touching a mystery english only

7/29/2019 Touching a Mystery English Only

1/24

Touching a Mystery

A New Reading of Clavier Works by J. S. Bach

And its

Pedagogical Application to Childrens Music School Repertoire

Svetlana A. Gordeevtseva

Translated by Svetlana Ponomarva

English version edited by Dr. Graham N. Hunter


2/24

2

Copyright 2007 by Svetlana Ponomarva Marc Villger

All rights reserved. No Part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form

or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the permission in writing from the

author or copyright holder, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a

review to be printed in a newspaper or magazine or broadcast on radio or television.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Gordeevtseva, Svetlana A.

Touching a Mystery/ Svetlana A. Gordeevtseva.

ISBN 978-1-897518-04-5

Cover illustrations: Portrait of J.S. Bach by Hausmann; Violin Sonata No. 1 in G minor(BWV

1001) in Bachs handwriting

This book was published by:

FIRST CHOICE BOOKS

www.firstchoicebooks.ca

Printed in Canada


3/24

3

In memoriamProfessor A. A. Alexandrov (1927-2004)


4/24

4


5/24

5

Table of Contents

Preface 7

Touching a Mystery

Part One: 9

Educational manual for childrens music schools

Introduction 11The question of Baroque articulation 13

Rules of articulation 15

Practicum 21

Conclusion 23

Part Two: 25

J.S. Bach selected pieces for piano, edited by S.A. Gordeevtseva

From Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach

Minuet in F Major BWV 113 27

Minuet in G Major BWV 114 28

Minuet in G Minor BWV 115 29Minuet in G Major BWV 116 30

Polonaise in G Minor BWV 119 31

Polonaise in G Minor BWV 125 32Minuet in D minor BWV 132 33

From Little Preludes and Fugues

Prelude in C Major BWV 933 34Prelude in C minor BWV 934 35

Prelude in D minor BWV 935 36Prelude in D Major BWV 936 38

Fughetta in C Minor BWV 961 40

Fugue in C Major BWV 952 42


6/24

6

From Inventions and Sinfonias

Invention in C Major BWV 772 44Invention in C Minor BWV 773 46

Invention in D Minor BWV 775 48

Invention in E Minor BWV 778 50Invention in G Minor BWV 782 52

Invention in A Major BWV 783 54

Invention in B Major BWV 785 56Sinfonia in C Minor BWV 788 58

Sinfonia in D Minor BWV 790 60

Sinfonia in E Minor BWV 793 62Sinfonia in A Minor BWV 799 64


7/24

7

Preface

Finally available to international audience, Svetlana Gordeevtsevas essayTouching a Mystery offers children and their music teachers an invaluable insight into

the basic rules of articulation in clavier Baroque music and J.S Bachs works inparticular. A selection of Bachs pieces from childrens music school repertoire, edited by

Gordeevtseva, is included in this edition.

Her essay is based on the book by Evgeni Teregulov Forgotten Rules: Problemsof Articulations and Agogics in Clavier Works of J.S Bach, KompositorPublish House,

Moscow, 1993, and a series of lectures by Professor Alexander Alexandrovich

Alexandrov of the Gnesins Russian Academy of Music which I had the chance to attendduring my studying piano with him in Moscow.

A pianist, theorist and conductor, Alexandrov was a man of colossal erudition andskills. His phenomenal pedagogic intuition and knowledge brought a multidimensional

quality to his teaching: creative analysis of the dramaturgy of form and conductors

thinking that organizes musical time became important tools in our piano performingexperience. We toured a lot with Alexandrov throughout Russia: while he was giving

lectures and master classes, we, his students, were playing concerts and were illustrating

his lectures. These times were indeed unforgettable. And we all hoped to have inheritedsome of his great sense of humor on the way.

