The String Tremolo in the 17th Century

8/10/2019 The String Tremolo in the 17th Century

1/18

StewartCarter

The

string

tremolo

in

the

17th

century

When

Biagio

Mariniwrote tremolo onl'arco

in the vio-

lin parts of his sonata La Foscarina(from Opus 1,1617)he

became the

first

composer

to use this

term in a com-

position

for bowed

string

nstruments.

Apparently

rea-

lizing

the boldness

of his

stroke,

Marinidrew attention

to it

by

adding

the

subtitle Sonata

a

3

con il

tremolo. The

term 'tremolo'

however,

is

susceptible

to

a

variety

of

interpretations,'

ence

this

passage

has

frequently

been

misinterpreted

ex.i).

In this

study

I

propose

to

identify

the

type

of

tremolo

intended

by

Marini and to trace its

development

through

the

17th

century.

Clues to the

correct

nterpretation

f this

passage

can

be

found

partly

in the

composer's

instructions,

partly

from

examining

works

by

Marini's

ontemporaries.

The

composer's

advice o the

performers

s

significant:

n the

violin

parts

he

has marked tremolocon

l'arco

('tremble

with the

bow');

in the

part

for

trombone

or

bassoon,

tremolo col strumento

('tremble

with the

instrument');

and in the continuo

part,

metti

il

tremolo

'put

[or set]

the tremolo'). The advice to the continuo player-

undoubtedly

an

organist-is particularly

ignificant;

he

is to activate he tremulant

stop.

Marini's

advice

to the

other

instrumentalists

now

becomes clearer:

hey

are to

imitate the undulations

of

the

organ

tremulant.

Marini does not

say

how

this imitation of the

organ

tremulant s to be

accomplished.

Tremblewith the

bow'

could

mean to

draw

t

back and

forth

rapidly,

as in the

'modern'

tremolo,

and indeed some modern

scholars

have

interpreted

t

in this

way.

David

Boyden

writes:

Monteverdi..

claimed

1638)

hathe

inventedhemeasured

tremolo

y

writing

a

numberof

repeated

ixteenth

notes,

playedn strict ime, o expresswarlike assionsn a 'styleof

excitement'

'stile

oncitato').

utMarini

ad

already

sed his

kind

of measured

tremolo

n

his

Opus

1of

1617,

nd there

are

muchearlier

xamples

n other ocal

and nstrumental

usic,

in

particular

uch

pieces

as

Jannequin's

escriptive

hansons,

or ...

Andrea

Gabrieli'sAria della

Battaglia

..

(1590).2

Ex.1

Biagio

Marini,

La Foscarina: Sonata a

3,

con

i

tremolo,

from

Affetti

musicali

...

opera prima

(Venice,

1617)

vln. or cto. I

tremolo

con

l'arco

-O- --

'I

-

rW

1

,

7

rr

I I

r

1

'

r

r

V

l..

L--

LJ

"-'

'

vln.

or

cto.

II

II

l

tremolo on

l'arco

tbn.

or

bsn.

F

tremolo

ol

strumento

9:

b

> > P 4;W

j

-

0

0

continuo

metti l tremolo

9:

r

r

o Io i o

5

6

5 6

'4

r

r

r

r

r

ro

nr

;

;

^rJ rf rC r r

:r

I

gJ^

^rm

r >

97 0

J0 ( )

"

-

9:b

o Iho

y

n3

,"

,

Io r

r" r

I

J.

r

6

6 6 6 5

I

I

EARLY

MUSIC

FEBRUARY

1991

43

r

5

6 6

I


2/18

I

/

1

Johan Jakob

Walther,

Hortus chelicus

(Mainz, 1688),

p.124

(Johnson

Reprint Corporation)

42

EARLY MUSIC FEBRUARY

1991


3/18

Thereare

compelling

reasons

to

doubt

Boyden's

nter-

pretation

of Marini.Monteverdi

ays

hat there are

three

principal

emotional

states-anger,

moderation,

and

humility

or

supplication-represented

respectively

by

three

musical

genera:

oncitato,

emperato

nd molle.3As

we

shall

see

presently,

he

gentle

organ

tremulant

corre-

sponds

to the third

of

these

types,

not

the first.

Modern

writerswho equatetremolowith stile concitato onfound

Baroque

and modern

usage.

The

effect

of

the

'modern'

tremolo

sometimes called

Bombi

or

Schwermer4-

appears

frequently

in

string

music

throughout

the

Baroque

and Classical

periods,

but

I

have found

no

source

earlier

han

the

g1th

century

which calls

this

ges-

ture 'tremolo'.

A

more

plausible

nterpretation

f

the

passage

n ex.i

is

suggested

by

Carlo

Farina,

an Italian

composer

who

worked

with

Schtitz

n Dresden.

Referring

o a

passage

in

his

Capriccio

travagante

1627),

he states:

The

trem-

olo

is

done

with a

pulsating

of the hand

which has

the

bow,

imitating

the manner of the

organ

tremulant.'5

Andreas

Hammerschmidt,

who worked

in

nearby

Wei-

senstein,

Freiberg

and

Zittau,

offers similar

advice:

In

the

violin

[parts]

certain

notes

will

be

found,

namely

(ex.2)

meaning

that

you

play

four

[notes]

in

one

stroke

Ex.2

Andreas

Hammerschmidt,

usicalischer

ndachten,

dritter

Theil

Freiberg,

638),

reface

with

your

bow

(like

tremulants

n an

organ).'6

The

effect

is thereforerelated

o

the modern

portato

or loure

style

of

bowing:

a

seriesof notes

of

the

same

pitch

are

taken

n

a

single

stroke

of

the

bow,

articulated

by

a

gentle

pulsat-

ing

motion

of the bow

arm without

stopping

the bow.

It

might

be

called bow

vibrato';

Boyden

calls

t

the 'slurred

tremolo'.7

Probably

the earliest

reference

to

it is in

Ganassi's

Regola

rubertina

(1542-3),

where the author

advises he

player

of the viola de

gamba:

For

melancholy

words and

music,

move

the

bow

gracefully,

nd at

times

shake

(tremar)

he bow arm

and the

finger

of

the

hand

on the

neck

[of

the

instrument],

in

order

to

make

the

effect

conform to

melancholy

and tormented music.'8

Ganassimentionstwo

types

of

'shaking',

ne

equivalent

to theslurred remolo,the otherto left-handvibrato.He

does

not

relate

his

tremarto he

organ

remulant,

but

the

emotional

qualities

he

associates

with it

are

consistent

with

the character

of the

passage

rom Marini's

onata,

and

also with later

descriptions

of

the

organ

tremulant.9

Examples

of this kind of tremolo

can

be

found

in the

music

of

Marini's

Venetian

contemporaries.

In

1619

Gabriel

Usper published

a

Sonata a

tre

for

two

violins,

bassoon

and

continuo

which contains

a tremolo

assage

(ex.3).

In

instrumentation,

ength,

texture,

harmonic

rhythm

and

in its

use of

mild

chromaticism,

his

passage

is

quite

similar

o Marini's.

The

principal

difference

ies

in the notation, for

Usper

precisely

indicates what

Marini

assumed

performers

would

understand:

mita-

tion of the

organ

tremulant

requires

repeated

quavers,

slurred

in

groups

of

four,

One

year

later G.

B.

Riccio

published

his Terzo

ibrodelle

divine odi

musicali.

Riccio

surely

must

have

known

La

Foscarina,

or he

adopted

he

latter's

subtitle-con

il tremolo-for

two

works in

his

collection.

The

instruments

pecified

n

Riccio's

Canzon

la

Pichi-two

violins

and

trombone-provides

further

support

for

such

a connection.10

he

tremolo

passage

n

La

Pichi

s

remarkable,

scending

n the violin

part

chro-

matically through a diminished octave (ex.4). Riccio

does not

provide

slurs,

and

it

may

be

that

passages

uch

as this

one

have

led

some modern

writers

to

conclude,

mistakenly,

hat such

a tremolo

requires

separate

bows

for

each note.

Italian

printers,

however,

could

be careless

about slurs.

In a

similar

passage

from a Canzon

d

4

by

another

Venetian,

Giovanni

Rovetta

(1626),

slurs are

marked

in

the

first

violin

but

not in the other

parts."

