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    Review: Ornamentation GaloreAuthor(s): Robert DoningtonSource: The Musical Times, Vol. 110, No. 1517 (Jul., 1969), pp. 738-739Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/954067.

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    rnamentationa l o r eRobert DoningtonTHEARTOFORNAMENTATIONNDEM-

    BELLISHMENT N THE RENAISSANCEANDBAROQUEDevisedbyDenisStevens,withthe cooperationof MartinBernstein;producedbySeymourSolomonVANGUARD VSL 11044-5 (57s 2d)Since Music is by common consent a woman, shecannotget veryfar without ornamentation.There are the structuralnotes, and there is thefiguration. The structurecannot be much alteredwithout significantlyalteringthe music. But thefigurationcan be, and often is. For the figuration,whoeverprovidesit and however,is not structuralbut ornamental.It was the general19th-century ssumptionthatthe composerwrote what he wanted,and got whathe wrote. Not so with much of our best modernmusic; and not so in the 18th centuryand earlier.Our difficultywith early music is first to knowenough,and then to be bold enough,and above allto be creative enough. In all this, the pair ofrecordsdevisedby Denis Stevens shouldhelpmanypeople.'Ornamentation s on the one hand part of thehistoryof composition:especiallyof variation ech-nique and variationform; for here it is above alltrue that the improvisationof today becomes thecompositionof tomorrow. Muchof this recordingis simplya useful study in music history. On theother hand, ornamentationis also part of thehistoryof performance:e now the practiceof per-formance,since we want to do it again. But here,too, there is a distinction o be drawn between twobrancheswhich,althoughthey overlap,are not thesame.Therewas first that highly sophisticatedparlourgame taught by Ganassi, Ortiz, Finck, Bovicelli,Morley,Simpsonandothersforusing givenmaterialmore or less impromptuas a musical vaulting-horse; all very enjoyable for the performer,andperhapsfor a listenerwhoseturnwas comingnext,but for the general isteneronly enjoyablein thoserare instanceswheregenius goes into it. Most sur-viving specimensaretedious,like those broadacresof Germancolouration on the organ,with so fewgreen pastures: yet out of this came the greattradition of chorale variations. Important ashistory,therefore,but not as performancepractice.The samewithBovicelli'sornamental eworkingsofPalestrinaand the like. Either a geniusdoes them,and you get new compositionsbased on old ones,like the wonderfullypoetical divisionsof Ortiz onexistingchansons,or in the case of Simpsonon hisown groundbasses. Or not, and you get old com-positionsspoiledby inferior elaborations. We maywish to try this as a historical exercise or as a'There is some comparable ornamentation on Denis Stevens'sexcellent recording of Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli, HMVHQS 1093 (described by Denis Stevens, MT Sept 1967, p.798).This ornamentation, added by Denis Stevens, is extremely goodexcept in one particular: some ornamentation is used on the lastnotes of phrases, which should be points of arrival, and there-fore left plain. Cf Giovanni Camillo Maffei, Delle lettere(Naples, 1562), pp.5-81, 3rd Rule: 'one ought to make the[ornamental] passage on the penultimate syllable of the word, sothat, with the ending of the word, the passage is also ended'.

