Musicae practicae praecepta brevia . . . Der rechte Weg zur Singekunst
(Berlin, 1660); Georg Falck, Idea boni cantoris (Nuremberg, 1688).
15 Johann Samuel Beyer, Primae lineae musicae vocalis (Freiberg, 1703); Martin Heinrich
Fuhrmann, Musicalischer-Trzchter (Frankfurt an der Spree, 1706; repr. 1715).
16 Johann Ludwig Steiner, Kurz-leicht-und grundtliches Noten-Biichlein (Zurich, 1728).

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VOCAL ORNAMENTATION AND GERMAN BAROQUE COMPOSITIONAL THEORY 45

The eighteenth-century treatises also show the influence of another

major writer of the seventeenth century, one who elaborated the Prae-
torius style of vocal training to an extent unparalleled in German sources
of the Baroque era: W. C. Printz.17 No other author provided such a
precise categorization of the figures constituting passagework.18 Figures
are divided into simple conjunct formulas (which include most of the
figures specified by Praetorius); simple figures which remain on one note;
those which leap; 'mixed' figures which are partly conjunct and partly
disjunct; trills; and compound figures which combine a variety of simple
figures (i.e. passages or diminution). The examples are presumably to be
practised as singing exercises which both enhance the technique and
cultivate the facility to elaborate pre-existent lines.
The categories of vocal ornamentation are most clearly defined in the
remaining branch of the Praetorius tradition, associated with Bernhard
himself and his manuscript treatise Von der Singe-Kunst oder Manier.19
This was widely copied during the latter part of the seventeenth century
and formed the basis for the closing section of the Rudimenta musices,
published by W. Mylius in 1686.20 Whereas most writers concerned with
ornamentation list diminution (i.e. extended passages which quite freely
elaborate the written notes) as the last and most complex form of orna-
mentation, utilizing the figures already described, Bernhard divides
singing style into two fields: that in which simpler ornaments are ap-
propriate and that in which improvised diminution is added.21 The first,
simpler, form of singing is further divided into two fields: cantar sodo,
which is concerned purely with the notes themselves; and cantar d'aff-
etto, which takes the text into account. Several ornaments can be used:
the trillo, accento, several derivatives of the same ('anticipatione della
syllaba/nota', 'cercar della nota') and tremolo. The second form of sing-
ing is named cantar passagiato (or lombarda); here (although the consti-
tuent figures are not analysed in the style of W. C. Printz) Bernhard gives
some detailed advice on the application of diminution: it must be applied
sparingly, must not be too wide in range or damaging to the harmonic
framework, and must generally return to the notated pitches. The ex-
amples of cadential figures show that Bernhard is concerned that the
resolution of the structural dissonances (i.e. syncopations/suspensions) is
not obscured. Furthermore diminutions are forbidden in the bass since
these could easily destroy the 'fundament' of the music. These last tw
points are almost certainly copied (since some of the expressions used are
identical) from D. Friderici's Die Musicafiguralis (published several times

17 Wolfgang Caspar Printz, Musica modulatoria vocalis (Schweidnitz, 1678); Compendium

musicae signatoriae et modulatoriae vocalis (Dresden, 1689).
18 Musica modulatoria vocalis, 44-74. For a brief guide to Printz's figures, see Horsley, 'Th
Diminutions in Composition and Theory of Composition', 138, 153, although this author confuse
the Compendium musicae of 1668 with the different work of the same title of 1689. Printz's first ex-
plication of figures was in the Satyrischer Componist, part 2 (1677) (see below).
19 Miiller-Blattau, Die Kompositionslehre, 31-9.
20 Ibid., 7-16.
21 Otto Gibel makes a distinction between plain singing and that employing diminution at the
outset of his Seminarium modulatoriae vocalis (Celle, 1645), introduction, but he deals only with
plain singing, referring the reader to Herbst for a good introduction to coloratura.

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 46 JOHN BUTT

between 1618 and

to diminution.
Bernhard's view that some form of embellishment was appropriate in
all styles is substantiated by several writings which are not essentially
prescriptive accounts of ornamental practice. Demantius (1635) lists some
of the usual figures in his appendix, as if to alert the singer to their ex-
istence without offering explicit instruction.22 Friderici likewise gives little
tuition in ornamental figures (other than those points noted above in con-
nection with Bernhard), but his conclusion mentions the 'new' Italian
mannerisms (almost certainly in reaction to Praetorius's publication).23
He excuses his omission on account of the fact that this elaborated perfor-
mance is still too difficult for young boys (for whom there is already more
than enough to explain) and is in any case practised only in the most
distinguished institutions. Furthermore the art is greatly misused and
many such renderings sound ridiculous to the knowledgeable listener.
Friderici's point that spontaneous ornamentation is (or should be?)
practised only in the higher-ranking Kapellen is strongly substantiated by
Criiger (1660), an author who does in fact give an extensive description of
the practice. Just as Bernhard affirmed, any otherwise proficient boy can-
not be a skilled performer until he has acquired a skilful 'Manier', can
apply the accentus, and has mastered the simpler passages of
diminution.24 However the average schoolboy need not undertake a
detailed study of diminution unless he intends to make a 'profession' of
music; this technique belongs only to the well-appointed princely
Kapellen.
The profusion of complaints about ornamentation and diminution sug-
gests that they were fairly widely practised. The pastor E. Gruber wrote
one of the many primers in elementary singing for use in schools.25 His in-
troduction stresses that pupils should pay attention to the text and not
hinder the edification of the listener with too many diminutions and trills.
One of the most vitriolic attacks on florid church music came from the
pietistic pastor of Lauben, J. Muscovius:
How would this heathen [Aristotle] judge the church music of Christians
today, when he - as often happens, especially on high feasts - in the gathering
of the simple congregation, would hear nothing more than a laughter, where
soon one of them will make coloratura or trills thereby shredding the text;
soon a small boy therein whimpers or crows like a chicken, then the whole
company cries together like hunters at the hunt.26

