On Aug 21, 5:32 pm, Biendoducedodièse <***@telus.net> wrote:
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... I thought we could go of a tangent and talk about Baroque interpretation ... how do you approach it on the guitar?
Is improvised ornamentation something possible on this so fingered oriented instrument?
Yes, it is- with some caveats. The best impression to be conveyed in
a Baroque ornamentation is that it is a decorative filagree tossed off
as an artifact of capricious whimsy on part of the performer, an
impulsive fancy conceived at the moment of delivery- in order to flesh
out the score of what otherwise would be a mere skeleton of a
composition. This in fact was the intention in having left a
manuscript in such a state of seeming incompletion; the performer was
a co-creator with the composer of the presented product, and his
artistry as a performer was adjudged on how well he was able to handle
that partnership. The composer was quite often the performer anyway,
which meant he could render the delivery of his own piece as he liked
to suit his mood. The degree to which a composer would defer such
completion to the moment of his own presentation, or abdicate to some
other performer varied- Bach's pieces are not the best examples of
compositions otherwise bereft of profundity without this involvement,
even though they do provide scope for it.
The ease and freedom with which such spontaneous expression can be
interjected is somewhat curtailed on guitar as compared with keyboard
instruments. On keyboard, both hands operate independently, so if one
hand is playing a single line, it is able to indulge on its own in
elaborate ornamentation inspired of an instant without compromising
the texture sustained in the other hand. On guitar or lute, both
hands are tied together, and usually neither is disencumbered of the
simulteneity of the entire texture- so often when some neat idea
occurs to the performer, the left hand has some other damn thing it
has to do at the same time which makes it difficult.
This doesn't mean it can't be done- but, though one can attain to a
level at which such stuff can be thrown in, there is also a lot of
necessitated planning ahead, and deliberate inclusion of ornaments
which are preconceived, and then practiced so as to give the _illusion
_ of spontaneity when performed. This way, one can make the same sort
of impression that keyboard players are more easily able---unless---
wait a minute! Do you suppose that keyboard players have _also_ been
practicing their ornamentation ahead of time all along? Why- those
sneaky bastards!
How close can we come to a historical performance, and what are the things we can do to come closer to it?
That is a vexed question. There a lot of problems with coming to a
historical performance. One can listen, absorb, read- and the in the
end do what you like. My impression of stylistically cataloged
ornamentation (after typically cursory study that is not to be equated
with that of a scholar in the field), is that whatever you decide to
do, there is some name which you can call it. But just because what
you decide to do has an entry in the catalog doesn't mean that it will
inevitably fit in. So, you still have to make your own decision.
Here is an example- I like a some of what this guy does, or did in
this performance, and then there are a couple of places where I kinda
wish he'd done something different:
http://tinyurl.com/3hzxoeh
Many will recognize that the piece is actually three seperate pieces
that have been munched together as one, the first three from Noad's
"Baroque Guitar" anthology- an anonymous minuet and sarabande, a
minuet by Falkenhagen transcribed into the same key, ending with a
reprise of the first minuet. The performer in this case is me- so I am
free to make such criticsms as I have above. You guys are free to
make any such criticisms as may be forthcoming because you are _not_
me, and there is no reason for you to be at all solicitous either of
my sensibilities or my sensitivities. The tempo is somewhat brisk
for a minuet, even more so for a sarabande, so. for that, and for the
instrument, historicity is out the window right off the bat. But you
can still get a sense as to how well the ornamentation fits, or
doesn't, as the case may be. For a much more adept exemplar, try some
David Russell- he's pretty good at that stuff..