Italian Concerto Harpsichord

[Ahmend Studioz]

AnItalian concerto relies upon the contrasting roles of different groups of instruments in an ensemble; Bach imitates this effect by creating contrasts using the forte and piano manuals of a two-manual harpsichord throughout the piece.

David Lai In the UrText edition I have there is no indication of specify tempo for the first movement , although it does mention andante for the 2nd movement. The key signature and 1/16 notes writing suggest indeed an allegro which is presumably the reason why a few editors have added their own tempo marking on score.

In absence of any tempo indication , the rule I have learned which works well in general is to follow the guidelines proper to Tempo giusto , using the fastest sequences of notes to find the limit acceptable for a given movement . (Allegro in this case) . For instance if you look at bars 73, 74, the limit of the allegro is determined by the speed at which you can play the sequence of 32th notes in a way which is well articulated and clear . You will find a similarity with the prelude in D minor of WTC Book 2 , bar 22 and 24 which determine your allegro speed by limiting the upper range based on clarity of the execution following the same rule.

This approach is based on Kirnberger's interpretation of tempo which makes more sense IMHO that any theory derived from the mensural system (Tactus based on Pulse heart , from the renaissance period) which was long dead by the times concerto were written.

CyberGene I love this piece because it's a rare situation that he writes (or maybe the editors wrote) "forte" and "piano." That's very rare for him. And also, it's rare for him to be homophonic, but he does it in this concerto in addition to counterpoint. It's a very special work.

It's also very rare (if not completely absent everywhere) for Bach to leave tempo indications. For example he does not for the inventions or the WTC. On the Alfred's editions of both, Palmer collects a big table with tempos from various sources and performers and show that they are "all over the place". He also writes:

The wide divergence of supposedly knowledgeable opinion represented by this table could be the subject of a long discussion. Prelude 24 (B minor) is a particularly interesting example. Compare Hamilton's MM=40 quarter-note with Glenn Gould's MM=84 and with Anthony Newman's MM=142! This editor would be the last to say that any of these tempos is wrong. It is well to remember that tempos may vary with factors other than the taste and moods of the individual, including the responsiveness and tonal clarity of a particular instrument, as well as the acoustics and resonance of a room or hall. It was completely in the Baroque spirit to leave the choice of tempo to the performer.

It's known (but I don't know how accurate, you should know that better than I ?) that there is a wide scholarly/academic discussion about this, and that no consensus has arisen. Again, this is in general, perhaps for this specific piece it might be different. I suggest you to avoid looking for at YT, and especially at a self-declared "scholar" who claims to have "solved" this problem and plays (very badly, in my opinion) quite a lot of Bach's pieces using his "finding".

Del Vento I fully agree here. In fact before metronomic tempo, there was no strict tempo , just guideline . Tactus based on heart pulse was imprecise as the duration of a semibreve could vary between 60 and 80 'pulsations' per minutes ( there was no notion of bar at the time either) . At the beginning of Baroque, the only italian indications that were defined were largo , andante and allegro, so basically slow, normal and fast , the reference being the human walking pace which is subject to discrepancy. WTC 1 &2 were written for multiple instruments with different speed capabilities. When the italian concerto was composed, the full Italian notation was defined but it is still not a metronomic approach. So it is illusory to think that one could predict a given MM number with any tempo theory for baroque music.

Joannchr This approach is based on Kirnberger's interpretation of tempo which makes more sense IMHO that any theory derived from the mensural system (Tactus based on Pulse heart , from the renaissance period) which was long dead by the times concerto were written.

CyberGene I recently got hold of the big CPE Bach box (on CD), and I am slowly working my way through it, noticing that his piano style (at least early on; I have not gotten very far into the material yet) was different from what went on in Vienna, and that is quite an eye-opener. Also, in Italy there were people like Galuppi, who wrote again in another style (again, in my opinion; his music is considered part of the Galant style). It's interesting IMO, since when you think about the "classical period", you always think of the Vienna style without being really aware that other trends prevailed elsewhere.

QuasiUnaFantasia And it is one of the styles that I still need to familiarize myself with!!! I hope this box is available to get from one of the school libraries around here. Where did you get the box set from? Amazon?

The "Concerto after Italian Taste" in F Major for two-manual harpsichord reminds us in its conception of Bach's Weimar arrangements of solo concertos for a keyboard instrument. Here he juxtaposed the Italian Concerto in a contrasting manner with the "Overture in French Style" in B Minor which represents an arrangement of a Suite in C Minor composed earlier. This Urtext edition offers the musical text of the New Bach Edition (NBE).

The first movement is written in F major. It has a time signature of 2/4, but has no tempo marking. It is always played Allegro (fast). The second movement is written in D minor. Its time signature is 3/4, and its tempo marking is Andante (slow). The third movement is written in F major. Its time signature is cut-time (2/2), and its tempo is marked Presto (very fast). The first and third movements are composed in ritornello style. This means a theme particular to the movement returns time and again. The second movement is a very florid arioso-like piece.

An orchestral Italian concerto relies upon contrasts between the full orchestra and a small group of instruments which act as soloists. Bach achieves this effect by using the lower manual on the harpsichord as the "full orchestra" and the upper manual as the "small group of instruments".

3a8082e126