The Short

596 PARALIPOMENA
Ex. 16.10. Weber, Der Freischütz, no. 13, autograph
A good example of fermata embellishment supplied by the composer occurs in the autograph of Weber's Der
Freischütz, in the insertion aria no. 13, where Weber wrote out an embellishment, apparently as an afterthought (Ex.
16.10.)A little later in the nineteenth century Pierre Baillot gave the following description, which seems to be based
fairly closely on that of the Principes élémentaires de musique. He categorized fermatas as:
1. a point de repos ‘on which one adds nothing’;
2. a point de repos (point d'orgue) ‘after which one may make a little embellishment between the point d'orgue or point de
repos and the note that follows’;
3. a point d'arrÊt or silence ‘after 1which [sic] it is necessary to quit the note’.
Diverging from the Principes, however, he further observed:
One cannot recommend too much to remain on these points d'arrÊt or silences all the time that is necessary for their
effect. In order that the silence contrasts with the motion that precedes it, a certain length is required for it to be felt;
reason will have it so, but sentiment does more; for it knows at the appropriate moment how to make eloquence
felt: ‘the genius of the musician subjects the entire universe to his art, it paints all pictures in sound and makes
silence itself speak.’ ( J. J. Rousseau) 1139
Baillot initially illustrated what he meant by his second type of fermata with an example from Haydn's String Quartet
op. 9 no. 2 (Ex. 16.11(a),) where he
1139 L 'Art du violon, 165.