The German theorist and composer Johann Philipp Kirnberger (1721–1783) was the first musician to make a distinction between two specific types of dissonances, between what he has called essential dissonances (wesentliche Dißonanzen) and non-essential —or incidental— dissonances (zufällige Dißonanzen). According to him, an essential dissonance comes in only one form: a chordal seventh that “does […]
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In this essay, I will deal with the non-chord note labelled a suspension. A suspension is an on-beat dissonance —i.e. a metrically strong note that doesn’t belong to the regular chord. It is prepared by a consonance of a different chord —the usual procedure— or by a dissonance of a different chord—less common— and usually
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Usually, a chromatic alteration of a note follows the other version of that note in the same part. Such a chromatic step is also called a passus duriusculus. However, when a chromatic alteration of a note follows the other version of that note in another part, this is usually considered to be erroneous, an error
What Is a Cross-Relation? Read More »
A passus duriusculus is a chromatic step or a chromatic passage. It seems that Christoph Bernhard (1628–1692) —a German pupil of Heinrich Schütz, singer, composer, kapellmeister and author of three handwritten treatises on composition— was the first and only author to use the term passus duriusculus. (So, it doesn’t stem from rhetoric but is meant
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This essay deals with the first verset (i.e. short partimento) in C minor by Stanislao Mattei (1750–1825), which is the 61st verset in the collection and is numbered as such in the Wessmans edition. The versets by Mattei are a remarkable collection of pedagogical pieces intended to be realized in three parts at the keyboard
Mattei, Verset 1 in C Minor Read More »
This essay deals with the second verset (i.e. short partimento) in C major by Stanislao Mattei (1750–1825). The versets by Mattei are a remarkable collection of pedagogical pieces intended to be realized in three parts at the keyboard with great concern for contrapuntal quality. Moreover, instead of focusing on just one realization, students had to
Mattei, Verset 2 in C Major Read More »
This essay is the first of a series devoted to how the versets (i.e. short partimenti) by Stanislao Mattei (1750–1825) can be realized at the keyboard. The versets by Mattei are intended to be realized in three parts with great concern for contrapuntal quality. Typically, instead of focusing on just one realization, students had to
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The 100 versetti —versets— by Stanislao Mattei are a remarkable collection of short partimenti as part of his treatise Pratica d’accompagnamento. While the length of many partimenti can be intimidating, Mattei’s versets are so concise that they are easily accessible and memorizable. The 100 versets by Mattei are probably intended to be realized in three
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The Monte is a widely used schema in the 17th and 18th centuries and exists in many variants. In this essay, I will focus on the schema’s characteristics. Just as a Fonte, a Monte is a sequential schema in which each segment constitutes a cadence, often a ⑦–① cadence or clausula cantizans as well. However,
The Monte: The Basics Read More »
I have already explored the voice-leading pattern that Robert Gjerdingen calls a Prinner to some extend in four essays (The Traditional Prinner, Variants of the Prinner (Part 1), Variants of the Prinner (Part 2): Sequential Prinners and Variants of the Prinner (Part 3)). To that series I will add another essay, although from a structural
Variants of the Prinner (Part 4): The Stabat Mater Prinner Read More »