mozart and his practical advice about thorough-bass/basso

Mozart and His Practical Advice about Thorough-Bass/Basso Ontinuo1

Tsonka AL_Bakry: Faculty of Art, Yarmouk University, Irbid - Jordan.

The paper was received on 28/10/2008 and accepted for publication on 3/12/2009

Abstract The author of this paper presents the work Mozart’s Practical Elements of Thorough Bass,

ascribed to Thomas Attwood, as one of the little known classical pamphlets on accompaniment. After examining different publications, dedicated to Mozart, researcher assumed that it had been a direct result of the composer’s work as a music teacher. Were even to assume that it was a “pseudo Mozart work”, the pamphlet nevertheless remains an indisputably valuable document of its age, as well as a doubless model, featuring original examples and exercises produced by Mozart himself.

In the work on this paper, Researcher has shown that every piece of work (even written by Mozart) can be solely considered a contribution and cannot be completely exhaustive. It, however, stands out as a model of the time and consequence of the theoretical formulations of its age, and being all that it is of interest in terms of theory and comparison with the multitude of terminological and theoretical questions and overlappings it evinces.

Perusing every part in succession, Researcher has shown the teaching process, which Mozart had chosen to follow. The standard situations from the point of view of basso continuo have been followed, whereby the emphasis has been chosen to fall on the interpretation and comparison of terms and formulations in the early classical period and in the modern theory of music.

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© 2011 by Yarmouk University (0165- 1023) ISSN.

Abhath Al-Yarmouk “Hum. & Soc. Sci.”330

Introduction

I happened to read Yavor Konov’s booka W.A.Mozart, Practical Elements of Thorough-Bass,published by Joseph Patelson Music House, New York, 1976. When got it by chance, the researcher of present study understood that what was leafing through was a textbook aid, which claimed to have been composed by Mozart himself. The researcher would like to say that up to that point had not come across any information about the existence of any complete book of instruction in the form of a pamphlet written by him. This made me refer to GRV, where in the section about Mozart there is mention of the lessons of Thomas Attwood in D.Heartz: “Thomas Attwood’s Lessons in Composition with Mozart”b

but the pamphlet I was interested in was not mentioned. This intrigued me. Was it possible that the authors of GRV could not have been familiar with it? There was a second variant, which seemed more probable: that they had questioned the authorship of that work. My interest was stirred and I turned to Arnold Frank Thomas’ unsurpassed monograph dedicated to basso continuo, viz. The Art of Accompaniment from a Thorough Rough-Bas, as Practised in the XVIIth and XVIIIth Centuries, but I failed to find anything there which would have been of any help. Luckily, in MGG c, the Theoreticasection of Mozart’s output, there were two works, the result of his pedagogical quests, i.e. Kurzgefasste Gb, Schule, Steiner&Co (1818) and Fundament des Gb, J.Siegmeyer Bln., (1822). I assumed that the correlation was at hand and the second work was what interested me. Researcher of the present study started diligent work on the text of the English edition and found that any way the material reflected Mozart’s period correlated to the practices characteristic of the teaching of thorough-bass. The fact that I was working with the English rather than the German text would not, in my view, be detrimental to the inferences researcher was to look for. In this case researcher was dealing with instructive material, which was not characterized by significant intricate details in terms of language, and, respectively, its substitution by a translation did not entail any risk of misinterpreting the author’s thinking. The researcher was further encouraged by the fact that intended to follow a line of presentation, relation and comparison. Researcher meant to look for comparisons concerning terms and formulations, for awareness of certain musical processes from the point of view of two different historical and aesthetic models (the one of the researcher, overloaded with the modern theoretical formulations, and the other – typical of the temporal stand and the achievements of theory in Mozart’s time). Therefore the absolute precision and the truthfulness to the author’s text was not of such great importance correlated to the sphere of linguistic and analytical trufthfulness, since the emphasis had shifted to the overall meaning presented by the author.

The pamphlet itself comprises 32 pages, distributed into 7 sections, illustrated by a total of 72 musical notation examples, and is, as a whole, a concise handbook (a popular form for the time), which introduces and gives the guidelines of work with Fundament des Gb, for the essentials of thorough-bass.

