Review: 18th-Century Embellishment

Author(s): Niall O'Loughlin

Source: The Musical Times, Vol. 118, No. 1615 (Sep., 1977), p. 731
Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/959489 .
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http://www.jstor.org
Gordon
Jacob,
said to be
published by Breitkopf
&
Hartel,
are in fact
published by Boosey
& Hawkes.
To describe
Refrains
and Choruses
by
Birtwistle and
the Wind
Quintet by
Henze as
among
their re-
spective composer's
best works seems
silly.
The
proof reading
of this section is not
good compared
with the rest of the
book,
which is
generally
excellent.
The final
discography, though selecting
valuable
recordings
of
many players' styles
and
techniques,
contains far too
many
deleted records to be of much
use to all but the most determined of record hunters.
NIALL O'LOUGHLIN
18th-century
embellishment
Free Ornamentation in Woodwind Music 1700-1775
by Betty Bang
Mather and David Lasocki.
McGinnis &
Marx/Peters,
$15
The
problems
of ornamentation in
18th-century
music are enormous.
Many
of the
practices
of the
time were
clearly
understood
by performers
and
composers,
but these
usages
were not
always
codified. It is our
good
fortune that
composers
who
were also theorists like J. J.
Quantz
and C. P. E.
Bach were able to
pass
on to us some of the
pro-
cedures. We are also
lucky
that
many composers,
as well as some
contemporary performers,
felt the
need on certain occasions to write out in full suitable
ornamentation. This
book,
sub-titled 'An
anthology
with
introduction',
offers a substantial selection of
examples
of
contemporary
ornamentation. This is
prefaced by
an excellent
nine-page
introduction to
the
subject, presenting
as
clearly
and
concisely
as
one could wish the
principles
involved. The an-
thology
itself is
quite substantial,
and is divided
into two
halves, illustrating
on the one hand the
normal
practice
of
composers
from
Italy, Germany
and
England
and on the other
composers
from
France.
Examples
from the work of
Quantz
natur-
ally
take
up
a
large part
of the first half. Most of
this illustrates
many
suitable
ways
of
ornamenting
a
large
number of stock melodic
phrases.
Tele-
mann's Methodische Sonaten
provide
another
valuable source for
18th-century
ornamentation.
The
judicious
seleclion here
exemplifies
the
possible
variety involved, especially
in
repeats
and
reprises.
French ornamentation is
generally
more
precise
with most of it
exactly specified
and notated.
However,
there are numerous
examples by
La
Barre,
Hotteterre, Monteclair,
Boismortier and Blavet
which show what
might
also be
expected
of
per-
formers. All the
examples
are well laid out with
ornamented versions on
separate
staves from the
plain
ones for
easy comparison
and
figured
bass
included where
appropriate.
The notes on the
sources and
examples
cover all essential
points
briefly.
The selective list of modern editions and
bibliography
are most useful. A most worthwhile
publication
that is both
practical
and
scholarly.
NIALL O'LOUGHLIN
'The
greatest
conductor'
Karajan by
Paul Robinson
(The
Art of the Conduc-
tor).
Macdonald &
Jane's,
3.95
As a
monograph
of a conductor of controversial
character as well as
widespread fame,
this bio-
graphical
sketch and musical assessment
stays just
this side of
idolatry, although
Mr Robinson's
standpoint
is
clearly enough
defined. For
him,
Gordon
Jacob,
said to be
published by Breitkopf
&
Hartel,
are in fact
published by Boosey
& Hawkes.
To describe
Refrains
and Choruses
by
Birtwistle and
the Wind
Quintet by
Henze as
among
their re-
spective composer's
best works seems
silly.
The
proof reading
of this section is not
good compared
with the rest of the
book,
which is
generally
excellent.
The final
discography, though selecting
valuable
recordings
of
many players' styles
and
techniques,
contains far too
many
deleted records to be of much
use to all but the most determined of record hunters.
NIALL O'LOUGHLIN
18th-century
embellishment
Free Ornamentation in Woodwind Music 1700-1775
by Betty Bang
Mather and David Lasocki.
