Abstracts - American Musicological Society

38 Friday afternoon
of an ornament) depends on the muslcal context in which
al. rule is applied. Furthermore, Rousseau,s grammar
of ornanentation turns out to have,,variable stiength,,
rules - - that is , some rules must be applied in ceriain
musical contexts, while the appiication of weaker rules
is optional. This means thaL a given melodic line nay
be ornanented in several differen-t ways.
The paper also evaluates Rousseaurs grammar to see
whether it can ornanent a rnelodic line in a
stylistically appropriate manner. Several pieces with
written - out ornamentat ion from the
late - seventeenth- century viol repertory lrere selected
and stripped of their ornaments. Rousseau, s rules were
then applied to these skeletal rnelodies to see whether
the original vers ion was generated. Rousseau's
grammar produced all the original ornaments, plus many
more, naking the resulting melody florid but in rnosr
cases stylistically acceptable.
VARIATION TECHNIQUES IN THE FIGURED.BASS TRADITION
AS PRESCRIBED BY FRIEDERICH ERHARD NIEDT
Philip Russom, yale University
Appearing as the second volume of his three_volune
Musikalische Handleitung, Friederich Erhard Niedt,s
Har.rdleitung zur Variation (170d) includes considerabfe
information on "how the bass and the figures over
nay
it
be varied, elegant inventions made, holl,
"rid
from a
simple figured bass, preludes, chaconnes, allemandes,
courantes, sarabandes, menuets, gigues and the like rnay
be constructed. " Virtually ignor-a Uy scholars
volume , this
merits attention for a number of reasons. It is
the most detailed discussion of variation technique
found in writings of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. The second edition (L72L) was edlted by
none other than Johann I,{attheson, who includes an
extensive commentary on Niedt's work in the form of
lengthy footnotes. Niedtrs variations concern not only
composition and accompaninent, but also improvisation
ac the keyboard. He reveals much about the art of
dirninution as he breaks the bass in the left hand and
creates arpeggios and passage work in the right.
Finally, Niedt's treatise illustrates, more clearly
than any other, that variations (especially when
externporized) are integral to the art of thoroughbass
realization.
This paper fa11s into three parts, The first part
summarizes and illustrates Niedt's variation methods.
The second part places Niedt' s work in an historical
context by cornparing the Handleitung zur Variation to
other music treatises. The third part
variation suites and partitas by Georg Bijhrn and """ifr"" J. S.
Bach to show how the variation techniques prescribed by
Niedt were used creatively by his contemporaries.