Ex.3

Gabriel

Usper,

Sonata

a

tre,

from

Compositioni

armoniche

Venice,1619)

vln.

I

1E rr

Mrr

rrrZ

rrrrrrrr rrrrrrr

ErE-

rr

0

tremolo

vln.

II

remoo

remolo

bsn,

continuo

9

rmwrrri

^

-7

Jn

?jrjn

11

6

5

6

5

44

EARLY

MUSIC

FEBRUARY

1991

tremoul

-.--

~t6

6


4/18

z

Biagio

Marini,

Affetti

musicali

(Venice,1617),

basso,

title

page

(Wroclaw,

iblioteka

niwersytecka)

Slurred

quavers

appear

n

similar

passages

n the music

of

yet

another

Venetian,

Dario

Castello

(1629),

and of

non-Venetians

such

as G.

B.

Buonamente,

Pellegrino

Possenti,

Maurizio

Cazzati,

Marco Uccellini

and Ber-

nardoBarlasca.'2 f the Italiancomposerswho used the

tremolo

in

the

first

half of the

17th

century,only

Tar-

quinio

Merula

and

Farinafollow

Marini's

notation

of

the tremolo

in

string

parts,

using long

notes

accom-

panied by

the

directive

tremolo.'3

he others

wrote out

their

string

tremolos

in

repeated

quavers,

with or

with-

out

slurs.

When Marini

told

his violinists

to 'tremble

with the

bow',

hen,

he

was

referring

o

the imitation

of

the

organ

tremulant-the

slurred

tremolo.

The

tremolo

passage

fromLaFoscarina

hould

be

performed

n

constant

qua-

vers,

probably

slurred

n

groups

of

four,

following

the

model in Usper'sSonata.'4Marini,a true child of the

early

Baroque,

uses

this

passage

or

dramatic

effect.

It is

preceded by

a full bar's

rest

in all

parts-a

dramatic

device,

perhaps,

but one

which

may

havebeen

contrived

to allow

time for

the

organist

to

draw

the tremulant

stop.5

With its

evidently

slow

tempo

and

affective

character,

he tremolo

passage

serves

as a

contrasting

interludebetween

the two

liveliersections.'6

EARLY

MUSIC

FEBRUARY

1991 45


5/18

Ex.4

G.

B.

Riccio,

Canzon

a

Pichi,

in

ecco con il

tremolo,

rom II terzo libro delle divine

lodi musicali

(Venice,

1620)

vln.

I I I I

I I

_ 7

I

-- L

- -

_

_

Ires

P

j

, #

4 4

*

4

r

r_

-

Yrrrr

r

r r

FT

I-

7r

r

%Y

f_-

-

tremolo

tbn.

I ..

_ _

_ _

_ad a

P

C

rrrr

r rr

I

'

r r

r r r r r

I

I I

i I

I I

I I

I

I I I I

6

. .

.

..

. . ..

tremolo

T

6

r

r

lr

I

fr

f

C

r 7

W

tremolo

0

0

6

b

6

[a "Cl

Tirrr

LLLF

"LLLT I

r

LLLF~I CLT[

9:bj

r

O

i

r

P~~~~~br

CWL

LLL LW ---

2fi

C LT~;

--n

9 :krLL1-

r

r

TILTLLT

CL

LTUh ~

3'a~~~~~ 6

pPp

'

r

JT

Marini

and his north

Italian

contemporaries,

then,

wanted to emulate

the sound

produced by

the tremulant

or

'shaking

stop'

of

an

organ.

Most

large

organs

of

the

17th

century

had such

stops, though they

were not

always

noted

in

contracts

or

specifications;17

he effect therefore

was a familiar one.

Properly

speaking,

'tremulant'

refers

not to

a rank

of

pipes,

but to

a device which causes

reg-

ular undulations

in

the

air flow of the instrument.

It was

constructed

in

two different

ways,

either

by

allowing

wind

to

escape

from

the trunk

in

short bursts

('open'

tremulant

or

tremblantfort),

or

beating

within the trunk

('closed' tremulant or tremblant doux). The latter pro-

duced

gentler

undulations,

and

was

probably

the

type

employed

in most Italian

organs

in the

16th

and

17th

centuries.8

Surely

this is the

type

of tremulant

to which

Giambatista

Morsolino of

Bergamo

refers

in a letter of

1582

to

the council of

the cathedral

at

Cremona.

The

council

had

sought

Morsolino's

advice

regarding

pro-

jected

alterations for

the

cathedral

organ,

among

which

was the addition

of

a tremolo. Morsolino

replies:

Now

the tremolo

is

nothing

other than a device

that one

places

in the trunk

which carries

the wind

from the bellows

to the

wind chest.

It

is

not difficult

o

build,

although

t is difficult

o

construct

one so

that it makes

a

good

effect. Thus one

finds

that

although

here

are

many

of

them,

thereare

very

ew which

are

good.

And

if it

happens

that

the tremolo

is not

good,

instead

of

making

he music

languid

and

sweet,

t

will turn out

to be

harsh

and

displeasing,

[sounding]

like

someone

tor-

mented

by

fever,

whose teeth

are

chattering.

But

when

it is

good,

certainly

t is a

very

good thing,

and

very helpful

for

the

organ.A man who is highly experienced,skilled and com-

petent

willknow

how to build

[such

a

device]

without

danger

or harmto

the

organ.

Youcould then

add

if

you

want

a rank

of

pipes

imitating

human voices

[voci

humane],

assisted

by

the

tremolo,

or

those

which

imitate wind

instruments

[such

as]

fifferi

or

flutes,

similarly

with

tremolo,

as

one finds

on

the

organs

of

S. Pietroand

Sta.

Agata

n Cremona.

And

these

ranks

make

wonderful

effects

with the tremolo

and

the sweetness

and

grace

of

these voices.

These

registers

can

be added

to

the

46

EARLY MUSIC

FEBRUARY

1991

IJ.

I Il __~-_

YLI-:

I

I I

I I I

I I

I I I I I I

.

.

I

I

r~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~r~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I

I

I

I

1

6"

- _

_

_ j _


6/18

TrcniolocQn

Larco

_ _ _

. .-,

, .

,- ..

--7R

4 :A-L-;

Biagio.

~

.n L

.

_ml...

._

,

,

B

--

m

.

--

---

~

~

i

~.m~

.~'

~

-,"'-"~,,-e.

'

$

_

" -'

I

"

"-'-

'---

-*

Ir~y.~~~YlrLL ) YC IL I

~

W

r~11

I

iL--I~

organ

with the additionof

a

small

wind

chest,

as

they

did in

the

organ

that

Mr

Claudio

[Merulo]

da

Corregio

plays

at S. Marco

in Venice.'9

The vocihumane

voce

umana)

andfifferi fiffaro, iffaro)

were

ranks of

pipes slightly

mistuned

to the

principal,

in

conjunction

with which

they produced

an 'acoustical

vibrato'. The voce

umana,

as its name

suggests,

ori-

ginated

as an

attempt

to emulate the

undulating

of

human

voices,

a characteristic

occasionally

attributed

to

the

tremulant as

well.20

Morsolino

clearly distinguishes

between these

undulating

stops

and the mechanical

tremulant,

noting

that the latter could

be used to

enhance the

wavering

effect of the former. He verifies

the

existence of a tremulant

on an

organ

at St Mark's

in

Ven-

ice, where Marini was employed some 35 years later.

Morsolino's advice was

conveyed

to the

renowned

organ-builder

Gratiadeo

Antegnati

of

Brescia,

who

offered advice of his

own,

confirming

that the tremulant

could be installed without

damaging

the cathedral

organ."

Gratiadeo was

the father of Costanzo

Antegnati,

author of

L'arte

organica

(1608).

Costanzo

says

that

you

can use the tremolo with

the 8'

principal

and 8' flute for

playing

slowly,

without

divisions;

and that

it is a

good-

registration

or motets

in few voices.2 Girolamo Diruta

offers

complementary

advice:

Thesecond

mode

(hypodorian)

akes

he

harmony

mourn-

ful. This should

be with the

principal

lone,

with

tremolo,

however,

layeduntransposed,

ith sad melodies

.. The

fourthmode

hypophrygian)

akes he

harmonymournfully

sad and dolorous.The

principal egister

with

tremolo

will

make his

effect,

r some

lute

top,played

ntransposed

ith

appropriate

elodic

motion.Thismode

and he second

have

almost hesame

ffect;

hey

erve or

playing

t heElevation

f

the

Most

HolyBody

and

Blood

of OurLord

esus

Christ,

mi-

tating

with theirsound he

crueland harsh orments

f His

Passion.23

Dirutaclearly ndicates hat the tremolowas an affective

deviceand recommends ts use at

an

emotionally

ignifi-

cant

point

in

the

Mass,

the Elevationof

the Host.

