a 17th-century french manuscript on organ performance

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A 17th-Century French Manuscript on Organ Performance

William Pruitt

Early Music, Vol. 14, No. 2. (May, 1986), pp. 236-241+243-245+247-251.

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DOCUMENTS

WilliamPruittA 17th-centuryFrench manuscript on organperformanceAn anonymous manuscr ipt in the Bibl iotheque de]'Arsenal of Paris (F-Pa MS .3042, ff. 100-1 19) co nta insan essay ent i t led 'The manner of playing the organwith al l the propr iety a nd ref inement that i s used todayin Paris ' , The publication date s of so me of the workswith wh ich i t i s bound, together wi th dates ment ionedin others , make i t poss ible to ass ign the essay to thelat ter years of the 17th century. I ts companionsinclu de a cop y of Nivers' Traite de la composition, wh ichwas printed in 1667 (Ms.30 42,pp. 1-7, ff .8-32), a nd th eObservations o n th orough -bass accom panim ent inclu-de d in Nivers' 1689 Motets a voix seule (Ms.3042, f.87-98) . Ment ioned elsewhere are natural phenom enaobserved on 2 1 November 1681 and 15 January 1682.

Th.e majo r part of 'The m an ne r of playing th e organ'is in a loose handwriting with many p honetic spellings,l i t t le punctuat ion, and a repet i t ious presentat ion ofideas ; the las t page and a half i s in another , neaterhan d, with some punc tuat ion and bet ter spel ling. Inthe E:nglish translation in th e bilingual version of th etext given below, ' the long sentences have beenbroken up, in order to faci l itate following the expla-nat ions . The French terms included in the t rans lat ionhave for the mos t par t , been spe l t accord ing tomodern usage.

The essay discusses the performance of var ioustypes of organ music composed in France between1650 and ~ 1 7 3 0 . empo ind ica t ions , o rnaments andfingerings are suggested for each type, together withgeneral remarks on the character is t ics of each one.The las t par t , copied by a second hand, cons is tsprimarily of instru ction s o n the proper att i tu de of thechurch organis t .

The works discussed may be divided into threetypes : homop honic, fugal , and th ose featur ing a solostop. The first group includes preludes, plein jeux,dialogues , and quatuors . The second is made up ofdu os a nd trios in fugal style, while the third ha s recits ,voix humaines, and-de scribed by th e sec on d writer-

cornets, tierces, an d nazards, all in s op ran o registe r, aswell as tierce or cromorne, for tenor, and trompefte,chromorne or tierce, for bass. All the principal genreswritten in the years after Nivers' Premier livre dbrgue(1665/67) are therefore represen ted, eac h type m akinguse of a distinct registration on the organ. Althoughregistration is not disc usse d here, i t is amply coveredin prefaces to contem porary organ publication s. Briefly,the homophonic works call for full organ (plein jeu),wi th reeds being a dded to s imple mutat ion s to ps forthe dialogue. The d uo a nd t r io , the only fugal worksdiscussed in the essay, use balanced sonor i t ies onseparate ke yboard s. The writer mentions the tr io a deuxdessus, whose two upp er parts were played o n sepa ratemanual s , and the bas s o n the peda l s . In p ieces us ingsolo s tops , the a ccom panim ent was usually al locatedto on e manu al and the solo to a nother . For works witha tenor solo, i t was played with the bass part in thepedal and th e upper par t s on a s econd keyboard , as theau thor ment ions .

The discuss ion of ornam ents is the m ost di f ficul tpart of the essay to interpret, especially as l i t t le isgiven in the way of i l lustration . An intriguing me ntionis made of a compendium of the church tones wi thexamples of cadences including fingering, but unfo rtu-nately this work do es not seem to have survived. 1 haveadded examples to clar i fy the discuss ion, der ivedwhere possible from realizations of ornaments bywriters of the per iod. The essay touche s on th e majortypes of ornaments used in France in the 17th andearly 18th ce ntur ies: th e mord ent (pincement), tri ll(tremblement, cadence simple, double cadence), antici-patory app ogg iatur a (repetition, coulement or port devoix), arpeggio (arpege, 'harpegement'), and th e add itionof runs (diminutions),coulb and dotting (pointer). It isimpor tant to bear in mind that more than one termmight be used to descr ibe the same orna men t (see, forexample, the terms fo r appoggiatura) , that di f ferentwri ters may use the same terms to mean dif ferent

E A R L Y M U S I C M A Y 1986 237


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1 Charles Couperin et la fille du peintre, portrait by Claude Lefebvre (Musee. Versailles)236 E A RL Y MU S I C MA Y 1986


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things (agrement could indicate a mordent, or oma-ments in general), and that one term could be used forseveral ornaments strung together (as in the varioustypes of cadences exemplified by the writer).

While some of the information that the essaycontains merely confirms what is already known fromother sources (such as the style of performance fordifferent types of pieces), it provides further detailabout matters such as the nature of recit, as well assuggesting new possibilities for the interpretation ofornaments. However, it is difficult to know how muchimportance to attach to it, since the author has notbeen identified and there are no likely candidatesamong the organists who published works in theperiod. Furthermore, some of the instructions runcounter to the practice of other organists.

The essay is attributed to Nivers by Jean Saint-Arroman in his Dictionnaire d'interpetation, i (Paris,1983); the bibliography refers only to 'ms attribue aNivers', but quotations in the text (for example, underarpegemenr) are clearly derived from this source. Nivers'Premier livre d'orgue contains remarks on the eight

Maniere de toucher lorgue dans toute la proprete et ladelicastesse qui est en usage aujourdhy a Paris

Du preludePour tou cher le prelude duns sa derniene perfection il se doit jouerpa veme nt et fort doucement car ces ycy ou il faut s e coutter[s@couterjouer etgoutter la douceur de sic ord s toutte fois il ce doittoucher hardiment on ne peut le toucher hop doucement pour veuque la messure y soit regullierement observee cela joint auagrement et d la ma nie ne de le s faire rend[re] les pieceimcom parablement plus belle. Ces ce que jespere exprimer le plusquil me sera posible surle papier ce qui est beaucoup plus facilleparla praticque.

Le prelude de lorgue ce doit toucher de la mCme man ien eq ue [ontouche le prelude du clavess in c'esta dire faire u n pincements oit dela main droite soit de la main gauche ou de toutte les deux ensemble selon que les partis commencement des la premiere notteen com mancant et c b t une reglegeneralle que touttesorte de piecedoive commencer par ce pincemen t quoi quil ne soit point m arqubJe ne parle point de ceu x qui sont duns le c ou ps de la piece parceque on n e peut se dispens er de les faire le pincement ce fait et cemarque par cette figure R7.

C6st adire soit de la main droitesoit de lagauch e voicy comme ilce fair il doit Ctre aitlegereme nt vivem ent imper ceptiblem entet trescourtement ce qui fait la pincement n b t outre chose que de frizervivement comm e par megarde ou surprisesans demeurer dutout nyapuiersur la notte. Frizie mais demeurersur la notte voisineou londoit sareter il faut pourtant les toucher toute deux en sem ble maisque ce ne soit quen frizant et tramblant cest a dire cy c b t en238 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1986

church tones, together with a discussion of perform-ance practice including illustrations of ornamentswith fingering, but the terms used are not the same asthose in Ms.3042, so it seems unlikely that the lattercan be attributed to Nivers.

In the light of our present knowledge, it can beconcluded only that the essay represents the views ofone organist, with comments added by another. DavidFuller suggests that the first part of the manuscriptmay have been taken down by dictation at lessons by astudent. This would account for the spelling, lack ofpunctuation, the redundancy and vagueness. It isobvious from other writers that there was more thanone way to perform the music; Gigault, for example,wrote almost exclusively dotted quavers, whereasmany others left the addition of dots to the taste of theperformer. The realization of ornaments encompassedthe widest variation, and the problematical cadencesdiscussed in the essay may be regarded as severalornaments combined. The search for their use by othercomposers is best served by looking at the music itself,rather than at tables of ornaments.

The manner of playing the organ with all thepropriety and ref inement that is used today in Paris

The PreludeIn order to play the prelude in its ultimate perfection, playslowly because it is in preludes that the full force of chords isheard and savoured. They should be played boldly, however.They cannot be played too leisurely, provided the tempo isregular, adding to the beauty and the way in which thesepieces are rendered incomparably more 10vely.~ hat is whatI hope to explain on paper-to the bes t of my ability-though it is much easier [to explain] through practice.

