Ornamentation in Giuseppe Tartinis Trait des Agrments

Module by: C.M. Sunday. E-mail the author

Summary: Ornamentation praties in Tartini!s Trait des Agrments
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Ornamentation' (art ): Single "ote Ornamentation
*igure +: Giuseppe Tartini
Giuseppe Tartini ,tartini-.gi&.
)n e/amining +0th entury ornaments' a number o& 1uestions ome to mind: )s the
ornament diatoni' or does it re1uire an aidental2 3oes it preede the main note
or &all on the beat2 )s it &ast or slo%2 )& slo%' %hat proportion o& the main note does
the ornament re1uire2 3oes the stress lie more on the ornament or the main note2
The 1uestions are ompliated' sine instrutions in $arious treatises are o&ten
ontraditory and stenographi indiations are not onsistent. Methods o& e/eution
%ere dependent upon tradition and musiians ha$e al%ays tended to de$iate &rom
aepted pratie. )n addition' %riters may ha$e put more e4ort into dislosing %hat
they onsider bad pratie as opposed to %hat they aept as orret. Sine up until
the time o& 5eetho$en so muh %as le&t to the disretion o& the player or singer' an
e/eutant t%o enturies later is o&ten le&t %ith a series o& pu66les. )n Tartinis
treatise' as *rederi7 "euman points out se$eral times' muh o& the material is
unlear or ambiguous' and there are opinions stated %hih are gi$en %ithout any
spei8 o& ompelling reasons.
The Appoggiatura' Trill and Mordent
*igure -Appogiature
Appogiature ,Tartini+.png.
*rederi7 "euman ategories t%o primary sorts o& 9orslage:+; in Tartinis
ornaments: ,+. The long or sustained ,appoggiature lunga ossia sostentatat. and ,-.
the short or passing type ,appoggiature bre$e ossia di passaggio.. The 8rst type'
%hih Tartini limits to the hea$y beat and generally to piees in slo% tempo' is said
to ta7e hal& the $alue o& the printed note' and -<= the $alue o& the dotted note. The
reason that omposers do not %rite this material out diretly is beause o& the
di4erene in e/eution> normally' the 8rst eight note %ould need a short trill to
&urther underline it' but as an appoggiature' it should begin so&tly and s%ell and
diminish be&ore it &alls on the eight note. Sine dissonane ?ought? to be resol$ed
do%n%ard' Tartini disli7es a long asending appoggiature that reates a dissonane.
The seond type is an antiipated graenote' a @eeting e/pression %ith the aent
on the priniple note.
Tartinis ad$ie to singers and string players about the use o& the trill is uni1ue and
sensible. The trill %as the most usual and important o& ornaments during this style
period' and urrently the most ontro$ersial' in respet to the on@it o$er the
upper note start. 3espite "eumanns ?intuiti$e misgi$ings about pre$ailing theories
o& baro1ue ornamentation':-; the upper note start o& the trill %as gi$en %ith
monotonous regularity &rom the middle o& the +Ath entury> it is to be &ound in the
%or7s o& (lay&ord' dAngelbert' Mu4at' (urell' Bottenterre' Couperin' Tosi' Cameau'
Duant6' C.(.E. 5ah' Marpurg' and TEr7. Bo%e$er' Feopold Mo6art mentions no rule
about starting trills %ith an upper note' and in t%o long hapters on the trill' Tartini
ne$er mentions the need to start on the upper note' though patterns in the Treatise
do sho% upper-note start and anhor.:=;
The trill' aording to Tartini' is li7e salt in oo7ing' %hih must not be used too
muh or too little. 3i4erent speeds o& trills suit di4erent moods o& musi' and a good
player must master all speeds. Trills may be started &rom abo$e or belo% and there
are se$eral &orms o& ending trills' the bad sort being ?abhorrent to nature.?:G;
Tartini mentions t%o %ays &or a $iolinist to produe a trill. One is by pressing hard on
the lo%er note and stri7ing the trill> the other is the ?ripped? not ?stru7? a4et
reated not by raising the 8nger but by using the %rist to arry the hand in a
rippling motion. This is not the same as Carl *leshs 5ohstriller %hih is reated
%ith the arm in the higher positions.:H; )n the letter to Signora Fombardini':I; the
omposer reommends that the student learn the sha7e by inreasing the speed by
gradation' beginning 8rst %ith the open string and 8rst 8nger:
*igure =Trill
Trill ,Tartini-.png.
