Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
What is or*amentation? Resources to start you off: q Grove Music online – article on ornamentation. Includes audio/visual examples as well as an exhaustive bibliography. q Well known authors in the past 300 years: C.P.E. Bach, J. J. Quantz, Robert Donnington, and Winton Dean (specifically for Handel), and Giulio Caccini (Le nuove musiche). What is the purpose of ornamentation? q To sustain and support the musical interest of the piece. q To offer scope for the performer’s virtuosity. q To extract additional layers of meaning from the text. Are there guidelines to follow? Remain true to the spirit of the text and the music. Ornaments must suit their context. q In a rage aria, or a quick, happy aria, ornamenting outside of the musical range and rhythm of the piece is allowed and even expected. q Conversely, in a tragic aria, or a gentle aria, the singer generally remains within the musical and rhythmic range of the piece. q Can we over-ornament? It’s all a matter of taste….. Where do I start? q Listen to good recordings q Seek advice from experts in the field But most importantly… q Try writing your own ornaments and experiment with simple variations q Improvisation will be easier with a solid base of tried and true ornaments that work for you! Ornaments can be grouped according to musical function. q Rhythmic q Melodic q Appogiaturas, trills, turns, and mordents Rhythmic Example 1 This becomes... this... or this... or this, etc. Reversal Example 3 This becomes... this. Melodic q Fill in intervals with passing tones Example 4 This becomes... this, etc. Example 5 This becomes this, etc. q Retrograde/reverse the direction of motives Example 6 This can become... this, etc. q Add leaps to passages Example 7 This can become... this, etc. Mimicry q Ties ornamentation to motives already found in the score q Take hints from the composer and find motives in the orchestral tuttis or in the orchestra parts to copy and mimic Appogiaturas, trills, turns, and mordents q A good place to begin q They create a sense of spontaneity and improvisation q They highlight the text, create and release harmonic tension and show cadential and crucial structural points in the aria. Appogiatura q Appogiare - to lean; implies an ornamented note expressively emphasized and drawn out before being more gently resolved to its ensuing main note. Trills q Cadences are a prominent feature of Baroque music and few cadences can escape the inevitable trill. (except plagal). q As a general rule, start these trills on the upper note (often an appogiatura). The length of the beginning note of a trill varies according to style. Trills and turns © Dolmetsch Organisation 2000 – 2013 Mordents q Literally means “biting” and assertiveness is expected. q They primarily function as rhythmic ornaments. As you begin… q Be liberal with your ornamentation as you learn q Acknowledge the character of the music q Ornament according to the meaning of the text Through persistence and practice you will develop stylistic ideas and guidelines that best suit your vocal abilities! Thank you, and enjoy the remainder of the Sackville Early Music Festival!