of the _rôle_ which the organ played in the orchestras of Bach and
Händel: "It is a widely prevailing impression, and one confirmed by
the new instrumentation which Mozart and Mosel made for the Händel
oratorios, that by their use of the organ these two masters (Bach and
Händel) supplied those features of our instrumentation which were
then lacking. Such an opinion is correct, if nothing more is meant
than that in concert rooms where no organ is available, it must be
replaced by other instruments.[170] It must not be inferred that this
new instrumentation maintains reciprocal relations with the original
accompaniment. In the former it is the string-quartet which serves as
the foundation of the harmony, and it is only the wind-instruments
which affect the color. With Händel (and Bach) the organ, which
fills out the figured bass, serves as a background for all the other
instruments; the color is added by all the other voices of the
orchestra, whether strings or wind."
[Footnote 169: J. Th. Mosewius: _J.S. Bach in seinen Kirchencantaten
und Choralgesängen_ (Berlin, Trautwein, 1845), p. 25.]
[Footnote 170: This is what was done by Robert Franz. See _Offener
Brief an Eduard Hanslick_ (Leipzig, 1873).]
Nothing could be more just than this statement of Mosewius; the
organ serves to combine all the parts of the orchestra, unifying
them without betraying its agency by any too assertive quality; a
gray background, if you will, upon which some livelier colors are
displayed, as in paintings of the school of Panselinos.
This testimony of Bach himself, specifying in his plans stops of a
very soft and well-rounded quality for the accompanying organ, is
corroborated by his contemporaries.
Scheibe, Adlung, and others permitted in the accompaniment of arias
and recitatives but a single _bourdon_ of eight feet, called, from
its use for such purposes, _Musikgedackt_. A recitative, especially,
was to be sustained lightly, for fear of covering the voice of the
singer; a few prolonged notes to guide him, occasional soft chords,
and, curiously enough, if one believe in the strict treatment of the
organ, _arpeggios_, as upon a clavecin.
The staccato was generally employed in playing the bass; but this
license stopped here, and for ordinary organ pieces Bach exacted from
his pupils the strictest legato.
Even in playing in the choruses, and with full orchestra, the organ
had to be content with the "half-tone" tint; neither reeds nor
mixtures, said Schröter,[171] organist in Nordhausen; Petri[172] made
a similar recommendation.
[Footnote 171: _Deutliche Anweisung zum Generalbass_ (Halberstadt,
1772), p. 137.]
[Footnote 172: _Anleitung zur practischen Musik_ (Leipzig, 1782).]
Moreover, the accompaniment, at least such of it as was contrapuntal
in nature or consisted of successive chords, was played usually upon
the _positif_ (choir), whose pipes were less powerful than those of
the great organ; the bass was executed upon the latter manual in
the manner already indicated, sometimes also _legato_. The pedal
itself might be added here; in certain passages it only marked the
accents with stops of more emphatic quality, when it was desirable to
emphasize the breadth of the rhythm, or to avoid confusion, when the
movement was too rapid. This is confirmed by Saint-Lambert (_Traité
d'accompagnement_, p. 58): "When the tempo is so rapid," says he,
"that the accompanist cannot conveniently play all the notes, it
will suffice if he play and accompany only the first notes of each
measure, leaving to the basses the task of performing all the notes,
which they will be able to accomplish much more easily, having no
accompaniment to play in addition. Very rapid tempi are not suited
to accompanying instruments; on this account, if particularly quick
passages are encountered, even in a slow movement, the _accompagneur_
(sic) may leave them to the other instruments; or, if he play them
himself, he may so modify them as to play only the principal notes
of such passages; that is to say, the notes which fall upon the
principal beats of the measure."
Again, the organist was obliged to take into consideration the small
number of orchestral players and of voices. Bach, in a memorandum
of August 23, 1730, enumerates twelve singers and eighteen players,
besides the organist; the _Kapelle_ over which Gerlach held sway in
the new Protestant church at Leipzig, was still smaller: four singers
and ten players.