Organ registrations

are seldom

indicated

in

Italian

music.

In the

six-voice

Magnificat

rom

his

1610

Vespers

Monteverdi

specifies principale

e tremolare

for the

phrase

humilitatem

ancillae suae

('the

humility

of his

handmaid')

o

underscore

he word humilitatem.24

an

EARLY MUSIC

FEBRUARY

1991

47


7/18

chiericallsfor

the tremolo

in

organ

basses

or

alternatim

settings

of

the Mass

Ordinary

n

his

Organo

uonarino

(1622).

His

tremolos are ikewise

ext-related,

appearing

at

Qui

tollis

peccata

mundi

('Thou

that

takest

away

the

sins of

the

world')

in

four

masses,

and at the

Cruci-

fixus-certainly

an emotional

point

in

the mass text-in

his

Credo Domenicale.25

Further information on the tremolo comes from

German

and

French

sources.In a

manual

on

organ

test-

ing

written

c.1614,

Esaias

Compenius

and MichaelPrae-

torius call

the tremolo 'a

lovely

voice'

(eine

fein

Stimbwerck)

nd

recommend

ts

use

in

motets.

They

also

state

hat

while

many

different

varieties

of

tremulantcan

be

found,

the

most

attractive

sound is made

by

one

which

beats

eight

times

per

bar

(i.e.

in

quavers).26

Marin

Mersenne

is

even more

specific,

saying

that the

organ

tremulant 'beats

as

it should when

it beats

eight

times

during

a bar

which

lasts

two seconds'.27 oth

descrip-

tions

accord with

written-out

examples

of

string

trem-

olos in

17th-century

Italian

music,

where

quaver

denominations

are

common;

they

further

support

my

interpretation

of

the tremolo

passage

from La

Foscar-

ina.28

If

the

organ

tremulated

at

approximatelyeight

'beats'

per

bar,

hen

quite

ikely

Marini's

iolinists

would

have

synchronized

heir 'slurred

remolo'

bowing

with

the

continuo

instrument.29

In 1666

Matthaeus

Hertel stated that:

Tremulantsmust

not be used

in

all

pieces,

but each

organist

should

judge

for

himself,

according

o the

melody

and

text.

He

should

not use

it

in a

cheerfulor

triple-time

melody

or

text,

but only in melancholymusic such as penitentialsongs (Bus-

sliedern), [the]

Sanctus,

and the

like,

because

the tremulant

usually

makes

he

melody pious

and

devout,

especially

if]

it is

played

very

slowly.

It

can

be

used

in

preludes

and

even

in

fugues.30

Whethera

tremulantwas of the

fort

or

doux

ype,

undu-

lations

in

the wind

supply

would create

corresponding

undulations

n

pitch.

The

slurred remolo

by

itself,

how-

ever,

has

little

effect on

pitch; perhaps

then

the

string

player

combined his 'slurred tremolo' with

left-hand

vibrato. This

twofold

trembling

is of

course

precisely

what Ganassi

describes,

hough

he does

not relate

t to

the

organ

tremulant.A

parallel

situationcan be seen in

many

discussions

of

organregistration,

which,

ike

Mor-

solino's

above,

recommend use

of the tremulant with

undulating

stops.31

ALAN

&

NINA

GROVE

&aryi

usiaCJAnstmmems

MAKERS

F

HARPSICHORDS,

LAVICHORDS,

VIRGINALS

ND PINETS

Replicas

of Historical

Instruments

built to order

Further details

on

request

THE

LD

WOOD

ARD,

HAGLEY

ALL,

HAGLEY,

r.

TOURBRIDGE,

EST

IDLANDS

Y9 LG

(0562)

86170

Workshop

0562)

44960

Evenings)

NORVIS XXI

Northumbrian Recorder and Viol School

N

t

k

V

7*.

S

COLLEGE

OF ST. HILD & ST. BEDE

DURHAM

CITY

27th JULY

-

3rd AUGUST

1991

NORVIS

XXI

Sessions

for

recorders,viols, singing,

dancing,

harpsichord, plucked

instruments,

renaissance

band,

baroque

flute

and

strings.

Among the tutors will be

Alan

Davis,

Elizabeth

Dodd,

Martin

Eastwell,

Nicholas

Gleed,

Clare

Griffel,

Manfred

Harras,

Stewart

McCoy,

David

Pinto,

Helen

Rees,

Kim

Robson,

Jane

Ryan

Musical Director:

Layton Ring

Brochures

from Mrs.

Marlene

Austin,

5

Birchgrove

Avenue,

Gilesgate

Moor,

Durham

DH1

1DE.

48

EARLY MUSIC

FEBRUARY

1991

C'


8/18

I have found

no writer

who recommends

the simul-

taneous

application

of these

two

types

of

trembling

in

the

period

between Ganassi's

Regola

rubertina

nd

the

i9th

century.

It

may

be

that the

slurred tremolo was

assumed

to

include left-hand

vibrato,

though

support-

ing

evidence

s

lacking.

Tremolo

ccasionally

means

eft-

hand

vibrato,

hough

in the

17th

century

t

is more often

used thiswayforplucked han for bowedstrings.3Bythe

mid-18th

century,

however,

this

usage

was common

among

violinists.

Leopold

Mozartcalls eft-handvibrato

'tremolo'

adding

in a footnote that he refers

not to the

Tremulantenf the

organ

but to a

Bebung

tremoletto).33

His disclaimer s

apparently

ntended

to

mitigate

con-

fusion betweenhis tremolo

(i.e.

left-hand

vibrato)

and

the imitation of the

organ

tremulant.

By

the

second half of

the

17th

century

the slurred

tremolowas

certainly

a

widely

used

effect,

appearing

re-

quently

in

the church

sonatas of the

'Emilian'

school,

centred

in

Bologna

and Modena. Giovanni

Maria

Bononcini often uses it

throughout

a short transitional

movement or section

(ex.5);34

and similar

passages

appear

in the works

of Maurizio Cazzati.

Giuseppe

Colombi,

and

Pietro

degli

Antonii.35

ononcini's rem-

olo

passage

ontains

several eatures

which are

worthy

of

comment.

First,

he

indication

Adagio,

tremolo eminds

f rte

Ecco forte

ecco

....

* w

w__

.f_

forte

forte

-

_Oa

O

Ta

=

2

::.1f-:

