Meter and Tempo Indications in Music of the Early Baroque

Author(s): Walter P. Winzenburger

Source: Bach, Vol. 3, No. 1 (JANUARY, 1972), pp. 13-21
Published by: Riemenschneider Bach Institute
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41639839 .
Accessed: 21/06/2014 00:15

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Riemenschneider Bach Institute is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Bach.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:15:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Meter and
Tempo Indications
in Music of the Early Baroque
By Walter P. Winzenburger
Baldwin-Wallace College
Introduction
we areexperiencing renewedinterest in themusicof theearly
TODAY Baroque,and a greatnumberof performance editions,particularly
of sacredvocal music,are being introduced.These are indeedwelcome
additionsto our performance repertoire,but it is unfortunate thatmany
givevague,sometimes misleading guidelinesfortheirinterpretation. All
too frequentlytheeditorignoresthequestionof tempo,leavingeach per-
former to findhis own solutionby trialand error.The problemis often
compounded whenthenotevaluesof theoriginalscorehavebeenchanged
in the transcription,
therebydistorting proportional which
relationships
may have been presentin theoriginal.
Much has been writtenconcerning the rulesof mensuration in the
musicof thefifteenth and sixteenth centuries,and its basic are
principles
actuallywelldefined. The beginning of theseventeenth century,however,
brought manychangesin musicalstyle.New rulesof notationwereslow
in beingformulated, whileolderruleswerestillbeingtaught - but not
-
observed bycomposers.It is theintentof thisarticleto giveperformers
andeditorsofperformance editionstheopportunity to drawtheirowncon-
clusionsfromcluesgivenby composersand writersof thattime,and to
compareinterpretations of thesecluesin recentwritings.

Time Values of the TACTUS

Duringtheseventeenth century theproportional signature beganto
losemeaningas an indicator
oftempo.Gradually thepracticeof indicating
tempoby meansof editorialadjectives( Adagio, Presto , etc.) developed,
and theproportional remained
signature merely as an indication of meter.
in musicalpractice,
Becauseof thistransition it is difficultto establishthe
timevaluesof thetactuswitha reasonabledegreeof accuracy.
valorofthetactuswas fixedmostdefinitely
The integer byFranchino
Gaforiand MarinMersenne, whentheyequatedtheup-and-down motion
of thehandwiththenormalpulseof a humanbeing. This definition was
echoedby JohannJoachimQuantzmorethantwo hundredyearslater.
MichaelPraetoriusalso mentions
thequietup-and-down movement of the
hand. Englishwriterslike Christopher Simpson,ThomasMorley,and
HenryPurcellsuggesta slowand distinctcountingof numbers, e.g.,one-
wouldequal one completetactus.
two-three-four

13

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:15:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Whenit comesto converting thisconceptintoa modernmetronomic
equivalent, seemto disagree.ArnoldScheringand Gotthold
musicologists
Frotscherholdto Quantz'sobservation
thatthepulseof "a quietlybreath-
ingman"beatsat therateof approximately80 to theminute.Whenthey
speakof thetactusas MM. 80, one mustassumethattheymeanone beat,
nottwo,as thetermtactusimplies.

GustaveReesefeelsthatMM. 60-80wouldbe a moreaccurate descrip-

tion.WillieApel setsthespeedof thetactusat MM. 50-60. RobertDon-
ingtonstrikesa mediumby suggesting thatQuantz'sstatement shouldbe
interpretedas MM. 75 to themotor unit,but he goes on to saythatit is
somewhat flexible.Recentwriterson thissubjectfeelthat,particularly
in
theseventeenth century,notone buttwo or threebasicspeedsof thetactus
werepracticed.CurtSachsmakesthepointthatin thetransition through
thecenturies fromlongerto shorter notevaluesas motorunits,thetactus
musthavebeensloweddownas shorter notevalueswerebeingintroduced,
untilsub-divisiónwasnecessaryandthenextsmallerunitbecamethetactus.
At thebeginning of theBaroque,thetransition was from"white"to
"black"notation,
thatis, thesemi-minim replacedthe minimas thebasis
forthemotorunit. IrmgardKerrman-Bengen givescredenceto thesug-
gestionof WalterGersrenberg thatin ihe seventeenth
centurythreebasic
tempiof themotorunitwerein practice, depending on thetypeof music:
Motet- MM. 72,Madrigal- MM. 60-54,Canzonet- MM. 120.