This e/erise is also gi$en in the Treatise %ith the addition o& passing by gradation
&rom piano to :
*igure G ,Tartini=.png.
Tartinis mordente is o&ten a prebeat turn> in his treatise he introdues t%o sorts o&
grae notes %hih he alls mordente: ,+. a melodi &orm o& a turn> and ,-. a
genuine mordent %ith one to three alternations. The melodi &orm' onsisting o&
sale%ise notes entering on and preeding the priniple note' is o& t%o types' but
the &alling appoggiatura sounded better to his ears.
*igure HMordent
Mordent ,TartiniG.png.
Bis instrutions are that these graes are to be per&ormed as 1ui7ly as possible'
and not be heard indi$idually but as part o& a total a4et %hih is $i$aious and
spirited. The aent &alls on the priniple note and not on the graes. )n the ase o&
the genuine mordent %ith the alternation' the priniple note still has the aept and
the ornaments are to be done piano and $ery 1ui7ly. The *renh translation o& the
Treatise gi$es an inorret aount o& the t%o types o& turns' re$ealing a rhythmi
ambi$alene not out o& 7eeping %ith other diJulties the Treatise. Tartinis
mordents are antiipated turns &rom either abo$e or belo%> they are not to be
plaed on notes %here any aent is not appropriate. The genuine mordent is
idential to our present-day mordent> at 8rst glane it loo7s li7e a shorter trill' but
&alls' instead' to the note belo% instead o& rising. )t may onsist o& &our or si/ notes'
depending on 8nger speed.:A; The )talians ha$e no %ritten symbol &or the mordent.
*igure IAppogiature
Appogiature ,TartiniH.png.
9ibrato
Taste&ul $ibrato ,tremolo. %as applied not ontinually' but as an oasional
ornament.:0; To Tartini' this ornament %as an a4et produed by the imitation' on
stringed instruments' o& a %a$e motion in the air' %hih is naturally le&t behind by
harpsihord strings' bells or the open string o& any good bo%ed instrument. Be
disparaged its use on hal&-steps' but &elt is sounded %ell on 8nal notes o& phrases'
long notes in singing passages' and double steps on long notes. The modern arm
$ibrato %as un7no%n in the eighteenth entury' and %ould ha$e been impossible to
produe' gi$en the absene o& a modern hin-rest. 9ibrato %as produed %ith the
le&t %rist' more enabling one to ontrol the speed: &ast' slo%' or aelerating on one
note. The hand undulated to%ard the bridge' rather than the sroll' and the le&t
hand held the instrument di4erently than it is held today> hanges in the &orm o& the
bo%' and tension in the hair and string' also ontribute to the di4erene bet%een
+0th and -Kth entury $iolin sound.
Ornamentation' (art )): Compound Ornaments
The seond part o& the Treatise deals %ith natural and arti8ial modes' by %hih
Tartini meant not 7eys ,as meant in *renh. but the manner o& plaing ornamental
8gures' similar to the ?di$isions? o& Eli6abethan musi.:L; Cegarding natural 8gures>
in the ourse o& treating a bass line' ertain adential points lend themsel$es to
8gurations' %hether a &ull stop is made or the melody is un8nished. Tartini
ompares these adential points %ith puntuation in %riting. Cadential &ormulae are
gi$en at length' but omposite 8gures may our naturally' as the primary ells are
simple and &e% in number. )n ontrast' arti8ial 8gurations are $ery many in number
and it %ould be neessary to treat all the possible permutations> they ha$e to do
%ith ompositons' and good taste is the rule. One an generate ideas about these
adenes by e/amining the possible thorough-bass progressions.