In this paper researcher shall try to classify the leading principles, which Mozart presented to his students, which are interesting from the contemporary point of view (along the lines of the differences or similarities with the modern principles), based on GRC, EB, MWCD and CODM, from which apart from taking the liberty of using certain data massifs, shall borrow also methodological approaches, conceptions and regularities. The interest in the analysis of this pamphlet is not an accidental fact; it is rather based on the acknowledged premise that Mozart’s music and his age were the source, from which the norms of what had been referred to as classical harmony derived.

My work on the text will follow several lines: comparative (related to recognizing the musical terminology or search for interrelations between the music terms, used by Mozart and other theoreticians of the time preceding and concurring with that of Mozart, and their present-day counterparts); expansion of the horizons in terms of musical terminology (including the etymology of the terms, their derivatives, overlapping, mutual influences), as well as lending meaning to the basic theses connected with the theory of music, specifically, elementary theory, classical harmony and counterpoint.

Researcher sees the usefulness of this paper in the references quoted, as well as in the conclusions, based on the autodidactic comprehension of the text in its integrity and meaning, which I indicated earlier, as well as in the comparative notes between the works of De Saint Lambert (about which researcher has already presented materials) and of Mozart.

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As the most essential researcher emphasizes the usefulness of focusing the attention on Wolfgan Amadeus Mozart’s work as an inalientable part of the theoretical musical heritage from the classical period.

Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart or Wolfgan Amadeus Mozart and Polyphony

It is not accidental that Mozart’s work is considered to be among the most beloved. His life, and even more so - his death had been covered by the halo of mystery, plots and secrets. There are scores of guesses, studies and versions as to how the genius had died. Mozart’s life has turned into a favourite source for the work of script writers and writers from all over the world. So much has been written about him that it is hard to classify it, because of the fact that not everything has been translated into English. Milos Forman’s film Amadeus (1984) has been seminal, nominated for 53 and receiving 40 awards at film festivals.

Along with his widespread popularity, Mozart has been the mandatory academic basis for all the classical musicians. Having read this pamphlet of Mozart’s, I have taken the liberty of entering him in the set of music theorists of the rank of Johann Joseph Fux (1660-1741), Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773), Abt. Georg Joseph Vogler (1749-1814) and Padre Martini (Giovanni Battista Martini, 1706-1784). Let me metion that Mozart started teaching music from the age of 20 and throughout his short life he could never afford to give up this way of earning a living. Some of his students had proven the qualities of their teacher by their achievements. Coming to us are those, according to Heinz Wolfgang Hamann 1962/63 Mozart Jahrbuch Mozart’s Circle of Students: An Attempt at a Chronological Listing. (The paper is in German.) At the end of the paper, he offers a table of Mozart’s students and dates. The table lists two different types of students: in composition and in piano playing. Standing out here are the names of Therese v. Trattner, Ludwig van Beethoven, Thomas Attwood, Joseph Eybler, Franz Sussmayer, etc. It is mentioned in quite a few of the studies on Mozart’s work that he had dictated and written down exercises and guidelines for some of his students. This also suggests the possibility that these practical pieces of advice could have been collected and classified later and, respectively, published in the form I am focusing on now.

Researcher shall take the liberty of following Mozart’s creative path in the sphere of polyphony. Historically considered, Mozart started to be trained in composition at a time when the tradition of polyphony as a composition practice had waned. Counterpoint, however, had its importance for training and had still been applied in composing church music. In 1765 Mozart composed a small four-vloice choir for the British Museum, the motet God Is Our Refuge, K.20. In order to advance in the sphere of the thorough-bass (an inevitable part of the craft of the composer), in 1767 Mozart had been encouraged by his father to compose a piano fugue (subsequently lost). His father Leopold had taken him to Italy (twice in the spring and autum of 1770) to study polyphonic composition from the renowned music teacher Padre Martini (Giovanni Battista Martini, 1706-1784), who trained him for the entrance exam to Accademia filarmonica in Bologne d. Pursued at that Academy as a training practice in composition had been essentially the tradition of the old volcal polyphony in the style of Palestrina, called at that time “stile osservato” (observed, served, i.e. normative style). Mozart copied a few canon-riddles of Padre Martini’s Storia della musica (published in Bologne, vol. 1-3, incomplete, 1757-1781) and diligently resolved them. The notorious exam took place on October 10, 1770. The task set had been a Gregorian melody, which had to be developed through counterpoint in three upper voices. Padre Martini checked the work and had to make corrections. Preserved to this day have been the three variants of the task resolved by Mozart, corrected by Padre Martini, and the corrected variant copied by Mozart, on the basis of which he had been enrolled at the Bologne Academy. I had the honour to see them at my trip to Itally before tree years. Researcher shall quote here the pertinent excerpt from the protocol of the examination commission: “After about an hour of work, Mr. Mozart handed his try, which, taking into consideration the special circumstances, has been recognized as satisfactory” e In this connection Alfred Einstein noted (researcher quotes by memory) that the intuitively condescending decision of the commission had secured the proudest name that the Academy could boast of.

