Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2005-08-04 02:35
I'm at a disadvantage here because I don't have a copy of Mr. Voxman's edition. I thought I did but I can't find it anywhere. In any case, I can't see the actual notation that he is describing (which he may have edited from the original, in any case) and I am having trouble visualizing some of the situations you describe. I have a bias toward believing him over Gustave Langenus because, writing later, he has the advantage of additional scholarship. On the other hand, he did this edition quite a few years ago and understanding of period practices may have changed.
In any case, the general rule of thumb that I heard from my teacher, who was one of Mr. Voxman's students, was that a grace note with a slash through it should be played short and before the beat whereas a grace note with no slash should take half the value of the note it is attached to and be played on the beat. In other words, a grace note attached to an eighth note would be played as two sixteenth notes.
Here, however, things get muddy (and, Tony Pay, if you happen to read this, please come to my aid and correct me). This business seems to have changed over time. Working backwards, I have a "Pronouncing Dictionary of Musical Terms" by Hugh Clarke with a copyright date of 1898. In that dictionary, Clarke defines an "appoggiatura" as "An ornamental note foreign to the harmony, one degree above or below a member of the chord, always on an accent or on a beat. It takes half the value fo the note it precedes but, if the note it precedes is dotted, it takes two-thirds of its value." (This definition covers 2 of the 3 "rules" set down by Turk around 1789 and, therefore, probably in common use when Rosetti (Rossler) wrote the concerto. (A little more about Turk later.) Clarke shows the notation as a "grace note" without any slash and contrasts the appoggiatura with the acciacatura (let's see the spelling bee kid get that one!), which he defines as: "A short grace note written thus [here he shows a grace note with a slash through it] takes the place in the harmony of the note it precedes; is played rapidly." It's not entirely clear whether this ornament is to be played on the beat or before it but, to me, it sounds as though it is to be played on the beat. Presumably, this defines practice around 1898 but it is not clear whether that was the practice when Rosetti wrote the concerto.
The information I have from Rosetti's period is from Gotthold Frotscher's "Performance Practices of Early Music." Frotcher quotes several sources from this period including Johann Quantz, Leopold Mozart and Daniel Gottlieb Turk. Among the more relevant comments:
From Quantz: "The appoggiaturas .... receive their length through the notes which they precede. It just does not mean a thing whether they have more than one stroke or none."
According to Frotscher, there were two types of appoggiatura during this period, the short appoggiatura (played quickly) and the long appoggiatura. It appears from Frotscher that the short appoggiatura was only appropriate in limited specific situations, at least some of which Leopold Mozart identifies (These do not correspond to anything close to what appears in the Rosetti so we may ignore them.) The rest are long appoggiaturas. Turk gave three rules for long appoggiaturas
"First Rule: The appoggiatura acquires half of the value of the following note, it the latter can be divided into two equal halves.
Second Rule: Before dotted (three-part) notes, the appoggiatura acquires two parts, i.e., the full value of the note, while there remains only one part (or the value of the dot) for the main note.
Third Rule: The appoggiatura acquires the full value of the following note, when the latter is attached to another note of equal pitch (usually of shorter value)."
I'm wondering if the third rule explains the situations I cannot visualize in your description.
Finally, if things aren't confusing enough, Frotscher quotes Agricola (a pupil of Bach in a 1757 translation of earlier writings of Tosi): "It is impossible to set specific rules for every single place where appoggiatures [sic] are required, and what their value ought to be. There always remains a certain amount of discretion, depending on the taste or perception of composer or interpreter."
Frotscher adds: "This explains why the value of an appoggiatura cannot definitely be established, and the only advice would be to use, in case of doubt, a long one rather than a short one."
Well, there you have everything I can find about it. Perhaps someone with more detailed specific knowledge/experience can add to/correct my comments. FWIW, I listened to Dieter Klocker's recording and while I heard a few short grace notes, they were never (at least as far as my ears could tell) part of 16th note runs.
One final comment FWIW. I was told by my teacher, to his students, and usually his student's students, he is never Himie or Voxman but always Mr. Voxman.
Best regards,
jnk
Post Edited (2005-08-04 04:23)
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