“Touching a Mystery”

A New Reading of Clavier Works by J. S. Bach

And its

Pedagogical Application to Children’s Music School Repertoire

Svetlana A. Gordeevtseva

Translated by Svetlana Ponomarëva

English version edited by Dr. Graham N. Hunter

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Copyright 2007 by Svetlana Ponomarëva – Marc Villéger

All rights reserved. No Part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form

or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the permission in writing from the

author or copyright holder, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a

review to be printed in a newspaper or magazine or broadcast on radio or television.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Gordeevtseva, Svetlana A.

Touching a Mystery/ Svetlana A. Gordeevtseva.

ISBN 978-1-897518-04-5

Cover illustrations: Portrait of J.S. Bach by Hausmann; Violin Sonata No. 1 in G minor (BWV

1001) in Bach’s handwriting

This book was published by:

FIRST CHOICE BOOKS

www.firstchoicebooks.ca

Printed in Canada

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In memoriam Professor A. A. Alexandrov (1927-2004)

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Table of Contents

Preface 7

Touching a Mystery

Part One: 9

Educational manual for children’s music schools

Introduction 11

The question of Baroque articulation 13

Rules of articulation 15

Practicum 21

Conclusion 23

Part Two: 25

J.S. Bach selected pieces for piano, edited by S.A. Gordeevtseva

From “Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach”

Minuet in F Major BWV 113 27

Minuet in G Major BWV 114 28

Minuet in G Minor BWV 115 29

Minuet in G Major BWV 116 30

Polonaise in G Minor BWV 119 31

Polonaise in G Minor BWV 125 32

Minuet in D minor BWV 132 33

From “Little Preludes and Fugues”

Prelude in C Major BWV 933 34

Prelude in C minor BWV 934 35

Prelude in D minor BWV 935 36

Prelude in D Major BWV 936 38

Fughetta in C Minor BWV 961 40

Fugue in C Major BWV 952 42

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From “Inventions and Sinfonias”

Invention in C Major BWV 772 44

Invention in C Minor BWV 773 46

Invention in D Minor BWV 775 48

Invention in E Minor BWV 778 50

Invention in G Minor BWV 782 52

Invention in A Major BWV 783 54

Invention in B Major BWV 785 56

Sinfonia in C Minor BWV 788 58

Sinfonia in D Minor BWV 790 60

Sinfonia in E Minor BWV 793 62

Sinfonia in A Minor BWV 799 64

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Preface

Finally available to international audience, Svetlana Gordeevtseva’s essay

“Touching a Mystery” offers children and their music teachers an invaluable insight into

the basic rules of articulation in clavier Baroque music and J.S Bach’s works in

particular. A selection of Bach’s pieces from children’s music school repertoire, edited by

Gordeevtseva, is included in this edition.

Her essay is based on the book by Evgeni Teregulov “Forgotten Rules: Problems

of Articulations and Agogics in Clavier Works of J.S Bach”, Kompositor Publish House,

Moscow, 1993, and a series of lectures by Professor Alexander Alexandrovich

Alexandrov of the Gnesins Russian Academy of Music which I had the chance to attend

during my studying piano with him in Moscow.

A pianist, theorist and conductor, Alexandrov was a man of colossal erudition and

skills. His phenomenal pedagogic intuition and knowledge brought a multidimensional

quality to his teaching: creative analysis of the dramaturgy of form and conductor’s

thinking that organizes musical time became important tools in our piano performing

experience. We toured a lot with Alexandrov throughout Russia: while he was giving

lectures and master classes, we, his students, were playing concerts and were illustrating

his lectures. These times were indeed unforgettable. And we all hoped to have inherited

some of his great sense of humor on the way.

Later I shared notes and taped lectures with my first piano teacher, Svetlana

Gordeevtseva, the author of the present essay, a teacher at Children’s School of Art #4 in

Omsk, Russia. With enthusiasm Svetlana started working with this material applying it to

children’s clavier Baroque repertoire. In 2001 she went to Moscow and met with

Professor Alexandrov. His review of the essay states:

“This essay is indeed a necessity. It is true to the essence of late XX century

research which aimed at restoring the performing principles of Baroque music and its

most significant representative – J.S. Bach…

…Among a surprisingly small number of pedagogues-pianists concerned with the

noble realization of performing Bach’s principles, stands Svetlana Gordeevtseva whose

efforts and achievements deserve sincere respect and gratitude.”