Probably during that time Mozart had also produced for training purposes the five-voice vocal canon in unison, viz. Kyrie K.89, composed in ancient keys and representing three canons of a triple


division of the text Kyrie – Christe – Kyrie in stile osservato; if we did not know that this was a piece of music by Mozart, we would not have guessed it in any way.

Mozart moved to Vienna (1781) and during the following year his memorable meeting with Baron Gottfied von Swieten, director of the Imperial Court Library, took place. An upholder of the ancient music, Van Swieten used to organize Sunday music meetings in his house from 12 o’clock noon to 2 p.m., taking part in which had earlier been Joseph Haydn. Mozart found himself in this artistic circle of music makers. There the young composer rediscovered Bach and Handel and this meeting proved of exceptional importance for his further work. He started enormous work on the fugue: this was no longer in stile osservato, but the Baroque fugue, which Johan Sebastian Bach f had left to humanity as a model of the absolute form. This strenuous effort, not always crowned by an apotheosis creation, has not been sufficiently emphasized in Mozart’s biography. It points out the ease of composition, the exquisiteness and playfulness typical and familiar as “Mozart’s style”. In fact Mozart had worked incredibly strenuously. He had arranged Bach’s fugues for chamber ensembles, which were performed at the baron’s place (three fugues of The Well-Tempered Clavier, one of The Art of the Fugue, arranged for a string trio, and at least other five fugues of The Well-Tempered Clavier, arranged for a string quartet). The most important that I want to emphasize here is that Mozart started intensively composing fugues (most of them remained unfinished). They clearly show that the great Mozart, already a famous composer and the universally acknowledged child genius, had worked as a diligent student on the development and perfectioning of his technique in the thorough-bass. Researchers of Mozart pay special attention to these years in his biography, describing them as a great creative breakthbrough (Hermann Abert), even as “a revolutionary explosion and a creative crisis” (Enstein). Mozart’s interest in polyphony reached its climax in 1782-1783, when he composed the Big Mass in C minor, K. 427, whose stylistic retrospection was already felt significantly. Incporated in it were the brilliant fugue Cum Sancto Spiritu at the end of the Gloria part, and the double fugue Hosanna in Sanctus (if we refer to the parts, reconstructed after what had remained in drafts). Orchestra versions of Handel’s works appeared in the subsequent years: the oratorios Acis and Galatea (K. 566), Messiah (K. 572), Alexander’s Feast(K. 591) and Ode for St Cecilia’s Day (K. 592). Deep-going work on Handel and Bach is also clearly visible in Requiem (K.626) through its manifest relation to Baroque: Researcher means the double fugue for Kyrie, the first theme – the cross theme in D minor, based on A – F – B flat – C sharp, almlost a literal note “translation” of the theme of the F minor chorus in Messiah, And with His stripes we are healed” (“He was whipped and we were healed”, Isaiah 53:5): C – A flat – D flat – E natural.g

It is certain that Mozart was well versed in the rhetorical methods in music; that they continued to hold on, being handed down and taught in the “craft” of music composing. Moreover, as until the end of the 18th century the composer’s style was not construed in terms of individuality, as this was characteristic of the Romantic period, when the making of structures of music, original and characteristic of one single musician, was to acquire fundamental significance and the category of “ anindividual composer’s style” was to become current. In the time of Mozart music had been much more an intersubjective language, whose lexical stock included established methods and figures, from which the composer drew.

