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Scan 67
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1918
22 lines. Read by computer on 10 September 2026. Printed page 45. See the scan on archive.org.
1ADDITIONAL ACCOMPANIMENTS
3Clarinetti in Bb.
5Fagotti.
7Bassi.
96. It is quite impossible within the limits of such an article as the present to deal exhaustively with the subject in hand; enough has, it is hoped, been said to indicate in a general manner some of the various ways of filling up the orchestration from a figured bass. This, however, though perhaps the most important, is by no means the only case in which additional accompaniments are required or introduced. It was mentioned above that the composition of the orchestra in the days of Bach and Handel was very different from that of our own time. This is more especially the case with Bach, who employs in his scores many instruments now altogether fallen into disuse. Such are the viola d'amore, the viola da gamba, the oboe d'amore, the oboe da caccia (which he sometimes calls the 'taille'), and several others. In adapting these works for performance, it is necessary to substitute for these obsolete instruments as far as possible their modern equivalents. Besides this, both Handel and Bach wrote for the trumpets passages which on the instruments at present employed in our orchestras are simply impossible. Bach frequently, and Handel occasionally, writes the trumpet parts up to c", and both require from the players rapid passages in high notes, the execution of which, even where possible, is extremely uncertain. Thus, in probably the best-known piece of sacred music in the world, the Hallelujah chorus in the 'Messiah,' Handel has written d" for the first trumpet, while Bach in the 'Cum Sancto Spiritu' of his great Mass in B minor has even taken the instrument one note higher, the whole first trumpet part as it stands being absolutely unplayable except on the so-called 'Bach' trumpet rediscovered by Herr Kosleck, and now occasionally introduced into performances of Bach's and Handel's works. In such cases as these it becomes necessary to rewrite the trumpet parts, giving the higher notes to some other instrument. This is what Franz has done in his editions of Bach's 'Magnificat' and 'Pfingsten-Cantate,' in which he has used two clarinets in C to reinforce and assist the trumpet parts. The key of both pieces being D, the clarinets in A would be those usually employed; the C clarinets are here used instead, because their tone, though less rich, is more piercing, and therefore approximates more closely to that of the high notes of the trumpet. One example from the opening chorus of the 'Magnificat' will show how the arrangement is effected. Bach's trumpet parts and their equivalents in Franz's score will alone be quoted.
11BACH
13Tromba 1 in D.
15Trombe 2, 3 in D.
172 Clarinetti in C. FRANZ.
193 Trombe in D.
21It is to be regretted that the same amount of reverence for the author's intentions shown in the above arrangement has not always been evinced even by great musicians in dealing with the scores of others. Mozart, in his arrangement of the 'Messiah,' thought fit to rewrite the song 'The trumpet shall sound,' though whatever obstacle it may have presented to his trumpeter it has been often proved by Mr. Thomas Harper and others that Handel's trumpet part, though difficult, is certainly not impossible. Mendelssohn, in his score of the 'Dettingen Te Deum,' has altered (and we venture to think entirely spoilt) several of the very characteristic trumpet parts which form
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