After reading her essay, I trust you’ll agree with him!

Svetlana Ponomarëva

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9

“Touching a Mystery”

Part One

Educational manual for children’s music schools

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Introduction

Each era has its own heroes and genius, its own style and aesthetics – in painting,

literature, architecture, and in music. Hence, the life and creation of any artist cannot be

examined apart from the time from which it sprang.

In Europe, the end of the 16th century saw the Baroque style replace that of the

Renaissance (the term “baroque” comes from the Italian, meaning whimsical, fanciful,

intricate). The earnest study of Baroque art began only in the 20th century.

Baroque art includes an enormous amount of music. The most significant of

which was undoubtedly written by J. S. Bach. It is difficult to overestimate his role in the

musical cosmos of the Baroque and Bach's work is a great mystery that has still not been

fully explained. Yet, the works of few composers have had as many editors as those of J.

S. Bach. In Russia only Mugellini’s edition of his “Well-Tempered Clavier” has been

issued for the past 50 years while the urtext is hard to find. But despite the many existent

editions widely available elsewhere, the question of how to interpret Bach’s music

remains. It is a question of agogics (metric freedom) and articulation.

In 1997, I came across a book by Evgeni Teregulov, “The Forgotten Rules”. This

discovery led to a fascinating archeological musical journey and for the past eight years I

have been involved in pedagogical research regarding the performance of Bach's music.

Honored Artist of Russia, Professor Alexandrov of the Gnesins Russian Academy of

Music gave me tremendous help and encouragement in my research. I listened to

recordings of Alexandrov’s lectures "From Baroque to Classicism" in which his students

played works by Bach to illustrate his points.

I corresponded with Professor Alexandrov for several years as more questions

arose. Finally, in 2001, we met in Moscow and I gave him a draft copy of my own edition

of selected Bach works for his inspection. He corrected a few points, but on the whole,

approved of my edition.

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The search for answers regarding articulation in clavier pieces of the Baroque era,

and especially in the works of Bach still presents difficulties for music teachers and

performers alike. The main difficulty lies in our resistance against moving away from a

stereotypic mentality and its habits while approaching the polyphonic works of Bach. We

have been used to these stereotypes since childhood – we were taught in a certain way

and we continue to teach that way.

There are two customary ways of interpreting Bach's works: taking the liberty to

do with the text anything one wants as long as one refers to an urtext in which there are

very few indications from the composer, or unthinkingly to follow indications given by

some editor. Unfortunately, most editions, in Professor Alexandrov’s opinion, treat

Bach’s texts frivolously. In this music we cannot rely on intuition and we must not invent

things. We simply need to know the background, understand the language that Bach

used, and then should we be able to apprehend all facets of Bach's works.

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The question of Baroque articulation

Before addressing the question of articulation in some details, we should

emphasize a number of features that are characteristic of Bach’s music writing. During

Bach’s time, music mostly existed in handwriting as opposed to printing or publishing.

Bach often entrusted his sons to copy his works, sometimes making himself corrections

afterwards. Later on, some editors perceived those rare author’s indications as guiding

principles and used them extensively throughout the score. In addition, other editors

applied questionable rules to Bach’s clavier works. For instance, Busoni followed the

theory that all Bach’s music was thought for the organ, forgetting that organ and clavier

are too very different instruments with different potentialities in dynamics and in

registers.

As for Baroque tempos, there were only four of them – Adagio, Andante, Allegro

and Presto. Often these tempos defined not so much the speed but the character of the

piece. For instance, Allegro, besides its meaning “quick”, more importantly meant “gaily,

cheerfully”. All other tempos –Largo, Allegretto etc…– appeared later. Moreover,

Baroque tempos were much closer to each other than nowadays.

It is well known that Bach didn’t indicate tempos in his music. Some musicians

hold the opinion that a strict, unbending meter-rhythm is the basis for Baroque

performing style. This is a delusion: music never was mechanical and the Baroque era is

no exception. Furthermore, in Baroque aesthetics everything was curved, there were no

straight lines. For instance, in improvisation forms such as Fantasia, Toccata etc.., some

accelerando and ritenuto were natural – depending on the context and the performers’

professional manner. But the use of mixed dynamics, various diminuendo and crescendo

is totally contrary to the Baroque essence. These “slavicisms”, as Alexandrov called

them, have nothing to do with Baroque music and Bach’s music in particular. Sure,

“forte” and “piano” indications existed in the score. However, they were used in

connection to specific mechanisms of instruments featuring several keyboards (or

manuals) such as harpsichord, clavier-chord, organ etc. but not as dynamic nuances

“loud” or “quiet”. Switching manuals –upper manual – piano (P), lower – forte (F)–

allowed creating only a dynamic effect “less” versus “more”, not “loud” versus “quiet”.

Therefore, dazzling nuances are not acceptable while playing Baroque music: crescendo,

diminuendo or molto legato, all sorts of “dying” phrases, slowing down at the end of

cadences are absolutely contrary to the Baroque rules, its ethics and aesthetics. We must

therefore abide to the rules of the era as they define the recognizable face of the music.

The personality of Bach’s works depends on it.

Now that the general concepts are well established, the question often arises in

music school practice: what kind of articulation manner is the basis for interpreting

Bach’s clavier music? The most common manners of performing is either, legato or non

legato. For instance, famous pianist Glenn Gould preferred non legato (or separate

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manner) and even often staccato articulation. Another established method is to articulate

by big blocks (“eighth note” method by A. Braudo) where the eighth notes are played non

legato and the sixteenth – legato. This articulation stereotype of Bach’s polyphony has

been used for many years. However many expressive possibilities, hidden in each voice,

are left unopened with this approach. Sometimes young musicians and we, pedagogues,

don’t know what to do with the lower voice (left hand) in Minuets or Little Preludes. We

just play this lower voice with a boring and impersonal non legato, thinking that we play

a polyphonic piece.

How about the articulation itself? The earliest any articulation appeared on scores

was the 17th century. It was marked for string instruments with a slur above two notes.

Before Bach, such indications were rare in clavier works. The functions of articulation

are various and often connect with rhythmical, dynamic, timbre and other means of

musical expressivity. In the Baroque era, articulation and agogics were main catalysts of

performing style. However, their conspicuous absence from urtexts and methodical

studies is puzzling.

The reason for this absence is that these attributes were quite known and didn’t

need a written confirmation on the score. The Baroque era was the time of “universal”

musicians. Clavier players were raised as distinctive musical elite absorbing all the rules

with “mother’s milk”. The Baroque musician was not only a performer, he usually was a

composer, a Kapellmeister (conductor) and he could play at least two instruments (clavier

or organ for sure). The musician-performer of that time was also an educator forming the

rules that were cultivated since childhood. That’s why composers, including Bach, wrote

down articulation only in situations where there could be various reading or when it was

an exception that carried a special intention of the composer. However –and this is the

core argument– indications of articulation do exist in Bach’s orchestral scores where

everything was written down. The reason was that orchestral musicians didn’t belong to

musical “elite”. Often, they were simply music lovers much less musically educated than

clavier players. Therefore, if we want to find an answer to the question about how to

articulate Bach’s clavier works, we cannot just look at his clavier music: we also need to

study his other instrumental, ensemble and orchestral scores.

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Rules of articulation

Now let’s state the basic principles in performing the different textures of

Baroque music. The rules of articulation that follow were forgotten for many years.

(Indeed, much that is new is often something old that has been rediscovered.) So, let's try

to recover what has been lost.

In the Baroque era the manner of performing was different from that in later

periods. The hand did not lift between slurs. Articulation (separation, division) was done

by lifting the finger. This can be explained and verified by the specificity of instruments

of that time. Small, vocal articulation that allowed music to sound close to human speech

was traditional and required in the Baroque period.