22 Christoph Demantius, Isagoge artis musicae (Freiberg, 1635).

23 See Ernst Langeliitje, Die Musicafiguralis des Magister Daniel Friderici (Leipzig, 1901), 30.
24 Criiger, Musicae practicae praecepta, 21. Johann Caspar Lange, Methodus nova & perspicua
(Hildesheim, 1688), 47, also states that boys should master coloratura once they have learnt to read
music correctly.
25 Erasmus Gruber, Synopsis musica (Regensburg, 1673).
26 Johannes Muscovius, Bestrafften Mi6brauch der Kirchen-Music (Lauben, 1694), 30: 'Was
wiirde wohl dieser Heyde von der itzigen Kirchen-Music der Christen urtheilen / wenn er / wie
offt / sonderlich an hohen Festen / in der gantzen Versamlung der einffiltigen Gemeine / nichts
mehre h6rete / als ein Gelichter / da bald einer durch Zerreissung des Textes daher colora-
turiret / oder drfillert / bald ein kleiner Knabe drein winselt / oder wie ein Hihnlein krihet / bald
der gantze Hausse / wie der Jiger auff der Jagt / zusammen schreyet.' A similar attack on coloratura
is made by Gottfried Vockerodt's Milbrauch derfreyen Kiinste (Frankfurt, 1697), 24.

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VOCAL ORNAMENTATION AND GERMAN BAROQUE COMPOSITIONAL THEORY 47

It is difficult to ascertain whether Muscovius is complaining about the

style of the music itself or merely the performance style. However this am-
biguity does succinctly return us to a central topic of this study: the ab-
sorption of coloratura into the notated compositional style. There seems,
towards the end of the seventeenth century, to be strong evidence within
the tutors addressed specifically to singers that this was indeed the case
and that the singer was consequently denied his role as part-composer.
J. S. Beyer (1703) includes coloratura in his extensive instruction in sing-
ing, but observes that 'although nowadays in singing it is no longer the
practice to add much coloratura to the notes, where the composer has not
indicated it - that one cannot well introduce it even with slow notes - I
have however specified just a few here, and also a few variations on
cadences, for the mere exercise of youth'.27 Similarly J. G. Ahle's addi-
tions to his father's Anleitung (in the 1704 edition), noting the misuse of
coloratura (and directly copying Friderici here), include an anecdote
about Josquin who complained of singers adding notes: 'You ass, why do
you add a coloratura here? Had that pleased me, I would have written it
myself. If you want to correct well-composed pieces, write your own and
leave mine uncorrected.' Interestingly Ahle proceeds to note that the per-
formers are often not so much at fault as the composers themselves, who
seldom know the correct time or appropriate place to add figuration.28
M. Fuhrmann (1706), like Beyer, gives extensive instruction in orna-
mental figures, but states even more explicitly that this art is now part of
compositional - rather than performance - style:
Truly one could here argue that the various manners specified in this chapter
need to be understood not at all by the vocalist but by the composer. Answer:
it is true, but whoever does not peer with only one eye sees without my
reminder that I have cited this delicacy of poetry for the good of the student,
so that the same would learn to understand, with time, something of the com-
posers' language, if they label these manners with Italian names. For if a
singer sings away at a piece with enjoyment, but does not know how the vir-
tuosi name this or that manner, it is rather like the case of a peasant who
devours a delicately prepared potage with great appetite, but does not know
what type of dish he has eaten, if one were to ask him.29

27 Beyer, Primae lineae, 60: 'Ob zwar in Singen die Variationes notarum heutiges Tages nicht
mehr in Usu, daB man auf denen Noten viel Coloraturen mache / wo sie der Componist nicht
gesetzt / auch sich solche bey langsamen Noten nicht wohl anbringen lassen; so habe doch nur etliche
wenige / wie auch die Variationes Cadentiarum zum blossen Exercitatio der Jugend / mit anhero
setzen wollen.'