"atural adenes are those phrase endings on %hih the melody stops. An arti8ial
adene indiates a 8nal adene' %ith a &ermata sign' that the signer or player
may dra% out as long as he or she %ishes. This &ree aden6a %as $ery muh in the
spirit o& the time' though the &reedom to embellish %as muh more limited in
Tartinis day than it later ame to be. As time passed' omposers inreasingly ga$e
more e/pliit instrutions' and per&ormers tended more and more to onentrate
their impro$isitory impulses on the aden6a. )nitially' Tartini gi$es nineteen o& the
simplest e/amples o& these' autioning that one must be sure to a$oid onseuti$e
8&ths and ota$es. "umerous e/amples &ollo% %ith inreasing omple/ity. Mhile the
e/amples are in maNor' they ould Nust as easily be used in minor' though Tartini
states that they %ould not sound as %ell' due to the irregularities in the minor
mode.
5a7ground o& the Treatise
The Composer
Giusippe Tartini is the lin7 bet%een the old style o& 9i$aldi and the ?ne%? lassiism
o& 9iotti. Bis style hanged gradually &rom baro1ue to style galant and %as a
synthesis o& galant and emp8ndsam 1ualities during the mid-eighteenth entury. Bis
&ame %as based on a rare ombination o& talents> his $irtuosi playing' his
ompositions' ,onsisting o& o$er GKK %or7s %ritten %ithin the spae o& &our
deades bet%een +A-K and +AIK':+K;.' and on his sholarship and teahing. Duant6
ritii6ed Tartinis e/ess o& $irtuosity' perhaps re@eting the preNudie against the
)talian style in musi' %hile praising his beauti&ul' s%eet tone aimed more at
e/pression than po%er' and his mastery o& the great diJulties in$ol$ed in trills'
double trills' double stops and high positions.
Considering that he %as the greatest $iolin master o& his time' and %as 7no%n all
o$er Europe during the mid-eighteenth entury' Tartinis li&e %as relati$ely
sedentary and une$ent&ul.:++; Be %as 7no%n &or his %ell-bred and unassuming
manner' %armth' sensiti$ity and paternal interest in his students. Be %as gi$en to
$isionary mystiism' and %rote mottoes in seret ode on many o& his ompositions.
Be %as an eighteenth entury genius %ho %as not only a omposer and pedagogue'
but an in$entor %ho too7 ontemporary ritiism o& his sienti8 %or7 1uite
seriously.:+-;.
Tartinis musi disappeared &rom ati$e onert repertory' but ontinued to be used
as study material. A hange in musial taste is re@eted in 5urneys t%o published
opinions o& the omposer> the one e/pressed in+A00 %as less &a$orable than the
8rst &rom +AAK> during the interim Tartinis ornate style had begun to seem stilted
and out o& &ashion. Eighteenth entury audienes %ere not historially minded>
Tartinis %or7 %as apparently not re&erred to in other treatises a&ter its publiation'
and by the time o& its publiation in *rane' had begun to be outmoded.
The Shool
Tartinis aademy &or $iolinists' &ounded in +A-A or +A-0' %as the omposers main
soure o& inome> he ga$e daily lessons' %or7ing ten hours a day. The shool
e/isted &or more than &orty years' and the students there omprised most o& the
great European $iolinists.:+=;. The Treatise %as ompiled by his students &rom
lessons> it %as uni1ue in being the 8rst pedagogial %or7 e/lusi$ely to detail the
reason &or and appliations o& ornamentation' pro$iding in&ormation ontinued in no
other boo7s o& the period> Tartinis Treatise ta7es its plae among the most
signi8ant ontributions during the 8rst part o& the +0th entury' inluding those o&
C.(.E. 5ah' Duant6' Agriola' Tosi and Feopold Mo6art. :+G;. )t %as ne$er published
in )taly. )t must ha$e e/isted by +AHK' sine Feopold Mo6art used it in +AHI' but
ould ha$e originated any time bet%een +A-0 ,the year Tartini &ounded his shool.
and . +AHG ,%hen Mo6art began his 9iolinshule..:+H; The original manusript'
%hih %as thought to be lost' %as diso$ered in t%o independent opies' one at
5er7eley and one in 9enie. :+I;.