Non legato, separate manner of playing

This articulation was used for:

1) Long notes.

2) Dotted rhythms.

Not this way but this way

3) Leaps in melody

4) Motives built on triad-cords or their inversions

5) Ascending and descending sequences in slow tempo.

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It is worth specifying that the intensity level of staccato in Bach's clavier works

varies depending upon the tempo, character of the piece, and genre. We should also

remember that a rule of articulation may appear as an exception, depending upon context.

A few words about syncopation: it is necessary to emphasize that syncopation in

Baroque time was a “big event” and we, pianists, cannot treat casually this rhythmical

piquancy. Syncopation in Bach’s music was always the beginning of a motive and always

separated from a previous material. This moment cannot be brushed over. Therefore

syncopation (that is born from two tied notes) should never be tied with a previous note.

You have to sort of “step” on syncopation, anticipate it, or in other words – pay attention

to it.

6) Therefore, separate articulation for syncopation

One more important law in Baroque music – upbeats never tie with strong beat

(meaning, a slur doesn’t carry over the bar line). Upbeat always points towards the strong

beat and Seconds that go from weak to strong beat are also separate (not slurred).

Imagine how it would be played by string instruments – it is not possible to “drive into” a

strong beat on one continuous bow. The string articulation principles work not only for

string players. Why is it that upbeats cannot be tied with strong beats? This rule depends

on the rule of “iamb – trochee” (meaning “from weak to strong”). All Baroque music is

constructed on this principle. It is all iambic in nature (for Romanticism, the trochee is

more typical, and for Classicism, both iamb and trochee are equally used). J.S. Bach is

the most energetic composer of the Baroque era because of the iambic nature of his

music. Everything aims towards the end; energy grows towards the last cord.

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Playing upbeat

Not this way

But this way

(In Bach's works almost all themes or motives start with a weak beat. Performers

should always remember this.)

Legato

Legato usually tied two, three, or rarely, larger groups of notes.

1) Cases when two notes are played legato:

1) “Sighing” intonation

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2) Material where odd notes create a clear melodic structure

3) All passages with hidden two-voiced texture

4) As a part of mixed articulation

2) Cases when three notes are played legato:

1) Most often in triplets and in measures that contain triplets (without leaps)

Here the term “finger lift” is truly relevant although the application of this rule, to

my mind, is conditional to the student’s abilities. Thus, in Gigues and in fast pieces in

form of a Gigue such articulation is hard to perform and not always practical for the

pupils.

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2) In quadruplets with a clear structure 3+1 or 1+3

In the given examples we can see analogy with stringed instruments playing up-

bow and down-bow when strong notes are slightly longer and weak notes slightly shorter.

At the same time, strict pulsation between strong beats remains.

3) Cases when four notes are played legato:

Groups of quadruplets without leaps: these groups in general are fill ups of the

intervals, different written ornamentations that sometimes can be tied by five notes

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4) Longer slurs are played in scale-like passages

In Bach's works we sometimes come across slurs that do not reflect literal legato

playing. Sometimes the sequence of slurs shows a motif-symbol. In the Baroque era all

motives carried some specific meaning ("Symbolism in Bach's music" is another great

subject for discussion).

In summing up "forgotten rules" for the Baroque era, we should remember that

small speech-like articulation, by the expressivity of various motives, delineates each

voice of the polyphonic texture in clearer relief. Small structures combine to create big

themes, just as letters create words, and words sentences. When performing, we should

not be afraid of this and should often change articulation accordingly, although one does

not need to forcefully demonstrate it during playing. It is like punctuation marks in text:

we see them, we are guided by them, but we do not pronounce them. Most important is

what we form with these letters and syllables.