Mozart and His Pamphlet Practical Elements of Thorough-Bass

In the theoretical literature dedicated to Mozart (David Weiss, Vazvisheno I Zemno [Elevated and Earthly], Sofia 1986; Maynard Solomon, Mozart: A Life, Harper Publisher 1995; Einstein Alfred, Mozart: His Character, His Work, Oxford University Press 1965; Deutsch Otto Erich Mozart: A Documentary Biography, Stanford University Press 1966; Cliff Eisen & Simon Keefe, The Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia, Cambridge University Press 2006) the existence of a manuscript has been mentioned, part of which had been written by the hand of Mozart. It had appeared in 1796 (five years after Mozart’s death) in a publication by Joseph Heidenreich in the Vienna newspaper Wiener Zeitung,under the title A Short Guide of Exercises in Digital Bass, and in this publication the author claimed that this had been an original pamphlet, written and composed by Mozart, which the composer himself had handed to his student Therese von Trattner. Subsequently, in its integrity or in parts, it had probably been published by Steiner & Co. in Vienna, after editing by several people (it is not known how many). Not a single copy has been preserved. After that first publication, Mozart’s work had been translated into English and Italian. As a variant in its form as Practical Elements of Thorough-Bass it had been published by Augener & Co. in 1823 h with the help of Thomas Attword. Precisely this tract had been taken by Samuel Godbe and placed in the present version, which the researcher has taken the liberty of discussing.

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Heidenreich had been a close friend of Mozart and a formal editor of the musical score of The Magic Flute, therefore his words were hard to challenge. The truthfulness of the published work had been convincingly confirmed by Abbot Maximilian Stadler (1748-1833), a well-known Austrian composer, historian, and editor of some of Mozart’s works, published after his death. He had drafted a catalogue of Mozart’s manuscripts (1798-1799) i. Robert Lach (1874-1958) j, in turn, disputed the publication in question, quoting Heidenreich’s two successive publications from 1782 and 1784 and noting that the style used had been typically Mozart’s.

All these data Researcher found, and adding to them the thorough prior research of Baird Hasting of the publication I am dealing with, combined with his name as conductor of the Festival Mozart Orchestra and his serious educational and theoretical work in Juilliard School, made me believe in the truthfulness of the document researhcer was working with and consider it authentic, carrying the manner of writing of Mozart. And this became the challenge and the foundation for a more serious academic work on its contents, and specifically on the existing terms and formulations, which reseracher has to present.

In this paper researcher shall gradually follow the author’s path in parts, dealing with each point, sturring interest or provoking questions from a theoretical point of view.

Here follows Example 1: Scanned first publication of Mozart’s pamphlet according to the London edition of Samuel Godbe.

Part One:

The first sentence in Mozart’s Practical Elements of Thorough Bass begins with an explanation of the term Thorough Bass. It naturally stands for ‘fundament of GB’ in the original text in German. Researcher has to emphasize that in modern theory of music (according to MGG), the use of the Italian term basso continuo has been accepted. The three terms reflect one and the same practice of composition – building the accompaniment on the basis of a continued bass melodical line, which may be figured or not. In English musicological literature the term can be found in two variants: Thorough Bass and Through Bass. A description of the same practice in world literature is denoted by the terms basso numerato (Italian), basse chiffree (French), bezifferter Bass (German), Generalbass (German), as well as figured bass (English) k. Researcher has opted for basso continuo, as acknowledgement of the fact that this practice has actually its origin in Italy.

Going through the text researcher notes that ninth, tenth and the other compound intervals have been put down as second (2) and third (3) over octave (as this has been accepted in English elementary theory), rather than 9,10, etc.

Described in the second paragraph of this part is the chord, as composed of three or more “notes”. Researcher would like to point out straightaway that in the English terminology note means a whole tone (in the meaning of the distance between the notes of the interval), as well as a stable, constant sound, and timbre, whereas in specialized American literature, when the chord techniques have been theorized, I have found preference for the use of the term tone and not note.

The paragraph goes on with a definition of the chords and of their inversions. It is very important here that researcher makes an addition – a differentiation. Under position of the chord I understand in what inversion it is, or which tone/note is in the bass line. In earlier periods, however, particularly in the time of basso continuo the chords (vertical consonances) had not been interpreted as inversions, but as a collection of intervals, calculated in terms of the bass tone. Both in the English and in the French literature, covering that age, position meant different positions of the right hand, regardless of which tone was in the bass, which in later periods was to present one and the same chord in different positions. The different inversions of one chord in basso continuo were different from their present-date treatment, but for both musical ages these chords belonged to one family.

So, presented in the first part are the different chords and it is noteworthy that the chords had not been interpreted by the author as inversions of the root note. This is intriguing from the point of view of the arising question as to whether Mozart, as the founder of classical harmony, had not known yet the


theory of chord inversions or it had not yet gained grounds among the music theorists. (As we know musical practice has always been a step ahead of theory).

Listed at the end of the part are all the intervals and the researcher immediately notices that augmented thirds and the double augmented and diminished intervals have not been covered by the explanation.

Part two:

In this part Mozart chose to present a table of intervals and chords. In this connection researcher would like to quotes the theoretical thesis presented by Yavor Konov l in connection with the term “imperfect concord” used in the original. “Concord” is a word of Medieval English, its origin coming from Old French via Latin. Concordia in Latin originated from “concors” meaning unanimity, agreement, coordination, harmony. Com – cor (the Latin of heart) or “to the heart”, agreements, concords, contract, coordination. Concord (consonance) is a chord, which seems to be a self-satisfied, or a specified interval, which can be thus characterized: the opposite of discord (dissonance). It is not possible to precisely determine what makes up concord; this often depends on the individual assessment. However, the concordance intervals include all perfect intervals, all the major and minor thirds and sixths. (MK/144). I.e. these are imperfect and perfect consonance intervals, according to ETM. [Elementary Theory of Music]).

Part Three:

In it Mozart chose to describe the size of the intervals, a passing note, the preparation for entering and resolving both the intervals and the chord sequences. This part is accompanied by a multitude of equations and examples. Reserceher recommends to those, taking an interest in basso continuo to play them out; they will find there interesting solutions of suspended notes, the conduct and avoidance of consecutive (parallel) fourths and fifths and other fundamentals in polyphonic tasks.

When presenting the intervals I make a comparison that both De San Lamber and Mozart, started a presentation from a second like interval, without dwelling on the unison.

The researcher finds interesting the theoretical rendition of the third within the context of the chord. Along the same lines, I give an interesting example of putting down a diminished third in note writing.

(Example 2)

It is interesting that in the chord succession, the leading note of the chord, recognized by present-day harmony as the obligatory seventh, sensitive degree of the scale, in Mozart it is presented not as the seventh, leading degree, but is more correlated to a tone, ascending to another, higher standing, neighbouring tone of a minor second.

When Mozart referred to an augmented fourth, he specified it as a tritone, but the term did not include a diminished fifth. Researcher would like to gives a short explanation as to why this is so. In theoretical literature tritone (tritonus in Latin) is an interval, equal to three full tones. m This is to say that in fact this may be solely an augmented fourth. Viewed from the point of view of the diatonic scale, the augmented fifth is also included in the same volume (i.e. B – F). In the old theory of music, however, the diminished quintuplet was calculated not as three whole tones, but as two whole tones plus two diatonic semitones (which were not summed). This was due to the pursuit of the medieval church theorists and, more precisely, the theory of Pythagoras about the frequency of the intervals, based on logarithmic interval units, viz. “cents”. In his table the diminished quintuplet contains 610 cents, whereas the augmented quartuplet – 588 cents. In the more recent theory, when musicians started to operate with enharmonic substitution and qualitative changes, the diminished quituplet is already indicated and recognized as a tritone.n

In the same part Mozart gave practical examples about the difference between strict and freecounterpoint, showing how in the old strict style, the strict dissonances were prepared, whereas in the free style this was no longer obligatory, even the absence of any preparation was a characteristic feature. (I recommend that this part be studied carefully by those taking interest in the difference between the two styles).

The fifth as an interval is determined in terms of quantity as perfect, imperfect fifth, and false fifth. Such a presentation of the quintuplets can also be found in the pamphlet of De Saint Lamberto who also

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speaks about just three kinds of quintuplets: perfect, imperfect and false fifth, without including the doubly augmented or diminished.

Researcher would like to underlines Mozart’s definition that “the augmented fifth contains four whole tones” p. In fact the augmented fifth contains three whole tones (D-E, F-G, G-A ), one diatonic semitone (E-F) and one chromatic semiton (A-A sharp). It is noteworthy in the pamphlets from the time of Mozart (as well as of De Saint Lambert) that the theorists defined the augmented fifth as “an interval of four tones from ut (C) to sol diez (G sharp) and from mi bemol [E flat] to si [B natural}.” q

Researceher logically comes to the conclusion that when the chromatic intervals became introduced (in practice and in theory) their calculation, respectively their theoretical recognition, began to be gradually gaining grounds as the sum total of diatonic and chromatic semitones and whole tones. Summing up was seemingly there where there were diatonic and chromatic semitones or two chromatic semitones, whereas where the semitones were only diatonic, there was no summing up. The same can be noticed when Mozart was to refer also to a diminished sixth, which was also a non-diatonic interval.