    curiosity. But it is, let us face it, ornamentationorornamentation's ake; and if this is what we wantwe canperhapsbetterdo it in an avant-gardediomwhich has presentvalue.Second,therewas ornamentation or the music'ssake. And this has present value because it isneeded for the full performanceof early musicwhich has present value. But then everythingdependson how it is done.Side 1 band 1 of this recordinghas an aria withwrittenout ornamentation,composed by AntonioArchileifor his yet more famouswife, Vittoria;andthe chief lesson to be learntfromit is thatno singermuch less magnificent han, say, Joan Sutherland,who is our modernArchilei,can do fulljusticeto sobrillianta branchof virtuosobel canto.Band2 has the DellerConsortsinginga four-partmadrigalby Ciprianode Rore in that ratherman-neredbut sensitive tyleof theirs;and AlfredDeller,in whom the manneris very great artistry,singingBovicelli'sfigurationof its top line so artfully, yetseemingly so spontaneously,that it sounds nearperfect. I rememberTobin's written-outornamen-tation for Messiah:only Alfred Deller and PeterPearssangsuchpassagesas if theyweremaking hemup as theywentalong,withoutwhichornamentation(whether mprovisedor written-out,and by whom-soeverwrittenout) never can soundrightat all.Band 3 has a Merulocanzonain fourplain partson viols (Jaye Consort, a little reticent but a nicesound); then in Merulo's florid organ version(Anton Heiller, a little unflowingly):a fine piece;but it has more to do with compositionthan withperformancepractice. Band4 is a frottola, anony-mousand ratherdull, both plainand coloured;andsungwith a queerpushingon to the middle of noteswhich ratherspoils the line.Band 5 is a splendid four-part madrigal byFrancescode Layolle,togetherwith an ornamenta-tion of it taken from the famous letter (1562) bythat earlychampionof bel canto,Maffei. This finespecimenof written-outornamentation s remark-ablylike Ortiz,and remarkablybeautiful. So is thesinging by the AmbrosianConsort: sensitive,butalso robust;not in the least mannered;and sound-ing to my earsvery rightand natural n this music(both whenplainand whencoloured). Band6 is aperfect peach of a four-partLied by Hofhaimer,simple, exquisiteand inspired. The moral here ishow much worse it sounds on the organ withelaboratebut uninspiredcolourationby Kleber.Side 2 Band 1 has some of Ortiz'struly inspiredornamentation to Sandrin's four-part Doucememoire;but this can sound betterwith viols (or atleast the bassviol) kept going on the plain partsaswell as on the ornamentingparts. The trebleviolhere (Francis Baines) is not quite bold enough,althoughthe bass viol (JenniferRyan) gets strongand musicianlyhandling.Band 2 is Deller at his wonderfulbest, well sup-ported in the plain version of Robert Parsons'sstagesong, Pandolpho, y the WenzingerConsort ofViols;andstill betterin the colouredversionby thatfine lutenist,Desmond Dupr6. And here indeed isan excellentspecimenof ornamentation sed not for

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    its own sake,but for the music's sake. Thereis notverymuchof it; and that little is entirelyexpressive.Deller'slightness s a lesson in itself.Band 3 is from the Combattimento,with someornamentationby Monteverdi,and more (a littletoo much,butallof it goodandexciting)presumablyby Denis Stevens. EdgarFleetcomesup as a finelyimpassioned Monteverdian tenor; and HaroldLester as one of the very few harpsichordistswhoknowwhat to do in this kindof music,andhave theimaginationto do what they know. It makes adifference. Fleet sings again on Band 5: a song byThomasBrewer,with contemporaryornamentationin the secondverse.Band4 is a Frenchfour-part ong by Bodsset,andits ornamentationin the soprano ine) by Moulini6.Who saysthe Frenchdid not do it? Thismusthavebeen just after de Nyert's return from Rome as averyconvincedand veryinfluential eacher n Parisof Italianbel canto. The performancehere ratheroverstresseshe ornaments, nsteadof slipping hemin lightlyand as if spontaneously.Band 6 gives a Corelli Adagio played first asprinted, plain, in the ordinaryeditions. It is, ofcourse, nothing but the structural notes for amelodythus far non-existent. So it generallygetsplayedtoday; and so it firstgets playedhere,withafull measure of over-weightedmodern violin toneand a total absenceof the cadential rills whicheventhis bare notationimplies. Then comes the orna-mented version publishedby Roger around 1710,with ornamental igurationattributed correctly,asDenis Stevens well argues-though in any case itwould still be of the period) to Corelli. But thefiddlingremains as modernas before: over-heavy,over-fussy, overdone in every way. Even thebread-and-butterrills have theirendingsweightedand sustainedin the literal, old-fashionedmodernway. Odd, because the same fiddler (EduardMelkus)does somegood work ateron. So does theharpsichordist Anton Heiller); but here he gildsthe lily with counter-ornamentationf his own forwhich there s just room, physically,but no placeatall artistically n accompanying his alreadyratherdizzilyornamented olo.The blacker he notes,the lighter he performanceneedsto be. Youjust wantto hangthe ornamenta-tion casually between the stronger notes of themelody (mainlythe harmonicnotes). Poundingitout buriesthe structureand coarsens the ornamen-tationalike.Side3 band 1 is a Couperinmenuet nddouble. Thebefore-the-beatalf-trills tremblementsies)aredue,I think,to a misunderstandingf Couperin'sratherambiguous table of ornaments in his Pieces declavecin (other contemporaryFrench tables areclearer). The performancesounds a shade toocalculated for true French grace. The doubleisrightly played as a subsequentmovement ratherthan as an ornamentationof the repeats(just theoppositeof Bach'sornamentation or sarabands nthe English suites, and indeed of the earlierorna-mentations n this Ordreof Couperin's).Band2, with Bach's ornamentationof Marcello,so incrediblybetter than its plain original, simplyproveswhat geniuscan achievethat talent cannot.A betterperformance:but too much is still beingmade of the ornamentation. You must make theleast of it if you want to get the most out of it.Caccini'swordforthis would havebeensprezzatura:gentlemanlynonchalance. Band 3 is jolly Vivaldiornamented nto inspiredBach. Igor Kipnis playsthe Bachextremelywell.

