Download The figures of Musica poetica in Buxtehude`s Passacaglia in D minor

음악예술학회 음악과 예술 2013-2호
Music and Arts Vol. 2013-2
The figures of Musica poetica in Buxtehude’s
Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161)
Sera Son
As the importance of instrumental music grew in the seventeenth
century, theorists and composers developed rhetorical devices to
establish a link to words. Joachim Burmeister, Christoph Bernhard,
and Johann Mattheson all codified musical-rhetorical figures into
a practice known as Musica Poetica. Also in the seventeenth
century, theorists, such as Athanasius Kircher, developed theories
on musical figures and emotional expression which became what
we now commonly refer to as the Doctrine of Affections. Major
composers of the day were highly influenced by Musica Poetica
and the Doctrine of Affections. This document will examine
these issues in the Passacaglia of Dieterich Buxtehude. The
overall goal of this undertaking is to provide greater resources
for performers to interpret Buxtehude’s organ compositions.
Introduction
The relationship between rhetorical figures and music reached
a high point in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Since
the Middle Ages, both rhetoric and music were components of a
liberal arts education. The seven fields of study were divided
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into the trivium, linguistic concerns that included logic, grammar,
and rhetoric, and the quadrivium, made up essentially of
mathematical disciplines, arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and
music. This basic academic configuration continued well into the
eighteenth century. While music was originally in the category of
mathematics, through the centuries, theorists, composers, and
educators related it increasingly to ideas associated with poetry.
In the Renaissance, the artistic ideal in texted music was that
the music should participate in the declamation and expression
of the text. Religious figures also saw the advantage in this
arrangement. Martin Luther argued that music has the power and
ability as an instrument of God to communicate the Gospel to
the spirit of the listener.1) These viewpoints influenced music
education in Germany for a very long time.
In the seventeenth century, particular ways in which the music
should respond rhetorically to text were codified into a system
known as Musica Poetica. Musica Poetica can be understood as
a phenomenon of Lutheran Germany from the sixteenth century
through the end of the Baroque period: a product of the study
of mathematics, rhetoric, as well as educational intentions. In the
beginning, the discipline of Musica Poetica focused on vocal
music, considering the relationship between the text and music,
and how an application of rhetorical figures could manipulate an
emotional response from the listener. Certain musical figures
were deemed analogous to particular rhetorical figures. As a
compositional discipline in the Baroque period, Musica Poetica
holds extra-musical stimulus as an indispensable element, which
1) Martin Luther, “Preface to Georg Rhau’s Symphoniae Iucundae,” Vol.
53, Luther's Works, Liturgy and Hymns (Philadelphia: Fortress Press,
1999, c1965), 320.
The figures of Musica poetica in Buxtehude’s Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161)
95
is distinct from the customs of other regions. For example, while
Italian
composers
pursued
stirring
the
affections
through
aesthetic and dramatic gestures, in contrast, German musicians
tried to achieve a textual exegesis by investigating the text and
using appropriate rhetorical devices.
Other concerns were present as well. Simultaneously in the
seventeenth century, the Doctrine of the Affections revealed a
different motivation for composition than just communicating the
meaning of text; now treatment of emotive states through music
was made a valid concern and instrumental music could also
benefit from the application of rhetorical devices. Theorists like
Athanasius Kircher, among others, organized the connection and
relationship
between
affections
and
musical
elements
and
provided distinct rhetorical figures that would move the listener
in
this
regard.
German-trained
composers
applied
these
theoretical conclusions to their music to a large degree. Among
these, the Danish composer, Dieterich Buxtehude (1637–1707),
has long been recognized as the most significant composer for
organ between Samuel Scheidt and J. S. Bach. As the organist
and Werkmeister at the Marienkirche in Lübeck, he initiated
evening concerts known as Abendmusiken which spread his fame
around Europe. These concerts attracted the attention of many
younger composers and Buxtehude is best remembered today for
influencing later composers, especially J. S. Bach, who sojourned
in Lübeck for a while. For a series of Abendmusiken, Buxtehude
assembled a large ensemble to perform his own music as well
as that of others in the Italian-German style, and the collection
of music for these concerts forms one of the largest bodies of
vocal, organ and other instrumental music of seventeenth-century
composers. Buxtehude, himself, contributed music in all mediums
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showcased in these concerts, but his organ music is the best
known today. He wrote pieces in many genres for the organ
including canzone, ostinato works, praeludia, chorale settings,
chorale fantasias, chorale preludes, chorale variations, suites,
and secular variations. This document will focus on rhetorical
figures in a piece by Buxtehude, his Passacaglia in D minor
(BuxWV 161).