28 Johann Rudolf Ahle, Kurze/doch deutliche Anleitung zu der lieblich- und 16blichen
Singekunst, 2nd edn ed. and annotated by Johann Georg Ahle (Miihlhausen, 1704), 80-1: 'Du
Esel / wariim tuhstu eine Coloratur hinzu? Hitte mir dieselbe gefallen / so wolte ich sie wohl selbst
gesetzet haben. Win du recht gecomponirte Gesange wilst corrigiren / so mache dir einen
eigenen / und laB mir meinen ungecorrzigirt. Allein man hat sich itzo wegen des passaggirens und
diminuirens nicht so sehr fiber die Vocalisten und Instrumentisten zu beschwehren / als fiber die
Componisten selbst. Din die wenigsten wissen die Figuras Musicas zu rechter Zeit / und an geh6rige
Orten an zu wenden'; Ahle also gives a good summary of recent clerical attacks, including that of
Muscovius.

29 Fuhrmann, Musicalischer- Trichter, 71: 'Zwar m6chte hier jemand einwerffen: Es wiren
diesem Capitel unterschiedliche Manieren specificirt, so ein Musicus vocalis gar nicht / sonder
ein Musicus Poiticus verstehen miiste. Antwort: Es ist wahr / aber wer nicht coclisch gucket /
siehet ohn mein Erinnern / daB ich diese delicias Poeticas einem Tyroni zum besten mit angeff
habe / damit derselbe bey Zeit der Componisten ihre Sprache in etwas verstehen lerne / w

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48 JOHN BUTT

If the composer h
tion, but the sing
newly acquired ar
ever understood t
time when he was
Praetorius, himsel
must have the na
understanding and
from the contex
knowledge of the
demonstrate. He d
but at the appropr
latter points he pr
the chapter ('Exerc
his narrative at t
Arte prattica & p
provised 'contrap
from Italian sourc
Friderici and Bern
for the rules of m
(as the 'fundamen
return to the note
cautious in polyp
pieces.31 However,
that the singer sh
that the notated c
the 'fundament' cl
diminution is the
specific chord.
Tutors which giv
ornamental figure
mal grounding in
mediately after de
he recommends t
piece belongs, bu
the harmonic stru
part of his Compe
Evidently, if Ber
formers on comp
There seems to be
sarily acquainted

dieselbe diese Manieren m

mit Lust wegsinget / we
gehets ihm fast eben als
hineinschlinget / weiB ab
30 Praetorius, Syntagm
31 Printz, Musica modu
32 Criiger, Musicae pra
33 Printz, Compendium

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VOCAL ORNAMENTATION AND GERMAN BAROQUE COMPOSITIONAL THEORY 49

diminution seem to have been elements of style rather than substance. At

this point, then, it is appropriate to examine sources on musica poetica -
treatises which offer instruction in composition - to determine whether
and how the composer absorbed the performer's art.

ORNAMENTAL FIGURES IN COMPOSITIONAL THEORY AND PRACTICE

All German writings on compositional theory during the seve

tury are essentially manuals on late Renaissance counterpoint.
any concern with figuration or diminution is secondary and n
in the chapters dealing with the fundamentals of composit
remarkable in the context of this study is that most referenc
composition correspond closely to their counterparts in the sin
Lippius (1612) introduces the matter of florid composition - a
did for the singer - with reference to the nature of the text an
of the music on the listeners: the composer can use these o
polish his harmonic oration. Coloratura is reserved for the up
while the bass proceeds slowly. Just as Bernhard was later to
pius notes that 'in this style ordinary musicians often emb
composition when appropriate, using pleasant elegance like
scriptual flourish'.14
Herbst - one of the most influential writers on vocal ornamentation
- makes only a short reference to 'contrapunctus floridus sive coloratus' in
his treatise on composition: 'numerous ways and means of singing, with
which the song is adorned, formed and expressed'.35 Criiger's Synopsis
musicae (1654) is divided into three parts, the first dealing with the rules
of harmony, the second with the ornamentation of melody and the third
with general bass. The second section is essentially a Latin translation of
Praetorius's instructions to singers (which Criiger later incorporated into
his singing tutor). Clearly, then, the composer was to assimilate the
techniques used by performers (both ornamental figures and thorough-
bass) in order to perfect and refine his style. Praetorius's comment that
singers must not overstep the 'laws of music' and ruin the work with too
much coloratura is repeated, again without any real indication of how
this is to be achieved. Presumably the composer's study of counterpoint,
his knowledge of the text and experience in oratory will prevent him from
succumbing to the worst excesses of singers.
Printz's first detailed study of ornamental figures appeared in the
second part of his Satyrischer Componist (initially published in 1677, one
year before the vocal tutor), a treatise on composition which, exactly like
Criiger's, ends with an explication of thoroughbass. As he states in the in-
troduction to Figuren, the material is equally useful for the composer and
singer.36 The chapter is designed expressly for composers who, although

34 Johannes Lippius, Synopsis musicae novae (Strasbourg, 1612), trans. Benito V. Rivera (Col-
orado Springs, 1977), 49.
35 Johann Andreas Herbst, Musica poetica (Nuremberg, 1643), 5: 'mancherley formen Art und
WeiB zu singen / damit der Gesang gezieret / formiret und ausgedrucket wird'.
36 Wolfgang Caspar Printz, Phrynis Mitilienaeus oder Satyrischer Componist (2nd edn, Dresden
and Leipzig, 1696), part 2, 44: 'es beydes einem Stinger / als auch einem Componisten sehr niitzlich
seyn k6nte'.