McGinnis &
Marx/Peters,
$15
The
problems
of ornamentation in
18th-century
music are enormous.
Many
of the
practices
of the
time were
clearly
understood
by performers
and
composers,
but these
usages
were not
always
codified. It is our
good
fortune that
composers
who
were also theorists like J. J.
Quantz
and C. P. E.
Bach were able to
pass
on to us some of the
pro-
cedures. We are also
lucky
that
many composers,
as well as some
contemporary performers,
felt the
need on certain occasions to write out in full suitable
ornamentation. This
book,
sub-titled 'An
anthology
with
introduction',
offers a substantial selection of
examples
of
contemporary
ornamentation. This is
prefaced by
an excellent
nine-page
introduction to
the
subject, presenting
as
clearly
and
concisely
as
one could wish the
principles
involved. The an-
thology
itself is
quite substantial,
and is divided
into two
halves, illustrating
on the one hand the
normal
practice
of
composers
from
Italy, Germany
and
England
and on the other
composers
from
France.
Examples
from the work of
Quantz
natur-
ally
take
up
a
large part
of the first half. Most of
this illustrates
many
suitable
ways
of
ornamenting
a
large
number of stock melodic
phrases.
Tele-
mann's Methodische Sonaten
provide
another
valuable source for
18th-century
ornamentation.
The
judicious
seleclion here
exemplifies
the
possible
variety involved, especially
in
repeats
and
reprises.
French ornamentation is
generally
more
precise
with most of it
exactly specified
and notated.
However,
there are numerous
examples by
La
Barre,
Hotteterre, Monteclair,
Boismortier and Blavet
which show what
might
also be
expected
of
per-
formers. All the
examples
are well laid out with
ornamented versions on
separate
staves from the
plain
ones for
easy comparison
and
figured
bass
included where
appropriate.
The notes on the
sources and
examples
cover all essential
points
briefly.
The selective list of modern editions and
bibliography
are most useful. A most worthwhile
publication
that is both
practical
and
scholarly.
NIALL O'LOUGHLIN
'The
greatest
conductor'
Karajan by
Paul Robinson
(The
Art of the Conduc-
tor).
Macdonald &
Jane's,
3.95
As a
monograph
of a conductor of controversial
character as well as
widespread fame,
this bio-
graphical
sketch and musical assessment
stays just
this side of
idolatry, although
Mr Robinson's
standpoint
is
clearly enough
defined. For
him,
Gordon
Jacob,
said to be
published by Breitkopf
&
Hartel,
are in fact
published by Boosey
& Hawkes.
To describe
Refrains
and Choruses
by
Birtwistle and
the Wind
Quintet by
Henze as
among
their re-
spective composer's
best works seems
silly.
The
proof reading
of this section is not
good compared
with the rest of the
book,
which is
generally
excellent.
The final
discography, though selecting
valuable
recordings
of
many players' styles
and
techniques,
contains far too
many
deleted records to be of much
use to all but the most determined of record hunters.
NIALL O'LOUGHLIN
18th-century
embellishment
Free Ornamentation in Woodwind Music 1700-1775
by Betty Bang
Mather and David Lasocki.
McGinnis &
Marx/Peters,
$15
The
problems
of ornamentation in
18th-century
music are enormous.
Many
of the
practices
of the
time were
clearly
understood
by performers
and
composers,
but these
usages
were not
always
codified. It is our
good
fortune that
composers
who
were also theorists like J. J.
Quantz
and C. P. E.
Bach were able to
pass
on to us some of the
pro-
cedures. We are also
lucky
that
many composers,
as well as some
contemporary performers,
felt the
need on certain occasions to write out in full suitable
ornamentation. This
book,
sub-titled 'An
anthology
with
introduction',
offers a substantial selection of
examples
of
contemporary
ornamentation. This is
prefaced by
an excellent
nine-page
introduction to
the
subject, presenting
as
clearly
and
concisely
as
one could wish the
principles
involved. The an-
thology
itself is
quite substantial,
and is divided
into two
halves, illustrating
on the one hand the
normal
practice
of
composers
from
Italy, Germany
and
England
and on the other
composers
from
France.