This document will demonstrate the tremendous influence that
Musica Poetica as espoused by its theorists had on German
Baroque composers of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth
centuries. I am convinced that even a little understanding of
these
seventeenth-century
ideas
will
be
beneficial
to
the
performer by leading to an increased expressive palette and to
the listener by giving some tangible expressive techniques for
which to listen.
The figures of Musica poetica in Buxtehude’s
Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161)
Buxtehude’s Passacaglia appears in the manuscript known as
the
“Andreas
Bach
Buch,”
a
collection
of
North
German
masterpieces.2) The work exploits the fully developed ostinato
form of the seventeenth century. It can be divided into four
sections by key (D Minor, F Major, A Minor and D Minor).
2) "Buxtehude, Dieterich," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell, 4: 695-710. (London:
Macmillan, 2001).
The figures of Musica poetica in Buxtehude’s Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161)
97
Table.1 Sections by Key
1. Key
2. D Minor 3. Transition 4. F Major 5. Transition 6. A Minor 7. Transition 8. D Minor
9. Measure 10. 1-30
11. 30-32 12. 32-61 13. 61-63 14. 63-92 15. 92-94 16. 94-123
Each section consists of seven variations for a total of
twenty-eight presentations of the four measure ostinato theme in
the bass.
Example 1. Ostinato theme in the bass
This ostinato theme can be categorized as the figure anaphora
(repetiio). Anaphora is a figure of melodic repetition. It is
defined as the repetition of pitches in at least one voice, often
as a ground bass.3) Throughout these variations, cadences
generally appear as a half-cadence at the end of almost every
four measures, and an authentic cadence at the end of each key
section.
Example 2. Cadence, mm. 13-14.
3) Bartel, 444.
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In addition, this pedal theme is accompanied with a texture of
three to four voices. This accompanied presentation of the
theme differs from that of Bach’s passacaglia.
The first section begins with a series of suspensions. Starting
with the tonic chord, the consonant “d” of tonic in the tenor and
its second inversion resolves down by step in the opening
progression to the dominant chord. The passage continues to
move in stepwise motion until m. 3. The second variation
follows with a continuation of the suspension progression, and
also features inverted voices through moving the tenor of first
variation to the soprano of second variation. The figure which
Buxtehude prominently uses is the transitus. It is in the
category of figures of dissonance provided by Bernhard, and is
represented by a dissonance with a “tie”.4)
Example 3. Transitus (dissonance) in BuxWV 161, mm. 1-7 and
anaphora (repetition of pitches in at least one voice,
often a ground bass)
Transitus
4) Ibid., 413-427.
Transitus
Transitus
Transitus
The figures of Musica poetica in Buxtehude’s Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161)
99
The third through the sixth variations of the first section
feature the figure antithesis, which means opposing affection by
usting
figures:
anabasis (ascending passage) and catabasis
(descending passage). This rhetorical technique reinforces a
more passionate affect and intensity by a consistent diminution
of note values.
Example 4. Antithesis, the two opposing figures: anabasis (ascending)
and catabasis (descending).
a) anabasis (ascending), mm. 10-13.
b) catabasis (descending), mm. 22-24.
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Additionally, from the fifth to the seventh variation of the first
section, there appears the rhetorical figure of synonymia from
measure 17 to 29. This four-note figure is also a figure of
melodic repetition, using a pattern of ascending and descending
scales.5)
Example 5. Synonymia, figures of melodic repetition, mm. 26-29.
Furthermore, the fifth and sixth variations apply imitative
progressions like a dialogue and the seventh variation presents
this figure in a repetition of the same interval, creating a trill
effect in eighth notes. This continuation of these repetition
figures increases the rhythmic activity.