    Band 4 is not ornamentation,but the ornamentalrealization,byAnton Heiller,of a Vivaldicontinuo.This instance needs imaginativelybut not melodi-cally figuratearpeggiation, o keep up the interestwithoutcomingto blows with the pulsatingstrings.Instead,it is forced into cumbersome, oncerto-likemelody,misjudgedn style,in taste andin century.Band 5 is a Handelda capoaria to whicha littleornamentationshould have been added the firsttime through; and more than is here given, thesecondtime;but whatis given(presumably yDenisStevens) s good. Band 6 reveals the inferiority fHandel's(or anyone else's) ornamentation o J. S.Bach's;butit wouldsound muchbetter f it werenotmade so pretentiouslyconspicuous in the per-formance. To paraphrasean improper Chinesesaying:when ornamentations seen to be inevitable,relax.

    The Nardinion side 4 bandI is a furtherdemon-strationof fiddling reshfromTchaikovsky-where,do not misunderstandme, it would be very good.Band 2 is exquisitelyinnocentTelemann for flute(Meylan),oboe(Lardrot), iolin(Stanic)andstrings,with tactful and inventive ornamentationin thethree solos, all played in fine and proper style.Band 3 is dullish Quantz, with his own dullishlyelaborateornamentation:but Stastny'sapparentlybaroqueflute s deadin tuneandbeautifullyplayed;Heiller'saccompaniments justrightthis time, witha few felicitoustouchesof imaginativeornamenta-tion to match the flutewithoutimpeding t.Band 4 has Berard'sslight but fascinatingorna-mentsfor a Rameauaria, with PatriciaClarkheresinging very well, and more good accompanimentfrom Harold Lester. On band 5, Anton Heilleragainfailsto get quite enoughof a naturalcantilenainto C. P. E. Bach'ssensitivelyornamentedreprise.Band 6 is the best treat of the set: the unusuallyinspiredGraveof a Telemanntrio sonata, with hisown quitebeautifulornamentation, uitebeautifullyplayed by Stastny(baroqueflute), EduardMelkus(baroqueviolin and bow-is that partly what gothim so into style here?) and Anton Heiller(harpsi-chord). The baroquesonoritiesreally do make awonderfuldifference: ven morethan I would haveexpected. There s muchhere to be learntand muchto be enjoyed. Band 7 is Gluck's 'Che faro' fromCharlesMackerras'secordingof OrfeoedEuridice.2Mackerras's hampionshipof the normalhabits of18th-centurymusicianshipsounds right, is right,and is gettingto be knownto be right.A mixedbag then, but a good one, and I hope Imay have contributedto makingthe best possibleuse of it.

    2See Ludwig Fischer, 'Che faro senza Euridice: Ein Beitrag zurGluck-Interpretation'. Festschrift Hans Engel zum siebzigstenGeburtstag (Kasse , 1964), pp.96-110, for a remarkable 18th-century version of this justly celebrated aria with ornamentationas sung by Guadagni: a version known to and in part followedby Mackerras. The disputed 'inequality' is shown here, thoughas a matter of taste (not of authenticity) I do feel it may be alittle too jerky for this idyllic context. See also Winton Dean'sreview, MT Aug 1968, p.733; and a letter from Charles Macker-ras, MT Oct 1968, p.919.

    THE LONDON PRAECLASSICA SOCIETYoffer a series of subscription concerts, Lecture-Recitals, and Seminarsin the Autumn for thoseinterested n the authenticperformanceof Baroquemusic. Details from the Concert Secretary,16 Hans Place, SW1

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