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 50 JOHN BUTT

skilled in their art

as elements of 'v
Given the title o
tionibus' - Printz
of the same coin. H
existent lines and
only difference be
most part the two
to the statistical
figure. In connecti
not all [permutati
of the mode too m
which do not serv
context there is so
figures: the numb
leading to the re
using figures com
ways.39 The com
schooled by the e
Printz the figure
somewhat in the manner of salt to food.40
It is not precisely clear how the composer is to use these figures since
Printz does not relate them to the rules of dissonance in composition
(these having already been covered in the first volume); the main inten-
tion is to stimulate invention.41 The prospective composer should proceed
from figure to figure, after weeding out those figures which have too great
an ambitus or 'some other defect', he must thereafter 'take one after
another of the same, and add on to each another fitting figure, firstly on
just the same pitch on which the last note of the first figure stands, as far
as it is appropriate, since few such figures can prettily be employed in
vocal pieces; after that in all the other suitable intervals, both ascending
and descending'.42 Therefore the composer assimilates figures originally
used in performance, in a manner which employs them as part of the
compositional fabric.

7 Ibid., 44, 67.

38 Ibid., 52: 'Wiewohl zwar nicht alle gebraucht werden k6nnen/ weil viel den A mbitum Modi
gar zu sehr iiberschreiten / so hat doch ein Componist das auslesen / und mag die jenigen / so ihm
nicht dienen / wohl ausmustern.
39 Ibid., 61.
40 Ibid., 46: 'Denn gleich wie eine ungesalzene Speise; also ist eine Melodey ohne Figuren wenig
annehmlich.'

41 Ibid., 46: 'Ich will aber hier nicht handeln de Variatione, so geschicht conjunctionib
Dissonantiarum, und dergleichen / davon du gnugsam berichtet bist aus der Musicd Poeticd, s
de Variatione, aus welcher alle und iede Erfindungen eines Componisten fliessen.
42 Ibid., 66: 'Wer diese Figuren erfinden will / der setzt erstlich alle einfache / jedoch nu
schicklichen, Denn er mag darvon wegwerffen / was wegen des allzu grossen A mbitiss, oder
andern Mangels halber nicht zu gebrauchen ist: Hernach nimmt er eine nach der ander
denenselben / und setzt zu ihr eine jewede andere schickliche Figur, erstlich in eben der clav
welcher die letztere Note der ersten Figur stehet / wofern es sich nur schicken will; sintemahl w
solche Figuren in Vocal-Sachen hiibsch angebracht werden: Darnach in allen andern gesch
Intervallen / so wohl auff- als absteigenden.

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VOCAL ORNAMENTATION AND GERMAN BAROQUE COMPOSITIONAL THEORY 51

Just as Printz the theorist shows clearly that the art of variation is
shared by composers and performers alike, so does the Leipzig cantor
Tobias Michael add diminution (or rather substitute simpler lines with
diminution) in the manner of the singer in some of the vocal lines for
the second part of his Musicalischer Seelen-Lust (1637). The preface to the
quinta vox shows that he is very much of the opinion that coloratura is the
privilege of singers. He is blatantly apologetic for having included lines of
coloratura since, in his experience, talented singers perform better if they
are given free rein in adding diminution: 'I cannot agree with those who
want to tie everything down to one manner, and still less with those who
are not satisfied with anything unless it is of their own making and
baking.'43 His patently formulaic coloratura (following 'Kapsberger's
style') is provided as an alternative for certain parts of the extant lines and
is included merely by way of example to assist the inexperienced (see
Example 1).
Despite Michael's claims that performers could have done this just as
easily, it is difficult to conceive how they could have improvised so freely
from the notated line (preserving only the first and last notes of the
original) without knowledge of the bass part, or, in the case of bar 31, of
each other's line. This consideration aside, Michael gives little attention
to the musical implications of the figured versions, just as if he were a
singer applying his favourite figures: in bars 25-7 the rhythmic and
melodic elements of the original imitation are obscured by the diminu-
tion; the diminution of bar 31 more successfully (and necessarily) relates
the simultaneous vocal parts of the original, although the contrary
motion is abandoned.
One of the most interesting commentaries on the relationship betw
performing and composing practice is to be found in J. G. A
Musikalisches Gespriiche (1695-1701). In two of the dialogues, Ahle
Latinized name thinly disguised by the anagram 'Helianus') answ
student who complains of forbidden parallels caused by the figuratio
the music. His response is that if such a figure were removed, the sin
would surely add it (since figures of the accentus variety are so o
added in progressions involving thirds). Such notes are so short in
that they cannot cause offence. Why should one forbid in notation th
which is common in singing and playing? If performers give such eleg
and gracefulness with the various figures (here there is a list of refer
to many of the vocal treatises already encountered) how can it be wron
the composer does the same?44 Helianus later substantiates this argum
by observing that 'intrinsically short dissonances' can neither mitiga
error nor cause one.45

Here the composer is explicitly recommended to imitate perfor

since much is to be gained from the style therein and any passing par

43 'Daher ich derer Meynung nicht seyn kan / welche alles nur an eine Manier
wollen / vielweniger derer / welchen durchaus nichts gefillet / als was sie selber geschaffe
was ihres Gebackes ist.'

44 Johann Georg Ahle, Musikalisches Friihlings-Gesprdche (Miihlhausen, 1695), 32-4.

45 Johann Georg Ahle, Musikalisches Herbst-Gesprdche (Miihlhausen, 1699), 20: 'Verstdind
Komponisten wissen wohl / daB die intrinsec? kurzen Dissonantien keinen fehler hindern / und a
keinen machen k6nnen.'

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 52 JOHN BUTT

Example 1. Tobias
Kommet her zu mi
Cantus 25

Neh - met auff euch mein Joch/ Neh - met auff euch mein
A [Cantus diminutions]

euch mein

,Tenor

[Tenor diminutions]

Basso continuo

Joch/

Joch

Neh- met auff euch_ mein- Joch/ Neh - met auff euch mein Jochi

euch mein Joch

30

neh - met auffeuch/auff euch mein Joch/ neh - met auff euch mein Joch/

euch mein

neh - met auffe

euch mein

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VOCAL ORNAMENTATION AND GERMAN BAROQUE COMPOSITIONAL THEORY 53

can be tolerated just as they would be in performance practice. J. G.

Walther - who also borrowed Bernhard's comment at the outset of this
paper - quotes Ahle on this matter, adding that figures must be
employed with a respectable moderation, so that any consecutives pass by
without the ear noticing.46 Obviously singers had made their mark on
musical style with their expressive devices (of which diminution practice
was a component) and composers were anxious not to lose their share o
the credit.
It is significant that J. G. Ahle's later comments (1704) added at the
end of an enlarged edition of his father's singing treatise of 1673 suggest
that complaints about coloratura practice should be addressed not so
much to performers as to the composers themselves, who so seldom
understand the correct time and suitable places to add the 'figures of
music'.47 Although this could imply a contradiction in Ahle's thinking -
the references to the 'correct time' and 'suitable places' might suggest that
the composer should assiduously avoid errors of musical grammar - it is
more likely that he is concerned with the appropriateness of such devices
to the text, and that the work is not deformed and rendered unrecog-
nizable. As a poet laureate, Ahle was greatly concerned with text setting
and the transfer of poetic rhetorical devices to music. Strictness of
musical grammar was perhaps subservient to the affect and meaning of
the music, matters which were understood innately and learnt by ex-
ample rather than through theory. 'Whoever has a musical ear and good
judgment, and understands the pathetic quality of music, he will know
well when, how, and where he should use dissonance.'48
It is not difficult to find composers of Ahle's age who give little atten-
tion to the harmonic accuracy of coloratura. Example 2 shows two ex-
tracts from the florid instrumental parts in the cantatas of Johann
Schelle, Bach's predecessor but two at the Thomasschule, Leipzig. Clearly
this is the sort of notated coloratura which Ahle excused: the harmonic
problems could be mitigated by the speed at which they pass. But the
composition hardly seems perfected to the degree we might expect from
Schiitz. On the other hand this might be for us today a good example of
improvised coloratura by performers of the period.
What is significant, if not unexpected, about the theoretical and prac-
tical views of composition so far is that they not only substantiate Bern-
hard's point that composers absorbed the devices of performers, but also
that composers were to behave exactly as if they were performers: much
was to be gained by adopting the latter's 'mannerisms'. Only Printz went
so far as to suggest that figures be the catalyst for invention, but this is
merely a possibility opened up by the study of figures, one which is essen-
tially identical with that offered to performers.

46 Walther, Praecepta, 182: 'Nur dieses ist darbey noch zu beobachten, daB dergl. Figuren mi
einer anstindigen Moderation angebracht werden miiBen, damit diejenigen Noten, so die Consecu-
tion zweyer Quinten machen, ganz unvermerckt von unsern Ohren vorbey streichen.'
47 See note 28 above.
48 Ahle, Musikalisches Herbst-Gesprdche, 39: 'Wer ein Musikalisches Geh6r und gutesjudicium
hat / und die Pathologiam Musicam versteht / der wird die Discordanzen wohl zugebrauchen
wissen / win / wie / u. wo er sol.'

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 54 JOHN BUTT

Example 2. Joh
Johann Schell
Researches in t
51

Violin 1

Violin 2

Violin 3

Violin 4
vi 1 ,"v

Continuo

However, as t
to be gaining
seventeenth ce
- was quite un
damentals of
One always see
ground for it .
tions of disson
one will show o
As a rather co
grounded in t
saw dangers i
fundamentals
Obviously th
greatest of the
meister's conc
school of com
posers' use of
that of Bernh
of using disson
pleasant, and b

49 Andreas Werck
immer was Neues /
siones, und rechte r
bringen. Darum pr
Kunst.'
50 Christoph Bernhard, Tractatus compositionis augmentatus (MS), Miiller-Blattau, Die Kom
positionslehre, 63, 'Figuram nenne ich eine gewiBe Art die Dissonantzen zu gebrauchen, daB
dieselben nicht allein nicht widerlich, sondern vielmehr annehmlich werden, und des Componiste
Kunst an den Tag legen.'

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VOCAL ORNAMENTATION AND GERMAN BAROQUE COMPOSITIONAL THEORY 55

documented to warrant a detailed study here. All manners of dissonant

licence are discussed, so ornamental figures of the kind encountered in
practical tutors is only one part of Bernhard's wider survey of 'figures'
(which, for example, also covers the resolution of dissonances by other
voices, and chromatic progressions). Although the two treatises in com-
position are designed as prescriptive methods for the student composer, it
is quite clear that Bernhard's treatment of figures (particularly thefigurae
superficiales which are used in the modem stylus luxurians) is essentially
analytical, an account of how the figuration in the compositions of his age
could be explained in terms of a background adherence to the rules of
dissonance prescribed by the prima prattica. Thus examples such as that
illustrated in Example 3 show how certain passages make sense musically
when they are understood in terms of the proposed reduction. Feder-
hofer's recent study and an earlier one byJoshua Rifkin have convincingly
shown that Bernhard's methods are a viable method of analysing music of
the Schiitz era, in a manner which would not merely permit any random
succession of notes to be justified according to strict rules of counter-
point.51 Bernhard's approach is unique in taking the figured version as

Example 3. Christoph Bernhard, Tractatus, chapter 33 (Miiller-

Blattau, Die Kompositionslehre, 81-2; clefs modernized).

k" - I I I I II b I I

Stehet natiirlich also:

I F

51 Federhofer, 'Christoph Bernhards Figurenlehre'; Joshua Rifkin, 'Schiitz

The Musical Times, 113 (1972), 1067-70.

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 56 JOHN BUTT

the starting-point
reduction reflects
mental contrapu
compositional ske
how many moder
that derived pure
However it is sig
figures of embe
practice; indeed in
with the historica
many of the figu
which Bernhard
embellishment).
superiectio or acc
nota and variatio
the second - are e
diminution treatis
poser remain aler
variations, a com
old-fashioned - s
know'.51 Bernhar
figures he has alr

It is clear that vari

that upon the four
fifth, since it is n
same manner as thirds are - that is with the true transitus.54

As has already been noted, Bernhard's method of analysing the figures

used in composition was adopted by several later theorists, such as
Samber, Walther, Heinichen and Mattheson. As late as 1752 C. Ruetz
remarks that the quantity of figures in the music of his day is what
most distinguishes it from that of earlier generations. However the
requirements of completeness ('Vollkommenheit') - perhaps more of
a concern to mid-eighteenth-century aesthetics than to those of Bern-
hard's time - demand that the more varied the figuration adopted,
the more necessary it is that everything be united and directed to one
end.55

52 Miiller-Blattau, Die Kompositionslehre, 71-5, 147-50.

53 Ibid., 74: 'Bey gefundenen solchen Variationen muB ein Componist gute Acht haben, daB er
nicht gar zu altviiterische erwehle, welches einem geiibten leicht zu wissen ist.'
54 Ibid., 73-4: 'NB. Aus diesem Exempel erhellet, daB die Variation der Tertie nicht anders ist,
als ein Transitus . . . daB die Variation der Quarte aus dem Quasi-Transitu herflieBe. Die steigende
oder fallende Quinte, wie sie natiirlich aus 2 Tertien bestehet, also wird sie auch wie die Tertien
variiret und ist daher ein wahrer Transitus.'
55 Caspar Ruetz, Widerlegte Vorurtheile von der Beschaffenheit der heutigen Kirchenmusic
(Liibeck, 1752), 54: 'Die Vermischung der Figuren und mancherley Verzierung der Melodey ist eines
von den vornehmsten Stiicken, welche die heutige Music von der alten unterscheiden ... Die Reguln
der Vollkommenheiten erfordern ja, daB mannigfaltige Sachen mit einander vereiniget seyn, und zu
einem Zwecke mit einander vereiniget seyn, und zu einem Zweck mit einander jibereinstimmen
muissen.'

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VOCAL ORNAMENTATION AND GERMAN BAROQUE COMPOSITIONAL THEORY 57

Although Bernhard's theory clearly acknowledges the influence of im-

provised diminution on compositional practice, the figures are viewed
from the standpoint of an experienced composer, immersed in the con-
ventions of late Renaissance compositional practices. This rather con-
tradicts Ahle's view, recommending that composers abandon their
pedantic rules of part-writing in favour of the immediacy of expression
achieved by singers. R. P. M. Spiess in 1745 effects (to some extent) a
compromise between the two views, since he separates the figures con-
stituting the decoratio of music into two types, those notated by the com-
poser and those to be improvised by the performer. It is difficult always to
discern a clear distinction between these two fields, since general figures
of ornamentation are common to both; however the figures specified for
composition are of a more rhetorical nature, those which relate to the
poetic effect of the music (abruptio, anabasis, etc.) rather than to the
specific motives employed.56
In sum there are two basic attitudes to notated figuration in seven-
teenth-century Germany, both of which clearly acknowledge the influence
of performance conventions. First there are the writers and composers
(Michael, Printz, Ahle and Schelle) who take over the performer's art
wholesale and recommend that the composer apply it to his written com-
positions, as a free embellishment of a simpler structure. Second there are
those (to whom Bernhard and his followers were the apologists) who -
while adopting many motivic patterns used in performance - give more
attention to the role and development of the figuration concerned, justi-
fying it in terms of an underlying system and ultimately changing the
norms of the compositional language itself. Clearly the actual state of af-
fairs is hardly likely to be as clear-cut as this, but the hypothetical distinc-
tion is a useful tool by which to gauge the attitude of any particular
composer to the task of composition.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMPOSER AND PERFORMER

