Importe total de los valores

In order to gain a perspective on Bach‟s general tempo policy as well as the correla- tion between tempo words, time signature and note values, I have compiled in the Appendix lists of all his tempo indications. According to Quantz, every separate piece or movement should – in principle – have at least one tempo word. The total of separate pieces (or movements, or independent sections in multipartite works) in the Bach corpus may be roughly as estimated as 3200. Anything beyond a rough estimate would be meaningless, as the authorship of many works of the BWV is not yet finally ascertained. Also the division into movements, sections etc. may be often ambiguous. This number includes over 2000 vocal pieces (300 of them with tempo indications) and ca. 1200 instrumental pieces (277 with tempo words). Tempo indi- cations do not always come as headings. Many movements without them have tem- po changes indicated later on. Taking the vocal pieces as the first example, about 15% have tempo words. In the instrumental music, there is considerably greater percentage of tempo words (about 23%). The great majority of them occurs in mul- ti-movement Italianate forms, such as concerto and sonata, where each movement (except for some opening allegros) is always headed with a tempo indication. Bach habitually dispenses with tempo words, except for the characteristic Italianate forms. Moreover, their use in large-scale works is occasional and unsystematic, even unpredictable, as we have seen in the autograph score and parts of the B minor Mass. Tempo indications in one work not only change, but may be missing alto- gether in another version. This does not necessarily imply that Bach later denied, or changed his former tempo conception. When Weinen Klagen (BWV 12) of 1714 was transformed into the Crucifixus of the B minor Mass, the Lente indication was omitted. Still, it is unthinkable that Bach would have this extremely affecting

lamento performed in some kind of a neutral tempo ordinario. The same holds for

the following Et resurrexit. As in most of his other works, he did not always take care to spell out the tempo, considering it as plainly evident from the text and char- acter of the music. Sometimes, a reverse process took place: when the Prelude of the E-major Violin Partita, BWV 1006 (1720 or earlier) was adapted in 1731 into the Sinfonia of the Ratswahlkantate BWV 29, Bach added a Presto heading, missing in the Violin version. But it would be musical blindness to deny the same (though

unwritten) tempo indication in the original version, and, as far as is technically feasible, also in the lute (or theorbo) version.260 Comparing pieces similar in charac- ter and spirit with and without tempo words precludes the idea that Bach intended pieces of intense affects or decided virtuosity to be performed in any neutral or objective tempo, equivalent of the integer valor. His frequent use of combined or „modified‟ tempo words (Adagissimo, Adagio ma non tanto, Un poco Allegro, Lar-

ghetto, Molto allegro, Allegro ma non presto, Vivace e Allegro) shows that he was

also sensitive to nuance. In this respect, his approach to matters of tempo shows a certain affinity with the theories of Kirnberger. But we cannot tell, either from Kirnberger‟s exposition of Tempo giusto concept or from Bach‟s practice, to what extent these tempo indications divulge new information, which is not already im- plied by the music, or can be read from the score. Often they simply reconfirm the tempo indicated by other factors: time signature and Notenbild, genre and text, as well as their combined effect, and most often they are missing altogether.

One should also beware of assigning all too precise values to different tempo words, such as Adagio, Lento, Largo on the one hand, and Vivace, Allegro, Presto on the other. An illuminating example is the (da capo) Tenor Aria BWV 21/5, ”Bäche von gesalznen Zähren“ (Example 50). Its structure conforms to a special variant of conventional da capo form, in that (a) it has a middle section of con- trasting melody, accompaniment and texture, with a tempo change from Largo to

Allegro;261 (b) the characteristic sigh-figure returns at the close, with an 11-measure preparation, continuously leading back into the the dal segno repetition. This repeti- tion is marked, naturally, by a return of the initial slow tempo, which already takes place in the preparatory section. But now Bach writes Adagio, instead of Largo. Any attempt to make the Adagio here different from the initial Largo is out of ques- tion, as the first and the last measure (leading to D. S.) overlap. It does not neces- sarily follow that Adagio and Largo should be always understood as identical. In fact, Adagio has different meanings and traditions, depending on the context. It means one thing as a short-term tempo indication in the middle, or at the close, of a piece (or section), and another when it comes as a heading. In the middle of a sec- tion, Adagio is the most common indication, signifying any kind of short-term slowing down (nowadays usually denoted by ritardando, allargando etc.) or a writ- ten-out fermata. This is the most common usage, as early as Frescobaldi‟s Fiori

musicali, or in Corelli‟s and Handel‟s concertos, sonatas, or Buxtehude‟s and

Bach‟s toccatas and preludes, hardly employing any other term for this kind of slowing down. The difference between the various significations of Adagio is best

260 Klaus Hofmann, “On the Instrumentation of the E-major Suite BWV 1006a by Johann Sebas- tian Bach”, A Bach Tribute (FS William H. Scheide), 1993, 143–54.

confirmed by the opening movement of Handel‟s Organ Concerto Op. 4 No. 3: its heading is Adagio, but the retard on the last measure is likewise marked Adagio.262 Example 50: BWV 21/5: Cantata Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, Aria ”Bäche von gesalznen Zähren“

a) Beginning (Largo)263

b) Retransition from the Allegro middle section to the first tempo (adagio)

262 The same situation occurs in the second movement of his Concerto grosso Op. 6/1. 263 The bass figuring has been omitted in all continuo parts of the music examples.

As a heading, Adagio in Bach becomes more specific, apparently one of the slowest types of slow movement. When he aims at an even slower tempo than Ada-

gio, Bach may write Adagio molto, Adagio assai or Adagissimo;264 but he never uses Largo assai, Larghissimo, Lentissimo or Gravissimo. For Quantz, simply Ada-

gio does not count among the main tempo classes, and must be further specified,

either as Adagio cantabile or as Adagio assai, although he often uses the „unquali- fied‟ adagio in his own music.

One may wish that Bach were more generous with tempo words. But the picture is rather inconclusive. A case in point is his Handexemplar of the Goldberg Varia-

tions: the two handwritten tempo indications are rather disappointing.265 Adding

Adagio to the celebrated G minor Variation (No. 25) is obvious, as any intelligent

performer might have guessed even before the rediscovery of the Handexemplar in 1976. The same applies to Var. 7. Wanda Landowska, for instance, identifying it with “frolicsome and capering spirit of an Italian forlana” (instead of giga), was not wide off the mark.266 One looks in vain for any significant evolution in Bach‟s poli- cy of tempo marking. Except for works explicitly titled as concertos or sonatas,267 tempo headings in Bach‟s music are relatively rare occurrences. They are not more common in his late Leipzig works than in the early Weimar ones, or even in the youthful pieces, beginning with the Neumeister Chorales.