A prominent feature of this piece is an eighth rest followed by
a three eighth-note pattern. This figure is in the category of
interruption and silence and is named suspiratio, which means
the musical expression of a sigh through a rest as a musical
pause. Its affect often represents longing or groaning. However,
this figure can also indicate a questioning or feeling of uncertainty
in the vocal line.6)
5) Ibid., 405-408.
6) Ibid., 392-393.
The figures of Musica poetica in Buxtehude’s Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161) 101
Example 6. Suspiratio, a musical expression of a sigh through a
rest, mm. 18-20.
The following bridge section modulating to F Major displays
accentus which is a figure of melodic and harmonic ornamentation.
This figure ornaments the stepwise motion of the notes in the
right hand (b flat-a-g-f-e) with notes a sixth above to
emphasize F.
Example 7. Accentus, The figure of melodic and harmonic ornamentation,
mm. 31-32.
In the second section (mm. 32-61), there are two different
figures of melodic and harmonic continuation. From the first to
the fourth variation of this F major section the same rhythmic
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pattern is presented; which is two eighth notes followed by
longer notes. The remaining variations move with constant
eighth note patterns in the top voice without rest.
Especially, the first and second variations contain a voice
exchange; in the right hand the soprano goes to bass and the
bass goes to the soprano during the second variation. This
repetition of a melodic passage at different pitches is referred
to as a figure of polyptoton.7) This figure is a musical application
for enlarging the structure by various placements of pitch as an
imitation of a musical idea. This rhetorical figure is mostly used
in fugal compositions.
Example 8. Polyptoton, melodic passage at different pitches, mm.
37-38.
This second section also adopts the figure of synonymia from
bar 49 to 60, referring to melodic and rhythmic repetition as
mentioned above. In the fifth to the seventh variations, this
figure is used throughout, creating a trill effect over the
changing harmony.
7) Ibid., 367-368.
The figures of Musica poetica in Buxtehude’s Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161) 103
Example 9. Synonymia, figures of melodic repetition, mm. 57-60.
In the third section in A minor, unexpected rests called
abruptio are used in various ways; before the powerful chords
(mm.64-71),
eighth-note
scales
(mm.72-79)
and
percussive
arpeggio figuration (mm.80-91) in the manual which leads to a
climax. This rhythmic section makes a strong contrast to the
first section. Abruptio is a commonly used figure of Musica
poetica throughout Buxtehude’s passacaglia.
Example 10. Abruptio (Rest)
a) Abruptio (Rest) followed by chord in BuxWV 161, mm. 63-65.
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b) Abruptio (Rest) with eighth note scale in BuxWV 161, mm.
72-75.
c) Abruptio (Rest) with percussive arpeggio figuration in BuxWV 161,
mm. 84-87.
This long percussive passage ends with a complete pause
(Homoioptoton: a general pause in all voices) with a quarter rest
at measure 92. This figure of homoioptoton arouses attention.8)
The following interlude (mm. 92-94) serves as a bridge between
the sections that are composed in quite contrasting character.
There are figures named pathopoeia (a passionate affection
through chromaticism) and catabasis (descending passage) in this
short bridge, which is used as a modulatory transition to the
fourth section.
This
figure
8) Ibid., 295-297.
of
pathopoeia
appears
as
the
insertion
of
The figures of Musica poetica in Buxtehude’s Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161) 105
dissonances
on
strong
beats.9)
In
addition,
the
use
of
dissonances in this bridge increases the greater emphasis and
significance of the modulation to d minor along with the
descending figure, catabasis.
Example 11. Homoioptoton (a general pause), pathopoeia
(a passionate affection through chromaticism) and
catabasis (descending passage) in BuxWV 161, mm.
92-94.
There are two other modulatory passages in this piece.
Measures 29-32 (d minor to F major) and mm. 61-63 (F major
to a minor) also achieve modulatory transition through the
dramatic use of the figure abruptio (Rest). As we discussed
above, mm. 29-32 also include the figure of accentus.
9) Ibid., 359–361.
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Example 12. Abruptio (Rest) with eighth rest and accentus, mm.
29-32.
Example 13. Abruptio (Rest) with eighth rest, mm. 61-63.