The most interesting cases of notated ornamentation are tho

composer seems to be taking over the performer's art, but ten
figures in a manner which could not possibly have been achie
improvising performer. Praetorius's notated coloratura in his
caduceatrix (1619) is an obvious attempt to introduce the
manner' into German church music and is, as such, the co
vocal tutor. He clearly states in his 'Ordinantz' that the sim
has been added above the more elaborate lines so that boys, e
schools, can still perform the works if they are unfamiliar w

56 Johann Martin Spiess, Kurtzer, doch hinldnglicher Unterricht zur Choral u

(Heidelberg, 1745), 135: 'Die Figurae Musicae, die sogenannte Manierae, Coloratur
Zierd und Geschmuck der harmonischen Composition. Die erste, nemlich die F
setzet der Componist zu Papier. Die andere s.c. die Manieren, Coloraturen & c. iib
Judicio oder Beurtheilungs-Geist, und Virtuosite der Herren Vocalisten und Inst
also pp. 155-6. This division of figures into those for the composer and those for the
popular with writers of the mid-eighteenth century and is perhaps influenced in
method of notating the performer's ornaments in symbols within the notation.

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 58 JOHN BUTT

practice.57 He clea
and the simpler ve
this is quite the o
20 years later), wh
coloratura (see abo
amples as models b
the first note of d
note for the simpl
versions with diminution first.
On the other hand, since most of the works are chorale-based, much of
the diminution was obviously composed around the notes of the original
melody; indeed Praetorius states in the introduction to no. 14, Wir
gliduben all, that he has 'somewhat diminished the chorale in the vocal
parts in the current Italian fashion, nach meiner Wenigkeit'.58 However
what is interesting is that in some places the diminution presents a far
more coherent musical structure than that of the simplified version. In
the second part of no. 15, Aus tiefer Not, the ornamentation links the
parts in bars 9-10 by sequential movement in thirds (see Example 4).
This produces a far more unified texture than that of the simplified parts
which bear no melodic relation to each other and lack the sequential
movement. Likewise in no. 24, Siehe wiefein und lieblich ist, the imita-
tion from the word 'und' is more consistent than that in the simpler ver-
sion (see Example 5). In the third part of this piece the two ornamented
voices imitate each other in short phrases; however the simplified version
in slower note values often lacks this consistency, since literal imitation
would have led to awkward dissonances.
Significant conclusions can be drawn from the case of Praetorius. Fi
as a composer, his practice was more sophisticated than that advoca
by the compositional theorists who suggested merely that the compose
imitate singers. The very act of notating coloratura caused its nature t
change from added ornament to musical substance, something wh
was also evident in the Italian repertory in the last decades of the
vious century.59 It may well be the composers' assimilation of figures
diminution and the - probably unconscious - subjection of them to
standard processes of composition which account for some of the b
compositional changes during the German Baroque. The increasin
authoritative use of figures by composers has also been amply dem
strated by the comments in vocal treatises of the late seventeenth and e
eighteenth centuries. However this process was clearly not a line
historical development since composers can be found in both catego
throughout the period concerned. But while the role of the figu

57 Maybe this practice of notating two versions of the music was influenced by the publication
Bartolomeo Barbarino's Secondo libro delli motetti (Venice, 1614); see Horsley, 'The Diminutio
Composition and Theory of Composition', 127. In any case there is a famous precedent in the
Possente spirto from Monteverdi's Orfeo.
58 'Dieweil ich auch in etlichen / dieser und dergleichen Art Concert-Gesinge / den Choral in
Vocal-Stimmen auf die jetzige italidinische Manier in etwas nach meiner Wenigkeit diminuiret / u
wie es sonsten genennet wird / coleriret und zerbrochen habe'.
59 Newcomb, The Madrigal at Ferrara, i, esp. 76-83.