It is true that Bach, first of all an organist himself, did not
always bequeath such an ungrateful task to the organ; besides the
organ of accompaniment, he gives us examples of what he calls _organo
obligato_. Numerous cantatas furnish such instances; we find one in
the Passion according to St. Matthew, with the added interest of an
indication of the registration. It is where the chorus, in unison,
sings the chorales, _O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig_, and _O Mensch,
bewein' dein' Sünde gross_.[173] The register which Bach prescribes
here is the _Sesquialtera_, undoubtedly in combination with some
foundation stops. The character of this register, thus particularly
selected, seems to call for the _tasto solo_; without doubt Bach
demanded it because of its decisive quality, for the purpose of
bringing out the chorale sung by the _ripieno_ against the other two
choruses and the two orchestras, which he treated independently. The
brightness of the _Sesquialtera_ would seem to recommend it also
for the _sinfonie_, or prelude, of the cantata composed for the
election of the Council[174] (August, 1731). This idea is supported
by the fact that a _Sesquialtera_ was undoubtedly added to the
_positif_ of the organ in St. Thomas' Church in 1730 or 1731, by the
organ-builder, J. Scheibe.
[Footnote 173: B.-G. iv. [The first and last numbers, respectively,
of Part I. In the first the chorale is sung by a special chorus of
sopranos, usually boys, while the two mixed choruses and the two
orchestras are treated contrapuntally. In the other instance the
two choruses are united in one, as are also the two orchestras, and
the chorale is sung by all the sopranos, the counterpoint being
assigned to the remaining three vocal parts, supported by the
orchestra.--TR.]]
[Footnote 174: B.-G. v.]
A register of quite opposite effect was used to support the whole
orchestra in the Reformation Cantata[175] (1717). The Luther
chorale-melody is here entrusted to the sixteen-foot _Bombarde_ on
the pedal, accompanied in the orchestra by the violoncello and the
violone, a similar instrument.
[Footnote 175: B.-G. xviii, 10.]
In these particular instances we see that Bach departed from the
general custom of omitting the reeds and mutation stops;[176] but
here the organ derived from its own resources sonorities most
individual in character, the accompaniment being furnished by
a second instrument (the orchestra). Moreover, as W. Rust, the
authorized editor of the Bach cantatas, says, "When the organ is
_obbligato_ it does not present itself in a polyphonic capacity, for
then it would cover up all the other instruments; but it should be
treated as a solo part, like a flute or an oboe."[177]
[Footnote 176: The _organo obbligato_ was sometimes written with more
delicate intentions; for example, in the alto aria with accompaniment
of an _oboe da caccia_, from the cantata _Wer weiss, wie nahe mir
mein Ende?_ (B.-G. v.).]
[Footnote 177: We should add here, that the organs were not of
the same pitch as the other instruments, for they were tuned to
chorus-pitch, a whole tone lower than the normal diapason. The organ
at Weimar, on the contrary, was a minor third higher.]
With regard to Bach's orchestra, we should remember that the cantata
_Die Himmel erzählen_ ("The heavens declare the glory of God")
suggests the registration for the first movement of the sonata in
_E_ minor. True, it will be said that Bach wrote these trios for
pedal-clavecin; but their performance upon the organ, too, should
not be neglected. Certain adagios, by reason of their long-sustained
notes, demand an instrument capable of prolonging the tone. This
first movement, in fact, is but a transcription of the _Sinfonie_
(_adagio_ and _vivace_) which serves as an overture to the cantata
just mentioned. The instrumentation: _Oboe d'amore_, _Viola da gamba_,
and _continuo_. These are _timbres_ to be found in all organs; we may
add that the _Viola da gamba_ of the organ was one of Bach's favorite
stops. It is not unwarranted to consider that in many chorales the
_cantus_, placed in the tenor, was played with this register upon a
separate manual, just as Bach would have given it to the violoncellos
in the orchestra.
For we must take into consideration this practice of Bach's
of transferring to the organ resources of the orchestra, to
the orchestra those of the organ. Thus, in the Pastorale
(_Hirtengesang_) of the Christmas Oratorio, Bach produces the effect
of an organ whose manuals respond to each other, the one with
foundation stops contrasted with the chorus of oboes upon another.