Later I shared notes and taped lectures with my first piano teacher, Svetlana

Gordeevtseva, the author of the present essay, a teacher at Childrens School of Art #4 inOmsk, Russia. With enthusiasm Svetlana started working with this material applying it to

childrens clavier Baroque repertoire. In 2001 she went to Moscow and met with

Professor Alexandrov. His review of the essay states:

This essay is indeed a necessity. It is true to the essence of late XX century

research which aimed at restoring the performing principles of Baroque music and itsmost significant representative J.S. Bach

Among a surprisingly small number of pedagogues-pianists concerned with the

noble realization of performing Bachs principles, stands Svetlana Gordeevtseva whoseefforts and achievements deserve sincere respect and gratitude.

After reading her essay, I trust youll agree with him!

Svetlana Ponomarva


8/24

8


9/24

9

Touching a Mystery

Part One

Educational manual for childrens music schools


10/24

10


11/24

11

Introduction

Each era has its own heroes and genius, its own style and aesthetics in painting,literature, architecture, and in music. Hence, the life and creation of any artist cannot be

examined apart from the time from which it sprang.

In Europe, the end of the 16th

century saw the Baroque style replace that of the

Renaissance (the term baroque comes from the Italian, meaning whimsical, fanciful,intricate). The earnest study of Baroque art began only in the 20th century.

Baroque art includes an enormous amount of music. The most significant ofwhich was undoubtedly written by J. S. Bach. It is difficult to overestimate his role in the

musical cosmos of the Baroque and Bach's work is a great mystery that has still not been

fully explained. Yet, the works of few composers have had as many editors as those of J.S. Bach. In Russia only Mugellinis edition of his Well-Tempered Clavier has been

issued for the past 50 years while the urtextis hard to find. But despite the many existent

editions widely available elsewhere, the question of how to interpret Bachs music

remains. It is a question of agogics (metric freedom) and articulation.

In 1997, I came across a book by Evgeni Teregulov, The Forgotten Rules. This

discovery led to a fascinating archeological musical journey and for the past eight years Ihave been involved in pedagogical research regarding the performance of Bach's music.

Honored Artist of Russia, Professor Alexandrov of the Gnesins Russian Academy of

Music gave me tremendous help and encouragement in my research. I listened torecordings of Alexandrovs lectures "From Baroque to Classicism" in which his students

played works by Bach to illustrate his points.

I corresponded with Professor Alexandrov for several years as more questions

arose. Finally, in 2001, we met in Moscow and I gave him a draft copy of my own edition

of selected Bach works for his inspection. He corrected a few points, but on the whole,approved of my edition.


12/24

12

The search for answers regarding articulation in clavier pieces of the Baroque era,

and especially in the works of Bach still presents difficulties for music teachers and

performers alike. The main difficulty lies in our resistance against moving away from astereotypic mentality and its habits while approaching the polyphonic works of Bach. We

have been used to these stereotypes since childhood we were taught in a certain way

and we continue to teach that way.

There are two customary ways of interpreting Bach's works: taking the liberty to

do with the text anything one wants as long as one refers to an urtextin which there arevery few indications from the composer, or unthinkingly to follow indications given by

some editor. Unfortunately, most editions, in Professor Alexandrovs opinion, treat

Bachs texts frivolously. In this music we cannot rely on intuition and we must not inventthings. We simply need to know the background, understand the language that Bach

used, and then should we be able to apprehend all facets of Bach's works.


13/24

13

The question of Baroque articulation

Before addressing the question of articulation in some details, we shouldemphasize a number of features that are characteristic of Bachs music writing. DuringBachs time, music mostly existed in handwriting as opposed to printing or publishing.

Bach often entrusted his sons to copy his works, sometimes making himself corrections

afterwards. Later on, some editors perceived those rare authors indications as guidingprinciples and used them extensively throughout the score. In addition, other editors

applied questionable rules to Bachs clavier works. For instance, Busoni followed the

theory that all Bachs music was thought for the organ, forgetting that organ and clavier

are too very different instruments with different potentialities in dynamics and inregisters.

As for Baroque tempos, there were only four of them Adagio, Andante, Allegroand Presto. Often these tempos defined not so much the speed but the character of the

piece. For instance, Allegro, besides its meaning quick, more importantly meant gaily,

cheerfully. All other tempos Largo, Allegretto etc appeared later. Moreover,Baroque tempos were much closer to each other than nowadays.