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VOCAL ORNAMENTATION AND GERMAN BAROQUE COMPOSITIONAL THEORY 59

Example 4. Michael Praetorius, Aus tiefer Not, part 2 (Polyhymnia

caduceatrix, 1619). Bar numbers from M. Praetorius: Gesamtausgabe,
ed. Friedrich Blume (Wolfenbiittel, 1928-40), xvii; music text revised
from original print of 1619.
8

simplex

Cantus 1 [-en trau-]

und sei-ner Gii - te trau

simplexv Ii rr
Cantus 2

und sei-ner Gii - te trau

en

v rA ,r r

- en

superficiales might be equivocal in Praetorius, dispensable in Michael

and questionable in Schelle, it is difficult to conceive of much alteration
to the figuration in the music of J. S. Bach; here diminution is indispen-
sable and (as Printz recommended) the very substance of the 'invention'.
But, as Fuhrmann suggests, this does not mean that performers were to
give up their responsibilities in understanding the figuration. Several
writers in the latter part of the period stress - quite to the contrary - that
the performer must be familiar with the art of composition too: Werck-
meister's distaste at incompetent diminution is supported by a long
quotation from Kuhnau's Der musicalische Quack-Salber which centres
on the qualities of the true musician. A performer who does not know the
rules of composition is no better than a bird; likewise a composer who
does not understand practice is like a dumb orator.60 F. E. Niedt similarly

60 Johann Kuhnau, Der musicalische Quack-Salber (Dresden, 1700), 503; Werckmeister,

Cribrum musicum, 43: '(denn wo er da nicht zu Hause ist / so mag er so gut und so delicat spielen
oder singen / als er will / wird er doch nicht viel besser seyn / als etliche V6gel / welche ihre Lieder

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 60 JOHN BUTT

Example 5. M
(Polyhymnia c
Gesamtausgabe
music text revis
20

simplex

Cantus 1

Sie - - he wie fein und

simplex

Cantus 2

Sie - he wie fein wie

fein und lieb - lich ist lieb

fein und lieblich ist

-\V
rry,v !i;o
I I! ti
fein und leb-ich ist

suggests, in the preface to the second part of his Handleitung (1706) that
'a true musician's equally composer'.61 The vogue for relating music to
rhetoric (as is evident in the quotation from Bernhard at the opening)
auch gar niedlich und wohl herpfeiffen) .
ungeriiumtes als ein Redner / der aber stumm i
6F. E. Niedt - The Musical Guide, trans. an
(Oxford, 1989), 60.

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VOCAL ORNAMENTATION AND GERMAN BAROQUE COMPOSITIONAL THEORY 61

may also have played a part in this association of composer and per-
former: he who writes a speech must equally be capable of delivering it,
and vice versa.
There may also be a strong social case for the closer association of com
posers and performers and the growing versatility of musicians in th
latter part of seventeenth-century Germany. First, the cantor's role was
moving from that of schoolmaster/musical instructor towards that of a
more purely practical musician who was expected both to compose eve
more demanding music and to direct the performance. Second, the roles
of organist and cantor were drawing closer together, so that such posts
could be - and often were - filled by someone capable of fulfilling both
roles (e.g. Buxtehude and J. S. Bach). Third, the cantor, as a more pra
tical musician, often achieved higher status as town music director (Bach
or even opera director (Telemann). Such increased mobility contribute
to a greater mingling of musical functions and styles. A glance at th
achievements of the pupils of J. S. Bach and the surviving testimonials h
wrote for them give a remarkable insight into the versatility expected o
the more talented practical musicians: most sang, played several in-
struments and also composed.
The growing importance of thoroughbass is another symptom of this
development: composition was increasingly learnt through the most prac
tical method, one which cultivates fluency in both composition and
performance. It is interesting that in the early eighteenth century com-
position is taught in the sequence (1) thoroughbass, (2) strict counter
point (e.g. Niedt, Heinichen and, later, Kirnberger), while in th
preceding century the sequence was precisely the reverse (e.g. Herbs
Criiger and Printz). The interaction between composer and performer is
also reflected in some of the definitions of music from the later part of th
seventeenth century. Both Printz and Walther define musica practica as
an art encompassing both musica modulatoria (performance) and musi
poetica (composition) while earlier German authors tended to reserv
musica practica for performance alone.62 The definition of Printz an
Walther persists in the writings of Murschhauser (1721) and Maier
(1741).63

Performers of German Baroque music today are obviously no longer the

composers. However, this study has suggested that much of the musical
style itself derived from the continual and changing dialogue between
composer and performer. A sense of this dialogue needs to be recaptured
if the concept of a historically conditioned performance is to have any
sense. Indeed many major issues in performance practice can be reduced
to the basic enquiry into the composer-performer status of any particular
text or repertory. Is the performer expected to add coloratura? If the
composer has notated it, has he done so as a performer or has he reformed

62 Printz, Satyrischer Componist, 17; Walther, Praecepta, 14-15.

63 Franz Xaver Murschhauser, Academia musico-poetica bipartita (Nuremberg, 1721), 1; Joseph
Friedrich Bernhard Caspar Maier, Neu-er6ffneter theoretisch- und practischer Music-Saal
(Nuremberg, 1741), 23.

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62 JOHN BUTT

the figures conce

ture? Modern per
they appreciate th
from what he had
poser; thus as pe
originally taught
surface of the mu
structure. Differe
subjective assessm
ornamental figure
The performer al
while many vocal
posed musical str
notated music is b
understand the
dichotomy here:
who need not und
'interpreter' who
tion and the relat
tal and chordal s
modern performer
informed practice
was, an ever-chan

Universit

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