Fecha de vencimiento y amortización de los valores

In the Classical style, the hyper-fast stratum gradually gained an independent status and became the norm, filling out entire sections, substituting the Baroque “normally fast” stratum. This process continued the tendency of developing purely instrumen- tal idioms, already begun in the Baroque. Hyper-fast passages, although they are not so rare in Bach, still constitute a “special event” in his music, with some osten- tatious effect. But by the following generation a remarkable stylistic change took place, namely that the hyper-fast stratum now became gradually a routine in fast pieces, inheriting the place of the „normally‟ fast stratum in the older style. In other words, the Classical fast stratum becomes increasingly similar in character to the

113 The transition in the Harpsichord part from triplets into “quadruplets”is an isolated case where a real 4:3 proportion is explicitly indicated by Bach.

114 The 32ds of the final cadenza (mm. 218–20) can be ignored here, as they do not bear a neces- sarily determined tempo relationship with the rest of the movement.

Baroque hyper-fast one. It might be more convenient to keep the denomination “fast” for both strata, namely the Baroque “fast” and Classical “new fast” stratum, as they are usually notated as 16ths in common

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allegro (or eighthnotes in

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). But the similarity is, in many respects, misleading. One should find other criteria than notational ones, in order to show that these (notationally synonymous) strata are no longer of the same rhythmic function and character. Perhaps the main difference is that in the Classical allegro more and more 16th-note-level accompaniment figures are used in the form of various standardized formulas, the best-known being the “Alberti bass”. Similar repetitive patterns were also used in the former generation, from Corelli to Bach. Let us just think of the WTC I preludes C major, c minor , C

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major, or Couperin‟s Baricades Mistérieuses (Livre II, 6/5). However, such patterns take the place of thematic or motivic function, being assigned to the upper voices, or even used as subjects, liable to imitation or Stimmtausch elaboration (Preludes C

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–WTC I; G–WTC II).115 Only rarely does Bach make use of repetitive broken

chords in the accompaniment of the bass group, as a figuration of the continuo, e.g., in the Violoncello and Fagotto parts of the chorus “Du wollest dem Feinde nicht geben”, BWV 71/6 [1708]). In all the above-mentioned examples, each pattern is a more or less unique invention for each piece, as far as a short musical figure can be. Example 22: BWV 71/6, figuration of the continuo, Violocello and Fagotto

Affettuoso e larghetto

But the standardized figurations of the post-Bach generation are of a different sort. These repetitive patterns have now lost their individuality; from now on they are almost permanently relegated to the accompaniment and, instead of being newly invented for each piece they have become prefabricated, ready-made formulas, rather belonging to public domain than to any one composer. Finally, all Alberti basses, from Alberti to Beethoven, are the same: repetitive, routine, simplified ver- sions of the old-time figuration, a kind of sonorous background (not in the Schen-

115 A rare instance, where an Alberti-bass-like figure serves as the main subject, is the short F major prelude BWV 927.

kerian sense of the word). The initiated listener is now expected to quasi-ignore them and a skilled performer is required to subdue them appropriately. The most common technical means to achieve this is to play them unobtrusively, softly (which in itself might have been sufficient ground to prefer the pianoforte to the harpsichord), or fast enough. This is not the only sign that repetitiousness – as a principle – has more and more permeated the lower durational levels. One feels it primarily in accompaniment figures, but perhaps not to a lesser degree in the inven- tion of „main‟ melodies and themes as well. One may find innumerable examples for this. In Mozart‟s C major Sonata K. 545 (1st movement, mm. 5–12; 18–21) we see that the second phrase of each theme is based on quasi-automatic sequential repetitions that would make Vivaldi blush. But these are based on sequences, which means that, harmonically at least, they keep on the move.

There are so many instances of static repetition becoming a policy – saying the same thing two or more times in a row. One might naïvely wonder whether the first four measures of Mozart‟s C major Sonata K. 279, for example, restating twice the same idea, could not be cut into two measures. All these repetitive and formulaic devices are by no means new: they are well known as early as Gabrieli or Swee- linck; but their frequency and importance, limited in the pre-Baroque era mainly to the genre of variation, has immeasurably increased. Perhaps the most distinct re- petitive device used in the Classical era, still rare in the Baroque, is the principle of reiteration – immediate and exact multiple repetition of a very small element.116 This is most obvious in final cadences: The harmonic progression S-D-T, combined with some rhythmic "breathing-point", is no longer considered as sufficiently em- phatic, and the V–I pattern, or even the tonic alone, has to be repeated again and again, long after the cadence and tonic chord has been reached (6 measures in Mo- zart‟s K. 331/1 and 331/3, up to the 40-measure long “final chord” closing Beetho- ven‟s Fifth Symphony). Of course, such devices have their own justifications, name- ly symmetry (in Mozart‟s K. 279/1) and emphasis (in the Finale of Beethoven‟s

Fifth); but they also diminish the specific weight and importance of every single

repeated element.

This stylistic metamorphosis should also leave its mark on performing conven- tions, and presumably also on tempo. This is corroborated first by Quantz‟s remark on “bygone days”, as well as in the second (1802) edition of Türk‟s Klavierschule:

116 There are admittedly some interestingly reiterative Baroque fugal themes, not lacking some repetitive playfulness, such as Buxtehude‟s F major Fugue (BuxWV 145), Bach‟s D major Fugue BWV 532/2, and Toccata BWV 912 (final Fugue), or Handel‟s “one-note” theme in Concerto grosso Op. 6/7.

Bey einem vor fünfzig und mehreren Jahren componirten Allegro wird gemeiniglich ein weit gemäßigteres Tempo vorausgesetzet, als bey neuern Tonstücken mit der nämlichen Überschrift.117

The tempo implications of the new simplified textures mainly concern the Alle-

gro and Presto, that is, the fast end of the tempo range. The phenomenon has been

aptly termed by Rosenblum as “the changing Allegro”.118 _{This is quite understanda-} ble, in terms of the new texture. One should remember, however, that Alberti-bass- like figures, although they are decidedly “allegro-friendly”, were used not only in fast pieces – as one may see in nearly every Mozart or Haydn slow variation or sonata movement. The general texture simplification in the post-Bach generation is therefore not the only explanation for the speeding up of the Allegro, although it must certainly have been one of its important catalysts.

In document GC FTGENCAT CAIXA SABADELL 2, FONDO DE TITULIZACIÓN DE ACTIVOS (página 52-60)