The organ prelude is played in the same manner as theprelude of the clavecin. That is to say, play apincement in theright or left hand or bo th together, depending on which onestarts first. This is a general rule, that all sorts of piecesshould begin with a pincement, even if it is not marked. I amnot speaking of those in the body of the piece, for youcannot dispense with playing them. They are marked thus:RI ; that is to say, in both th e right hand and the left hand.

Here is how it is played: it should be played lightly,quickly, imperceptibly and very short, which means tha t thepincement consists in grazing [over the note] lightly, as ifstraying [upon it or being taken by] surprise, withoutlingering a t all or resting on the note. Graze over it, but lingeron the neighbouring note that you are to stop on. You shouldplay both of them at the same time, however, though only ingrazing and trembling. That is, if rising to C, graze over the Band linger on the C. In descending, do the contrary. [Ex.11


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montclntsur le ce sol u t il faut frizer le be fa cy etdem eure rsur leso lut et en descend ant faire le contraire.

Et ensuitte les harpagements tant dans les comma ncemens dechacque piece qu e dans les fins de cnaque cadence soit lesnaturelle du m ode soit les empr unte e et celle qu i ce font a la fin dela piere cZ'st 6 dire tout e celle qui ce rencontrent d un s le cours de lapiece le harpagement ne ce doit faire que qua nd il lya au moin squatfie partie en semb le ou deux ou ho is dun e seulle main comm edans les accords qui acompagne un e basse ou une bas se continuea 0oi.s partie plain chan t en trio ou u ne ba sse qui acomp agne unrecit car pour l or d~ na ~r ees quahe. 5 et six partie qu e j'entends cefaire comm e il est dit cy dessus d ans le prelude pl a~ neu dialoguesetc. ce do ive faire ave c les deux ma in s I1 fait Z'tre tres ez at afaire lesharpagemens ou il est dit cy dessus

Le ,harpagement ce fait de cette sorte il faut qu e les qua he partisplus cu moins quan d ce neseroit mPme qu e 3.p.[arties]dunemaince toliche lune apres l'autre mai s qu e cela ce face d une manier reprompte vi ve liee et imperceptible sa nt lever les ma ins ny les doisttoutte fo ~s l faut que to ute les partles ce distingue duns leurs sonset am ~o ni e es unes des autres san t pourtant que cela soit tropafecte Je veux dire hop len t etlan gu~ sa nt1faut que cela ce face he svlvement et tres promptement que [on ne sen apersoive point etdune armonie et son Egal.

De la ma ing au che le harpagement ce comman ce toujours par ledoit du pouce en suitte du segond doit qui suit le pouce et en fin dupetit ~t dernier voila de la manier re que le harp agem ent du preludede lo cp e ce jouee de la main gau che Car il hya quelques diferenceen cela davec la manierre de celuy du clavesin car au clavesin ilcommance bien par le pouce ma is ensuitte 11desend aux petit doitet remonte au doit daupres du pouce et en suztte retoume a u pouce;quantl a la ma in droite il comm ance par le doit qui B t le plusproche d u pouce et continue a celuy q ui le suit e t enfin va aux petitdoit e: k t emblable quand a la main droite au harpagemens duclavesin a la reserve que celuy de lorgue comm e jay dit aillieursdoit Ptre vif prompte et tres court et net et enfin imperceptible lessons e t armonie fort d~ st in gu e uoy q ue les parties ce face les unesapres les auhes a la reserve du pouce de la ma~ ng au ch e t du doitdaupres le pouce de la main droite qui commence tout deuxensemble et le reste ce faitquasy comm eje dit imperseptzblementeta ~ x p ~ ~ r s o n n e sui nen non tpa s unepratique amiliaire croirez tr bfacilernent que t oute les parties ce font en semb le pour faire voiravec combien d e delicastesse et de substilite on passe et coulle lesnone, ce qui fait un parfaittement be1 agrernent et donne u negr aceaux p,:ece charmante.

[Exemple d ' une mauva i se i n t e rp re t a t ion]I1 ly6 une chose tres considerable 6 prendregarde et ce qui faitque la plus part n e touche pas pr oprement de lorgue CZ'st de ne

pointplacque r la m ain en joiiant le prelude le Dialogues le pl a~ ne uet trio quatuor etc. et tout le reste des auh e piece ma isparticnlierement il faut faire un e hes gr and e atention dans celle cy

Japelle placquer la main quan d o n joiiee grossierement etruticqnemen t sa ns politesse ny delicastesse er douceur dun s lamanierre de toucher ma is u ne manierre contrainte brou~llee ts an t

. \ rp eg g io ~ :~nd the n [play] arpeggios a t the beginning ofeach p i ece and a t t he en d o f each cadence , whe the r it be t hen a t u ra l o n e o f t h e m o d e o r b o r r ow e d , a n d t h e o n e a t t h e e n dof the piece . The arpeggio shou ld only be played wh en therea re a t l e a s t four par t s t oge the r o r two or t h ree [no te s ] n t hesame hand , l i ke t he chords which accompany a bass o r athorough bass i n t h ree pa r t s, p l a inchan t i n t r i o , o r a basswhich accompanie s a recit: for the four , f ive or six par tswhich I mean a re p l ayed a s exp la ined above in p re ludes ,plein jeu, dia logues, e tc . This should be played in both ha nds.You must be very careful to play arpeggios in the placesment ioned above .

The arpeggio is played thus: the fo ur par ts [or notes ] moreor l e ss , and th ree pa r t s i n o ne h and a l so a re pl ayed on e a f t e rthe o ther . But it is played in a punc tual m ann er , live ly.connec ted and impercep t ib le , wi thou t ra i s ing the ha nd s o rthe f ingers. Even so , a l l the par ts sh ould be dist inguishedf rom each o the r i n t ona li t y and ha rmony wi thou t , however ,being to o affected. By that I mean n o t t oo s low and l angu id .I t should b e played very quickly and very pun ctual ly, so thati t i s no t no t iced an d s o tha t t he ha rmony and n o te s a re equa l .

In t he l e f t hand , t he a rpegg io beg ins wi th t he t humb,fol lowed by the s eco nd f inger to the thum b, and f inal ly bythe last , l i t t le finger. That is the way the arpeggio of theprelude for the organ is played in th e lef t ha nd ; for there arece r ta in d i f fe rences be tween tha t way and the man ne r fo r t heclavecin. On the c lavecin, begin wi th the thum b, descend t othe l i t t le f inger and then go up to the f inger next to the thu mband c ont inu e to the nex t [ finger] and f inal ly to th e l i t t lef inger . This i s l ike the r ight hand arpeggio o n the c lavecinexcept that i t shou ld be fas t , punc tual and very short -c learand imperceptible- the sou nds and harmonies very dist inct ,t houg h the pa r t s a re p l ayed one a f te r t he o the r , excep t fo rthe thum b of t he l e ft hand and the second f inge r o f t he r igh thand which begin together . The rest i s played as I have sa id ,impercept ibly and so th at people wh o are not famil iar wi th i twill easily believe that all the parts are played together. Inorde r t o do tha t , see how de l ica t e ly and wi th how m uchsub t l e ty t he no te s a re passed ove r and run toge the r ,resul t ing in a perfectly beaut i ful orn amen t and adding graceto a charming piece . [Ex.2]

[An example of wrong interpre ta t ion]There i s one thing that i t i s important to guard against and

which i s t he rea son why m ost peop le do no t p l ay the o rgancorrect ly. Do not sm ack your hand [on the keys] whe nplaying the p re lude, dia logue, plein jeu, trio, quatuor, e t c , andal l other sor ts of pieces, bu t especia l ly be careful wi th regardto these [speci f ica l ly ment ioned] .

By'smaclung your han d [on the keys] ' I m e a n w h e n y o uplay [ the no te s ] wi th vu lgar it y and in a n unpol i shed manne r ,wi thou t good manne rs o r de l i ca teness and smo othne ss i nthe way you p l ay , bu t r a the r i n a cons t ra ined and jumbled

EARLY M U S I C MAY 1986 239


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netete ny distintion des acords ny des parh'e ny dans les sons etd a m armonie placquer les mains n b t autre choses qu e de les levertrop haut et rudem ent en jouant et de les laiser retornber et parecousse et traissaillement ce qui fait que les parties ne sont pointbien lieez ou point du to ut il faut pour evitter ce tres grand d esfauthamporter seullement les doist de toutte les parties et cela danstoutte sorte de piece que ce puisse b tr e quand il en bt besoin de lahauteur qu e le pure necesite le dem ande pour pourvoir aller dunenotte sur une autre notte ou d une touch e du clavier sur un e autretouch e du m bme clavier c b t la mCrne chose cela ce doit faire encoullant simplement les dois sans les lever ny remuer en lesdetachant vivement doucement et degagement et dune rnanierrequi soit seche subtille plaine de feu et imperceptible car c b t en toutce cy en quoy consite toute le segret et la beaute et la delicastessedu jeu.