Conlusion
Eighteenth-entury )talians %ere more interested in art and musi than the
philosophy and politis that onsumed the rest o& Europe and England. )t %as a time
o& gro%ing popularity o& the $iolin and its $irtuosi' and in this Tartinis importane is
seure> he %as the teaher o& (ugnani %ho taught 9iotti' and the teaher o& Felair
%ho taught Ga$inOs.
E/amining the masters %or7 today' one an only onlude that the rise o& the super
$irtuosi in musi has ome &ull irle' and the return to the original intentions o& the
omposers has beome neessary &or eduated musiians. )n this %ay the
aumulated misellany o& t%o enturies may be remo$ed and the purity o& the
originally intentioned sounds may be rereated or appro/imated.
)n the pre&ae to the Moe7 edition' Er%in Paobi states:
Mhoe$er has heard )talian string musi o& that period ,partiularly slo% mo$ements.
played %ithout our permanent $ibrato by good musiians %ill reali6e that aestheti
appreiation has in the meantime hanged less than one might ha$e supposed>
stylistially &aith&ul per&ormane still remains an inseparable part o& true artistry.
:+A;
Endnotes
+. The German term is substituted &or the )talianate ?appoggiature? in order to a$oid
the 1uestionable onnotation o& ?leaning.?
-. )n "eumanns boo7' lesser-7no%n douments that illustrate the main-note trill
inlude those o& 9inen6o (anerai' Carl Testore' 9inen6o Man&redini' Signorelli'
Foren6one' and Antonio 5orghese. :*rederi7 "eumann' Ornamentation in 5aro1ue
and (ost-5aro1ue Musi %ith Speial Emphasis on P.S. 5ah ,"e% Persey: (rineton
Qni$ersity (ress.' +LA0' $i.;
=. "eumanns omplaint about the rigidi&ying e4et o& ertain assumptions in
baro1ue per&ormane pratie is 7eyed on t%o areas: ,+. that all priniple small
grae notes ,suh as the slide' appoggiature or mordent. must neessarily start
preisely on the beat and ta7e their $alues &rom the &ollo%ing note: and ,-. all trills
must neessarily start %ith the upper au/iliary. "eumanns sheme o& organi6ation
onsists o& di$isions o& types.
*igure A"eumann!s 3i$ision o& Types
"eumann!s 3i$ision o& Types ,TartiniI.png.
G. Mhat Tartini means by ?natural? has not to do %ith the ideas assoiated %ith
9oltaire' Cousseau and the Age o& Ceason' but something more onrete and literal>
that is' the ?naturally? ornamented singing o& the people %ith %hom he assoiated
as he gre% up' in (irano on the )strian oast. :Giuseppe Tartini' Trait des Agrments
de la musi1ue. *renh translation' (. 3enis' (aris ,+AA+.' ed. Er%in C. Paobi' %ith
English translation' C. Girdlestone' and &asimile o& original )talian te/t ,Cell and
"e% #or7: Berman Moe7 9erlag.' +LI+' AA..;
H. )bid.' AL.
I. The Fetter to Madalene Fombardini :%ith an English translation by Charles 5urney
,General Bistory O& Musi' *rom The Earliest Times To The (resent (eriod.; is more
than hal& onerned %ith the use o& the bo%. The pupil %as told to pratie short
stro7es at the point' upper middle' middle' and lo%er middle' and' in general' to
ma7e hersel& ?mistress o&? e$ery setion o& the bo% and e$ery speies o& bo%ing.