The final d minor section contains triplet rhythms, octave leap
figurations, and fewer suspensions and dissonances. The first
two variations of this section begin with triplet figurations. The
third variation utilizes a repeated broken octave. This broken
octave appears in measures 103-104, 110-112, 115-116 and
119-120. These consonant leaps are called salto semplice,
whose rhetorical definition is “simple leap”. It can signify
consonant leaps by thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths and octaves.10)
Through a leaping interval, extension occurs with emphasis.
The figures of Musica poetica in Buxtehude’s Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161) 107
Thus, this figure is a proper choice for the end of the piece.
This final section consists of salto semplice and polyptoton
creating unity and emphasis for the ending and lends a sense of
absorption to the performer and listener. In addition, the scales
in measures 105, 113, 117 and 121 apply the figure of abruptio
(Rest) again for the emphasizing of the dominant and the figure
tirata. Tirata is a rapid scalar passage, a fourth to an octave or
more.11)
Example 14. Salto semplice, simple leaps, mm.111-112.
Example 15. Polyptoton, repetition of a melodic passage at different
pitches, mm. 115-116.
10) Ibid., 380.
11) Ibid., 409.
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Example 16. Tirata, a rapid scalar passage, m. 105.
The figures of Musica poetica in Buxtehude’s Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161) 109
Summary
During this study, we saw that Buxtehude’s passacaglia
modulates to both the relative major and dominant keys. It is
quite unusual for a passacaglia in this period to change key.
As we saw, there are various figures Buxtehude used. In
particular, the main figures employed in the passacaglia are
figures of repetition.
The category of figures of melodic
repetition includes anaphora as a repeating bass line, polyptoton
as imitation of subject in different pitches, and synonymia as a
repetition of a musical idea. These figures of musical repetition
give unity to the passcaglia.
To summarize, the first section is played in serious character
with the transitus; the second section with a calm pastoral
character through the synonymia; the third with energetic
outbursts using abruptio; the fourth with reconciliation between
the extremes of the previous – the two worlds of suffering and
peace brought together, dynamically-balanced and rendered with
figures of salto semplice and polyptoton in the same key of the
first section.
We see that the use of musica poetica in this piece offers
contrasts throughout each section. Understanding this approach
can help the performer in choosing registrations and determining
any use of manual changes.
검색어: 뮤지카 포에티카, 음형이론, 음악적 수사학
Keywords: Musica poetica, Figurenlehre, musical-rhetoric
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References
Albrecht, Timothy Edward. “Musical Rhetoric in Selected Organ
Works of Johann Sebastian Bach.” D.M.A. diss., University
of Rochester, 1978.
Archbold, Lawrence. Style and Structure in the Praeludia of
Dietrich Buxtehude. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press,
1985.
Bartel, Dietrich. Musica Poetica: Musical-Rhetorical Figures in
German Baroque Music. Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Press, 1997.
________. “Rhetoric in German Baroque Music: Ethical Gestures.”
The Musical Times 144(Winter, 2003): 15–19.
Benitez,
Vincent
P.
“Musical-Rhetorical
Figures
in
the
Orgelbüchlein of J. S. Bach.” D.M.A. diss., Arizona State
University, 1985.
Belotti, Michael. Die freien Orgelwerke Dieterich Buxtehudes.
Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1995.
Bernhard,
Christoph.
Tractatus
compositionis
augmentatus.
Kassel, New York: Bärenreiter, 1963.
Bonds, Mark Evan. Wordless Rhetoric: Musical Form and the
Metaphor
of
the
Oration.
Cambridge,
Massachusetts:
Harvard University Press, 1991.
Braunschweig,
Karl.
Seventeenth-
“Genealogy
and
and
Musica
Eighteenth-Century
Poetica
Theory,”
in
Acta
Musicologica 73/1 (2001): 45–75.
Buelow, George J. “Johann Mattheson and the Invention of the
Affektenlehre.” In New Mattheson Studies, ed. 393-407.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
The figures of Musica poetica in Buxtehude’s Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161) 111
Burmeister, Joachim. Musical Poetics. Yale University Press.
1993.
Collins, Paul. The Stylus Phantasticus and Free Keyboard Music
of
the
North
German
Baroque.
Aldershot,
England:
Ashgate, 2005.