This passing from one manual to another Bach seldom indicates in his
organ compositions; one piece, however, furnishes us with directions
which are authentic beyond question, and extremely interesting. It
is the great prelude in _E_ flat major, published in Part III of
the _Clavierübung_. On comparing these indications with others,
particularly with those in the _D_ minor (Doric) Toccata, one may
decide to play upon the great manual (_Oberwerk_)[178] all that is
written with pedal; where the pedal is silent, one may change to the
choir (_Rückpositif_). In carrying this deduction to its limits, one
might even formulate the rule that when the parts are reduced to two,
they should be played upon the swell (_Brustwerk_).
[Footnote 178: _Oberwerk_ means literally the higher manual; in
two-manual organs the stronger was, at that time, found above the
other. The name _Rückpositif_ came from the custom of placing the
pipes behind the back (_Rücken_) of the organist. Finally, the swell
bore the name _Brustwerk_, the pipes being placed facing the breast
(_Brust_) of the player. In a three-manual organ the great keyboard
was situated between the swell, which was above, and the choir, which
was below it.]
III
In connection with the foregoing it will be interesting to learn the
specifications of the principal organs of which Bach was able to
avail himself during his long career. We find details concerning them
in various works, notably in Adlung (_Musica mechanica organoedi_),
or in the supplement which J.F. Agricola, an esteemed pupil of Bach,
added to this work, published after the death of its author; and in
the contemporary writings of local historians.
The organ at Arnstadt, the first at which Bach held the position of
organist, possessed twenty-four registers, divided among two manuals
and the pedal:[179]
[Footnote 179: This instrument was constructed in 1701, by J.F.
Wender, an organ-builder of Mühlhausen. [The specification as
compiled from the existing stop-handles by Mr. C.F.A. Williams
("Bach": J.M. Dent & Co.: London), differs slightly from the above,
which is given by Spitta.--TR.]]
_Great Organ._
1. Principal, 8'
2. Viola da Gamba, 8'
3. Quintatön, 16'
4. Gedackt (Bourdon), 8'
5. Quinte, 6'
6. Octave, 4'
7. Mixtur, 4 ranks
8. Gemshorn, 8'
9. Cymbel, 2 ranks
10. Trompete, 8'
11. Tremulant
12. Cymbelstern[180]
[Footnote 180: A sort of Glockenspiel, which produced _l'accord
parfait_ [undoubtedly the major triad].]
_Choir Organ._
1. Principal, 4'
2. Lieblich Gedackt, 8'
3. Spitzflöte, 4'
4. Quinte, 3'
5. Sesquialter
6. Nachthorn (night horn), 4'
7. Mixtur, 2 ranks
_Pedal Organ._
1. Principalbass, 8'
2. Subbass, 16'
3. Posaunenbass (trombone), 16'
4. Flötenbass 4'
5. Cornetbass, 2'[181]
[Footnote 181: This was a reed stop.]
The organ in the palace at Weimar contained the following stops,
according to A. Wette:[182]
[Footnote 182: _Historische Nachrichten von der berühmten
Residenzstadt Weimar._ Weimar, 1737, p. 175, 176.]
_Great._
1. Principal, 8'
2. Quintatön, 16'
3. Gemshorn, 8'
4. Gedackt, 8'
5. Quintatön, 4'
6. Octave, 4'
7. Mixture, 6 ranks
8. Cymbel, 3 ranks
9. Glockenspiel
_Choir._
1. Principal, 8'
2. Violdigamba, 8'
3. Gedackt, 8'
4. Trompete, 8'
5. Kleingedackt
(small bourdon), 4'
6. Octave, 4'
7. Waldflöte 2'
8. Sesquialtera
_Pedal._
1. Gross-Untersatz, 32'
2. Subbass, 16'
3. Posaun-Bass, 16'
4. Violon-Bass, 16'
5. Principal-Bass, 8'
6. Trompeten-Bass, 8'
7. Cornett-Bass, 4'
We have mentioned the special feature of the organ in Cöthen: a
pedal which boasted of two octaves and a half, from great _C_ to
_f'_ sharp; we should further emphasize in this organ, otherwise not
especially noteworthy, the quality of the _Principal_[183] in the
great organ, and of the eight-foot Trumpet in the pedal.
