Placeholder text

Go to cart

Tempo and Tactus in the German Baroque

By Julia Dokter

Tempo and Tactus in the German Baroque Arts & Music

Tempo and Tactus in the German Baroque

0 - Default Title
Description
Before the advent of the metronome ca. 1800, there was little in the way of a standardized, commonly accessible method for precisely communicating how fast musical compositions should be performed. Instead of absolute time (e.g., plottable on a metronome), Baroque musicians developed notational cues for relative speed: this was accomplished primarily through combinations of time signatures and note values. Julia Dokter's Tempo and Tactus in the German Baroque helps decode these tempo cues for modern performers.
Part 1 investigates metric theory in music treatises from roughly 1600 to 1790. Parts 2 and 3 explore the organ scores of pivotal composers such as J.S. Bach, Buxtehude, Weckman, and Bruhns, and present case studies demonstrating how Baroque tempo indications may interact in performance situations.
Readers will discover how Baroque musicians modified the Renaissance mensural system to incorporate tempo shifts; how the various duple, triple, and compound meters interrelated; how the technical display of stylus phantasticus writing affected tempo; how tempo words (e.g. allegro) functioned; and how the choice of performing forces (e.g., chorus, solo keyboard, etc.) could affect the way tempo was notated.
Dokter's book will become a basic resource for performers of Baroque music, not only for organ and keyboard solo repertoire, but also for other instruments and ensembles.
Julia Dokter teaches musicology at Georgia State University and organ performance at Agnes Scott College.
Product details
Number of Pages:
546
Release Date:
2021-04-30
Publication Date:
2021-04-01
Publisher:
University of Rochester Press
Languages:
Original: English
ISBN10:
1648250181
ISBN13:
9781648250187
GPSR Manufacturer Reference:
[email protected]
Weight:
932 g
Height:
157 cm
Width:
235 cm
Thickness:
34 cm
Buy on Amazon
Currently sold out