It is well known that Bach didnt indicate tempos in his music. Some musicianshold the opinion that a strict, unbending meter-rhythm is the basis for Baroque

performing style. This is a delusion: music never was mechanical and the Baroque era is

no exception. Furthermore, in Baroque aesthetics everything was curved, there were nostraight lines. For instance, in improvisation forms such as Fantasia, Toccata etc.., some

accelerando and ritenuto were natural depending on the context and the performersprofessional manner. But the use of mixed dynamics, various diminuendo and crescendo

is totally contrary to the Baroque essence. These slavicisms, as Alexandrov calledthem, have nothing to do with Baroque music and Bachs music in particular. Sure,

forte and piano indications existed in the score. However, they were used in

connection to specific mechanisms of instruments featuring several keyboards (ormanuals) such as harpsichord, clavier-chord, organ etc. but not as dynamic nuances

loud or quiet. Switching manuals upper manual piano (P), lower forte (F)

allowed creating only a dynamic effect less versus more, not loud versus quiet.Therefore, dazzling nuances are not acceptable while playing Baroque music: crescendo,

diminuendo or molto legato, all sorts of dying phrases, slowing down at the end of

cadences are absolutely contrary to the Baroque rules, its ethics and aesthetics. We musttherefore abide to the rules of the era as they define the recognizable face of the music.

The personality of Bachs works depends on it.

Now that the general concepts are well established, the question often arises in

music school practice: what kind of articulation manner is the basis for interpreting

Bachs clavier music? The most common manners of performing is either, legato ornon

legato. For instance, famous pianist Glenn Gould preferred non legato (or separate


14/24

14

manner) and even oftenstaccato articulation. Another established method is to articulate

by big blocks (eighth note method by A. Braudo) where the eighth notes are played non

legato and the sixteenth legato. This articulation stereotype of Bachs polyphony hasbeen used for many years. However many expressive possibilities, hidden in each voice,

are left unopened with this approach. Sometimes young musicians and we, pedagogues,

dont know what to do with the lower voice (left hand) in Minuets or Little Preludes. Wejust play this lower voice with a boring and impersonal non legato, thinking that we play

a polyphonic piece.

How about the articulation itself? The earliest any articulation appeared on scores

was the 17th

century. It was marked for string instruments with a slur above two notes.

Before Bach, such indications were rare in clavier works. The functions of articulationare various and often connect with rhythmical, dynamic, timbre and other means of

musical expressivity. In the Baroque era, articulation and agogics were main catalysts of

performing style. However, their conspicuous absence from urtexts and methodical

studies is puzzling.

The reason for this absence is that these attributes were quite known and didnt

need a written confirmation on the score. The Baroque era was the time of universalmusicians. Clavier players were raised as distinctive musical elite absorbing all the rules

with mothers milk. The Baroque musician was not only a performer, he usually was a

composer, a Kapellmeister (conductor) and he could play at least two instruments (clavieror organ for sure). The musician-performer of that time was also an educator forming the

rules that were cultivated since childhood. Thats why composers, including Bach, wrote

down articulation only in situations where there could be various reading or when it wasan exception that carried a special intention of the composer. However and this is the

core argument indications of articulation do exist in Bachs orchestral scores where

everything was written down. The reason was that orchestral musicians didnt belong tomusical elite. Often, they were simply music lovers much less musically educated than

clavier players. Therefore, if we want to find an answer to the question about how to

articulate Bachs clavier works, we cannot just look at his clavier music: we also need to

study his other instrumental, ensemble and orchestral scores.


15/24

15

Rules of articulation

Now lets state the basic principles in performing the different textures of

Baroque music. The rules of articulation that follow were forgotten for many years.(Indeed, much that is new is often something old that has been rediscovered.) So, let's tryto recover what has been lost.

In the Baroque era the manner of performing was different from that in laterperiods. The hand did not lift between slurs. Articulation (separation, division) was done

by lifting the finger. This can be explained and verified by the specificity of instruments

of that time. Small, vocal articulation that allowed music to sound close to human speech

was traditional and required in the Baroque period.

Non legato, separate manner of playing

This articulation was used for:

1) Long notes.2) Dotted rhythms.

Not this way but this way

3) Leaps in melody

4) Motives built on triad-cords or their inversions

5) Ascending and descending sequences in slow tempo.


16/24

16

It is worth specifying that the intensity level of staccato in Bach's clavier works

varies depending upon the tempo, character of the piece, and genre. We should also

remember that a rule of articulation may appear as an exception, depending upon context.

A few words about syncopation: it is necessary to emphasize that syncopation in

Baroque time was a big event and we, pianists, cannot treat casually this rhythmicalpiquancy. Syncopation in Bachs music was always the beginning of a motive and always

separated from a previous material. This moment cannot be brushed over. Therefore

syncopation (that is born from two tied notes) should never be tied with a previous note.You have to sort of step on syncopation, anticipate it, or in other words pay attention

to it.

6) Therefore, separate articulation forsyncopation

One more important law in Baroque music upbeats never tie with strong beat

(meaning, a slur doesnt carry over the bar line). Upbeat always points towards the strongbeat and Seconds that go from weak to strong beat are also separate (not slurred).

Imagine how it would be played by string instruments it is not possible to drive into astrong beat on one continuous bow. The string articulation principles work not only forstring players. Why is it that upbeats cannot be tied with strong beats? This rule depends

on the rule of iamb trochee (meaning from weak to strong). All Baroque music is

constructed on this principle. It is all iambic in nature (for Romanticism, the trochee ismore typical, and for Classicism, both iamb and trochee are equally used). J.S. Bach is

the most energetic composer of the Baroque era because of the iambic nature of his

music. Everything aims towards the end; energy grows towards the last cord.


17/24

17

Playing upbeat

Not this way

But this way

(In Bach's works almost all themes or motives start with a weak beat. Performers

should always remember this.)

Legato

Legato usually tied two, three, or rarely, larger groups of notes.

1) Cases when two notes are played legato:

1) Sighing intonation


18/24

18

2) Material where odd notes create a clear melodic structure

3) All passages with hidden two-voiced texture

4) As a part of mixed articulation

2) Cases when three notes are played legato:

1) Most often in triplets and in measures that contain triplets (without leaps)

Here the term finger lift is truly relevant although the application of this rule, tomy mind, is conditional to the students abilities. Thus, in Gigues and in fast pieces in

form of a Gigue such articulation is hard to perform and not always practical for the

pupils.


19/24

19

2) In quadruplets with a clear structure 3+1 or 1+3

In the given examples we can see analogy with stringed instruments playing up-bow and down-bow when strong notes are slightly longer and weak notes slightly shorter.

At the same time, strict pulsation between strong beats remains.

3) Cases when four notes are played legato:

Groups of quadruplets without leaps: these groups in general are fill ups of the

intervals, different written ornamentations that sometimes can be tied by five notes


20/24

20

4) Longer slurs are played in scale-like passages

In Bach's works we sometimes come across slurs that do not reflect literal legato

playing. Sometimes the sequence of slurs shows a motif-symbol. In the Baroque era all

motives carried some specific meaning ("Symbolism in Bach's music" is another greatsubject for discussion).

In summing up "forgotten rules" for the Baroque era, we should remember that

small speech-like articulation, by the expressivity of various motives, delineates eachvoice of the polyphonic texture in clearer relief. Small structures combine to create big

themes, just as letters create words, and words sentences. When performing, we should

not be afraid of this and should often change articulation accordingly, although one doesnot need to forcefully demonstrate it during playing. It is like punctuation marks in text:

we see them, we are guided by them, but we do not pronounce them. Most important is

what we form with these letters and syllables.


21/24

21

Practicum

Another merit of this articulation resides in solving the problem of caesura

(breathing) in polyphonic texture. Caesura is not an easy task for pupils. However inlearning the technique of speech-like articulation we find a very natural breathing: ears,head, hands and fingers the entire body of a performer is mobilized by these changes of

intricate articulation. As an example of such caesura here is the theme from Bachs three-

part Invention in A minor. Lets also mention that as a rule, theme in any Bachspolyphonic piece (prelude, fugue, invention etc.) finishes on the tonic or on the tone of a

tonic triad. This way the next tone starts a different phrase. Often pupils playing is

devoid of clear motive structure. In the given example, the theme cannot be finished on a

dominant H, it has to come to the tonic A. This theme is based on a choral andchoral always finishes with a tonic tone. Thus it has to be played this way:

Such things in Bach's works are found everywhere. We simply need to analyze

the text deeper, recognize the rule and then logic triumphs!

Small speech-like articulation also solves the problems linked to unity of temposwhich is often the stumbling block for a pupil. Take, for example, a canonic theme in

two-part invention in B flat-major by Bach: performing this invention with the rulesmakes everything fall in place, and it keeps the intricate dancing character and meter-

rhythmic pulsation.


22/24

22

A pupil has enough time to play, to hear and somehow stops rushing it (this

kind of healing many times happened in my class). Learning the small speech-like

articulation is a distinctive preparatory stage, a little bridge to playing Mozart Sonatas inlater grades.

So how do we accomplish such uneasy task in practice? Where do we start from?First, we should take our students through a little excursion in the past, into Baroque

time. Then a teacher can help pupils compare, analyze few polyphonic pieces played with

different articulation. Any Minuet from Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach can serveas an obvious and accessible example. In conventional editions all minuets are articulated

as legato in upper voice and non-legato in lower voice. With this articulation it is difficult

to hear a true, authentic nature of this antique dance since Menuet in French means small step. Thats the way Minuet was danced with small steps and reverences. But

in such simplistic articulation the dancing is lost.

Following the lecture on articulation, teachers may encourage young musicians to

do their own edition using the rules. This is a real creative process. Children maydiscover themselves how Little Prelude in C minor becomes a minuet if performed with

the speech-like articulation.

As we see, articulation can radically change the character of a piece, or ratherreveal it. I have noticed that the interest of pupils taking their first steps in polyphonic

music in general and Bach's in particular has increased since I started to apply the "old"rules of articulation.

Most rules are accessible and feasible, especially during the first stage of learning

(pieces from Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, Little Preludes and Fugues andtwo-part Inventions). Pupils understand those rules; they learn to hear and to play works

of this great composer differently. However, for various reasons, not all pupils can fully

apply the whole technical arsenal. For example, the finger lift technique sometimesdemands a special professional skill.


23/24

23

Conclusion

This essay of course doesnt pretend to be exhaustive. There are still many secretsin Bachs music and more can be said with regards to articulation problems such as

rhythmic-articulation features, peculiarities of pulsation in Bachs works, choice of

tempo, articulation and genre, articulation and image content, articulation andsymbolism.

I gave presentations and performances in front of various audiences. The subject

New reading of J.S. Bach clavier works always arouses lively reaction and discussion.Actually, one cannot impose this method to all pedagogues and performers: firstly,

because a comprehensive teaching method is yet to be written; secondly, it is always

difficult to re-learn and to re-create.

Some, having read this essay or listened to the presentation, will dwell on it;

others will imagine this musical museum of the Baroque era and realize how it wasMeanwhile, inspired pedagogues are already and successfully taking advantage of this

re-discovery, teaching the great principles of articulation to new generations of

musicians.

One thing is clear, "who does not possess skill in performing the works of Bach

will always have difficulty performing the music of other periods. (A.A. Alexandrov).

The music of J. S. Bach is the foundation we cannot dispense with.


24/24

References

Evgeni Teregulov. Forgotten Rules: Problems of Articulation and Agogics inClavier Music of J.S.Bach,KompositorPublish House, Moscow, 1993

Vera Nosina. Symbolism in Bachs Music,Klassika-XXI, Moscow, 2006 Audio-recordings of lectures From Baroque to Classicism by Professor

A.A.Alexandrov of Gnesins Russian Academy of Music in Moscow, 1993

Musical Encyclopedia, Sovetsky Kompositor, 1973

touching a mystery english only

Documents