Klarinet Archive - Posting 000510.txt from 1998/03

From: Jack Kissinger <kissingerjn@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Woodwind
Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 13:46:53 -0500

Bill Hausmann wrote:

OK, you two experts. In the Mozart concerto, do you start the trills from
above or below? I've heard it both ways.

I'm not one of the two experts identified above (or one of the other experts who
have addressed this question in earlier threads) but I will throw in my 2 cents,
anyway. This question has come up on the list on several occasions and in
several guises (e.g., who has the best trill in the Weber concerto) and the
position frequently stated is that trills in classical music are to be started
on the upper note, unless the passage that approaches the trilled note arrives
from below, in which case the trill should start on the principal note, as Roger
has noted.

Some time ago, in a private message, I asked Dan about this. In addition to
giving his position on how such trills should be played, he referred me to an
excellent work on Mozart performance practices, "Interpreting Mozart on the
Keyboard" by Eva and Paul Badura-Skoda. There is an extensive section in this
work on ornamentation. This well-researched work takes a somewhat different
point of view that I think deserves consideration. What follows is all
quotation from this book (pp. 108-21) except for a few summaries, comments, etc.
that I have placed in brackets.

According to the Badura-Skodas (writing in 1957!):

Nowadays there are two clear schools of thought about how to begin a trill:
the 'unprepared' and 'prepared' schools. The 'unprepared' school begin every
trill on
the note that carries the trill sign; their opponents insist that every trill
must begin on the note above ('upper auxiliary')....

If one uncritically applies to Mozart the theoretical maxims of the second
half of the eighteenth century, there is no problem about how to begin the
trill: they are
unanimously in favor of preparation. As we have said [however], it was exactly
during the second half of the eighteenth century that a yawning gap existed
between
theory and practice; indeed the theorists are not wholly consistent. Tartini
(1692-1770), in a letter, advocates beginning the trill on the main note, but in
his "Trattato
delle appoggiature" he is in favour of the upper auxiliary. J.G.
Albrechtsberger, a contemporary of Haydn, born in 1736, came down in favor of
beginning on the
main note.

According to Leopold Mozart's "Violinschule," however, the trill
[illustrated in Albrechtsberger's only example] would have to be played [as a
prepared trill]....

Turning from theory to Mozart's works, we find many passages where, in our
opinion, one can only begin a trill on the main note. But we feel that these
examples ... by no means prove that Mozart began all his trills in this way.
There are numerous cases in which it seems more appropriate to begin on the
upper auxiliary. Apart from these, there are very many 'neutral, cases, where
either is possible. Much depends on which version we regard as the rule, and
which the exception. So there seems to be no general solution to the problem of
the trill, short of the discovery of contemporary evidence of Mozart's own
execution of 'trills.'

Shortly before this book went to press, we were able to listen to an
eighteenth-century barrel-organ playing K.616. An interesting light is shed on
this problem by the way the piece was played. Most of the trills including the
first one START WITH THE MAIN NOTE [emphasis mine, JNK]. The fact that this
piece was originally composed for barrel-organ indicates that in all
probability this was Mozart's intention. Since there were also a few trills
starting with the upper note, our theory, that this was a time of transition and
that there was a certain freedom of execution allowed, seems to be confirmed.
It should be borne in mind that manufacturers of barrel-organs obviously
intended to reproduce a live performance. This barrel-organ, for instance,
follows the text most accurately, playing strictly in time yet adding some
delicate rubato in the passage work.

In the following (numerous) cases it seems right to begin the trill on the
main note. [In each case, the Badura-Skoda's provide a number of examples from
specific Mozart works along with logical explanations of why it makes more sense
to begin the trill on the main note.]

(a) When in a legato (slur) the trill is preceded by the next note above.

(b) When the trill is preceded by three rising or falling notes like a
'slide.' This anacrusic figure grew out of [two baroque ornaments that I can't
show here].

(c) When the trill is on a dissonant note.

(d) In trill in the bass.... [Well, I guess we don't have to worry about this
one unless Shouryu decides to perform the piece on his bass clarinet, in which
case I guess he should perform all the trills as unprepared -- and Dan will
probably put an ice pick through his eye for having the timerity to use a bass
clarinet in the first place. ;^)]

(e) In trills at the end of rising scales.

(f) When the trill is preceded by the same note, as a sharply-attacked
anacrusis. [But the examples are important here and the Badura-Skoda's note
that their reading is "controversial."]

(g) In chains of trills. [e.g., measures 225-226 of the first movement of the
clarinet concerto and, if memory serves, in at least one place in the quintet]

(h) In the formula [here the Badura-Skodas show an eighth-note g (trilled)
followed by sixteenth notes f and g (neither trilled)]. In allegro movements it
is possible to play, at most, three notes at such points if the semiquavers are
played in time....

(i) Finally, in a number of special cases that are hard to classify [the
authors cite several examples]....

Since there are so many examples of this kind, we can at least deduce that
Mozart had a certain preference for unprepared trills.... [major snip]

[In addition to cadential trills], (i)n the following cases, we recommend
beginning the trill on the upper auxiliary.

(a) If in a melodic run a trill is preceded by the same note (this should not
be confused with (f) mentioned above).

(b) In a frequently occurring formula which often appears in quick movements
when a trill is marked over a quaver upbeat.

The Badura-Skodas have obviously put alot of time into the study of Mozart's
works. (They quote symphonies, violin concerti, et al., in addition to piano
works.) Their position is, however, largely informed opinion (with the emphasis
on informed). It does, however, suggest that the oft-stated position that
trills in classical music are to be done from the upper note, unless the passage
that approaches the trilled note arrives from below may not be an
over-simplification when applied to Mozart's works.

I have, for some time, intended to go through the concerto and analyze each
trill according to the Badura-Skoda recommendations but, to date, all I've done
is list
the measures with trills. Eventually I will get this done but I wouldn't feel
badly if someone on the list beat me to it. (Is there a short paper here for an
enterprising college student?)

Interesting book Dan, thanks for pointing me in its direction.

Warm regards,

Jack Kissinger
St. Louis