[Footnote 183: [The _Principal_ here referred to is undoubtedly the
eight-foot Diapason.--TR.]]
The organ in the University church in Leipzig, of which Bach made an
expert examination December 17, 1717, was a remarkable instrument,
which he was very fond of playing. It was one of the masterworks of
the manufacturer Scheibe. It had the following registers:
_Great._
1. Gross Principal
(of pure tin), 16'
2. Gross Quintatön, 16'
3. Klein Principal, 8'
4. Schalmei, 8'
5. Flûte allemande, 8'
6. Gemshorn, 8'
7. Octave, 4'
8. Quinte, 3'
9. Quint-Nasat, 3'
10. Octavina, 2'
11. Waldflöte, 2'
12. Grosse Mixtur,
of 5 and 6 ranks
13. Cornetti, of 3 ranks
14. Zink (a species of
_cornett_), of
2 ranks
_Echo._
1. Principal (in front), 8'
2. Viola di Gamba naturelle, 8'
3. Grobgedackt
(large scale bourdon) 8'
4. Octave, 4'
5. Rohrflöte, 4'
6. Octave, 2'
7. Nasat, 3'
8. Sedecima, 1'
9. Schweizerpfeife, 1'
10. Largo.[184]
11. Mixtur, of 3 ranks
12. Helle (bright) Cymbel,
of 2 ranks
[Footnote 184: Undoubtedly _larigot_.]
_Choir._
1. Leiblich gedackt, 8'
2. Quintatön, 8'
3. Flûte douce, 4'
4. Quinta decima, 4'
5. Decima nona, 3'
6. Hohlflöte, 2'
7. Viola, 2'
8. Vigesima nona, 1-1/2'
9. Weitpfeife, 1'
10. Mixtur, of 3 ranks
11. Helle Cymbel, of 2 ranks
12. Sertin (serpent?), 8'
_Pedal._
1. Gross Principal, 16'
2. Gross Quintatön, 16'
3. Octave, 8'
4. Octave, 4'
5. Quinte, 3'
6. Mixtur, of 5 and 6 ranks
7. Grosse Quintenbass, 6'
8. Jubal (open flute), 8'
9. Nachthorn, 4'
10. Octave, 2'
11. Second Principal, 16'
12. Subbass, 16'
13. Posaune, 16'
14. Trompete, 8'
15. Hohflöte, 1'
16. Mixtur, of 4 ranks
Finally, the specification of the principal organ in the
_Thomaskirche_ in Leipzig, installed in 1525, twice rebuilt during
the seventeenth century, enlarged in 1670; and considerably repaired,
in 1721, by Johann Scheibe:[185]
[Footnote 185: Vogel, _Leipziger Chronicke_. Vol. iii, chap. vi, p.
110.]
_Great._
1. Principal, 16'
2. Principal, 8'
3. Quintatön, 16'
4. Octave, 4'
5. Quinte, 3'
6. Superoctave, 2'
7. Spielpfeife
(a species of flute), 8'
8. Sesquialtera
9. Mixtur, of 6, 8, and
10 ranks
_Echo (Brustwerk)._
1. Grobgedackt, 8'
2. Principal, 4'
3. Nachthorn, 4'
4. Nasat, 3'
5. Gemshorn, 2'
6. Cymbel, of 2 ranks
7. Sesquialtera
8. Regal, 8'
9. Geigenregal[186]
(Violin-regal), 4'
[Footnote 186: In combination with the _Quintatön_ of eight feet,
says Adlung, the _Geigenregal_ sounds almost like a stringed
instrument.]