F t t

:

~~~-1

#s: +=f

c:--

tf c

:

00 :: t;0iil .iA:::43l

0 : 0X:t0

frmolOy

E i: . R /:

X Li o 7 ) io f E

{~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~::::'


9/18

Ex.6

Arcangelo

Corelli,

Sonata

i,

from

Sonata

a tre ...

opera quarta

(1694)

vln.

I

^II

lI

I

--

I

r-r

eIL

iJ JjJ J

JJ^ JmUnjJ

Lr

vln

II

violone or cimbalo

9 evCrrtm 1 rtr

Lr

:rim]3L^IL

LLg iI

6 6 7

6 6

5 6 6

6 4- 6

5

t

6

6

5

7 6 5

4 5 4 5

2

4 5 4 4 3

4 4

^

nm

Lm

tr

WWr

Lrxr

r

r

r

-lr

:3rrrrrr

CLrrrr

ri

rrJsJrrr

r

JjL

I

9

8 6

5

7

6

us that

tempo

or character

designations-customarily

either

adagio

or

grave-appear

frequently

n

conjunc-

tion

with the tremolo.

Second,

n bars

4,

8 and12

of this

example

changes

of

pitch appear

within a slurred

group.

These

stepwise descending

patterns

resolve

the

suspen-

sions

which enhance the

affective

qualities

of

many

tremolo

passages.

ndeed,

tremolo

passages

may

be the

ensemble

analogues

of the

expressive

durezze

e

ligature

compositions of the Italiankeyboardrepertory.36he

harmonically

transitional

character

of this

passage

is

also

significant:

applying

modern

terminology

with

regard

o

key,

we see that

the

passagebegins

in

C

major,

then modulates

through

D

minor,

C

major

(again),

E

minor,

and A

minor,

before

finallysettling

on G

major.

Few

tremolo

passages

in the

17th

century

are

so har-

monically

restless

as this

one,

but

many-La

Foscarina

included-are

'open'

harmonically,beginning

in

one

'key'

and

concluding

in

another.

Perhaps

he

only atyp-

ical feature

of this

passage

s the

imitation.

Surely

he

slurred remolo

bowing

is what

Corellihad

in mindin the thirdmovementof Sonataprima romhis

Sonate

a tre

.

opera

quarta

ex.6).

The

composer pro-

vides

no indication

of

the

tremolo

apart

from the

repeated

quavers,

but the

similarity

of this

passage

to

tremolo

movements

n works

by

Bononcini,

Cazzati

and

other

composers,

considered

in the

light

of Corelli's

training

in

Bologna,

suggests

that

he intended

it

to be

performed

with the slurred

remolo

bowing.37

6

6 6

7

5

~

6 6

4+

3

4

Like

many

tremolo

passages,

his

one serves

as a

slow,

affective nterludebetween

two faster

movements,

but it

is uncharacteristic

n that it

is flanked

by

dance

move-

ments-a

corrente nd

an allemanda.Tremolo

passages

occur more

often

in

sonatas

of the chiesa

ather han

the

camera

type,

in

so

far as these two

categories

can

be

distinguished.

At the

very

end

of the

century

a variation

on the nota-

tionof the slurred remoloappears.ErcoleBernabeiuses

dots

under

slurs

on

repeated

notes,

grouped

by

twos,

in

a

passage

from his

Symphonia

XII

(in

Orpheus

Ecclesia-

sticus,

1698)

(ex.7).

The staccato

dots seem

to

imply

a

Ex.7

Josepho

Antonio

Bernabei,

Symphonia

XII,

from

Orpheus

ecclesiasticus

Augsburg,

1698),

chelys

prima,

p.41

^z

rr

Ar

Iwrrrr

EtC

greater

degree

of

separation

of the

repeated

notes

(thoughthe directivesuaviterndicatesthat the execu-

tion should

not be

overlydisjointed).

These dots

appear

frequently

n connection

with the slurred

remolo

in the

18th

century.

Boyden

calls

his the 'staccato

lurred

rem-

olo' to

distinguish

it from

the

'legato'

variety,

without

dots.38

In

17th-century

taly,

music for

instrumental

ensem-

bles

often

replaced

tems

of the

Proper

of the

Mass

at

50

EARLY

MUSIC

FEBRUARY

1991


10/18

Ex.8 Lorenzo

Penna,

Messa a

4 e

8 voci se

piace,

detta

la

Vergine econda,

from Galeriadel sacro Parnaso

(Bologna,

1678)

Sinfonia

vln. I

C

m m i r

mnj]

rrr r

rrr

nn

J

n

rr r

LSJr

rm mr

Tremolo Tremolo

vln.

II

Tremolo

Tremolo

violetta

I3

c

cmnr

"t

r rrrr

rr

r

r

rr

r

J

J

jJr

rr

Tremolo

Tremolo

violoncello

9:

c

rrrL

r

Crrr

rrr

r

r

rr

rrr

rr rrr r

r

mr

Lr

Tremolo

canto

solo

Cru-

ci-fix

-

us,

Cru-

ci-fix

-

us

e

-

ti-am

pro

no

-

bis.

continuo

19:cp

p

"

11 1

I

F

r r

Tremolo

8

6

4

7

important

feasts.39

ndividual

movements of

sonate da

chiesa

may

have been used

in this

fashion,

and affective

sections such as tremolo

passages may

have served to

enhance the emotional

impact

of the most

mystical

moments

of

the service.

Supporting

evidence,

largely

indirect,

comes

primarily

rom

organ

sources.

We have

already

noted Diruta's emarks

on

the use

of

the tremulant

at

the Elevation.40

anchieriand Fresco-

baldi offer evidence for the solemn and expressive

nature of this

portion

of the mass.

The former

says

that

the

organist

should

'play

at the Elevationwith

gravity,

expressing

devotion'

(Suonasi

alla levatione

con

gravitd,

che

rendi

devotione),

while the latter ncludes an

expres-

sive Tocata romatica

er

la levatione

n his Fiori

musicali

(1635).41

The

undulating

piffaro

stops-which

create

an

effect

similar

to the mechanical tremulants and which

were often

supported

by

them-were

frequentlyspeci-

fied

by

churches for

use

at the

Elevation,

a notable

example

being

Sta.Mariadel

Giglio

n Venice

(1668).42

A

direct connection between the slurred remolo and the

more affectiveportions of the Mass can be seen in the

Crucifixusof

a concerted

mass

by

the

Bolognese

monk

Lorenzo Penna

(ex.8)-a

passage

which calls

to

mind

similar reatmentof the Crucifixus n

an

organ

mass

by

Banchieri.43

The

slurred tremolo

appears

in

opera

as well as

church music. Cesti uses it

in

II

pono

d'oro

(1666)

to

reflect the emotional state of

Pallade,

who is

trembling

with fear

(ex.9).

Cesti's

wavy

line-a

very

graphic

sym-

bol for the

tremolo-soon became an

important

alter-

nativemeans of

representing

his

effect,

both

vocally

and

instrumentally.44

Italy

was

of

course the source of the

Baroque

style,

and

predictably

enough,

Italian

compositional

devices

made their

way

across

the

Alps,

transported

here

per-

haps

by emigrant composers

such as

Marini, Farina,

Barlasca and Buonamente, all of whom worked in

German-speaking

lands.

Buonamente,

who was

in

Vienna

c.1626-c.1629,

must have worked under Chris-

toph

Straus,

he

HapsburgKapellmeister.

traususes

the

tremolo

simultaneously

n

vocal

and

string parts

in a

Requiem

mass

(1631).

The

tremolo

appears

n the

Dies

irae at the words

'Quantus

tremor

est futurus'

('How

much

trembling

here will

be')

(ex.lo).

The

appearance

of the

gesture

n a vocal

part

here reminds us

that

some

early

writers

compare

he

organ

tremulant

o

the undu-

lations

of

the human

voice.45This

treatment of the

'Quantus

tremor' text

became

something

of a cliche in

settings of the Requiem: Johann Kaspar Kerll and

H. I. F.

Biber write

tremolos at

the

same

point

in

the

Requiem,46

nd the

theorist

J.

P.

Sperling

uses this

por-

tion

of the

text

of

the

Requiem

in a musical

example

which

illustrates

Tremolanten.47

Composers

in

central

and northern

Germany

also

assimilated

