Exploring the interpretation techniques in Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 Prelude: A theoretical and practical approach to baroque performance practice
Abstract
This study investigates the essential strategies for interpreting Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 Prelude, with a specific emphasis on historically informed performance practices (HIP). The focus of this study is the intricate implementation of Baroque performance methods, including slurs, detached notes, double stops, cross-string techniques, and ornamentation. These skills are crucial for providing a faithful interpretation of Bach's music. The significance of this research is to connect historical performance techniques with present interpretative approaches, guaranteeing that contemporary performers may give performances that are both historically precise and emotionally captivating. The research methodology employed in this study involves an extensive examination of relevant literature, specifically focusing on the contributions of prominent academics such as Frederick Neumann, David Schulenberg, and Jean Claude Veilhan. These scholars have offered valuable insights into the fundamental aspects of Baroque performance practices. Furthermore, this analysis examines the incorporation of historical knowledge with contemporary performance practices by studying the practical insights of esteemed cellists such as Anner Bylsma and Pieter Wispelwey. This dual approach enables a comprehensive comprehension of both the theoretical foundations and actual implementations of the performance strategies in question. This research emphasizes the crucial function of slurs in producing smooth and connected phrasing, the significance of detached notes for precise rhythm, the utilization of double stops and cross-string techniques to enhance harmonic richness and technical complexity, and the importance of ornamentation in deepening the expressive quality of the Prelude. This research offers a complete framework for interpreting Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 Prelude by combining theoretical analysis with practical performance suggestions. This technique not only respects the artistic authenticity of Baroque music but also guarantees that Bach's enduring masterpiece remains relevant to contemporary audiences, thus contributing to the continuous development of classical music performance.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Agawu, K. (1992). Theory and practice in the analysis of the nineteenth-century'lied'. Music analysis, 11(1), 3-36.
Akbel, B. A. (2018). Students' and Instructors' Opinions on the Implementation of Flipped Learning Model for Cello Education in Turkish Music. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 6(8), 1-11.
Ambrose, J. (1980). The Bach Flute Sonatas: Recent Research and a Performer's Observations. Bach, 32-45.
Amirinazari, P. (2020). Harmony for Violinists: Building Skills in Listening and Harmonic Awareness through Performance. The University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Apel, W., & Daniel, R. T. (1960). The Harvard brief dictionary of music. Harvard University Press.
Babitz, S. (1952). A problem of rhythm in Baroque music. The Musical Quarterly, 38(4), 533-565.
Badura-Skoda, E. (2004). Aspects of Performance Practice. In Eighteenth-century keyboard music (pp. 42-74). Routledge.
Boss, J. (1994). Schoenberg on Ornamentation and Structural Levels. Journal of Music Theory, 38(2), 187-216.
Buelow, G. J. (1993). Music and society in the late baroque era. In The Late Baroque Era: From the 1680s to 1740 (pp. 1-38). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Bungert, J. (2015). Bach and the Patterns of Transformation. Music Theory Spectrum, 37(1), 98-119.
Butt, J. (1990). Bach interpretation: articulation marks in primary sources of JS Bach. Cambridge University Press.
Butt, J. (1991). Improvised Vocal Ornamentation and German Baroque Compositional Theory—An Approach to ‘Historical’Performance Practice. Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 116(1), 41-62.
Cabrini, M. (2009). Breaking Form through Sound: Instrumental Aesthetics, Tempête, and Temporality in the French Baroque Cantata. Journal of Musicology, 26(3), 327-378.
Clarke, E. F. (1987). Levels of structure in the organization of musical time. Contemporary music review, 2(1), 211-238.
Cypess, R. (2022). Arrangement Practices in the Bach Tradition, Then and Now: Historical Precedent for Modern Practice. In Topics in Musical Interpretation (pp. 113-138). Routledge.
Dereclenne, E. (2021). Musical Imagination Situated: Baroque Bowing through the Lens of 5E Approaches. Humanities Center Booklet, (9), 147-173.
Dreyfus, L. (2004). Bach and the Patterns of Invention. Harvard University Press.
Fabian, D. (2017). Bach performance practice, 1945-1975: A comprehensive review of sound recordings and literature. Routledge.
Fabian, D., Schubert, E., & Pulley, R. (2010). A Baroque Träumerei: the performance and perception of two violin renditions. Musicology Australia, 32(1), 27-44.
Gabrielsson, A. (1999). The performance of music. In The psychology of music (pp. 501-602). Academic Press.
Gordon-Seifert, C. (2009). The power of love. Early Music, 37(4), 705-706.
Guettler, K. (2010). Bows, strings, and bowing. The science of string instruments, 279-299.
Hampson, C. M. (2007). Pausing for reflection: Re-evaluating Bach's use of the fermata. University of Glasgow (United Kingdom).
Inskip, C., MacFarlane, A., & Rafferty, P. (2008). Meaning, communication, music: towards a revised communication model. Journal of Documentation, 64(5), 687-706.
Krumhansl, C. L., & Kessler, E. J. (1982). Tracing the dynamic changes in perceived tonal organization in a spatial representation of musical keys. Psychological review, 89(4), 334.
Labuta, J. A., & Matthews, W. K. (2023). Expressive Conducting and the Left Hand. In Basic Conducting Techniques (pp. 49-57). Routledge.
Lawson, C., & Stowell, R. (1999). The historical performance of music: an introduction. Cambridge University Press.
Nettl, P. (1961). MASTERS OF THE BAROQUE. Music Journal, 19(8), 36.
Neumann, F. (1965). A New Look at Bach's Ornamentation: I. Music & Letters, 46(1), 4-15.
Neumann, F. (1967). The use of baroque treatises on musical performance. Music & Letters, 315-324.
Neumann, F. (1983). Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque music: With special emphasis on JS Bach. Princeton University Press.
Quinto, L., Thompson, W. F., & Taylor, A. (2014). The contributions of compositional structure and performance expression to the communication of emotion in music. Psychology of Music, 42(4), 503-524.
Rahman, N. A. S. A., Mohammed, S. F. S., & Fernandez, M. F. (2023). Dance Workshops as a tool for performing the Allemande in a Baroque Dance Suite. Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal, 8(26), 139-144.
Ravasio, M. (2019). Historically Uninformed Views of Historically Informed Performance: Ravasio Historically Uninformed Views. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 77(2), 193-205.
Rilling, H. (1985). Bach's Significance. The Choral Journal, 25(10), 7-14.
Rose, S. (2016). Performance Practices. In The Ashgate Research Companion to Henry Purcell (pp. 133-182). Routledge.
Sagall, S., & Sagall, S. (2021). The Late Baroque Style. MUSIC and CAPITALISM: Melody, Harmony and Rhythm in the Modern World, 19-69.
Schulenberg, D. (1995). " Musical Allegory" Reconsidered: Representation and Imagination in the Baroque. The Journal of Musicology, 13(2), 203-239.
Schulenberg, D. (2012). " Baroque Music, The Library of Essays on Music Performance Practice" edited by Peter Walls and Mary Cyr. Performance Practice Review, 17(1), 3.
Shanks, J. (2020). Musical performance informed by history and vice versa: how philosophy could help music and history learn from each other. Rethinking History, 24(2), 145-168.
Strange, P., & Strange, A. (2003). The contemporary violin: extended performance techniques (Vol. 7). Scarecrow Press.
Sung, A., & Fabian, D. (2011). Variety in Performance: A comparative Analysis of Recorded Performances of Bach's Sixth Suite for Solo Cello from 1961 to 1998. Empirical Musicology Review, 6(1).
Taryadi, T., & Latif, B. (2022). Interpretasi Musik Barok Pada Lagu The Trumpet Shall Shound Karya Handel. Resital: Jurnal Seni Pertunjukan, 23(1), 62-73.
Vanscheeuwijck, M. (2010). Recent re-evaluations of the Baroque cello and what they might mean for performing the music of JS Bach. Early Music, 38(2), 181-192.
Vaquero, C. (2015). A quantitative study of seven historically informed performances of Bach’s bwv1007 Prelude. Early Music, 43(4), 611-622.
Veilhan, J. C (1979). The Rules of Musical Interpretation in the Baroque Era (17th-18th centuries), common to all instruments. France: Alphonse Leduc.
Webster, J. (2004). The eighteenth century as a music-historical period?. Eighteenth-Century Music, 1(1), 47-60.
Weeks, P. A. (1990). Musical time as a practical accomplishment: A change in tempo. Human Studies, 323-359.
Zimmermann, M. (2021). The Ornamentation of Baroque Music: A Guide for Independent Embellishing. BoD–Books on Demand.
Zohn, S. (2009). The Baroque Concerto in Theory and Practice. Journal of Musicology, 26(4), 566-594.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17509/interlude.v3i2.71882
Copyright (c) 2024 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.