The conceptof a flexibletactusis linkedwiththeinterpretationof

in relarion
to C. Herrmann-Bengen feelsthattheclue lies in thepreface
to thePuericiniurn
( 1621) byMichaelPraetorius:
Denn dieseSignabedeutenebenso vielan als wennichdie
Italienischen
Wörtergebraucht hätte:
C Idest,lento,tarde:langsam
(f Idest,presto,velociter:geschwind
In hisSyntagma musicumIII , Praetorius
speaksof a tactustardiorC,
and a tactuscelerior<£.Accordingto Livingstone, thecontextdetermines
themeaningof <£. When C and (£appearin thesamecomposition, <{]is
twiceas fastas C. At the outsetof a composition, indicatesa tactus
celerior.He also pointsout that(f soon was preferred to C as thebasic
indicationof thetactus.CurtSachsnotesthatat the end of thecentury
Purcelldeclaredthateverytactusconsistedof a semi-breve and thatthe
threemostcommonsignatures, whichwereonceproportional, indicatedif-
ferenttempi:C is "a veryslowmovement," (f "a littlefaster,"
and (J)"a
briskandairytime."

14

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:15:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 The issueis further
obscuredby the inconsistentapplicationof the
termstactusmaiorand tactusminorby seventeenth-century writers.Carl
Dahlhausconcludesthatin practicethreeinterpretations
of (f werein use:
1. C is tactusalia semibrevis.
(Jis tactusalia brevis.
2. <t is tactusalia semibrevis,
but slightly
faster.
3. C impliestactusmaior.
, thatis,"alia minimal*
(f impliestactusminor
(J)wouldbe slowerthanC.
Therefore,
In regardto number2, Dahlhaussuggeststhepossibility of (J]and C
standing in theproportion 3:2. Herrmann-Bengen this
supports viewpoint
withtheobservation thathemiolaeffects wereverymuchin thetradition
of thetimesand thattherefore a 3:2 temporelationship wouldbe almost
instinctive.By settingthetactusaequalisceleriorat MM. 72, ErnestLiv-
ingstonedoes notsubscribe to the idea of thesesquiáltera
relationship to
thetactusaequalistardior( MM. 60 ) . FritzRothschild maintainsthatthe
twobasicrhythmic movements in musicof the"oldtradition"areMM. 40-
60 andMM. 80-120,andthatbothmaybe represented bythesignature "C.M
The performer thendecidesfromthenotepicturewhichis theproperone.
If theintentions of thecomposerare contrary to thenotepictureof the
opening bars,he adds editorial indicationslike Adagio,Presto,etc. Upon
thispremiseRothschild has deviseda chartforthe interpretation of var-
iouscombinations ofproportional and
signatures tempomarkings.Rhyth-
micvaluesof(£andtriple-meter he derivesproportionately
signatures from
one of thetwobasic"movements."

Tempo Indications
Beforeproceeding to thetempoindications, a fewwordsmustbe said
concerning meters
triple in theseventeenth century.Sachspointsout that
theproportions as practicedin thepreviouscentury wereno longerob-
served.The sign (J)3,whichwas now called tripla,actuallyrepresented
sesquiáltera.Sachsmightbe construed as agreeingwithDahlhaus,that
consequently only one tactus was
inaequalis in use,thesesquiáltera.This
resultedfromthefactthattheproportional signature(that is, thelower
number)indicated thenotevalueof thetactus.Livingstone maintains that
thereis a difference betweentriplaand sesquiálterain thatthe latteris
relatedto thetactustardiorand theformer relatedto thetactuscelerior.
He, therefore,suggestsMM. 90 forthesesquilteraand MM. 108 forthe
.
tripla

15

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:15:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 The present-day then,has a hostof suggestions
interpreter, at his
disposal. Seventeenth-century sourcesseem to pointmostlyto MM. 60
(the pulse) as the motorunit. Praetorius, however,seems to have a
secondsuggestion whenhe calls for 160 temporato be performed in a
quarterof an hour.Becausete7npus hererefersto theearlierusageof the
term,thedivisionof thebrevis,themotorunitwouldamountto MM. 85.
Since 60, as a numberdivisiblebothby 2 and 3, represents a workable
figure,it is used in the following with
table, theunderstanding thatupon
occasion,a slightly fastertempomaybe justified.In regardto thetactus
celerior,both Livingstone's indication(MM. 72) and the proportional
of
suggestion Herrmann-Bengen (MM. 90) are represented.