The notion that to play %ell' one must sing %ell' is insisted upon. 5o% artiulation'
strong le&t hand tehni1ue in double stops' and @uent runs are reommended. Be
had %hat %ere one onsidered to be peuliar notions about pratiing in $arious
positions and %as metiulous about intonation. The autograph opy o& this letter'
dating &orm +AIK' is lost> the one o&ten ited in the Muniipal Museum in (irano'
Tartinis birthplae' is not in the omposers hand%riting and ontains mista7es in
the musial e/amples.
A. Tartinis mordents are not to be on&used %ith Tosis trillo mordente ,miniature
trill.. Agriola also omplained that the (ralltriller ,upper mordent. %as on&used
%ith the mordent. )n German' mordent means only the lo%er mordent.
0. Today the pratie is the opposite: i& a omposer does not %ish to use $ibrato'
they must indiate so. ,E/: Stra$ins7ys *irebird or 5arto7s *ourth String Duartet'
third mo$ement.
L. ?3i$isions? is an obsolete term' and re&ers to a prelassial tehni1ue o&
e/tempori6ation' ommon in $iol playing' onsisting o& splitting up the notes o& a
tune into shorter notes' i.e.' a &orm o& $ariation.
+K. A themati atalog' Fe opera di Giuseppe Tartini' %as edited by *arina R
Simone and published in Milan in +LAH. A omplete atalog o& Tartinis onertos
%as reated in +L=H by Minos 3ounias> hene the ?3? numbers. (aul 5rainard
published a themati atalog o& Tartinis sonatas ,+LAH. %hih inludes +L+ %or7s'
some inomplete or spurious. The t%el$e sonatas o& Op. + and the t%el$e o& Op. -
%ere the only publiations authori6ed by the omposer. Op. G' H' I' A' and L are
suspet' as hand%ritten opies %ere o&ten used by unsrupulous publishes.
9ieu/temps' Mienia%s7i and Poahim admired and per&ormed his sonatas. Tartini
%as the most important omposer o& $iolin onertos bet%een 9i$aldi and 9iotti: his
$iolin onertos %ere models &or $iolinists and harpsihordists.
++. The primary soure &or in&ormation about the omposers early li&e is material
ompiled at the time o& his death by an old &riend and olleague' 9andini.
3ouments prior to +A-+ are rare and no $ery reliable. There are un$eri8ed reports
about his early years> it is thought that his parents intended &or him to be a priest
and that Tartini learned the $iolin as a hild' ontinuing to pursue musi seriously
against parental %ishes.
3espite his lerial status' Tartini ame into on@it %ith the hurh' and more
partiularly' %ith the bishop o& (adua' Cardinal Cornaro: %hen Tartini %as +L he
married -+-year-old Elisabetta (rema6ore ,desribed later as Santippe-li7e.' the
Cardinals protge. Tartini %as harged %ith abdution and subse1uently too7
re&uge in the *ranisan monastery at Assisi. )n +AKL his name appears' oddly
enough' among the la% students at the Qni$ersity o& (adua. 5y +A+G he %as
spending time in both Assisi and Anona' %here he played in the opera orhestra'
and %here he pursued his aousti studies. )n +A+H he obtained pardon &rom the
(aduan authorities and %as reunited %ith his %i&e.
+-. Tartini e/perimented %ith bo% sti7s and thi7er strings and studied aoustis>
he published his aoustial 8ndings in Trattato di musia' (ado$a' +AHG. Be
?diso$ered? resultant tones: di4erene and summation tones. Mo6art has a %hole
setion o& these tones in his %or7' but both %riters heard the tones in the %rong
ota$e and the minor si/th is gi$en inorretly by both. Berman Belmholt6' a
German authority on aoustis' medial man and pro&essor o& physiology' e/plained
this phenomena' &ormulating it orretly in Sensations o& Tone' +0I-.