When Mozart discussed the doubling of 6 3 (first inversion of the chord) and mentioned the doubling of the third tone, researceher noted immediately that it was considered natural to double precisely the bass tone in basso continuo, by way of its repetition over an octave. This is so because in this case the meaning of the tones was not taken into consideration, deriving from the theory of the basic chord (the fundamental bass) or the inversion of the chords, the functional values of the tones, resulting from the functional interrelation of the verticals (the three T.S.D,) and the functional relationships generally. In the same paragraph I find a detailed explanation about the conclusion of the augmented sixth. In it there is mention of a “parallel” fifth and octaves (as this has been accepted in American theoretical literature, unlike the commonly used “consecutive” in the English. The researcher has always wondered whether the use of the old-time terms has been correct in contemporary theory, rather than their arbitrary replacement.) In this sense, I am bound to mention that according to Lodovico Grossi da Viadana-Grossi (1560-1627) in Cento concerti con il basso continue r (who made up the first set of rules on basso continuo), in compositions of basso continuo it had not been obligatory for the organ player/composer to avoid the parallel quintuplets and the octave, though it was recommendable not to admit them between the voices.

In the theoretical rendition of the seventh, Mozart defined the septuplets as major, minor and diminished just like De Saint Lambert, and omitted the augmented seventh.

In presenting the octave, Mozart speaks about perfect, augmented and diminished octave, whereas De Saint Lambert presented only the natural one. In situating the ninth, both refer only to minor and major intervals.

I would like to note the term treble used in the text in its meaning of the top voice in choral singing rather than as soprano or discant as this has been accepted in modern musicology. The term treble can today be encountered in use only in choral music, performed by children.s

When Mozart speaks about compound intervals, he emphasizes that it is more correct to specify them by “2”, “3”, etc. over an octave, than by “9” or “10”. This has been the easier variant for me, both in interpreting the intervals functionally and in their performance (their distribution between the two hands). Researcher would like to notes here that in the system of digitalization of the first monodists, what had been diginalized had been the actual pitch of the tones, in the respective octave marked by “ 3” and “4” rather than by “10”, “11”, or “17”,”18”.t A great number of researchers (Amold F.T. in The Art of Accompaniment from a Thorough-Bass as Practice in the 17th and 18th Centuries; Williams P. Figured Bass Accompaniment, Edinburg; Zuppila, R. Figured Bass Accompaniment in France) write that the intervals, larger than an octave were considered and had to be considered as such which were repeated. In this connection I shall take the liberty of quoting Saint Lambert u : “The intervals exceeding the range of the octave, like the ninth, tenth and others, being just a repetition of those under the octave, becoming ninth, tenth, etc. as being just a repetition of those formed under the octave, are not considered to be what they are actually…..This means that the ninth is considered the second, the tenth is considered the third, and so on, the same for all the rest, no matter how far they are from the root tone”. But it is the time to say now that the interval ninth should not be mixed up with the interval second, because as we know they have nothing in common in terms of functions (excluding the fact that they are over an octave). At a chord doubling, the root ninth tone never has a second over the bass tone.


Quite a few authors use the figure “9”. For instance François Couperin did not recognize the ninth interval; he did not use “9”, only “2”, but in combination with other figures, because by itself “2” alone defined the simple interval secunda, second.”v In the pursuit of chord progressions, both the secunda and the nona are dissonant intervals, which in the cases when they are major are obligatorily prepared and resolved by descending secundo motion. The difference is in the fact that where in the secundo the dissonant tone is in the bass and the conclusion follows thencefrom, in the case of the ninth/nona the dissonant tone is in the top voice. When, however, they appear as minor dissonance they are similar in manifestation and essence: the dissonanting tone appears in the top voice rather than in the bass.

Researcher would like to deals with the terminological disparity in the use of the term tasto soloused in this part, which replaces the common pedal notes. This difference is commented in detail in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music w : “ Tasto solo in early music – finger key only i.e. (in music which has a continuo part) instruction to play only the single bass-note written, and not the supporting chords, which a continuo-player would normally add.” When seeing the term tasto solo, we should know that we must not play chords, unless explicit figures have been marked. In the past composers sometimes did not mark the figures, respectively the chords, judging that the keyboard player was sufficiently experienced to guess them, or when several variants were possible, to enable the performer to add the chords by his own choice, guided by the motion of the solo voice. This had corresponded to the practice when the keyboard players had studied melody formulas in the bass, which they sounded using characteristic chord combinations in the vertical. The chords used had been about twenty, each one with several variants. This had also been the basic technique of the accompaniment players, viz. the melodical formulas in the bass, learnt vertical sequences rather than structuring harmonies, based on an analysis similar to the one we are practicing now (functional interrelation). The composers’ striving had been targeted at supporting the taste and interpretation of the keyboard player rather than the accumulation of compound harmonies.

Part Four:

This part deals with the subject of chord progression and the different motions between the voices. It has been interesting for me to note that Mozart recommended in case of avoidance of parallel quintuplets and octaves that oblique motion be used, followed by contrary motion, whereby the most dangerous had been noted to be the direct or similar motion. In contemporary harmony, the contrary motion has been considered to be the safest in the resolvement of tasks and the performance of cadences. The difference in the assessments probably comes from the point of view of the connection between the mental and motive easiness, which had been of the top importance during the old period. This comes to explain what the most recommended motion chosen had been: the one when one hand remains at place in chords, whereas the other one performs the figuring.

Part Five:

It continues on the subject of the preceding part. At its very start, what draws the attention (in the registered constants) is the appearance of two kinds of tenors: tenor and counter tenor. Researcher straightaway takes the liberty of dealing with the second one. Counter tenor or countertenor is a high male voice, equal to alto, falsetto or castrated, known for its pure tone. This kind of tenor had been popular in the time of Handel and Purcell, and had been revived in the 20th century by Alfred Deller (1912-1979), a well-known English counter tenor, who stirred interest in old baroque music. For him Britten composed Midsummer Night’s Dream, in which the part of Oberon was specially meant for Deller. Subsequently, a number of arias for counter tenors were composedx.

Here Researcher found symbolic notation, which was interesting to me. In it (Example 3) Mozart indicated that it be performed by one hand with no accompaniment, in the Forte parts of the choruses or the tutti passages of the sinfonias.

And the next notation (Example 4), which Mozart related to the performance of an irregularpassing note, or passing dissonance, which instead of being a weak element, turned out to be a strong or relatively strong element (hard passing in the East European terminology) y.

Researcher would also like to focuses the attention on (Example 5) where the arc over a figure or a group of figures indicates that the accompaniment has to be in three voices, whereas the sign of a reversed pyramid shows that a diminished fifth accompanied by a third or an octave in four voices has to be performed.

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Part Six:

In this part Mozart presented tables of the series of chord sequences, which were to be used in performing basso continuo, which he recommended that be learnt by heart by the future accompanying keyboard players.

Part Seven:

This part deals with the six dangerous progressions in the chord motion. Researcher would recommend that all the examples provided by Mozart be played out and the parallel fifths and octaves be heard, and that the composer’s preferred solution of the progressions be listened to. It is my view that Mozart had been guided by the actual sounding of the examples (particularly in the octaves, when the parallelism sounds just for a moment).

Conclusions

The meaning and the assignment of this paper have been to show and follow up the stages, chosen by Mozart, in structuring this “self-guide” in thorough bass. The resesrcher has inspected the etymological overlapping of the terms, as well as the differences in the treatment of some of them over time. These terms have been basso continuo, concord (consonance), tasto solo, etc. Researcher has likewise compared formulations in the contemporary and the classical elementary theory of music: for instance chord progressions, simple and compound intervals and some others, which helps extend the horizons along the lines of the derivation of music terminology. By this paper I further interpret and lend new meaning to some basic theses in terms of harmony and polyphony (sporadically, elements of elementary theory of music, too). In the comparative analysis made of the terms and conceptions encountered (which have provoked my interest and are certain to stir curiosity in every specialist), some thoughts and comparisons would be useful to the reinterpretation of the differences and similarities in musical theory and in the sphere of harmony and polyphony.