TempoandNote Valuesin Use in the

FirstDecade of the
Seventeenth
Century
Note Value Metronomic
Signs Name oftheBasic Suggestion
Pulse
C Tempus(tardior) ^ 60

Tempus(celerior) 72 (90)
^ ^

Tripla 108 (135)

3, $3, C? ^

3. *3, *£ Sesquiáltera ^ 90
6 Sextupla(tardor) "^ 60
JL

J^ Sextupla(celerior) 72 (90)

Tempo Adjectives
The breakdown oftheproportional system beganearlyin thecentury.
Mostoftenquotedin thisconnection is GirolamoFrescobaldi'sprefaceto
di cembaloin whichhe callsforalmost
theToccatee partited'intavolatura
rhapsodicexecutionof his music. Still earlier,GioseffoZarlino,in his
armoniche
Istituzioni ysuggested thatthetextof themusicshoulddetermine
thetempo. In the same vein,Praetorius expressedthe opinionthatthe
minglingof tempiwithina piece was particularly lovely.Thus,tempo
adjectivescameintovogue.

16

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:15:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Composersseemingly had two reasonsforresorting
to tempoadjec-
tives.One was to clarify
theintentof theproportional theother
signature,
to indicatechangesin tempowhichmightbe awkwardin theproportional
system,or mightbe misinterpreted.
The meaningofeditorial tempomarkings ofearlyseventeenth-century
musicmustnotbe confused withthemeaningswhichtheyhaveacquired
in lateryears.Since the inventionof the metronome, tempoadjectives
havebeenscaledfromLentoand Adagioat theslowestextremeto Presto
and Vivaceat thefastest extreme.In thelateseventeenthand earlyeight-
eenthcenturies,a greatnumberof editorialphraseswerealreadyin use.
GottfriedWalther 's MusikalischesLexikon(1732) givesdetaileddefini-
tionsof a greatnumberof them.However,duringthe infancyof their
usage (theearlyseventeenth onlya fewwordswerewidelyused,
century),
andAdagioandPresto , forinstance,
did notapplytheextremeswhichthey
do today.
MichaelPraetoriusis perhapsthe firsttheoristto mentiontempo
indications.
He doesso in relationto thetactus.He suggeststhatAdagio
andPrestomightbe notatedin thepartsto avoidtheconfusion thatmight
resultfromfrequentchangesbetweenC and(£. Herrmann-Bengen includes
a page fromSebastiende Brossard s Dictionnairede musique (1703)
whichcontainsa tableof triple-meter each underscribed
signatures, by a
tempoadjective.The followingsamplëfromthischartshowsthatthe
tempoindicationis merelya verbalaffirmationof thenotepicture:

Tripola Tripola Tripola Tripola

maggiore minore piccola crometta

' w- Ì O- U- il.
Largo,ou Adagio,ou Affettuoso Presto,
Adagio,Ad. Lento,ou ou quelques ou Stretto
Grave foisAllegro
Thus,composers mayhaveusedthesetermsto remindtheperformer
notto slowdownin a "black"passageand notto speedup in a passage
withconsecutive long-note values.Thisviewpoint coincidesat leastin part
withRothschild's idea thatthe editorialadjectiveassistsin choosingthe
i and thatquiteoftenit is superfluous.
righttactus It shouldbe mentioned
thattempoindications whichgovernan entiresectionor movementare
infrequentin thisperiod.Sometimes theygovernas littleas twomeasures.
Different
composers pair different
adjectivesforindications
of this
it is Adagio- Allegro,withPraetorius
type.With Frescobaldi Lento-