_Choir._
1. Principal 8'
2. Quintatön, 8'
3. Lieblich Gedackt, 8'
4. Kleingedackt, 4'
5. Querflöte
(_Flauto traverso_), 4'
6. Violine, 2'
7. Rauschquinte doppelt
8. Mixtur, of 4 ranks
9. Sesquialtera
10. Spitzflöte, 4'
11. Schallflöte, 1'
12. Krummhorn,[187] 16'
13. Trompete, 8'
[Footnote 187: _Cromorne._ Also called _lituus_ (clarion) by
Praetorius (_Syntagma musicum_), Tome ii, chap. xv, p. 40. Adlung
suggests this simple derivation: _cor_ and _morne_ (sad, reserved).]
_Pedal._
1. Subbass (of metal), 16'
2. Posaune, 16'
3. Trompete, 8'
4. Schalmei, 4'
5. Cornett, 3'
The St. Thomas church possessed in addition a small organ. This
instrument, at one time abandoned, and later again brought into
service, stood at Bach's time in a gallery, opposite the large organ.
It possessed a stop called _Trichter-Regal_, a sort of _Vox humana_.
This organ was used in performance of the St. Matthew Passion music,
in coöperation with the other.
When Bach played for strangers, he was fond of astonishing them by
his originality in registration. "After having first of all censured
as ill-advised the combination of certain stops," says Forkel,[188]
"the listeners were greatly surprised upon hearing the admirable
effect produced by these very combinations, suddenly drawing from the
organ a sonority at once original and varied, whose attainment might
have been vainly sought by following older methods....
[Footnote 188: _Ueber J.S. Bach's Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke._]
"In trying an unfamiliar organ, his first step was to draw all the
registers and to play upon the great manual with all couplers. He was
in the habit of saying, jestingly, that he wished at the outset to
know if the instrument possessed good lungs."
With this art in registration was combined the greatest facility in
improvisation.
"It was often the case," writes Kirnberger,[189] "that friends asked
Bach to play to them at times other than during religious service.
Then he would choose some theme and treat it in every form of organ
composition, playing without interruption for two hours or more, yet
without exhausting his resources. Perhaps he made use of his subject
first in a prelude and fugue for all the foundation stops. Then his
genius in registration was displayed in a movement in three, or in
four, parts, always upon the same theme. Now followed a chorale,
and the subject served as a counterpoint to the chorale-melody, in
ingenious imitations in three or four voices. Finally he concluded by
a fugue for _organo pleno_, based upon the same subject, interweaving
the previous variations of it he had made."
[Footnote 189: _Die wahren Grundsätze zum Gebrauch der Harmonie_
(Berlin, 1773) p. 53. See also Mizler (_Necrolog_, p. 171) and Forkel
(p. 22).]
IV
In a technical work compiled for his son Friedemann, Bach left us
an explanation of the signs employed by him to indicate the various
ornaments which he calls _Manieren_. They are thus illustrated:
[Music:
Trillo. Mordant. Trillo u. Mordant. Cadence. Doppelcadence.
idem. Doppelcadence und Mordant. idem. Accent steigend. (rising.)
Accent fallend. (falling.) Accent u. Mordant. Accent u. Trillo. idem.]
The greater number of these ornaments,[190] as we see by the table,
do not begin upon the given note. However, if a turn occur at the
beginning of a piece, or if it ornament a characteristic interval
(as, for example, in the fugue in _F_ minor), the essential note
should be struck first; even if such a rendering produce a discord
with the other parts.
[Footnote 190: _Clavierbüchlein, vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
angefangen in Cöthen den 22. Januar, anno 1720._]
The mordent--it is the _pincé simple_ or the "pluck" of
Chambonnières, Couperin, and Le Bègue, who had borrowed it from
lute-players[191]--is generally diatonic, although with this
exception: if the note which it affects be marked with an accidental
in the same measure, the accidental must be observed in executing the
mordent.
[Footnote 191: See A. Méreaux: _Les Clavecinistes de 1637 à 1790.
Tableau synoptique et comparatif de tous les agréments avec leur
signes et leur effet_. Heugel, Paris.]