Couch III, Leon W. “Musical rhetoric in three praeludia of
Dietrich Buxtehude” The Diapason 91/3 (2000):14–15.
________. “The Organ Works of Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
and Musical-Rhetorical Analysis and Theory.” D.M.A.
thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2002.
Gorman, Sharon Lee. “Rhetoric and Affect in the Organ Praeludia
of
Dieterich
Buxtehude
(1637–1707).”
Ph.D.
diss.,
Stanford University, 1990.
Jacobsen, Lena. “Musical Rhetoric in Buxtehude’s free organ
works.” Organ Year Book XIII (1982): 60–79.
Justin, Henry Rubin. “Observations and Interpretations: Essays
on the Organ Works of Dietrich Buxtehude” (n.d) (n.p)
Mattheson, Johann. Der vollkommene Capellmeister: A Revised
Translation with
Critical
Commentary.
Translated
by
Ernest C. Harris. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1981.
McCreless, Patrick. “Music and rhetoric.” In The Cambridge
History of Western Music Theory.
ed. Thomas Christensen.27:859. Cambridge University Press,
2002.
________. “Music and Rhetoric,” In The New Grove Dictionary of
Music and Musicians. ed. S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell, 15: 793
–803. 2nd ed. London: Macmillan, 2001.
________. “Music, Rhetoric, and the Concept of the Affections: A
Selective Bibliography.” Notes 30 (1973): 250–259.
Snyder, Kerala J. Dieterich Buxtehude: Organist in Lübeck. New
112
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York: Schirmer Books, 1987.
Webber, Geoffrey. “Modes and Tones in Buxtehude’s Organ
Works.” Early Music 35 (2007): 355–370.
Webber, Geoffrey. North German Church Music in the Age of
Buxtehude. Oxford University Press. 1996.
Wilson, Black, George J. Buelow, and Peter A. Hoyt. “Rhetoric
and music.” In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, ed. S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell, 21: 260–275. 2nd
ed. London: Macmillan, 2001.
The figures of Musica poetica in Buxtehude’s Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161) 113
<초록>
북스테후데의 파사칼리아 in D minor (BuxWV
161)에 나타나는 음악의 수사학적 표현
손 세 라
17세기에, 기악음악의 중요성이 더해져감에 따라, 학자들과 작곡가들
은 단어의 연결들로부터 설정되어지는 수사학을 발전시켜왔다. 특히나,
Joachim Burmeister, Christoph Bernhard, Johann Mattheson 는
Musica Poetica (시적음악)이라는 음악의 수사학을 정립시켰다. 후에,
이론가 Athanasius Kircher에 의해 우리가 일반적으로 이해하고 있는
Doctrine of Affections (정서설)로 음형들과 감정표현들을 하나의 이
론으로 발전시켰다. 이 시대의 많은 작곡가들이 이 이론들에 영향을 받
아
작곡하였고,
저자는
Dieterich
Buxtehude의
오르간
음악
Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161)의 수사학적 표현을 분석함으
로써, 연주자들에게Buxtehude의 organ
고 연주할 수 있는 원천이 되고자 한다.
음악을 더 심도 있게 이해하
114
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<Abstract>
The figures of Musica poetica in Buxtehude’s
Passacaglia in D minor (BuxWV 161)
Sera Son
As
the
importance
of
instrumental
music
grew
in
the
seventeenth century, theorists and composers developed rhetorical
devices to establish a link to words. Joachim Burmeister,
Christoph Bernhard, and Johann Matthesonall codified musicalrhetorical figures into a practice known as Musica Poetica. Also
in
the
seventeenth
century,
theorists,
such
as
Athanasius
Kircher, developed theories on musical figures and emotional
expression which became what we now commonly referto as the
Doctrine of Affections. Major composers of the day were highly
influenced by Musica Poetica and the Doctrine of Affections.
This document will examine these issues in the Passacaglia in D
minor (BuxWV 161) of Dieterich Buxtehude. The overall goal of
this undertaking is to provide greater resources for performers
to interpret this composer’s organ compositions.
투고일: 2013년 8월 20일
심사일: 2013년 8월 21일
게재확정일: 2013년 8월 25일