+=. Tartini' the ?Master o& "ations'? had more than AK important students' inluding:
Alberghi' 5ini' *raasini' P.G. Graun' Belendaal' Fa Bousaye' Felair' Meneghini
,Tartinis suessor at the shool.' "ardidni' P.G. "aumann' "iolai ,%ho too7 the
Treatise to (aris.' (agin' (uganelli' (ugnani.
+G. Feopold Mo6art li&ted %holesale many ideas and spei8 e/amples o& Tartinis
%or7 ,espeially the trill and $ibrato.' being are&ul only to transpose the e/amples'
and ga$e no a7no%ledgment e/ept to mention that ?a great )talian Master
teahes his pupils thus? ,in re&erene to Tartinis e/ample o& the augmented seond
trill.. :Feopold Mo6art' 9ersuh einer grundlihen 9iolinshule ,+AHI.' translated and
edited by Editha Tno7er as A Treatise on the *undamental (riniples o& 9iolin
(laying ,Fondon: O/&ord Qni$ersity (ress' +LG0.' +0A.; Mol&gang Mo6arts early
ompositions %ere strongly in@uened by Tartini.
+H. (robably nearer the later date' beause o& suh praties as I-G hord
preparations o& aden6as' a relati$ely late de$elopment. )n his 5iographi
Qni$erselle' *ranois-Poseph *tis gi$es the date as +A0-' %hih %as an error.
+I. A&ter t%o enturies o& obsurity' a $ery unusual oinidene ourred> printing o&
the Moe7 Edition %as about to begin %hen an )talian $ersion %as diso$ered at
5er7eley and' at about the same time' a more omplete $ersion %as &ound at 9enie
at (ierluig. (etrobelli' in an Addendum to the (re&ae' disusses the ne% soures.
There is $ery e$ident mutual ooperation and generosity among the se$eral ators
in this e/pensi$e proess o& adNustment.
The 9enie MS ,9. is an e/ellent ondition and ontains an abundane o& ne%
e/amples' inluding =I adenes' grouped by 7eys. )t %as lo$ingly and
painsta7ingly opied by "iolai' a Tartini pupil and leading $iolinist in Come. The
5er7eley opy ,5. has more dialet and abbre$iations. Aents' apitali6ations and
puntuation are arried out more are&ully in 9 than in 5. The )talian MS is more
onstant in terminology and ertain e/amples are more aurate than the *renh
edition' perhaps re@eting the de$otion o& "iolai. Also' the essene o& the material
not inluded in the *renh edition turned up in Feopold Mo6arts %or7. Fa Boussaye'
one o& Tartinis &a$orite pupils' brought the MS to (aris and arranged to ha$e it
translated by (. 3enis> this translation &rom (aris is designated as (.
The olletion at QC 5er7eley' in %hih the Tartini MS %as &ound' onsists o& o$er
+'KKK %or7s &or small string ensembles dated &rom . +AHK-+0KK. O$er 0K
omposers are represented' around -= un7no%n. The ollation %as probably
designed &or use in a petty )talian ourt or %ealthy &amily and %as loated at Saile
,near (irano' Tartinis birthplae. be&ore being purhased by 5er7eley. Some parts o&
the olletion had been preser$ed &or t%o enturies' aording to dated MSS. The
initial impulse &or a1uisition ame &rom 9inent 3u7les and (aul 5rainard> the
later ame aross the material %hile he %as doing his dissertation researh on
Tartini> he mentioned his diso$ery to 3u7les ,head o& the musi library at QC5 and
a *ullbright researh &ello%. %ho 1ui7ly relayed this in&ormation to 5er7eley.
+A. Giuseppe Tartini' Trait des Agrments de la musi1ue' *renh translation' (.
3enis' (aris ,+AA+. ed. Er%in C. Paobi' %ith English translation' C. Girdlestone' and
&asimile o& original )talian te/t ,Celle and "e% #or7: Berman Moe7 9erlag.' +LI+'
G=.