17

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:15:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 are foundin themusicof HeinrichSchütz,who
Presto.Bothindications
-
alsousesTarde PrestoandTarde- Celeriter.
If theseindications are used in connection withmeterchanges,they
are proportional. The adjectivemerelyaffirms the proportional change.
If thereis no proportional signatureand thenotepicturedoesnotconfirm
a changein rhythmic thetempoadjectivesmaybe a substitute
activity, for
a proportional tempochange. Herrmann-Bengen again pointsto the
hemiolaas themostlogicalrelationship betweenAllegroand Adagio,or
betweenanyothertwowordsthatstandin oppositionin thismanner.This
explanation is especiallyplausiblewherea textand themelodicideaassoci-
atedwithit are transferred froman Adagioto an Allegro,or therevserse.
Here musical"commonsense"wouldexcludea 2: 1 relationship as being
tooextreme.Mosttypicalin thisconnection is thefinalAdagiophrasein
C (or <'.) in a sectionwhichis primarily in 3/2 or 3/1. A 2:3 relationship
wouldconstitute a logicalbuilt-in
retard.Particularlyin instrumentalmusic
(but in vocal music also), a finalAdagiomay be construedas an invita-
tionto improvise embellishments. Suchpracticewouldresult, of course,in
stillfurther retardation.

The tempoadjective,then,mayperform
one of the following
func-
tions:
1. At theoutsetofa composition,it maydistinguish
betweena tactus
tardioror tactuscelerior.With a proportional
signature,it mayimplya
derivativeof one of thesetwobasictempl.

2. It mayconfirm thevisualimageof the rhythmic and at

activity
timeswarnagainstchange.
3. It mayimplya subdivision
of thetactus.
4. It mayimplya moderate
tempochangewitha 3:2 (or 2:3) rela-
tionshipas themaximum.

PerformanceGuidelines
The diversity of opinionspresented in thisarticlewouldseemto in-
vitetheperformer or editorto followhis own intuition.One shouldbe
reminded, however, thatchurchmusichas in generalheld to established
stylesand academicprinciples.While in the secularmusicof the seven-
teenthcentury, in operaand continuosong,theconceptofinte-
particularly
gervalormaypossibly be discountedcompletely, it wouldnotbe justifiable
to discountit in the churchmusic,especiallyvocal music. Even though
alternate
interpretationsare possible,thefieldis not"wideopen."

18

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:15:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 In recentyearsscholarshavesoughtto makea clearerdistinction
be-
tweentheproportional practicesof theseventeenth
centuryand thepre-
viouscentury.For thisreason,newerpublicationswill oftenproveto be
of greaterassistancethanthe older,sometimesbetterknown,reference
works.
Fromthevariouspointsof viewstudiedand theauthors own exam-
inationof seventeenth-centurymusic,thewriterwouldofferthefollowing
suggestions as guidelines:shouldmorethanone interpretation of thepro-
portionalsignature be possible,theanswermaylie in thetempoadjective
if thereis one. If none is present,the notepictureand the textare the
decidingfactors.Todaya different vocabularyof Italianexpressessomeof
the ideas inherent in the seventeenth-century
markings, and it wouldbe
wiseformoderneditorsto "translate" theseterms.For instance, Adagio-
-
Presto AdagiomaymeanAdagio- più mosso- a tempo.The modern
performer associateswordslikeAllegro,Lento, Vivace, etc.,witha double
bar. This is notthecase in earlyBaroquemusic.Therefore, termssuchas
theonessuggested abovemayresultin a betterreading.
FranzTunder'stempoindication in Ach HerrlassdeineliebenEnge-
lein1mightwellserveas an example.The Adagioat thebeginning of this
workindicatesthatthe basicpulse is the semi-minima, not the minima.
Thereareno further tempoindicationsuntiltheentrance of thevoiceafter
thesecondsinfonia.The notepictureof thesecondsinfoniasuggests that
thebasicpulseis theminima(half-note = 60). Sincethissectionis pre-
cededby a doublebar,theAdagioof thefirstsinfoniano longerapplies.
At theoutsetof VerseII, therhythmic activityincreasesand the seven-
choir
teenth-century master mightwell have sloweddownthetactusat this
point unlesshe was toldotherwise.Tunder wroteAllegro,indicating that
thissectionshouldbe fast,butnotnecessarily thanthepreceding
faster one.
In otherwords,thistempoadjectivemaybe interpreted as verification
of
thenotepicture.The moderneditor,therefore, maytakethe libertyof
placingtheAllegroat theoutsetof thesinfonia, omittingtheindication at
theentrance of thesopranovoice.
The Allegroat the 3/1 sectionsubstantiatesthe increasein tempo
whichtheproportional changesuggests.If thepreceding tempowas half-
note= 60 ( Allegro == 120), the pulse of the semibrevis
, quarter-note
wouldnowequalMM. 90. If one subscribes to thetheory that3/1 should
be derivedfromthetactuscelerior,
one can deducefromthetableon page
fivethatwhole-note = 108. In a moderntranscription, thissectionmay
be notatedin 3/4 meter,
quarter-note= 90-108.
Theword"Adagio"appearsagainabovemeasure15,page 104 ( Denk-