his Italian

nnovation,

the

slurred remolo.

Andreas

Hammerschmidt,

whose

remarks

on

bowing

EARLY

MUSIC FEBRUARY

1991

51


11/18

Ex.9

Antonio

Cesti,

II

pomo

d'oro

(1666),

Act

4,

scene

iv

-AAAAVw

-AAAAVww

-AV-VC

-A*AwAV-

T

,crrrrCrr

rir

r

I

r

r

r

r

r

r

R|

r

r

r

rr

r

r

r

I

113

r r r r

Ir

r

r

r

r

rI

PALLADE

113c-

1-

r

p

I I

l

^

b

l

1

i

il

Ah',

Ah'

trop- po

of -fe-

sa

son Va

-

da-no

pur

in

guer

-

ra Per

-

si

B.c.

9

T

n

r

J j

j j j

1

Ex.lo

Christoph

Straus,

Missa

pro

defunctis

(1631)

voice &vln.

(Choir

)

Tremula

Quan

-

tus tre

-

mor

est

fu

-

tu

-

rus

viola

(Choir

I)

Tremula

viola

(Choir

11)

Tremula

r

r

r

r r

r r

.

.

.

voice

&

viola

(Choir

I)

Tremula

org.

J

r

G

B u

j

O

-

org.

9y

J

i

J

r

r

j

J

u

j

6

have

already

been

cited,

uses

the effect

in sacredas

well

as

secular

music.

A most

interesting

llustration

appears

in a set of variations entitledsimplyBalleta3) fromhis

dance

collection

of

1639,

n which

the slurred

tremolo

prevails

hroughout

one

entirevariation.48

ammersch-

midt's

piece

is indicative

of a

long

but

scarcely

acknowl-

edged

tradition

of

using

the

tremolo to

lend a

distinctive

character

o a

single

variation

of

a set. The tradition

begins

with

the Mulliner

Book

(c.1545-70),

n what

is

probably

he earliest

ndication

of

the tremulant

(here

called

melos

suave)

in

a

piece

of

organ

music,

and

includes Scheidt's

Ach du

feiner

Reiter

Tabulatura

ova

I, 1624)with its imitationeTremulaOrgani,and also

Marin

Marais's

Sujet

avec 20

couplets

(1689).49

Heinrich

Schiitz

writes

tremulus

n the violin

parts

of

a

Symphonia

onnecting

verses

6

and

7

of

his

Von Gott

will ich

nicht lassen

(swv366)

(ex.1i).

Predictably,

he

effect

here is text-related:

verse

6 ends

with the

lines:

'Wir werden

nach

dem

Tod/

tief

in die

Erd

begraben,/

wenn

wir

geschlafen

haben,/

will uns

erwekken

Gott'.50

52

EARLY

MUSIC

FEBRUARY

1991

w

ww

-a

-0-

-c3-


12/18

Ex.ii Heinrich

Schiitz,

Von

Gott will ich nicht lassen

(swv366),

Symphoniae

acrae,

i

(1647)

Symphonia

tremulus

vln.I

9:r

r

rr

r

If

r

If

J

f

J

Ir

r

J

r

0

But textual

considerations

cannot

explain

the tremolant

which is

marked over whole notes

in

both violin

parts

and the

organ

part

n Freuet uchdes

Herren,

hr

Gerech-

ten

(swv367).51

The

text of this

passage, 'Singet

dem

Herrn

ein

neues

Lied',

s

inconsistent

with the

emotions

usually

associatedwith the slurredtremolo. In

spite

of

the variance n terminology(tremulus/tremolant),sus-

pect

that the same effect

is

intended

in

both

works.52

Johann

Jakob

Walther's

Serenata or

violin and con-

tinuo,

like Farina's

arlier

Capricciotravagante,

ontains

representations

f

variousmusical nstruments

illus.5).

The

passage

labelled

Organo

tremolante

ncludes

the

wavy

lines used earlier

by

Cesti.53

Noteworthy

here are

the double

stops

and the

semiquavers,

oth of which

are

rare

n

tremolo

passagesby

Italian

composers.

Probably

no

German

composer

embraced

he

slurred

tremolo more

enthusiastically

han Dietrich

Buxtehude,

who

employed

it

liberally

in

instrumental works

and

concerted

vocal

works.

The

27-bar

Sonata in tremulo

which serves

as

the

instrumental

prelude

to his

'cantata'

Ad

uberaportabiminipart

2 of

Membra

esu)

maybe

the

longest

tremolo

passage

of the

century.54

The slurred tremolo

was one of

many

Italianisms

which

began

to

appear

n

English

music

in the

17th

cen-

tury.

Christopher

Simpson

states: Some

affect a Shake

or Tremblewith the

Bow,

like the

Shaking-Stop

of

an

Organ,

but the

frequent

use thereof

is not ...

much

commendable.'55homas

Mace

speaks

similarly

of

an

'Organ

Shake with the bow'

of the

viol.56

n

an

essay

entitledAs to Musick c.1695),RogerNorth tells of the

difficulties he

experienced

as

an

amateur

gambist

in

keeping

ime. His

brother

kindly

showed

him

a

method:

It was

but this:

play

crotchets,

which

every

one

can

do,

in

even

time

by

an even

pass

of the

hand

...

then

play

[them]

with

the

same

bow,

but

distinguishing

he

notes,

as

in

the

Italian trem-

olo ...

lastly

play

without such

tremulous

distinction,

but

make the

distinction in

the

mind .. .57.

In

another

essay,

North

writes:

There

is

another mode of

the Grave

hat

frequently

occurs

in

our

Italianized

onatas,

which I

have

knowne

intituled Trem-

olo,and isnowcommonlyperformedwith atemperedstoccata.

And that

[method]

I

take to be

an

abuse,

and

contrary

o the

genius

of

that

mode,

which is

to

hold out

long

notes inriched

with

the flowersof

harmony

and

with a

trembling

hand,

which

of

all

parts together

resembles

the

shaking

stop

of

an

organ

.

58.

5

Johan JakobWalther,

Hortus

chelicus

Mainz,

1688),p.124

(Johnson

Reprint Corporation)

lz, rrmTrnm - p^^ m-^m-, I'fiS-mm r - /

I t

:L

L

d

f

L4JIItI

EARLY

MUSIC

FEBRUARY

1991

53

I

,

tdm

-'TrvT q

wMMARNs

-

-

-

-

--

--_^I r

-A7

-

'

IL.

I

I-

q_

_m

_.

rrT r

o t

wf I

ol

-o,d

s

=C

^ t^

pgI

rn'y

L

I

-

t

lvll

W-

,

Er,t

o

c6


13/18

I

interpret

North'sremarks o mean

that

ItalianateGrave

movements

written

in

long

notes

were

sometimes

per-

formed-in

England,

at least-with the

slurred remolo

bowing,

whether or not this

effect was

indicated

by

the

composer.

His reference o

'long

notes inriched

by

the

flowers

of

harmony'

s

vague,

but

it

may

refer

o

the sus-

pensions

and chromaticism

which

frequently

attend

thesepassages.

English

composers

used the slurred

remolo

more

for

pictorial

than

for

emotional

effect. Purcelluses it in his

Ode on St Cecilia's

Day

(1692)-complete

with

wavy

ine

and the

directive

remelo-to

accompany

he

words

'jar-

ring,

jarring

eeds'.59

ohn

Blow must have

had this

pass-

age

in

mind when

he

composed

a

similar

setting

for

the

phrase

'jarring,

arring

spheres'

n

Ode

on the Death

of

Mr

Henry

Purcell

1696).60

The most famous

illustration

of the tremolo

from

17th-century

England

occurs in

the

Frost

Scene

from Purcell's

King

Arthur

ex.12),

where

it

represents

hivering

rom cold.61The affect

may

be dif-

ferentfrom most Italiantremolo

passages,

but the dis-

sonance and

chromaticism

are

familiar.

MILAN MISINA

EARLYKEYBOARD

INSTRUMENTS

As Craftsmen f

manyyears'

xperience

we

offer

he

finest

copies

of Instruments

from

he 17th

and 18thcenturies

Well

known or

reliability

ndmusical

efinement,

playedby top

world

musicians

nd

many

atisfied

customersworldwide

Purcell's

Frost Scene

was

probably

inspired

by

the

'Trembling

Chorus'

from

Lully's

opera

Isis

(1677),62

which

contains

similar effects.

Brossard'sDictionnaire

(1703)

refers to this

passage

as

an

illustration

of the

tremolo:

'Tremolo',

r

'Tremulo',

s

not

a

very

good

Italian

word,

and

Tremolante,

r

Tremante ould

be

better.Stillone finds it

used

very

often,

either

[written]

in

full

or

abbreviated Trem' to

advise

those who

play string

nstruments o make

many

notes

on the

same

degree

n

a

single

strokeof the

bow,

as

in

imitating

the

organ

tremulant.

This is also

notated

very

often for

the

voice. We have an excellent

example

of

both

in the

[scene

of

the]

'Tremblers'

n

the

opera

Isis

by

Monsieur e

Lully.63

Apart

from

Brossard,

few Frenchmen use the

term

'tremolo'

though

some use

the

gesture.

Etienne

Loulie,

writing

of the viola

da

gamba,

describesa movement

of

the bow

which he

calls double

expression:

This

is when

one has used

half or

three-quarters

of the

bow,

[and

then]

one accents also with more force the rest of the

bow,

quickly.'64

arin

Maraisdescribesa

similar

device:

54


1991

A

major

new reference

work

Companion

to

Baroque

Music

Compiled

and edited

by

Julie

Anne Sadie

This

important

new

Companion

combines

authoritative

reference

material

with

lively,

enlightening

reading,

offering

new

perspectives

on the

Baroque

era.

Organised

into

three

major

sections:

Places

and

People,

Baroque

Instruments

and

Forms,

and

Performing

Practice

Issues,

it

also

contains a detailed

chronology.

Contributors

include

-

Peter

Holman,

Jeremy

Montagu,

Stanley

Sadie,

Michael

Talbot

and

Christopher

Hogwood.

Maps,

nmusic

xamples

and

16pp

b/lw,

lliis

Published

in

February

at 35.00

JM

Dent&

Sons

iiiiiiiiiiiii


14/18

Ex.12

Henry

Purcell, King

Arthur

(1691)

vln.

I

A I

i

b,

7

I I I

I

i I I I

I

tn v

4 4

j

A

4 i 4

j

j

J

4

j

4 4

PRELUDE WHILE THE

vln.

II

COLD GENIUS

RISES

via

113bb

r r

r

r

JJ

t

COLD

GENIUS

9:bbb

-

bass,

b.c.

,,V_,

--

I ,

[ .

bass-

lc**

__

__

C~

_____

^vv^v

9:bbb

J

JJ

r

r r

r

A

A[Ak

AAA

.........

lAA

pJJm

J

I

i

i

I

7Znrrrr

~~TLm~T

:m

T7:

-77

-77

SJJJJJJJ JJJJJJJ ;JJfJJJT

a

rJrrJ J JJ J rrrr

rrr

Verse

I

rr

r

,

r

r rr

r r

A,, 4-%j

'

I II

K

'

i r

r

'

What

power

art

Thou,

who

from

be

-

low

Hast

made me

44w4wIv

A

I

[

[

-PbL

P

P

P . ^^

p

r

r

oo

rr^

r

r

r

r

r

r r

rr

I

'

II I

I

I I

I

I

I

I

I

I

113

rnK n e

rrr

:cT

rN

r

P

rr'VqFVV

V

rise

un-wil-ling-ly

and

slow

from beds of

e

-

ver

-

last

-

ing

snow

9:bb

JJJ

J_JJ

m_rrr

_r_r

rr

;-

;n

n

'Dots which

are marked hus

above

or

below the

notes,

with a

slur,

[ex.13]

ignify

hat it is

necessary

o

articulate

severalnotes in

one stroke of the

bow,

as

if

they

were

in

differentstrokes,and this [is done] by pressinga little

the

finger

which touches

on the hair

of

the bow.'65

his

gesture appears,

slurred in

the

familiar

groups

of four

quavers,

hroughout

the

13th

variationof

Marais's

Sujet

avec

20

couplets

ex.14),66

nd in

triple

stops,

slurred

by

twos,

in

the

remarkable

Tombeau

pour

M.r

de

S.e

Colombe

ex.15).

The

multiple

stops

of both

passages

are

reminiscentof

Walther

illus.5),

while the

chromaticism

Ex.13

Marin

Marais,

Pieces

de

viole,

second

livre

(Paris,

[1701]),

p.[vi]

Ex.14

Marais,

'Sujet

avec

20

couplets'

Pieces

a une

et

a deux

violes

(Paris,

1686-9)

9I

r

r

J

EARLY

MUSIC

FEBRUARY

1991

55

I

I

:T;l :Tm

r

::r ra

:TT

n mi

i

'y,V

V y'

AVAVA-VV"

6-i i i,6I I

0 a

a a


15/18

Ex.15

Marais,

Tombeau

pour

Mr. de Ste.

Colombe,

Pieces a une et a

deux violes

I I

I II

I I

I

I

l9\

F

r

r

IT

r

i

r

I

r Ip

-

PI

I

I

I

I

7 6 7 6

t

4

4

and

suspensions

of

ex.i6 are

very

much

in

the Italian

tradition.

I

havenow traced he slurred remolo to

the end of the

17th

century.

This is not the end of the road for this

ges-

ture

by any

means,

but

by

1700

it

had

'matured',

and

only

minor

changes

n

its form

and use can be seen thereafter.

The

following summary

of its

development

to

1700

would be valid a

century

later,

with but

minor

alterations.

1

Origin

The slurred remolowas

originally

ntended

as an imitation of the

organ

tremulant.

Early

sources

suggest

a Venetian

origin.

2

Execution The slurred tremolo is

performed

L

repeating

several

(usually

four)

notes of the same

pitc

in

the same bow

stroke,

ightly

articulatedwith a

gentle

pressure

of the

finger

on the bow

(or,

in

the case of the

viola de

gamba,

on the bow

hair).

Left-hand ibrato

may

have

accompanied

he

slurred

remolo.

3

Notation

There were two basic methods of nota-

ting

the slurred remolo

in

the

17th

century.

n

the

first,

repeated

notes-usually

quavers-are

marked with

either slurs or

wavy

lines.

In

the absence of

slurs,

the

directive tremolo often

appears.

In

the

second,

long

notes are

accompanied

by

the tremolo

directive: hese

should

usually

be divided into

quavers.

n the

last

years

of the

century,

lurred

quavers

were sometimes accom-

panied by

staccato

dots,

implying

a more distinct

separ-

ation.

In

the

17th

century,

remolo

never refers o a

rapid

succession of

upbows

and

downbows,

either

measured

or

unmeasured.

When the word tremolo

appears

in

association with unslurred

repeated quavers,

slurs

should be added.

4

Expression

The slurred

tremolo

had

strong

emo-

tional associations.

In concerted vocal music

it

some-

times

serves to

highlight

texts

dealing

with death

or

sorrow,

while

in

instrumentalmusic

it

is

often used for

a

short,

affective nterlude. Later

n

the

century

t is also

used to

express

ear,

or

trembling

rom cold.67

he effect

appears

almost

exclusively

n

slow

passages

with the C

metre

sign.

Chromaticism

and

suspensions

are often

present.

The slurred tremolo

persisted

throughout

the

18th

century, ultimately

disappearing

in

the

mid-9lth.

During

this time several

variant methods of notation

appeared,

as did new

synonyms-balancement,

ondule

and

ondeggiamento.68

erlioz,

in his treatiseon orches-

tration

(1843),

says

that the tremolo ondule

(slurred

tremolo)

is no

longer

in

use,

though

Gluckused it with

admirable effect.69As a

specific

bowing

style

it still

appearedoccasionally,

hough

it lost its connectionwith

the

organ

tremulant and ceased to be

called 'tremolo'.

But

if

Berliozwas

among

the last

to describe he slurred

tremolo-except

as

a historicalartifact-he was also one

of the first to define 'tremolo'

n

a

way

that was soon to

'ecome

commonplace:

a

rapid

succession of

upbows

id downbows.70

wart

Carter s Associate

Professor

f

Music at Wake

'st

University,

Winston-Salem,

C. He has

published

n

'

articles

and edited Isabella Leonarda:

Selected

Cc ositionsfor the Recent Researchesn the Music of

the

Baroque

Era

(1988).

1

There are

many

definitions

for 'tremolo'

in

the

17th

century,

though

some

of them are not

applicable

o

string

nstruments.

One of

the most

common

definitions s

the alternation f a

note

with its

upper

neighbour

(i.e.

a

'trill').

It is

primarily

applicable

o

keyboard

nstru-

ments,

but G. Diruta

(II

Transilvano

Venice,1593/R

Buren,

Nether-

lands,

1983),

f.lor-iv)

states that

'players

f the

viola,

violin,

lute and

other instruments'

use it as well.

F.

Rognoni

(Selva

de varii

passaggi

(Milan,

1620/R

Bologna,

n.d.),

ii,

p.

[3])

advises hat

the

tremolo

n the

violin

should

be made

'with the

finger

above

the

note'

(con

il ditto

superiore quel

del

suono),

rather han 'that

finger

which

plays

he note

itself'

(quel

ditto

chefd

a voce

stessa).

Furtherdefinitions

or 'tremolo'

appear

n the

course

of this

article.

2

D.

Boyden,

A

Historyof

Violin

Playing London, 1965),

p.129

3

See C.

Monteverdi,

Madrigali uerrieri,

t amorosi

1638).

Modern

edition

in

Monteverdi,

Tutte e

opere,

d. G.

F.

Malipiero,

viii

(Vienna,

2/1967),

p.[v].

4

See

W.

C.

Printz,

Compendium

musicae

signatoriae

et

modu-

latoriaevocalis

Dresden, 1689/R

Hildesheim,

1974),

PP.49,

53.

5

C.

Farina,

Ander Theilnawer

[sic]

Paduanen,

Gagliarden,

Cou-

rante,

rantzosichen

rien

Dresden,1627),

preface

canto

book).

Cited

in

G.

Moens-Haenen,

Das

Vibrato n derMusikdes

Barock

Graz,

1988),

p.134.

'So

wird dasTremulieren

mit

pulsierended

Hand/

darinnen

man

den

Bogen

hat/

auff

Art

des Tremulanten

n

den

Orgeln

mitiret.'

56


1991

viol

4

-

J ,~ m

I

K

I I

b.c.

7

,5"

7

j

K

7 6

4

7

tt

1 113

r

d

\

I i

iS

i

J

iI

13

l#

O

r r

I

4

&

rC

I

I

t

",

p

1

-

s -'

-

a

"i

r

I

r

r

r rr

r

r

T

rTr


16/18

6

A.

Hammerschmidt,

Musicalicher

Andachten

.. dritter

Theil

(Freiberg,

642).

Cited

n

Hammerschmidt,

Ersterfliess,

d.

H. Monke-

meyer,

Das Erbe

deutscher

Musik,

xlix

(Kassel,1957),

p.[iv].

'Es

wird

derselbe

in den Violinen

bisweilen

etliche

Noten,

nemlich

also

[example]

finden,

welche so

gemeint,

das man mit dem

Bogen

ihrer

viere auff

einen Strich

(gleichsam

wie einen

Tremulanten n

einer

Orgel)

machet.'

7

Boyden,

A

Historyof

Violin

Playing,

p.422

8

S.

Ganassi,

Regola

ubertina

Venice,

1542-3/R

Leipzig,

1924),

p.vi.

'Alle

parole,

e musica mesta

operare

'archetto

con

leggiadro

modo,

&

allefiatetremar lbracciode l'archetto,e laditade la mano delmanico

per

far

l'effetto

conforme

alla musicamesta & afflitta.'

Ganassi

s

the

only

16th-century

writer who

mentions both left-hand vibrato

and

bow vibrato.

H.

Cardanus

(De

Musica

(ms., 1546),

ed. and trans.

C.

Miller

as

Cardanus,

Writings

on

Music,

Musicological

Studies

and

Documents,

xxxii

(1973),p.177)

speaks

of tremulus

digitis

on the

lira,

while

M.

Agricola

(Musica

Instrumentalis

deudsch

(Wittenberg,

4/1545), .26r)

speaks

of

the

'trembling'

zittern]

of

Polish

fiddlers.

9See

below.

10

Riccio's other

work with

tremolo,

La

Grimaneta,

s for

flautin

e

fagoto.

"

See G.

Rovetta,

Canzon

quarta

n Salmi concertati

cinque

et sei

voci

(Venice,1626)

12

See D.

Castello,

Sonata econda

n Sonateconcertate

n stil

moderno

(Venice,1629);

G.

B.

Buonamente,

Canzon

6

in

Sonate,

tcanzoni .

libro esto Venice,1636);P.Possenti,La Ubalda n Concentus rmonici

(Venice, 1628);

M.

Cazzati,

La

Fatorina,

n Canzoni de sonare

a tre

(Bologna,

1/1642,2/1663,

nter

alia);

M.

Uccellini,

Sonata

decima

ottava,

in

Sonate,correnti,

t arie

(Venice,1645);

B.

Barlasca,

Tweede

antasia

and Zesde

Fantasia,

n 'T

Uitnement

Kabinet

.. Eerstedeel

(Amster-

dam,

1646);

modern edn

in 'T Uitnement

Kabinet,

ed.

R.

Rasch,

ix

(Amsterdam,

1974),pp.15-22,

32-5.

13

See

T.

Merula,

La

Benaglia,

nter

alia,

in

II

secondo ibrodelle

can-

zone

(1/1639,2/1655);

modern edn

in

Merula,

Operecomplete,

d. A.

Sutkowski,

ia

(New

York,

1978), f.15v-23r.

14

Severalmodern scholars

have

proposed

heir

own

interpretations

of Marini's tremolo.

Boyden's

conclusions

have

already

been cited.

W. S. Newman

(The

Sonata in the

Baroque

Era

(New

York,

3/1972),

p.1o3)

suggestsonly

that the rest which

precedes

he tremolo

passage

may

have

been

intended to allow

'a

cembalist

on the b.c.

part

..

time

to actuate

ome

stop

intended

by

the instruction

"metti

l

tremolo"'

W.

Klenz

(Giovanni

Maria Bononcini

of

Modena

(Durham,

NC,

1962),

p.129, n.17)

correctly

describes

he

violin tremolo as 'an effect

of the

bow

produced

by

rearticulating

he tone

within the

bow

stroke',

but

inexplicably

confounds

it with Monteverdi'sstile

concitato.E. Self-

ridge-Field

Venetian

nstrumentalMusicfrom

abrieli o

Vivaldi

New

York,

1975),p.313)

efers

specifically

o Marini's

Opus

1

when she

defi-

nes tremoloas

a

'rapid

reiteration

of a

single

note,

a bowed tremolo'.

(Elsewhere p.112)

he relates he tremolo

passage

n

Riccio's

La Pichi

(see

ex.4)

to the

stile

concitato,

nd recommends

subdividing

he

qua-

vers.)

T. Dunn

(B.

Marini,

String

Sonatas

rom Opus

and

Opus

8,

ed. T.

Dunn,

Collegium

musicum,

second

series,

x

(Madison,

WI,

1981),

p.ix),

illustrates

wo alternatives or the

performance

of the tremolo

passage

in La

Foscarina:

he

first,

which is close to the

mark,

shows

repeated

semiquavers,

with

dots under slurs

(similar

to the staccato

slurred

tremolo,

described

below);

the second

shows

repeated

semi-

quavers,bowed separately i.e. a modern measuredtremolo). Dunn

admonishes

performers

o

avoid the modern 'unmeasured'

remolo.

G.

Moens-Haenen

Das

Vibrato n

der

Musikdes

Barock,

.134)

orrect-

ly

relates

Marini's remolo to Farina's

description

of the imitation

of

the

organ

tremulant.

15

See

the

quotation

from

Newman,

n.14.

16

The

passage

from La

Foscarina

ontaining

the slurred tremolo

(ex.1)

appears

o be

prefigured

at the

beginning

of the

piece

(see

Mari-

ni,

String

Sonatas,

ed.

Dunn,

p.3,

bars

1-9).

The

fugue

subjectbegins

with

repeated

notes,

slurred n

groups

of two.

I have not

yet

suggested

how

the

winds

might

emulate the

organ

tremulant n La Foscarina.

propose

the

following

options:

(1)

for the

bassoonist

and

cornettists,

finger

vibrato;

and

(2)

for these instru-

ments

plus

trombone,

breath

vibrato.SeeB.

Dickey,

Untersuchungen

zur

historischen

Auffassung

des Vibratos

auf

Blasintrumenten',

asler

Jahrbuch

iir

historische

Musikpraxis,

i

(1976), pp.77-142.

Marini's

tremolo ol

strumento

ould also be

interpreted

iterally

as an admon-

ition to shake

gently

the instrument

itself,

as is

suggested

n 18th-

century

lute tutors

as a substitute

or

finger

vibrato

on the lowest note.

See

J.

Hotteterre,

Principes

de la

flite

traversiere

Paris, 2/1720/R

Geneva,1973),p.34.

17

See

P.

Williams,

The

European

Organ,

1450-1850

Nashua,

NH,

1967),p.294.

18

Stop-lists

of

old Italian

organs

verify

he

presence

oftremulants

n

many

of

them,

but

fail to

specify

the

type

of the

device-open

or

closed. Williams

(The

EuropeanOrgan,

p.294)

says

that

the earliest

organ

tremulants

were of the

open type,

but

the

examples

he

cites

are

from northern

Europe.

He associates he