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Practicum

Another merit of this articulation resides in solving the problem of caesura

(breathing) in polyphonic texture. Caesura is not an easy task for pupils. However in

learning the technique of speech-like articulation we find a very natural breathing: ears,

head, hands and fingers – the entire body of a performer is mobilized by these changes of

intricate articulation. As an example of such caesura here is the theme from Bach’s three-

part Invention in A minor. Let’s also mention that as a rule, theme in any Bach’s

polyphonic piece (prelude, fugue, invention etc.) finishes on the tonic or on the tone of a

tonic triad. This way the next tone starts a different phrase. Often pupil’s playing is

devoid of clear motive structure. In the given example, the theme cannot be finished on a

dominant “H”, it has to come to the tonic – “A”. This theme is based on a choral and

choral always finishes with a tonic tone. Thus it has to be played this way:

Such things in Bach's works are found everywhere. We simply need to analyze

the text deeper, recognize the rule and then logic triumphs!

Small speech-like articulation also solves the problems linked to unity of tempos

which is often “the stumbling block” for a pupil. Take, for example, a canonic theme in

two-part invention in B flat-major by Bach: performing this invention with the rules

makes everything fall in place, and it keeps the intricate dancing character and meter-

rhythmic pulsation.

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A pupil has enough time to play, to hear and “somehow” stops rushing it (this

kind of “healing” many times happened in my class). Learning the small speech-like

articulation is a distinctive preparatory stage, a little bridge to playing Mozart Sonatas in

later grades.

So how do we accomplish such uneasy task in practice? Where do we start from?

First, we should take our students through a little excursion in the past, into Baroque

time. Then a teacher can help pupils compare, analyze few polyphonic pieces played with

different articulation. Any Minuet from “Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach” can serve

as an obvious and accessible example. In conventional editions all minuets are articulated

as legato in upper voice and non-legato in lower voice. With this articulation it is difficult

to hear a true, authentic nature of this antique dance since “Menuet” in French means –

“small step”. That’s the way Minuet was danced – with small steps and reverences. But

in such simplistic articulation the dancing is lost.

Following the lecture on articulation, teachers may encourage young musicians to

do their own edition using the rules. This is a real creative process. Children may

discover themselves how Little Prelude in C minor becomes a minuet if performed with

the speech-like articulation.

As we see, articulation can radically change the character of a piece, or rather

reveal it. I have noticed that the interest of pupils taking their first steps in polyphonic

music in general and Bach's in particular has increased since I started to apply the "old"

rules of articulation.

Most rules are accessible and feasible, especially during the first stage of learning

(pieces from “Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach”, “Little Preludes and Fugues” and

two-part Inventions). Pupils understand those rules; they learn to hear and to play works

of this great composer differently. However, for various reasons, not all pupils can fully

apply the whole technical arsenal. For example, the “finger lift” technique sometimes

demands a special professional skill.

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Conclusion

This essay of course doesn’t pretend to be exhaustive. There are still many secrets

in Bach’s music and more can be said with regards to articulation problems such as

rhythmic-articulation features, peculiarities of pulsation in Bach’s works, choice of

tempo, articulation and genre, articulation and image content, articulation and

symbolism….

I gave presentations and performances in front of various audiences. The subject –

“New reading of J.S. Bach clavier works”– always arouses lively reaction and discussion.

Actually, one cannot impose this method to all pedagogues and performers: firstly,

because a comprehensive teaching method is yet to be written; secondly, it is always

difficult to re-learn and to re-create.

Some, having read this essay or listened to the presentation, will dwell on it;

others will imagine this “musical museum” of the Baroque era and realize how it was…

Meanwhile, inspired pedagogues are already –and successfully– taking advantage of this

re-discovery, teaching the great principles of articulation to new generations of

musicians.

One thing is clear, "who does not possess skill in performing the works of Bach

will always have difficulty performing the music of other periods.” (A.A. Alexandrov).

The music of J. S. Bach is the foundation we cannot dispense with.

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References

• Evgeni Teregulov. “Forgotten Rules: Problems of Articulation and Agogics in

Clavier Music of J.S.Bach”, Kompositor Publish House, Moscow, 1993

• Vera Nosina. “Symbolism in Bach’s Music”, Klassika-XXI, Moscow, 2006

• Audio-recordings of lectures “From Baroque to Classicism” by Professor

A.A.Alexandrov of Gnesins Russian Academy of Music in Moscow, 1993

• Musical Encyclopedia, Sovetsky Kompositor, 1973