Examples
from the work of
Quantz
natur-
ally
take
up
a
large part
of the first half. Most of
this illustrates
many
suitable
ways
of
ornamenting
a
large
number of stock melodic
phrases.
Tele-
mann's Methodische Sonaten
provide
another
valuable source for
18th-century
ornamentation.
The
judicious
seleclion here
exemplifies
the
possible
variety involved, especially
in
repeats
and
reprises.
French ornamentation is
generally
more
precise
with most of it
exactly specified
and notated.
However,
there are numerous
examples by
La
Barre,
Hotteterre, Monteclair,
Boismortier and Blavet
which show what
might
also be
expected
of
per-
formers. All the
examples
are well laid out with
ornamented versions on
separate
staves from the
plain
ones for
easy comparison
and
figured
bass
included where
appropriate.
The notes on the
sources and
examples
cover all essential
points
briefly.
The selective list of modern editions and
bibliography
are most useful. A most worthwhile
publication
that is both
practical
and
scholarly.
NIALL O'LOUGHLIN
'The
greatest
conductor'
Karajan by
Paul Robinson
(The
Art of the Conduc-
tor).
Macdonald &
Jane's,
3.95
As a
monograph
of a conductor of controversial
character as well as
widespread fame,
this bio-
graphical
sketch and musical assessment
stays just
this side of
idolatry, although
Mr Robinson's
standpoint
is
clearly enough
defined. For
him,
Karajan
is 'a
genius-perhaps
the
greatest
conductor
who ever
lived',
and most of his 123
pages
are
devoted to
stating
the case for his
judgment.
The
author is music director of a Toronto radio
station,
and a
composer
and
lecturer,
and a Toronto
colleague,
Bruce
Surtees,
a record collector and
reviewer,
has
supplied
a
31-page discography.
Karajan's background
and
early years
are
informatively summarized,
and I am
intrigued
to
learn that he was dismissed from his first
appoint-
ment at Ulm after five
years
'for his own
good',
the Intendant
fearing
that he would never otherwise
break free. The familiar case is made for
Karajan's
membership
of the Nazi
party virtually
as a condition
of his
employment
at Aachen from
1934,
the
youngest
Generalmusikdirektor in
Germany
at the
time,
but
having quoted
the 1967 New Yorker
interview in which
Karajan declared,
'I would have
committed
any
crime to
get
that
post',
the author
makes no
attempt
to follow
up
the
interesting
implications
of that remark.
Nazi
intrigue
is blamed for
setting Furtwangler
and
Karajan
in
professional opposition
to
begin
with, and the older man is later accused of
'paranoia
and
intransigence'
in
preventing Karajan
from
being
engaged
at
Vienna,
Berlin or
Salzburg
in the
1948-54
period.
Mr
Robinson, however,
seems
unaware of an interview in 1964 with Herbert
Pendergast,
which
appeared
in the
Saturday
Review in New York and in Music and Musicians in
Britain,
where
Karajan
is recorded as
saying
of
Furtwdngler:
'We were never close as individuals
but I attended his rehearsals at
every opportunity.
One
day
I am
going
to write a book about con-
ductors who have influenced me and I will devote a
chapter
to
Furtwangler'.
The author has little time for conductors who
could be
regarded
as
Karajan's
rivals.
Apart
from
Furtwangler,
Solti is accused of
coveting Karajan's
appointment
with L'Orchestre de
Paris,
and a
French
government minister, Marcel
Landowski,
of
'duplicity'
in
engineering Karajan's replacement
by
Solti.
Allegations
of this kind need to be
justified
by
authoritative
sources;
Mr Robinson
gives
plenty
of dates and references for
quotations
from
Press
reviews,
but leaves more
important
issues
disconcertingly unsupported.
He is not reluctant
to intrude his own views: one
Karajan performance
is 'the ultimate realization of what-the
composer
intended',
but those
early
records with the
original
Philharmonia, which some of us believe
played
a
not
unimportant part
in
establishing Karajan's
wider
post-war reputation,
are
cursorily
dismissed
for inferior
quality
of sound as well as character of
performance.
It is
interesting
to learn that after the
'badly
botched
rendering
of the American national
anthem',
when
Karajan
took the dead
Furtwangler's
place
for the Berlin Philharmonic's American tour
in
1955,
he secured a new
arrangement
of it
by
'William
Walton,
one of
England's leading
com-
posers',
when he returned to the USA with the
Philharmonia later the same
year.
Mr Robinson
attempts
a balanced account of
Karajan's
troubled
years
at the Vienna
Staatsoper,
and of his relations
with his native
Salzburg
which
eventually brought
the foundation of the
Salzburg
Easter Festival.
Karajan's attempts
at filmed
opera
find little
favour,
but less attention than it deserves is
given
to his
developing
interest in the technical
aspects
of
musical
reproduction
methods.
A
chapter
on
'Karajan
and the Critics' seeks to
analyse
one or two adverse comments
by
Paul
Henry Lang,
William
Mann,
David Hamilton and
Martin
Bookspan,
which leads the author into a
731
Karajan
is 'a
genius-perhaps
the
greatest
conductor
who ever
lived',
and most of his 123
pages
are
devoted to
stating
the case for his
judgment.
The
author is music director of a Toronto radio
station,
and a
composer
and
lecturer,
and a Toronto
colleague,
Bruce
Surtees,
a record collector and
reviewer,
has
supplied
a
31-page discography.
Karajan's background
and
early years
are
informatively summarized,
and I am
intrigued
to
learn that he was dismissed from his first
appoint-
ment at Ulm after five
years
'for his own
good',
the Intendant
fearing
that he would never otherwise
break free. The familiar case is made for
Karajan's
membership
of the Nazi
party virtually
as a condition
of his
employment
at Aachen from
1934,
the
youngest
Generalmusikdirektor in
Germany
at the
time,
but
having quoted
the 1967 New Yorker
interview in which
Karajan declared,
'I would have
committed
any
crime to
get
that
post',
the author
makes no
attempt
to follow
up
the
interesting
implications
of that remark.
Nazi
intrigue
is blamed for
setting Furtwangler
and
Karajan
in
professional opposition
to
begin
with, and the older man is later accused of
'paranoia
and
intransigence'
in
preventing Karajan
from
being
engaged
at
Vienna,
Berlin or
Salzburg
in the
1948-54
period.
Mr
Robinson, however,
seems
unaware of an interview in 1964 with Herbert
Pendergast,
which
appeared
in the
Saturday
Review in New York and in Music and Musicians in
Britain,
where
Karajan
is recorded as
saying
of
Furtwdngler:
'We were never close as individuals
but I attended his rehearsals at
every opportunity.
One
day
I am
going
to write a book about con-
ductors who have influenced me and I will devote a
chapter
to
Furtwangler'.
The author has little time for conductors who
could be
regarded
as
Karajan's
rivals.
Apart
from
Furtwangler,
Solti is accused of
coveting Karajan's
appointment
with L'Orchestre de
Paris,
and a
French
government minister, Marcel
Landowski,
of
'duplicity'
in
engineering Karajan's replacement
by
Solti.
Allegations
of this kind need to be
justified
by
authoritative
sources;
Mr Robinson
gives
plenty
of dates and references for
quotations
from
Press
reviews,
but leaves more
important
issues
disconcertingly unsupported.
He is not reluctant
to intrude his own views: one
Karajan performance
is 'the ultimate realization of what-the
composer
intended',
but those
early
records with the
original
Philharmonia, which some of us believe
played
a
not
unimportant part
in
establishing Karajan's
wider
post-war reputation,
are
cursorily
dismissed
for inferior
quality
of sound as well as character of
performance.
It is
interesting
to learn that after the
'badly
botched
rendering
of the American national
anthem',
when
Karajan
took the dead
Furtwangler's
place
for the Berlin Philharmonic's American tour
in
1955,
he secured a new
arrangement
of it
by
'William
Walton,
one of
England's leading
com-
posers',
when he returned to the USA with the
Philharmonia later the same
year.
Mr Robinson
attempts
a balanced account of
Karajan's
troubled
years
at the Vienna
Staatsoper,
and of his relations
with his native
Salzburg
which
eventually brought
the foundation of the
Salzburg
Easter Festival.
Karajan's attempts
at filmed
opera
find little
favour,
but less attention than it deserves is
given
to his
developing
interest in the technical
aspects
of
musical
reproduction
methods.
A
chapter
on
'Karajan
and the Critics' seeks to
analyse
one or two adverse comments
by
Paul
Henry Lang,
William
Mann,
David Hamilton and
Martin
Bookspan,
which leads the author into a
731
Karajan
is 'a
genius-perhaps
the
greatest
conductor
who ever
lived',
and most of his 123
pages
are
devoted to
stating
the case for his
judgment.
The
author is music director of a Toronto radio
station,
and a
composer
and
lecturer,
and a Toronto
colleague,
Bruce
Surtees,
a record collector and
reviewer,
has
supplied
a
31-page discography.
Karajan's background
and
early years
are
informatively summarized,
and I am
intrigued
to
learn that he was dismissed from his first
appoint-
ment at Ulm after five
years
'for his own
good',
the Intendant
fearing
that he would never otherwise
break free. The familiar case is made for
Karajan's
membership
of the Nazi
party virtually
as a condition
of his
employment
at Aachen from
1934,
the
youngest
Generalmusikdirektor in
Germany
at the
time,
but
having quoted
the 1967 New Yorker
interview in which
Karajan declared,
'I would have
committed
any
crime to
get
that
post',
the author
makes no
attempt
to follow
up
the
interesting
implications
of that remark.
Nazi
intrigue
is blamed for
setting Furtwangler
and
Karajan
in
professional opposition
to
begin
with, and the older man is later accused of
'paranoia
and
intransigence'
in
preventing Karajan
from
being
engaged
at
Vienna,
Berlin or
Salzburg
in the
1948-54
period.
Mr
Robinson, however,
seems
unaware of an interview in 1964 with Herbert
Pendergast,
which
appeared
in the
Saturday
Review in New York and in Music and Musicians in
Britain,
where
Karajan
is recorded as
saying
of
Furtwdngler:
'We were never close as individuals
but I attended his rehearsals at
every opportunity.
One
day
I am
going
to write a book about con-
ductors who have influenced me and I will devote a
chapter
to
Furtwangler'.
The author has little time for conductors who
could be
regarded
as
Karajan's
rivals.
Apart
from
Furtwangler,
Solti is accused of
coveting Karajan's
appointment
with L'Orchestre de
Paris,
and a
French
government minister, Marcel
Landowski,
of
'duplicity'
in
engineering Karajan's replacement
by
Solti.
Allegations
of this kind need to be
justified
by
authoritative
sources;
Mr Robinson
gives
plenty
of dates and references for
quotations
from
Press
reviews,
but leaves more
important
issues
disconcertingly unsupported.
He is not reluctant
to intrude his own views: one
Karajan performance
is 'the ultimate realization of what-the
composer
intended',
but those
early
records with the
original
Philharmonia, which some of us believe
played
a
not
unimportant part
in
establishing Karajan's
wider
post-war reputation,
are
cursorily
dismissed
for inferior
quality
of sound as well as character of
performance.
It is
interesting
to learn that after the
'badly
botched
rendering
of the American national
anthem',
when
Karajan
took the dead
Furtwangler's
place
for the Berlin Philharmonic's American tour
in
1955,
he secured a new
arrangement
of it
by
'William
Walton,
one of
England's leading
com-
posers',
when he returned to the USA with the
Philharmonia later the same
year.
Mr Robinson
attempts
a balanced account of
Karajan's
troubled
years
at the Vienna
Staatsoper,
and of his relations
with his native
Salzburg
which
eventually brought
the foundation of the
Salzburg
Easter Festival.
Karajan's attempts
at filmed
opera
find little
favour,
but less attention than it deserves is
given
to his
developing
interest in the technical
aspects
of
musical
reproduction
methods.
A
chapter
on
'Karajan
and the Critics' seeks to
analyse
one or two adverse comments
by
Paul
Henry Lang,
William
Mann,
David Hamilton and
Martin
Bookspan,
which leads the author into a
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