What has essentially guided me in this paper, however, has been to more closely familiarize my colleagues with this work of Mozart. No matter whether the pamphlet had been written in full by the great composer and presented in its original form, or had been supplemented by notes by Heidenreich and Atwood, it remains unique in the selection of the approach and the examples, which have beyond any doubt been Mozart’s work. These examples are by themselves a unique way whereby each musician may become familiarized with the characteristic structures, which had been memorized by keyboard players in the performance of basso continuo and, naturally, could not be quoted in full in a piece of work like this paper. But their meaning and importance has been emphasized and anyone, showing an interest, will be informed where to find them.

The way, which the Austrian classical composer had chosen, to familiarize his students with the essentials of basso continuo had been sufficiently intriguing from the point of view of creativity and manner of presentation of the material in question. This short text would be useful in this form both as a primary aid in basso continuo and as an indisputable challenge to specialists in discovering details and nuances in the terms and processes used. The researcher has endeavoured to show each one of them in stages, in which it becomes a bearer of differences and overlapping of meanings and characteristics on the part of musical theory and practice.

Finally, the reseatcehr shall takes the liberty of quoting Samuel Gudbe, who ends the introduction to the English translation of the book and who, in my view, adequately shows the meaning and importance of the pamphlet and of the author of this paper: “I am proud to be the first to have clothed in English attire this magnificent work, admired in the course of so many years in Germany and Italy, feeling that in this way I advance the wonderful art in which I am professor and hope that just like in the fable the Mice helps the Lion, I, through this humble undertaking, may probably be adding just a little bit to the millions, already paying tribute to the immortal memory of Mozart”.


Examples

Example 1. Scanned first edition of Mozart’s pamphlet by Samuel Godbe.

(Example 2)

Tsonka AL_Bakry 339

(Example 3)

(Example 4)

(Example 5)


Endnotes:

a Konov Y. “W.A.Mozart, Practical Elements of Thorough-Bass”, Sofia, (1999)

b GRV (PRMA, (1973-74-2000) 175, look GRV/12.750 right, top). c „Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart” (MGG) (2008) d Halliwell, R. „The Mozart Family: Four Lives in a Social Context”, Oxford, 1998, page 172-180e Yapova N. “Mozart and Baroque” Sofia, (2006) (page 3) f Levik B.V. “History of Music by second half of 18th Century” Sofia 1972, ( page 158-163 ) g Yapova N. “Mozart and Baroque” Sofia (2006) (page 4&5) h Baird Hasting in Introdution to „Practical Elements of Thorough-Bass”, New York, (1976) i GRV/18/ ( page 47 § 48) j GRV/10/ (page. 346 ) k Chetrikov S. “ Musical terminology dictionary” Sofia (1979) (page 381) l Konov Y. “W.A.Mozart, Practical Elements of Thorough-Bass”, Sofia, (1999) (page 55) m Chetrikov S. “ Musical terminology dictionary” Sofia (1979) (page 338) n Chetrikov S. “ Musical terminology dictionary” Sofia (1979) (page 120 & 338) o De Saint Lambert “The First Treatise on Clavichord – “Les Principes du clavecin”” translated by Konov

Y., Sofia, (1998) (page 103) p „ Practical Elements of Thorough-Bass” , New York, (1976) (page 26). q De Saint Lambert “New treatise on harpsichord, organ and other instruments” Sofia , (1998), (page 104) r Reese, Gustave. „Music in the Renaissance” , Sofia , (1982) , (page 72 & 73) s „ he Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music” Ed. M Kennedy, Univ. Press , (1990), ( page 664) t t Bourmayan, L.&, Frisch J. „Methode pour apprendre la pratique de la Basse Continue au Clavecin”

Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, (1987), ( page 147) u De Saint Lambert “New treatise on harpsichord, organ and other instruments” Sofia , (1998), (page 109) v Bourmayan, L. &, Frisch J. „Methode pour apprendre la pratique de la Basse Continue au Clavecin” Ann

Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, (1987) , page 102. w „ he Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music” Ed. M Kennedy, Univ. Press , (1990), ( page 664)

x „ he Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music” Ed. M Kennedy, Univ. Press . (1990). (page 152 § 174) y Manolov Z., & Hristov D., “ The Poliphony” , Sofia, (1992) , ( page 29 § 92)

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Tsonka AL_Bakry 341

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mozart and his practical advice about thorough-bass/basso

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