I1 faut bien prendregarde 4 ne point trainer la main ny les doistavec longueur et negligence cbst ce quigaste tout encore moins agiravec precepitation so us pretexte d anime r son jeu de feu car ces cequi brouille le jeu et lerend fantas que et carpricieux et sans reglemais il est bon que le eu ait du eu mai s un eu modere et que Ion cepossede entiene mentsa ns partagerson espritauqun ne autre chosequi puisse distraire car cela demande u n un ique aplicquation poury reusir

[Comment pointer]Une autre remarque de la derniene consequence pour leprelude

est de le bien pointer N aut remarquer que ces ce pointement q uidonne la grace le mouvernen t et la beaute et lagrement aux piece,sans cela les pieces sont plate sant gout ny mouvement et neparoisse rim

La maniene de placer ces doits donne beaucoup de facilitepourfaire tous c b t agremens et la methode marque ycy car il ne fautpas q ue rien contraine les m ains et les doist mai s il faut ce servir deceux qui son t les plus com mode et les plus proche C b t 4 diredegager les un s pour faciliter [en gagem ent des autre san s jarnais cetrouver les doist engages et embarasee les u ns d ans les autres parauqu ne con trainte rnais il faut que toutte chose ce face avec plaisirfacilite et enfi n tou t naturellem ent et pour cela il faut ce servir detous ces doist, le pouce de la main droite et le petit doit facilitepource de gager et courir sa nt contra inte sur le clavier et faire decertains accords dificilles et embarassant enfin il ne faut jarnaisgun doit qui est poste pour fair u n acord cede saplace a u n autredoit parce quil ne peut le faire et faut dabord y metre les doistnesaisaire parceque cela donne trop de distance a larmonie etcontribuee a ce quelle ne ce liee pas bien. I1 faut bien prendregardede ne jarnais c hevau chero u renverserles doistso it en mo nta ntso iten decendant n y da ns quelque endroit que ce puis btre les uns surles autres car outre la rnauvaisse grace ces la rnalproprete dujeuque cela produit et la distance de larmonie elle produit encore cequon apelle placage da ns le jeu et quon ne peut jarnais jouer decertaine piece cela les rendant trop dificille et enfin empeche que240 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1986

manner and without clarity or distinctness between thechords or the parts or in the sound and the harmony.'Smacking the hands' means lifting them too high and tooharshly when playing and letting them come down again in astartling and jolting manner,5which means that the parts arenot well connected or not connected at all. In order to avoidthis great defect, move the fingers only when necessary-and this holds true for every type of p iece there is-nohigher than is purely necessary in order to go from one noteto the next or from one key of the keyboard to another, whichis the same thing. This should be done simply by sliding thefingers, detaching them quickly, smoothly and in a well-released manner and one which is succinct, subtle, full offire and imperceptible, but without lifting or agitating thefingers. All this is the secret of the beauty and delicacy of theperformance.

Be careful not to drag the hand or fingers with languor andnegligence as that spoils everything. It is even moreimportant not to act with un due haste o n the pretext that youare animating your performance with fire, for this confusesyour performance and makes it whimsical and capriciousand without order. It is good if your performance possessfire, but it should be a moderate fire. And you should becompletely self-possessed, without allowing anything elsethat can distract enter your mind, for unparalleled selfapplication is necessary in order to succeed.

[Dotting]Another remark that is of the grea test importance is that

the prelude should be well dotted. It should be noted that itis this dotting which gives grace to the tempo and beauty andagreeability to the piece. Without it the pieces are flat,without taste or tempo, and appear to be nothing.

The manner of placing the fingers gives facility for playingall these ornaments and the method indicated here. Nothingshould constrain the hands or fingers, but the mostconvenient and closest ones must be used. That is, releaseone [that is playing a note] in order to facilitate engaginganother, without ever finding your fingers occupied and in-convenienced by each other. Everything should rather bedone with pleasure and ease and very naturally. If tha t is tobe done, all the fingers must be used. The thumb of the righthand and the little [finger]must help to free [the others] andshould run over the keyboard without hindrance, and playcertain difficult, awkward chords. Finally, a finger that ispoised to play a chord should never give place to anotherfinger as it canno t do it. The correct fingers shou ld be placedfrom the beginning. Otherwise, there is too much space inthe harmony and it contributes to [the chord] not beingcorrectly connected. Be careful no t to overlap or invert thefingers, whether ascending or descending or in any othersituation, for in addition to lacking gracefulness thisproduces slovenliness in the performance and [too much]space in the harmony. This results in what is called smacking


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Ex.1 Flncement

mordent trillB 2 Arpeggios ,,1.h. organ clavecln r h.Ex 3 Nivers. ~ o r t se volx

'The notes hl th a llttle bar are to be connected the m os t'

B . 4 (:adence simple B . 5 Other cadence simple

Eu.6 (,i) Double cadence (b) somet imes

lon r8e touche proprement et a la m ode et ces ce qul fait cetraissaillement et ce jeu par ecousse.

Le pouce de la mai n gauche ser natu rellement et [on ne peut cedispenser de sen servir.

Voisy dont la rnanlere de pointer le prelude et tou tte les autrepiece generallernent parlants exemples 8, ou huit croses plus ournoin,s qui sois pair faire la premie re no se longue cornrne cy illyavet u n point a vec la crose et la suivante fort breve cornrne sicettolt une double croce la suivante longue cornme la premierre etl a u h ? s u i v a n t ebreve cornrne la segonde ains i de toutte s les autresquand le nombre est impair comme .3.5. 7. plus ou moins il fautfaire la premiere n otte breve la segonde long ue comrne no us av on sdit cy dessus si non que c&st e contraire c b t a dire que la breve cefait 1i1 premiere et la long~rea segonde ainsy ~ d eoutres les autreset cela duns toutte sorte de plece generallernent parlant tant pairque celle qui sont impair.

I1 (.st de la Dernlene Consequence de bien prendregarde quandon touc he le prelude plain jeu et dialogue quan d on t les pointe cequil Ize faut jarnais man quer c omm e je dit sy dessus de ne pointfaire de repetitions coul leme nt ou port de voix ces la rnesrne chose.Car ii n y a rien de sy dezagreable duns ces jeuxs la et on peut direque ceux qui le font doive appeller c&st ortes dagremens placagebouziliage et a sommern ent des acords et aux contraire du ns le recit

(c) Niver s, trill and port d e voix

&

'Remain a little longer on th e large note after the pulsation(battement)'

B . 7 Other double cadence

B.8 Diminution

v ~u.9Nivers, coule B.10 Syncopated 3rd

Ex.11 Parallel 3rds Ex. 2 d ' h g l e b e r t , chute sur une note

[ the keys] in the performance. And you could never playcerta in pieces as that [approach ] makes them too di ff icul tand hinders you from playing properly and in the correctstyle . This i s wh at leads to t he star t l ing, jolt ing man ner ofplaying.

The thumb of the lef t hand is used in a natura l way andc a n n o t b e d o n e w i t ho u t .

Here i s t he way to do t t he p re lude and a l l t he o the r p i eces ,genera lly speak ing. Examples: for e ight quavers more or less,which a re an e ven nu mb er , l eng then the f i rs t quave r a s if i twere dot ted and play the fol lowing quaver as i t i t were a~ em iq u av e r .~he nex t [no te ] i s a s l ong a s t he f ir s t and th eone a f t e r i t a s shor t a s t he s econ d , and so fo r th fo r a ll t heo the rs . When the re i s an un even nu mber , fo r example , t h ree ,f ive o r seven , more o r l e ss , t he f i r s t no t e s hou ld be shor t , t heseco nd note long-as we sa id above-except that [ th eorder]i s r eversed , t ha t i s , t he shor t no t e i s f ir s t and the long no tesecond , and so fo r th fo r t he o the rs . [Apply th i s ] t o a l l so r t s o fp i eces , gene ral ly speak ing , fo r bo th ev en and unev en[groups of q uavers] .

I t i s of the greatest impor tance to be su re that in playingthe p re lude , plein jeu and d i a logue , when yo u do t them-which you shou ld neve r neg lec t t o do , a s I sa id above-

EARLY M U S I C MAY 1 9 8 6 241


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paroist dans ceux qui ne le fons pas bien et qui engarde pas lesmesure n y la metode marquee ycy. I1 faut tramporter ces do ist entouch ant le recit dun e ma nie ne possee san s jarnois les renverserles uns sur les autres soit aller du h aut en bas ou du bas en hau tmai s ne faire que les couller et tramporter sans jamais les lever eton ne doit jamais voir remuer les dois il doive estre comm e atachertellement quil nya que le bout des dois qui agitsurles touche etcelaremarquee toujours en faisant ce coullement etc, ou continuelle-men t afin que le cha nts oit continuellemen t lie ne faisant point celackst ce qu i perd tout,

[Les Ornements]Le Recit ce pointe comme le prelude nous lavons dit dans le

mesm e prelude aux nos es .8.et 3.5. 7. de la mdsm e manierresans yrien changer sy non dktre fort ezat ale faire.

Le tremblem ent ou cadence ce doit faire egalle men t legerementvivem ent et tre longuem ent et on n e blamera jamais dela fairelongue mai s bien ho p courte il la faut toujours commencer a lanotte qui est aux d essu s de celle ou Ion veu t faire la cadence outremblemen t ckst ce qui est fort agreable et sert comme depreparation et d onne le t em s et lieu a faire la cadence avec lavivacitte legallitte la long ualimitte conven able mai s il faut prendregarde de ne point faire de ricochet cest a dire qu an d on ne tremblepoint egallement.

La cadence pour lordinaire ce fai tde trois notte en trois notte cesta dire ou il ce doive faire naturellement.

I1 ly a deux ma nie ne de faire la cadence simple c est a dire lunequi ce faitsimplement comm e nous le dirons et lautre qui ce fait enrelevant

La simple e st beaucoup plus belle et mieux gouttee quenon paslautre a m oins quelle ne soit faite dun e grande proprete et fortadro itteme nt ce qui es t tres rare et encore prefereton la premierrepour la douceur de son naturel.

La simple nest autre chose qun tremblement delicat subtil vistegal pront et plain de feu et tres longs et il ce comm ence co mm e je.deja dit ala n on e aux de sus de celle ou on d desein de faire lacadence comme pour avoir lieu de mieux prendre son tems et desepreparer, et sa ch eutte est de retom bers ur la notte voisine e tp lu sproche soit en montant ou en desendants qui ce fait en refrapantdezix fois de suitre sur la m kme notte ave c les mkm e qualites que jedit dan s le port de voix cou llement ou repetitiont que je dit dun s leRecit cene cadence ce temine souvent ausy a la demiene nottedenhaut exemple my re. my my.

Lautre cadence simple ce fait de la mkme m ani ene exceptequapres le tremblement q ui ce fait comm e ala simple il faut relever244 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1986

time]. In order to play [this ornament], see with how muchdelicacy and subtlety it should be played. You should the re-fore lift the finger which restrikes the former note off the keyjust as soon a s you arrive at the following note that you mustgo to. But it should not be noticed, and these two fingers andthese two notes should be connected, but in a clean, brieffashion so that the harmony has n o distance [in it], which isapparent [in the playing] of those who do no t prepare it welland who respect neither the tempo nor the method givenhere. EX.^] You should convey the fingers in a sedatemanner when playing the recit, without ever inverting themover each other, whether ascending or descending. Simplyjoin them and convey them without ever lifting them. Thefingers should never be seen to be agitated. They shouldseem to be attached [to the keys], so much so that only thetips of the fingers move on the keys. Note that this is alwaysobserved when playing this coulement, etc, or throughout sothat the melody is continually smooth. If that is not done,much is lost.

[Ornaments]The recit is dotted like the prelude-just as we have saidfor the prelude, with eight quavers or three, five or sevenquavers-in the same way without changing anything,unless it is to be very exact in playing it.

The trill or cadence should be played evenly, lightly,quickly and for a long time. You will never be blamed forplaying it for too long but for too short a time. You shouldalways begin with the note above the one on which thecadence or trill is to be played. This is most pleasing andserves as the preparation and gives time and space to playthe cadence with the vivacity, equality and the durationsuitable. But be careful not to ricochet, which is [whathappens] when you do not trill evenly.

The cadence is usually played with groups of three notes,that is, whenever it is to be played in a natural manner.

There are two ways of playing the cadence simple; that is,one is played simply, as we will explain, and the other isplayed in rising.

The [cadence] simple is much more beautiful and savouredmore than the other one, unless [the ather one] is played withgreat propriety and very skilfully, which is very rare-andeven so, the first is to be preferred for its natural gentleness.

The [cadence] simple is none other than a trill which isdelicate, subtle, fast, equal , punctual and full of fire andve rylong, and it begins, as I have already said, on the note abovethe one o n which you intend to play the cadence, as if i n orderto have space to take your time better and t o prepare your-self. Its rounding off is [effected] by descending again on theclosest neighbouring note either above or below. This isdone by playing the same note twice in the same way Iexplained for the appoggiatura, coulement or repetition,which I explained in the recit. This cadence also often ends onthe last no te above, for example, E, D, E, E. [Ex.4I7


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comm e par exemple sur le fa-my Je releve le re et le m y co mmedouble crosse et ensultte je retom be surle re ne le frapant qu ne oiscest ungra nde perfection de bien faire cetre cadence e t de la fairebien longue et un tres grand defau t de la faire courte cette mem ecadence ce f a t aus sy en relevani et deme urants ur la notte relevee

La Dou ble Cadence ce fait vive me nt et particullierement tresdistinquement faisant parler touttes les notte et egallement etvitternent et bien nettem ent. Voisy co mm e elle ce fait elle ce prendune guarte 6 de souxs d u lieu ou la ma in droitte ou la gauc he cetrouve et on fait une diminuction de double croce en monta ntjusqtle au l ieu ou lon i toi t auparav ants et ensuit te on fait untremblement simple a la notte q ui odesouxs de celle ou lon estcomnlancants pourtant ale fairesur la non e ou Ion estco mm eje ditaillieisrs et en suitte o n fait Iautre trem ble men t exemp le je fais lepremier tremblement sur re u t le segont sur le m y re qui est unenotte aux desu s dupremier et en suit te on releve le u t re m y sur lequel on t demeure le ut re ce doire faire double croce comm e nou savon:i dit dun s la simple elle ce fait encore quelque fois avec le seulpremier tremblement et tombant simplem ent su i la none qui estodesoux quen sest en desenda nt et quand on mon te a celle qui estodesvs en rebat tant deux fois la mi me not te comme nous avons di tduns la simple. I1 ne faut jamais sareter qu and on na u n foiscommance afaire la double cadence si non sur les tremblemens.

I1 ly enna aus y quelque z un s qu i aprez avoir coulle lesdiminutions de la double cadence commence leur tremblement surle fa my . et puis revienne faire ce luy de m y re ma is il faut coulerapres avoir fait celuy de a my , il fautcou ller le re afin davoir lieu decepreparer a faire le tremblement m y re et en suit te on retom besurle ce sol ut et on le rebat deux fois de la maniere que no us avon sditdans la simple oubien selon que le dama nde le pasage si cest enmontcznt le m y m y deux fois.

Je ~dit un s mo n petit recueil des to ns de leglise les dois don t ontce sert pou r totte les cadence e t la man iere de les conduire avec lesdemo~.ztrations e chacque cadence.

Qu ~zn d ux dou ble crosse elle ce doive faire plus viste que lesn o s e ~ n a i s on pas avec la precepitation quelle von t naturellementelle CI ? doive nt faire avec grande mode ration toutes foix d unemanierre pleine de feu ma is il en faut banir la precipitation et faireen sorte que touttes les no ne parle ne t et egallement et c& cequi nece peut faire alants cy v iste et la mesu re nen e st pas rnoins biengardee et la piece en paroist bien davan tage et est plus agreableremarquees que i l ny ci que duns la rnuszque de lorgue ouintmnlantalle qu e tou t ce cy doit i tre observe japellegenerallementparlant de tous ces agrements don t nous avo ns parle co mmepointe ment et autre non pas q ue je dise que cela ne ce face pointd a m la musiq ue vocalle mais cest quelle ne ce pratique pas de lasorte comm e par exemple d an s la vocalle on rie pointe jamais lesno sse mazs elle se font egallement ainsy des autres.

The o the r cadence simple i s p l ayed i n t he same way excep tthat after the tri l l , which is played as in the [first] [cadence]szmple, you mus t r ise aga in , fo r example, up t o F. I g o u paga in on t he D and t he E , p layed a s semiquave r s, and t he n Igo back do wn to the D, s t r ik ing i t only once . This i s a grea tperfec t ion , p laying this cadence well, and to play i t for a goodlong t ime. I t i s a grea t defec t to play i t br ie f ly. This samecadence i s a l so p layed by go ing up and rema in ing o n t heupper note. [Ex.5I8

The double cadence i s p layed quickly and especia l ly vevdist inc t ly , making a l l the notes speak very equal ly , fast andvery clearly. Here is the way i t is played: i t is started a 4thbelow the place w here the le f t or right hand i s and you play arun o f sem iquave r s , r is i ng t o t he p l ace w he re you werebefore . Then you play a s imple t ri l l on the note w hich i sbe low the one you are s ta r t ing on-yet playing i t o n the notewhe re you a re , a s I sa id e lsewhere . Next , you play the othertril l . For exam ple, I play the firs t tri ll o n D-C, the sec ond [tril l]on E -D, which i s o ne no t e above t he f i r s t, and t hen y ou r i seaga in on C - D - E , which you l inge r on . The C-D shou ld besemiquavers, as we sa id for the [cadence] simple. It is alsoplayed som et imes using only the f i rs t tr i ll and simply goingdown to t he no t e w h ich i s be low, when i t is de scend ing : andwhen i t is a scend ing t o t he one above , you s t r ike t he samenote twice , as we sa id wi th referenc e to th e cadence simple.You shou ld never s t op onc e yo u have s t a r t ed p l ay ing t hedouble cadence other than for the tri l ls. [Ex.6I9

The re a re a l so some who , a f t e r hav ing connec t ed t he run sof the double cadence, begin the i r t ri ll on F-E, and th en co meback t o p l ay t he o ne on E-D. But you shou ld p l ay a coule afterhav ing p layed t he one o n F-E. You shou ld c onnec t t he D inorder to have space to prepare to play the t r il l on E-D. Thenyou de scend aga in t o t he C and s t r ike i t twice i n t he way wement ioned fo r t he cadence simple. Or, fol lowing the requi re-me nts of th e pass age, if you a re rising. [play] E-E twice.(Ex.7)'O

I exp la ined i n my l i t t le compen d ium of t he chu rch t onesthe f ingers tha t a re use d for a l l the cadences and t h e way t oemploy them, wi th examples for each cadence.

As fo r t he semiquave r s they s hou ld b e p l ayed fa s t e r t hanthe quave r s , bu t no t a s r ap id ly a s no rma l . They shou ld beplayed w i th grea t mod era t ion, but ev en so in a m anner ful l off i re , but you must banish rapidi ty and play so tha t a l l thenotes sp eak c lear ly and equal ly . This cann ot be do ne [ if youare] going so fast . [Even if yo u a re no t playing them as fast , ]the tempo is kept just as well and t he piece appear s to muchgrea ter adv antage and i s more pleasing. Note tha t i t i s only inmus i c fo r t he o rgan o r i n s t rumen t s t h a t a l l t h i s i s t o beobserved. I am speak ing abou t a ll t he se o rnament s we havement ioned such a s do t t i ng and t he o the r s . No t t ha t I a msaying tha t th is i s not used in vocal music , but tha t i t i s notperformed in the same way. For example , in vocal music , younever dot the qu avers; they are sun g evenly like the o thers .

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1986 245


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Du TrioL e trio ce tou che hardzment ma is fort lenternent et on ne peut

aller trop douceme nt le principal du trio est de le blen polnter rnaisil fazlt q ue ce poin teme nt ce face a vecgr and feu e tgra nde hardies secar cest la pzece qu e londoit davantage metre en mouv em ent et il nya que le pointement q ui face cela le reste nes qu n moien pour lefatre ain si on ne peut d ont pas ho p le pointer pour ve u que Ion n eleve point les doist ma is qu e lon les trarnporte comme no us lavo nsdit dan s le recit avec les mesm e precautions et coulemenretc. qui cydoivent fatre comm e on les fait dan s le Recit ce cy ne paroist riencest pourtant le tout et le plus dificille il faut @tre res exat 6 bienfaire les tremblem ens marq uee et ce resouvenir toujours decorn,nancer comm e no us avon s dit d uns le prelude des la premzerrenottt. en cornm anra nt a faire un pince men t de toutes les partiequoyqutl ne sois point marque cest lordre generalle.

I1 faut f ar e un e grande atention a bien pointer et couller etc.mai:: particullierem ent a pointer toujours d e la mesm e force carcela est de la dernierre consequence afin de maintenir la piece d unstoutre sa suztte de la mPme force d ont on la comm ancee san s ce dementir Car sa ns cela la piece changera de fa ce elle naura plus lern@n;,emo uve men t et faira qu e la piece et le chan t paroistront platet sunt am e et cela fait m@ me que agissant de la sorte on abeaucoup dava ntag e de facilite ala jouer car pour la faire com menour: avon s dit ont e st oblige duller doucernent et cest ce qui donnele rnoien de bien le jouer et deprendreg arde ci ce que Ion fait et de nerien obmetre il faut necesairement ce coutter avec plaisir commedun? ce recit ce cy est pour les trio a deux des sus particu llierementquoy que celuy a 3 partie ce face tou t de rn@rne xepte la bass e depedalle qu i ce joue en partie comrne les deux autre dess us et avecaut an t de proprete rnais ces ce qui es t tres dificilles et zl faut avoirune praricque et un uzag e tout a fait s urprenan t ce qui ne cerenctmtra q uasy l am ais ou il faut avoir eu une tres grande exerciceson en jouee quelq ue fois avec la pedalle a 3 ma is cela nest rien auxpnx de celuy do nt je parle.

La voix humaineSt] jouee beaucoup plus doucement q ue le Trio car son jeu doit

etre tres lent apeu pres comm e on chante avec les mes meconcj'ictions qu e no us jouons le recit exepte quelle va plusdoucement que le Recit

Du DuoLc' Duo ce tou che ga yme nt hardirnent et tres legerement et dune

man iene vive plaine de feu et pour y bien reusir il faut observer abien detacher ces doist en lui tan t de ne les point lever ny trenermais les tramporter tout dune piece avec la main et quil n y ait quele bout des doist que agisse quand on en abesoin et ce la dunemanierre seche et imperceptible ne faisant que les couller en le stransportant il faut faire des coulles ou port de voix co mme d un s le

The trioThe t r io i s played boldly b ut very slowly and c ann ot go too

le isure ly. The pr inciple of the t r io i s to do t properly, but thisdot t ing mus t be do ne wi th great fi re and great boldn ess, forth i s i s t he p i ece tha t mus t be made to move a long more , andonly dot t ing does that . The rest i s only a means for doingth i s. Thus , you cann ot do t t oo m uch , p rov ided yo u d o no t l if tt he f i nge rs , bu t r a the r convey them as we sa id fo r t he recit,wi th th e same precau t ions a nd connec t ion , e t c . [They] mustbe played here as in the recit. Thi s seems to be o f noconsequence, yet i t i s everything and the most di ff icul tthing. You mu st be very ex act in co rrect ly playing th e t r i ll sthat are marked and a lways to remember to begin as we sa idin connec t ion w i th t he p re lude , beg inn ing wi th a morden t o nthe f i rst note in a l l the par ts , even i f i t i s not marked. That i s agenera l rule .

Be very careful to d ot properly an d to join [ the notes] , e tc .but especia l ly to dot a lways wi th the sam e values, for there i sno deny ing tha t t h i s i s o f t he h ighes t impor t ance fo rmainta ining the remainder of the piece wi th the sa me valueswith which i t began. For wi tho ut that , the piece wi ll chan geappea rance , i t wil l no t have the same t empo, an d the p i eceand the melody wi l l seem f la t and wi thout spi r i t . Also,fol lowing these inst ruct io ns, i t i s much easier to play, for inorder to play as we hav e sa id, you are obl iged to go le isure lyand that i s what makes i t possible to play wel l and to beat tent ive to what you are doing and not to leave outanything. You mu st l i s ten to yourself wi th pleasur e , as forth e recit. This i s especia l ly t rue for the t r io a deux dessus,al though the [ t r io] a rois parties i s played in the sam e wayexcept for the bass in the pedal which is played on [ i t ssepara te] keyboard l ike the two uppe r par ts; i t i s played justas c leanly, but this i s very di ff icul t and a surprising amo un tof experience an d pract ice i s required. This i s a lmost nevermet with. Or i t is necessary to have had a great deal oft ra ining. It i s som et imes played wi th th e pedal [ for the t r io] atrois [parties], but i t i s nothing compared wi th the one I amspea lung about .

The voix humainei s played m uch more le isure ly th an the t r io , for i t mus t bevery slow, ra ther l ike singing wi th the sam e condi t io ns thatwe [g ave for] playing th e recit, except that i t goes a t a morele isure ly [pace] than the recit.

The duoThe d u o is played gaily, boldly, very lightly, and in a l ively

manne r fu l l of f i r e . In o rde r t o succeed in t h i s , one must becareful to deta ch the f ingers prop erly, as wel l as not to l i f tthem o r drag them, but to con vey them al l together wi th thehand. Only the t ips of the f ingers should move whennecessary. Do this in a succinct and impercept ible manner ,only sliding them along in con veying them [from on e note to

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Recit je veux dire toucher la notte voisine de celle ou lon veut alleren coullant comme nous lavons dit dans le Recit cest a dire cescertain rebatement deux fois de la m h e notte avec la m h e neteteet de terite que le son paroise sec vif et net etpour donner le modellecomme on joue le recit ala reserve que la Duo ce joiie plus viste.

I1faut etremementpointer le duo car ces en cela ou estsa beaute.Cest ausy don le Duo ausy bien que dans le recit ou toute les

cadence ce zequtte [s'execute] avec plaisit:Le pincementse fait ausy dabor atoute les partie en commangant

la premiere notte il faut etre fort ezat a faire tousles tremblemens etpincemens marquees.

I1fautfaire ensorte que toutte les nottesonnenetet qui lny ait auqun brouillement de son il vaux mieux aller plus doucement on enest jamais blamk

Du plein jeuL~ plein jeu ce jocke de la m ~ m emaniene que le prelude et

dialogues ala reserve que le plain jeu du positif ce joiiee fortlegerement et pointillieusement et tres vivement Le grand jeu tresgravement comme on fait le prelude.

Du Plain chantsLe plainchant ce joiiee de plusieurs manierre savoir ala basse

ala taille haute contre et odesus mais lordinaire et leplus communest de la joiier a quatre partie avec la pedalle et en trio quand aceluy de quatre parties la pedalle suit le petit doit de la maingauche les autre partie font les accompagnement selon les reglesmais il faut observersoit dans celuy la ou dans le trio etles autre lepointement que nous avons dit dans le prelude le coullement ouport devoix ou rebattement le harpagemen les tierce varies coulleset par cincope et les ordinaire les tremblement et pincement sansoublier ceux qui ce font dabor en commanpant des la premierrenotte la proprete du coullement et des tremblement comme a recit.

Le plainchant en trio ce jouee a une partie de la main gaucheavec la mPme proprete netete et vivacite coullement trambiement etpincement que lon fait dans le recit en efet ce nest qun pur recit alapincement que [on ait dans le recit en efet ce nest qun pur recit alabasse il faut en core observer que quand le plain chant monte unpeu haut il faut reprendre a loptave [octave/ den bas et ensuitteretourne en haut et redesendre dam toutte les ocations ou [on voitque le chants monte hop haut cela fait mesrne un agrement de lefaire sans y etre oblige parce motif mais pour diversifier il faut faireen sorte que les diminutions que lon fait quelque fois dune nottepar exemple a un Stelune quintel que cela soit fait netet distintquetout parle sans en manger la moitie,

Les acompagnemens qui ce font de la main droitte pourlordinaire on y met 2. et 3.partie en semble on doit dont dabord encommancans et toujours particullierement quand ylya 3 partiecomme des sisieme avec une tierce de la mesme main ou une quinteet 6 tierce et a la quarte, faire les coulles comme nous avons aurecit,248 E A R L Y M U S I C M A Y 1986

another]. Play the coules and appoggiaturas as in the recit. Imean, play the neighbouring note of the one you are goingto, joining [the notes] as we said for the recit, that is, thesespecial restrikings of the same note twice, with the sameclarity and dexterity, so that the sound is succinct, lively andclear. To give a model [for the duo], it is played like the recit,except that the duo is played faster.

The duo should be extremely dotted, for its beautyconsists of this.It is also in the duo as well as in the recit that all thecadences are performed with pleasure.

The mordent is also played at the beginning in all theparts, beginning with the first note. You should be verycareful to play all the trills and mordents marked.

See to it that all the notes sound clearly and that there isno jumbling of the sound. It would be better to go at a moreleisurely pace; you are never criticized for that.

The plein jeuThe plain jeu is played like the prelude and dialogues,

except that the plain jeu on the positif is played ve v lightly,fastidiously and very quickly. The grand jeu [is played] verysolemnly, like the prelude.

PlainchantThe plainchant is played in several ways: in the bass , the

tenor, the alto and the soprano. The most common and usualway is to play in four parts with the pedal, or in three. As forthe one in four parts, the pedal follows the little finger of theleft hand [which plays the chant ]. The other parts play theaccompaniment according to the rules. In this type, in thetrio and the other [ways of playing the chant ], you must usethe dotting that we mentioned for the prelude, coulements,appoggiaturas, repeated notes and arpeggios; the various3 r d~ :coulb, syncopated and ordinary [3rds]: trills andmordents. And do not forget those [mordents] played first inthe beginning, right from the first note, the cleanness of thecoulements and the trills as in the recit.

The plainchant in trio is played with on e part [thechant] inthe left hand. [It is played] with the same cleanness,clearness and vivaciousness as in the recit, [using] coule-ments, trills and mordents. In fact, it is a pure recit in the bass.Note that when the plainchant rises rather high, you shouldplay an octave lower; then return above, going back downwhenever you see the melody is going too high. It is anornament to do that even when you are not obliged to for thisreason, but rather in order to diversify [your performance].Be sure tha t in the runs that a re sometimes played-forexample, between one note and another one at the intervalof a 5th-they be played clearly and distinctly, so that all[the notes] speak without half of them being rushed over.EX.^]"

As for the accompaniment played in the right hand, thereare usually two or three parts together. When you begin you


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I1 fa ut ce resouvenir d e bien pratiquer le tierce sincopee car ces laleurs lieu les tierce coulleer et les ordinaire et les sisiemesemblable ment I1 faut remarq uerpour reglegeneralle que les deuxmain s d uns le plain chan t je veux dire toutte les partie n e doiveja ma ~s ller par de semblable mo uvement cest un souverain segretpour eviter la surpris e de faire de faut acord co mm e deux opta vedeux quinte des uitte etc i l faut dont que quand la basse monte quele desu s desen de et pour bien faire les partie ce doive nt aprocher leplus proches les zune s des autres q ui les posible sa ns pour rant cemesler les une s du ns les autre car la prudence demande q uan d ilsont p am op proche q ue lon se lo ~g ne es cequi est fort facillepuisque les regles nous en d onn e il faut &re ycy fort ez at abienpratiquer ceque n ou s avo ns dit d uns le prelude t ouch ant le placagepour les harpag emens et couller et cadence sozt de la mai n gau chesoit a'e la ma in droitte et qu e tou t cela soit fait dun e grandeproprt.tte car ces du ns le plein cha nt ou tou t cela parois bien acau seque toutle mon des y entend lepointeme nt y estfortecentlel commenou s ['avon s dit dun s le plain cha nt a quatre partie les Regles duplain chan t soit a quatre partie ou a trois partie sont to ute lesmesme et ainsy elle son t les mesme qui servent 6acompagner enpartie tou t ce qui l y a de particullier ce so nt de certains chifreewtraordinaire a la mod e ditalie mai s il sont toujours marque et lesordinaire ne le so nt pa s parce q ue nu1 nes capable dacompagner cyn e l e s , ~ o s s ee parfaittem et couranmen tpar coeursant y pensercesera lt'grand usage qui l uy donnera cela et unepra ticq ue ou il soitbien rompu et il n y aura seul que le tresg rands ewercise qui lu y estfazra les poseder.

De la Basse de Trompette et du chromorne et de TierceLa I~as se e Trompette chromorne et tierce ce touche dela mes me

s or e 18?s compagnement sen font tout comme ceux du plain chanten tricl la ba sse ce joue avec la proprete netete e t tres gra nde devlvacz,re du recit excepte que ces ba sse ce jouee fort har dime nt ettres legerement et vivement mais netement et distintement comm eon fait le recit car ce nes autre ch ose qun recit ala basse qui estj oueplus v iste et plus hardim ent etg ran d feu ma is il faut y garder lesmesmt. precautions q ue du ns le recit Je me sui s oublie de dire unechose duns le trio ma is com me ces une chose qui sert duns toutesorte a'e jeux on peut le trover duns ce [leu ycy qui est quan d ylyaplus iel~ rs ierces par acord cest a dire qui ce doive faire du ne seulemain cle suitte elle ce doive meslanger les unes apres les autres c6st6 dire faire un e tierce en coull ant lautre com me par cincope etlautre a lordinaire la 3ce en semble ce sont dk pens agrement quiom e b~?aucoupa piece et divercifie Couller com me je di f ailleursnest autre chose que de passer avec delicastesse et vitessedoucernent duns la maniere de le fai~e et proprement avec ladistinti'on de tou te les notte sur la notte qui es t au milieu de la 3cepour galngner la notte qui forme la 3ce cela ce doit faire fortadroztr,?mentet imperceptiblement il faut tout fois q ue les 3 , so ns

shou ld always play c o u l b a t the beginning , a s we ment ionedfor the recit, especial ly when there are three parts , l ikein te rva l s of a 6 th wi th a 3rd in the s ame han d, or a 5 th and a3rd or 4th.

You mus t remember to use the syncopa ted 3rd as th i s i sthe p lace for i t , [and also] the coule on intervals of a 3rd andthe ord inary 3rd ; s imi la r ly for 6 t h ~ . o te tha t a s a genera lrule both han ds playing the plainchant-I mea n by that al lthe parts-should never go in the same direct ion. I t i s asupre me secret that in order to avoid surpris ing by playingwrong harmonies s uch as pa ra ll e l oc taves or 5 ths , e t c , youshould have the sopran o descen d when the bas s r is es , and inorder to p lay wel l the pa r t s mu s t be as c lose to ea ch o ther asposs ib le -al though they shou ld not be mixed up wi th oneanother , for prudence requi res tha t wh en they a re too c losethey sho uld be spread ou t . This is very easy, for we give therules. Be careful to do what we have said for the pr eludeconcern ing smacking [your hand s o n the keys ] in thearpeggios , c o u l b and cadences, whether they be in th e l e f t o rr ight han d. And a l l t h i s mus t b e don e wi th grea t c l eanness asi t i s in the plainch ant that a l l this appears to bes t advan tage,s ince everyo ne h ears i t . Dot ting is very e ssent ial there, as wehave said for four-p art plainch ant . The rules for three-part orfour -par t p l a inchant a re the s ame. Thus [ the ru les] tha t s e rvefor accompanying in a l l pa rt s a re the s ame. The only un usua lthing is that there are certain special num bers in th e I ta l ians tyle , but they are always marked. The us ual [ intervals] arenot marked, for no on e i s capable of accompanying unt i l heknows them al l by heart , perfect ly and readi ly, wi thout[having o] think a bou t them. I t i s great experience tha t leadsto tha t , when h e is well used to i t ; only m uch t raining wil lenable h im to mas te r them.

The basse de trompette, chromorne, and the tierceT he basse de trompette, chromorne an d tierce are played inthe sam e way. The accompan iment i s pl ayed as for the p la in-chan t in t r io. The basse i s played with the c leann ess , c lari tyand very great vivaciousness of th e recit, e x c e p t t h a t t h e basseis played very boldly and very lightly and quickly-butcleanly and dis t inct ly, as for the recit. For this is nothingo t h e r th a n a recit in the bass which is played fas ter and m oreboldly and [with] great[er] f i re. But observe t he sam e pre-caut ions as for the recit. There is one thing I forgot toment ion wi th the t r io , bu t s ince i t i s something tha t appl i esto all sorts of pieces it ca n be fou nd he re . That i s, when the reare several [success ive] chor al 3rds , that is to say. 3rds thata re to be p layed in s equen ce by the s ame han d, they shouldbe mingled o ne after the oth er. That is, play o ne 3rd with acoule, another wi th a syncopa t ion , and another as anordinary [3rd] [exx.9-1 I ] . 3rds played together are lit t leornaments which great ly embel l ish and vary a piece. Thecoule, as I say elsewhere, is real ized by playing the noteins ide the 3rd in order to reach the note making the 3rd wi thdel icacy and s pee d, playing i t in a gent le manne r as well as

E A R L Y M U S I C MAY 19 86 249


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des 3. notte ce face entendre avecgrande distintion et netement ettres vivement.

Celle qui ce fait par cincope cest a dire faire les notte lune apreslautre sans couller celle du milieu mais il fautque cette cincopesoitprompte et que cela ne languist ny ne traine point et mesme il nefaut quasy pas pour ysy parler que cela paroise beaucoup quoypourtant quil soit nesaisaire que cela paroise mais cestpour fairevoir avec quelle delicastesse promtitude legerete imperceptible quilfaut que cela ce face quand a la 3ce ordinaire elle ce fait entouchant les deux none dela 3ce ensemble tout ce cy ce faitsemblablement sur toute les 6e.

De la Tierce et chromorne en TailleLa tierce et chromome en taille sont des piece qui sont dune aces

dificilles exeqution a cause de la situation de certains acorddificilles par leur situation et duns la maniere deles faire carpourlordinaire [on napas toujours le grand usage de la main gauchecomme deceluy de la droitte outre quelle nes presque jamais abeaucoup pres de la force et delicatesse et vivacitte de la droitteainsy toute ces basse ce jode semblable au recit de cromome sansauqun diference car cela doit etre ausy tendre duns son chant ettouche au sy proprement que le recitpuis quil est veritablement unvray recit de la taiNe et tout les mtme agremens du recit sy doivefaire avec la m h e proprete et lenteur que nous avons dit sans yrien changer quoy que dans les tierce et chromome entaille on neregard pas abeaucoup presgarde a la mesure comme on ait dans lerecit car pour lordinaire on le laisse aller a ce laisserflatter lorailleet on ne fait nu1 atention syl fautainsy parlerala mesurquand auxacompagnement il ce sont semblable manier que nous avons ditduns le plain chant en trio ces la ou [on ale tems deles bien faireparce que les basse vont tres lentement aisy on peut bien faire lesuns et les autre.

[Dewtieme Ecriture]I1 faut jouer le comet fort viste et vivement sans pointer et le

dessus de tierce il ne le faut pas jouer si preste et on le peut pointermais pour le dessus de nazard il le faut jouer gravement etagreablemmt et sur tout distinctement et mesme le comet sans leprecipiter ny le brouiller

I1 faut prendregarde aussi au service de leglise quise fait et quise dit et aux mysteres qui sy pratiquent et aux petites et auxgrandes feste les plus solemnelles comme quand le St Sacrementest expose et apres levelation de la Ste. hostie, il fautsans doute queles pieces soientplusgraves et non pointprecipitees etqui ayentdurecueillement et qui attirent les ames a devotion et qui excitent lecoeur a louer dim Interieurement; leglise representant le ciel visible;et comme dans le ciel en voyant dieu on chante ses louanges et lesanges et les Saints: de mesme les chrestiens doiventfaire la mesmechose en voyant dieu parla foy duns le Tres St Sacrement de lautelet ainsy il faut que les organistes assent leur possible pour inciterle peuple a benir dieu ladmirer et ladorer par leur beau jeu pour cequi est des autres grandes festes comme pasque pentecoste250 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1986

neatly, with all the notes distinct. This must be done skilfullyand imperceptibly. Even so, the three sounds of the threenotes must be heard very distinctly, clearly and vividly.EX.^]

[The 3rd] that is syncopated is played one note after theother, without connecting the one in the middle. But thissyncopation must be punctual. It must not drag or be listless.It should almost not be noticeable, though it is necessarythat it be apparent. [I say this] to show with what delicacy,punctuality, lightness and imperceptibility it must be played.[EX.~O] '~s for the ordinary 3rd, its two notes are playedtogether. All this is played similarly for all the 6ths.I3

The tierce and chromome en tailleThe tierce and chromome en taille are pieces that are

difficult to play because of the way certain difficult chordsare situated and because of th e way they are to be played. Forusually the left hand is not as well trained a s the right hand,and moreover it is almost never [able to play] with nearly asmuch force, delicateness and promptness as the right hand.Thus all these bass solos are played like the recit dechromome,without any difference, for it should be as tenderin its melody and played as correctly as the recit. So it isactually a true recit in the tenor and all the same ornamentsas for the recit must be played with the same cleanness andslow tempo that we have mentioned, without changinganything. In the tierces and chromomes en taille, however, youdo not maintain as steady a tempo as in the recit, for usuallyyou play it freely so that it flatters the ear, and you d o not payatten tion, we might say, to the tempo. As for the accompani-ment, it is like we have described for the plainchant in trio.Here you have time to play [the accompaniment] well as thebass parts move very slowly, thus each of [ the voices] can beplayed well.

[Second handwriting]The comet should be played very fast and quickly without

dotting. The dessus de tierce should not be played as nimbly,and you can dot it. But the dessus de nazard should be playedsolemnly and pleasantly, and above all, distinctly. The comet[is played] in the same manner, without rushing it orjumbling.

You should also take into account th e church service tha tis going on , that is being said-the mystery associated withit, the high feasts of the most solemn type such as when theHoly Sacrament is shown and after the elevation of the Host.[At these moments] the pieces should be more solemn andnot hurried, and [they should be] more contemplative,drawing souls to devotion and inciting the heart to praiseGod inwardly. The chu rch represents heaven [made] visible.Jus t as in heaven when God is seen one sings his praises [andthe praises ofl the angels and sa int s, similarly, Christiansmust do the same in seeing God through faith in the HolySacrament of the altar. Thus organists should do all they can


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lascerjsion, noel lass omp tion et les autres festes de la bonne viergecomme ce son t des festes et des mysteres de joye on ne scavroitjouer ,rap gayement et cependant modestement qui sente touioursI'Eglise et non point la come die ou lopera La Magnificat au ss y et lete deum et les Offertes Et sur tout q ue l'zntentzon de l'organistequantl11 ouche I'ogue durant leservice divin nesozt pur emen tquepour c-hunter les louang es de dieu et que t out son genie et tou t letalent que dieu l uy a donne ne soit applique quabien louer dieu et aexciter les autres a le bien louer et que si la quelque talent plusparticulier que ne peuvent pas avoir les autres quil sen humiliedavantage et quil en rende de plusgran desgrace s a dieu bien loinde sen orgueillir et de mespriser les autre a quoy manquent etpeschent grandemen t plusieurs organistes quz ne jouent que pourse far e admirer et attirer les applaud issemens du mo nde et lagloirequi ne doit et ne devroit estre attribuee qua dieu seul,

Wil l i l zmPruitt obtained his PhD in mus ic history from theUnivtvsity of Pittsburgh in 1969, s ince whe n he has taughtAmerican studies at t he U niversity of Paris. He has studiedthe organ with Jean Langlais.

'The orlginal French text was included In my article 'Un traited'inte rpretat ion du xviie siecle', L'Orgue, clii (Oct. 1974),pp.99-1 12.'Th,? question of the interpretation of the terms used to indicatetempo an d the style of playing is too complex to be resolved here.French writers of the time used various terms for 'fast' or 'slow'withollt distinguishing systematically the degree of speed. Otherterms, such as 'boldly'. 'with fire', etc, are n o more precise tha n thetempo indications.)The mordent a nd trill are grouped together here under the termplncenlent, following the precedent of Jean Denis in his Traite delhccord de Iesptnette (1650 ). where they are called pincements ortremblements. The trill in ex. IS identical to the re aliza t~ons iven bycomposers of the time (alth ough they usually included eight notesin their examples). The mordent I have illustrated as beginning onthe lower auxiliary rather than on the main note. This may seemunusual, but is not contrary to the instructions of the manuscript,nor to the examples given by several composers of the time. Nivers(Premier ltvre d'orgue), Boyvin (Premter llvre dbrgue, 1689), Jul lien(Premier llvre dorgue, 1690). and Saint -Lambert (Les pnncipes duclavecrn, 1702) all give illust rations of the morden t beg inning o n thelower auxiliary. C onette (Messe du Be ton pourlorgue, 1703) implies asmuch in saying that if the mordent is approached by a skip, it shouldbegin on the ornamented note. This could mean that if approachedstepwise, the ornament begins with the lower auxiliary. Saint-Lambert, who took his realizations from Niver's organ book,Le be ~, ue 's ieces de clavessln (1677) and d'.knglebert's Pieces declavecln (1689), olnts o ut that Nivers' mordent is th e same as that ofd'Anglebert, preceded by a lower auxiliary (chute et pince). Similarly.other tables of ornam ents include mo rdents beginning on the malnnote but preceded by lower auxiliaries.The manuscrip t is not al one in Instructing the performer t o lingeron ti-e ornamenta l not e. Boyvin (Premier llvre dorgue) says themordent may be accented by holding back on the lower note. andthat the lower note is to take up half the note's time value. A lessmarked lingering on the lower note IS given by Fran~ois ouperin(L:4nde toucherle clavecin. 17 16) n his example ofpofls de voix (t ha t s,a moxdent preceded by the lower auxiliary).

to inci te people to bless Go d, to adm ire and ad ore him. [Thisthey do] through the beauty of their playing. As for highfeas t s suc h as E as ter , Pentecos t , Chr i s tmas , Assumpt ion andthe oth er feas ts of th e Virgin, these are feas ts and mysteriesof joy and you cann ot play too gai ly-al though [with a]modes ty tha t i s a lways consc ious [ tha t i t is ] the churc h an dnot the Comedie or the opera. [The same is t rue for] theMagnificat , the Te Deum and Offertories. Above al l , th ein tent ion of th e organi s t when h e p lays the organ dur ing thedivine service should be to s ing purely God's praises . All thegenius and t a l en t which God has g iven h im should bededic ated to prais ing God and inci t ing others to praise him.If he has some par t i cu lar t a l en t tha t o the rs do no t , he shouldfee l a ll t he more humble and sho uld thank God a l l t he more .[He should not ] be proud or despi se o the rs who l ack [ suchtalent] . Several organis ts s in great ly as they play only in orderto be admi red and to a t t rac t the applause of the wor ld andthe glory which is -and shou ld only be-for God alone.

As for th e pincemenr on the first not e or notes of each piece. amordent is probably mean t; an examination of contemporary organworks indicates a prevalence of mordents on the first notes ofpieces.4These are uncharacteristic of the organ. as other organists(Lebegue, Boyvin) point ou t; arpeggios are ca lled for very rarely inthe organ music of the period.'Reading 'secousse' for 'ecousse'bThe value of the dot cou ld probably vary, however. In connec tionwith ornaments for the rents, the author says semiquavers are notplayed as fast as normal. The dottlng for the solo voice couldtherefore result in triple figures ( !,>). Duos are to be 'extremelydotted ', but this probably means th at all groups of quavers shou ldbe dotted, rather than that the value of the dot should be prolonged'That is, a trill plus a repeated upper neighbour @ on de voix).'The second cadencesimple cons ist s of a trill with a turn. The writeris unique in describing the turn as being on the note a 3rd aboverather than o n the lower neighbour of the ornamented note.9These nstruc tions for t he double cadence are the most difficult tointerpret, especially since we cannot be s ure how many elements areto be included in the variations described. The flrst type of doublecadence (ex.6a )begins with a run, then a trill on the lower neighb ourof the ornamented note, a trill on the note itself, and finally a turn.Alternatively, the double cadence may con sis t of a trill on th e lowerneighbour, an appoggiatura, and a single termination on the noteitself (ex.6b).For comparison, Nivers' trill andpor tde voix IS shown asex .6~.

''That is. a trill on the upper neighb our. a trill on the ornam entednote (with a break between t he nvo trills), and a n appoggiatura for itstermination."Cf Brassard, Dtctionnalre (1703) .under 'tirade'"This syncopa ted 3rd is not menti oned by other writers of thetime, as far as I know.')For the coule on the 6th. the writer may Imply a 2 chord, playedlike d'Anglebert's chutesur une note (ex.12).The syncopated 6th andthe ordinary 6th could be performed in exactly the sam e way as the3rds.E A RL Y M U S I C MAY 1 9 8 6 251

a 17th-century french manuscript on organ performance

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