These ornaments should be played "with regard for their value and
upon the beat";[192] however, an excessive rigor in this respect
should not be affected; Bach did not exact such precision, and did
not attach to these figures such great importance that he did not
feel at liberty to substitute for them, in copies of these same
pieces made by himself, other and practically equivalent ones.
Certain of them are, moreover, quite rare; for example, the _accent_.
We find it employed, at least in the organ compositions, only in
an arrangement of the chorale _Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr'_
(_Gloria in excelsis_). No piece could be more elaborated than this
one; and in it are introduced a majority of the signs employed by
Bach; we borrow from Mr. E. Dannreuther's interesting work, "Musical
Ornamentation,"[193] the transcription of the first six measures
of this chorale, fully written out. Such an example will be more
instructive than all we could say upon this subject, if the reader
will take pains to compare this interpretation with the musical text
as found in the well-known editions:[194]
[Music]
[Footnote 192: L. Diémer: _Les Clavecinistes français du XVIIIe
siècle_ (Durand and Schönewerk).]
[Footnote 193: This work contains, with numerous examples, a study of
ornamentation, from G. Diruta to J.S. Bach in the first part, from
Ph. E. Bach to our own period in the second. (London: Novello, Ewer &
Co.)]
[Footnote 194: P. vi, 9. B.-G.]
This is evidently a species of appoggiatura, as also in the chorale
_Vater unser im Himmelreich_ (_Clavierübung_, Part III). But in this
case, Bach uses a special notation:
[Music]
In his Method for clavecin Ph. E. Bach, in speaking of a similar
figure, thus explains it: "The first note of this figure must not
be made too short, if the tempo be slow or moderate; for the second
would then be held too long. It should be gently dwelt upon, not
suddenly hammered."
"Play _flautato_," says W. Rust[195] upon the subject of such a fugue
in an orchestral part; one should thus anticipate the beat with the
flutist's stroke of the tongue, according to Quantz (_Essai d'une
méthode pour apprendre à jouer de la Flûte traversière_. Berlin,
1752); that is to say, that the first of the two notes should be
considered as written thus:
[Music]
[Footnote 195: B.-G. xiii, p. xvi. We again encounter this grouping
in the flute part of the _et in unum Deum_ of the _B_ minor Mass.]
In a solfeggio lesson by J.G. Walther,[196] written in 1708, this
indication, called _punctus serpens_, signifies that the notes
are to be slurred; that is, bound together, two by two. This
is, undoubtedly, the most correct interpretation, which fairly
corresponds to what S. Scheidt calls "_imitatio violistica_."
[Footnote 196: The autograph was contained in the collection of Ph.
Spitta.]
Analogous notations of Frescobaldi[197] and Muffat[198] indicate a
similar manner of execution.
[Footnote 197: _Toccata_ II (_libro_ i).]
[Footnote 198: _Toccata 6a_ (adagio), and _Toccata 3a_ of the
_Apparatus musico-organisticus_.]
Appendix
To facilitate the perusal of our work, we will close with a short
sketch of J.S. Bach's life.
Bach was born March 21, 1685, at Eisenach. His father, Ambrosius
Bach, was a musician of the town; his uncle, Johann Christoph Bach,
an organist.[199]
[Footnote 199: Veit Bach was born in Gotha during the second half of
the sixteenth century; he is considered the progenitor of the Bach
family. He was the first representative of the race of musicians
who furnished "cantors" and organists to the greater number of the
central German cities. At Erfurt, for instance, the direction of the
"council music" was in their hands from 1625 until 1735, and even
after their disappearance the town musicians were still referred to
as "the Bachs."]
When Bach was nine years of age his mother died; the next year
followed the decease of his father, and the boy was taken in by his
elder brother, organist at Ohrdruf. Here he attended the Lyceum,
where the teaching of music held an important place; the chorus,
formed of the pupils, was renowned. Young Sebastian, gifted with a
good soprano voice, was a member of this chorus; and in addition
studied the clavecin under the direction of his brother, a pupil of
Pachelbel. With such zeal did he devote himself to these studies,
that he copied by moonlight a volume of pieces which he had been
forbidden to play, his brother wishing to reserve for himself the
right to conquer their difficulties.