19

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:15:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
maletdeutscher Tonkunst, III). A counteracting Allegrois seenabovethe
thirdbeatof measure4, page 105. This indication occursin themiddleof
a cadenceprogression in theinstrumental accompaniment and in themid-
dleofa sentence ofthetext.One cannot,therefore, lookuponthesetempo
adjectivesas demarcations of contrasting sections.In thetransposed repe-
titionof thissegment, theseindications do notappear. Theywereeither
forgotten or considered unnecessary. At theAdagioone can observea de-
creasein rhythmic activity and at the Allegroa returnto fastermotion.
Thus,theintentof thenotepictureis againverified.However,fromthe
standpoint of textsetting,a slightchangein tempomay be intended:
Adagio - "Lord JesusChrist,hearme"- Allegro- "I will praisethee
evermore."In thatcase, the present-day performer may respondmore
accurately to meno mosso and a tempo.
Wheneverthequestionof tempoarises,authorsof theBaroqueper-
iod leavethereaderwiththeimpression thatnotevaluesare governedby
basictempiand thenmodifiedby tempoadjectives.The clearesttempo
wereperhapsthekindthatreferred
indications to standarddancerhythms
liketempodi boreaor tempodi minuetto as mentioned by Matthesonin
Der vollkommene Capellmeister? As lateas 1779 Kirnberger in hisKunst
desreinenSatzesadmonishes hisreaders thatmeterandtempoarenotsepa-
butthatthesamemusicwrittenin different
rateabstractions, meterswill
be interpreted
differently.3The treatment of note valuesas puremathe-
maticalabstractions a "modernnotion"whichhad to waituntil
is strictly
1812- theyearoftheinvention of themetronome.

FOOTNOTES
1 Denkmälerdeutscher Vol. III. Newedition
Tonkunst, byH. J. Moser,Wies-
1957.
baden,
2 SeeTranslations
inBACH,Vol.II,No. 3.
3 SeeTranslations
inBACH,Vol.II, No. 1.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES
Apel,Willi.TheNotationofPolyphonicMusic,
900-1600,
Cambridge, Mass.,1942.
p. 146.
Dahlhaus,Carl."ZurEntstehungdesmodernen im 17. Jahrhundert"
Taktsystems
Archiv XVII 1961,pp.223-240.
fürMusikwissenschaft,
Donington,Robert.TheInterpretation
ofEarly Music,
London,1963,pp.164,345.
Gotthold.
Frotscher, alterMusik,
Aufführungspraxis 1963,p. 45.
Locarno,
Herrmann-Bengen,I. Tempohezeichnungen,
UrsprungundWandel im 17.und18.
Jahrhundert, 1959,pp.27-57.
Tutzing,
Ernest:TheTheory
Livingstone, andPracticeofProtestant
SchoolMusicin Ger-
manyas SeenThrough ofAbraham
theCollection c. 1600. Thesis
Ursinus,
(Ph.D.), The University Eastman
of Rochester, Schoolof Music,Dept.of
1962,pp.251-254.
Musicology,

20

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:15:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Michael.Syntagma
Praetorius, Musicum 1619,facsimile
III. Wolfenbüttel, reprint,
ed.W. Gurlitt, 1958,p. 50.
Kassel-Basel,
Gustave.
Reese, MusicintheRenaissance, NewYork,1954,pp.178-183.
The
Fritz.
Rothschild, Lost
Tradition
in Music andTempo,
: Rhythm London,
1953,
p. 91.
Curt.Rhythm
Sachs, andTempo,a Study in MusicHistory,
NewYork,1953,pp.
202,271.
Arnold.
Schering, alterMusik,
Aufführungspraxis 1931,p. 27.
Leipzig,

21

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:15:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions