classical

The jeu de tierce is a combination of stops indicated in French organ music of the 17th and 18th centuries. It consists of the bourdon, flûte, nazard, quarte, tierce, and sometimes the larigot stops. This means that for any given note played on the keyboard, the organ sounds the following pitches: the note itself, the octave, the 12th, the 15th, the 17th, and sometimes the 19th. These notes reinforce the harmonic series, creating a solo combination usually played against an accompaniment of softer stops.

A descending fifths sequence is a common compositional technique used by composers from the eighteenth century to expand a simple melodic or harmonic idea. A typical descending fifths sequence is executed when a short melodic phrase is played over a note (or a collection of notes with emphasis on one in particular) in the bass. The next phrase will virtually be an exact copy of the previous phrase and accompanying bassline, except that it will have been transposed an interval of a diatonic fifth downward or a diatonic fourth upward (either direction will result in the same pitches). In other words, the second phrase will begin at the pitches that would result from moving the first phrase down four notes (or up three notes) within the diatonic scale that the music is in. This process often is repeated multiple times in a single section of the music.

In terms of texture, eighteenth century music often will often incorporate a single melodic line that is accompanied by a more rhythmically simple harmony. This could be described as melody-dominated homophony. With this effect, the listener is drawn solely to the melodic line, with accompaniment only serving to enhance and support the melody. In this example, taken from the beginning of the third movement, “Vivace,” of Johan Helmich Roman’s Symphony No. 3 in B-flat Major,  the violin I section carries the active melody, while the rest of the strings and the harpsichord play very simple lines that are often in rhythmic unison with each other and only outline the harmony of the music. This texture helps bring attention to the melody of the violin I section while while emphasizing the harmony of the piece.

Bowed vibrato is a performance technique used by stringed instruments often in eighteenth century or earlier Baroque music. Its sound is achieved when the musician uses their bow to create an undulating and pulsating movement all while moving the bow in a single direction. Often each “pulse” is in tempo and usually would last as long as a small subdivision of the beat, such as a sixteenth note. Bowed vibrato is a means of ornamenting a long note that would otherwise likely sound stagnant to the listener. In this recording, taken from the second movement, “Lento,” of Johan Helmich Roman’s Symphony No. 3 in B-flat Major, bowed vibrato is played over long notes and pulsates at the time value of sixteenth notes in the tempo of the music. This recording was taken from a clip from a YouTube recording of the Drottningholms Barockensemble performing this piece.

Sound recording of a student playing an excerpt from the Mozart 3 Concerto in Eb on the French horn. The excerpt is taken from measures 28 through 32 of the Concerto. The song is being played on a Conn 8D East Lake with a Laskey 275G mouthpiece. The recording was made on a Zoom H1 recorder.

An overture is an instrumental work played before the beginning of a dramatic work. It was used to prepare the audience for the rest of the show and often used themes from later in the piece. An Italian Overture is an introduction to an opera or vocal work and has three simple sections of fast-slow-fast. Popular overtures in the eighteenth century would often be played outside of their operatic contexts in public concerts. This recording is from the beginning of a popular overture in the eighteenth from Paisiello’s overture to Il barbiere di Siviglia. The example uses flutes, oboes, bassoons, violins, viola, cello, and double bass.

Fortepiano is a dynamic marking used to denote an accent or stress in the music by suddenly being loud (forte) and then immediately soft (piano). The marking is written as “fp” directly underneath the note where it occurs. This marking appeared frequently in the eighteenth century as a more flexible system of dynamics was forming. In this example from Paisiello’s overture to Il barbiere di Siviglia, the fortepiano is heard every few seconds from the whole orchestra. This concept should not to be confused with the fortepiano, a keyboard instrument from the eighteenth century.

Ostinato is a short phrase, chord or melody that repeats continuously through a section or whole piece of music. It is generally a simple and easy to remember pattern. The name comes from the Italian word for “obstinate” because of its repetitious nature. It has been a popular musical element for centuries. In the example from Paisiello’s overture to Il barbiere di Siviglia, listen to the lower sounding string instruments for two different ostinato patterns. The first pattern is a single repeating note and the second is a melodic pattern.

This example shows the drastic dynamic changes between two utterances of the same thematic motive using an excerpt from Count Ferdinand Waldstein’s Sinfonie in D, movement one. The first iteration of the theme is performed forte, or loud. The same theme is repeated and then performed piano, or soft, creating a type of “echo effect.” This was a popular eighteenth century technique as it demonstrated the musical organization and precision of the ensemble and emphasized certain musical phrases for the listeners.

A trill is an ornament performed by moving rapidly between the main note and the note above it. It is normally notated in music by placing a “tr” in superscript above the note that is trilled. In the example from the first movement of Count Ferdinand Waldstein’s Sinfonie in D, the trill is played by the oboe and first violin parts as an ending to the reprise to the second theme. Trills were often used to exaggerate the resolution of a phrase in the eighteenth century.