tremblant ouxwith

Spanish

and French

organs.

Clearly

both

types

existed

n

Germany

t the

begin-

ning

of the

17th

century,

he

fort

type

being

known as Grosser

ock,

or

Bocktremulant

see

P.

J.

Bunjes,

The

Praetorius

Organ

St.

Louis,

1966),

pp.

20-22,

465-720),

which

name

suggests

that the sound

resembles

the

bleating

of

goats.

The

latter

ype,

associated

particularly

with

regal

and reed

pipes,

produces

undulations

which are

stronger,

and

appar-

ently

faster,

than the

doux

type. Judging

from

descriptions

of

their

sound and from the voicingswith whichtheywereused, most Italian

tremulants

of the

early

17th

century

were

of

the closed

type.

19

Letter

of

G. Morsolino to the cathedral

chapter

of

Cremona,

24

September

1582.

Cited

in

La musica

n

Cremona

nella seconda

metddel

secolo

XVI,

ed. G.

Cesari,

Istituzioni e monumenti

dell'artemusicale

italiana,

vi

(Milan,

1939),

pp.xvi-xvii.

'Tremolo

dunque

non

e

altroche

un

ingegno

che si

pone

nel

condutto che

porta

l

vento dai Mantici

al

somero,

l

quale

non

6

molto

dificile

a

farsi;

ben

che

dificiliss:

far fare

buon effett: onde si trove che benche ce

ne sian moltiss:

pochi per6

sono

quelli

che sono

buoni;

et accade che

non essendo detto tremolo

buono;

in

luogo

di far l'armonia

anguida

et

dolce;

riesce

poi aspra

et

spiacevole,

che

par

un tormentatodalla

febre

fredda,

che

sbatta

denti.

Ma

quando

e

buono,

per

certo

e

cosa

molto

buona,

et di

grand'aiutto

ad un

organo;

l

che

sapra

are

un

valent'huomoconsumato

nell'espe-

rienze,

et

rieschi,

et

buono,

et senza

pericolo,

6

nocimento

alcuno

del-

l'organo.

Vi si

potria poi aggiungere,

6

vogliate

un

registro

di canne

imitante e voci humane aiutate

dal

tremolo;

6

ch'imitassero

li

fifferio

traverse;

trumenti

da

fiato,

similmente col

tremolo;

come

si trovano

negli

organi

di s.to Pietroet di s.ta

Agata

n Cremona:Et

qu6

tai

registri

fanno

effetti

mirabilicol tremolo e la

dolcezza

et

gratiosita

di esse voci:

Ma

6 cosa

dificiliss: t

da

grand'huomo

l

farlibuoni. Et

questi registri

si

potrian

far

aggiungere all'organo,

con una

giunta

d'un

piccol

somero:

come

han fatto

nell'organo

che suona M. Claudio

de

Correg-

gio

in

San

Marco,

n

Vinetia.'

20

M. Mersenne

Harmonie

universelle,

ii

(Paris,1636/R

965),

p.380)

says

hat an

organ

will havea

perfect

remulant

if

it beats

n

such

a

way

that the

trembling

of

voices is imitated n the

stops

of the

organ.'

'S'il

bat de telle sorte

qu'il

face imiter e tremblementdes voix aux ieux de

l'Orgue.')

21

Letterof G.

Antegnati

to the

cathedral

chapter

of

Cremona,

26

November

1582.

Cited in

Cesari,

La

musica

n

Cremona,

pp.xviii-xix.

22

C. Antegnati, L'Arteorganica(Brescia, 1608). Modern edn R.

Lunelliand P. Smets

(Mainz, 1958),

pp.66-70.

23

Diruta,

Il

Transilvano,

art

ii,

libro

iv,

p.22.

'Il

Secondo tuono

rende l'armonia

malenconica,

questo

vuole

il

principal

solo con

il

tremolo,

sonato

per6

nelle sue

corde

naturali

con

la

modulatione

mesta ... Il

Quarto

tuono rende l'armonia

lamentevole

mesta,

e

dogliosa.

Il

registroprincipale

con

il

tremolo fara

quest'effetto,

overo

in

qualche

registro

del flauto sonata nelli suoi

tasti naturali con

le

modulatione

appropriate.

Questo

tuono,

&

il

Secondo,

son

quasi

d'una medesima

armonia;

ve ne

servirete

per

sonar'

alla

evatione del

EARLY

MUSIC FEBRUARY

1991 57


17/18

Santissimo

Corpo,

&

Sangue

de N.

S.

Giesu

Christo,

mitando

con

il

sonareli

duri

&

aspri

tormenti della

Passione.'

24

See

L.

Tagliavini,

Registrazioni

organistiche

nei

Magnificat

dei

Vespri

Monteverdiani',

Rivista

italiana di

musicologia,

i

(1967),

pp.365-71.

As

Tagliavini

otes

(pp.370-71),

his

registration

s

omitted

from

Malipiero's

dition of the

Vespers

Monteverdi,

Tutte e

opere,

iv,

P.330).

25

See A.

Banchieri,

Organo

uonarino

Venice,

1/1622),

p.24;

Ban-

chieri,

Appendice

ll'organo

uonarino

4/1638/R

Bologna,

n.d.),

p.[52];

and D.

Marcase,

Adriano

Banchieri,

L'Organo

uonarino:

Translation,

Transcription

nd

Commentary'

PhD

diss.,

Indiana

U.,

1970),

p.91.

26

E.

Compenius

and M.

Praetorius,

Von

Probirung

er

Orgeln

ms.,

c.1614),

d. F. Blume

as

Orgeln

Verdingnis,

chriftendes

Musikwissen-

schaftlichen

nstitutsder

Universitat

Kiel,

v

(Berlin,

1936),p.23

27

Mersenne,

Harmonie

universelle,

ii,

p.380.

'Il

bat comme

il

faut,

lors

qui'il

bat

huit fois

dans le

temps

d'une

mesure

qui

dure deux

secondes

d'heure.'

28

See

above.

29

The

tempo

suggested

by Compenius

andPraetorius

and

by

Mer-

senne

was the

preferred

one for

the

organ

tremulant,

but it

was not

universal.

Compenius

and

Praetorius

(Orgeln,

p.23)

state

that

some

tremulants

beat faster n

the

upper

ranges,

slower n

the

bass-a con-

dition

to

be

avoided,

however-and

that some

tremulants are con-

structed

so as

to

operate

at

two

different

speeds,

either

by

means of a

register-pull,

or

through

a

change

n wind

pressure.

30M. Hertel, OrgelSchliissel 1666), Berlin, Staatsbibliothek,Ms.

theor.

4 38.

Cited in

G.

Schiineman,

Matthaeus

Hertel's

heoretische

Schriften'

Archiv

ir

Musikwissenschaft,

v

(1922/RHildesheim,

1964),

pp.336-58.

The

quotation

on the

tremolo

is on

p.341.

31

The

interest in

vibrato

shown

by

organ

builders

n

the 16th and

17th

centuries

s

indicative

of a

desire

o

'humanize'

he

instrument

by

making

t

imitate he

most

perfect

of

all

instruments,

he

human

voice.

(See

E.

Lowinsky,

English

Organ

Music

of the

Renaissance

II',

MQ,

xxxix

(1953),

p.534).

This

is

obvious in the

case

of

the

voce

umana,

but

some

writers

attribute he

same

characteristico the

mechanical

rem-

ulant

(see

above,

n.2o).

One

might

then

conclude that

the

slurred

tremolo for

string

instruments,

which

imitates

the

organ

tremulant,

indirectly

mitates the

human voice.

32

Regarding

tremoloas

left-hand

vibrato for

bowed

strings,

see

above, nn.1,

8.

Regarding lucked

strings,

ee

J.

Tyler,

The

Early

Guitar:

A

History

and

Handbook,Early

music

series,

iv

(London, 1980),

pp.89-97;

and

Moens-Haenen,

Das

Vibrato n

der

Musik des

Barock,

PP.54-5.

33

L.

Mozart,

Grindliche

Violinschule

3/1789/R

Leipzig,

1968),

p.243

34

See W.

Klenz,

GiovanniMaria

Bononcini

of

Modena

(Durham,

NC,

1962),

pp.16-38.

35

Cazzatihas been

cited earlier n

connection with

his work in

the

first

half

of the

century

see

above,

n.1o).

For

his

later

works

containing

tremolos,

see,

inter

alia,

La Casalaand

La

Marescota,

n

Sonate

a

due,

tre,

quattro,

cinque,

con

alcuneper

romba

Bologna,

1665).

For

Colo-

mbi,

see

Sonata undecima n

Sonate a

due

violini

...

opera quarta

(Bologna,

1676).

For

Degli

Antonii,

see Sonata

quinta,

n

Scielta

delle

suonate ..

da

diversieccelenti

utori

(Bologna,

1680).

36

Se