Articulation attacks

The beginning of the nineteenth century does not involve a change in the types of attacks used in articulation, with regards to what had been happening in the previous decades. However, it is possible to observe a change in the musicians’ approach to the topic, concerning above all, the way in which the starting note range is defined and described; that is, the different types of attacks.

Partly because of the close relationship between performer and composer, by the end of the eighteenth-century musicians had in mind a sound ideal concerning articulation that made it unnecessary to make an issue of the topic. This situation changes with the turn of the century, when it starts to become necessary to describe more accurately many aspects of performance.

As a consequence, the amount of articulation marking in the scores increases with the appearance of signs which, although not necessary new, become more frequently used. However, it is important to stress that both the developed theoretical explanations and the graphic signs that come with them are just a tool to describe an already existing performance practice.

Ozi offers a paradigmatic example of this change of the musicians’ attitude in the way they deal with articulation at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Following the trend in his time, Ozi changes his approach to articulation in his two bassoon tutors, the Methode nouvelle et raisonee pour le basson (1787) and the Nouvelle méthode de basson (1803). However, in both tutors Ozi maintains that the main point of articulation is that it should match the main character of the passage. The chapter on articulation of the

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1787 Methode nouvelle et raisonee is built on this premise. Therefore, Ozi (1787:

10-15) illustrates what types of articulations should be used in the different characters.

Ozi’s tutor of 1803, however, does not simply show the relationship among different articulations for different characters, as he did in his previous tutor. In 1803 Ozi goes one step further, developing a technical explanation for each different type of attack to which he assigns a graphic equivalence by means of an articulation mark. That is to say, in 1803 Ozi deems necessary to include in his tutor a detailed description of a sound practice that already existed.

As happens with the general theoretical discourse on bassoon performance practice, Ozi also becomes a reference for future bassoonists in the field of articulation. In the Nouvelle méthode Ozi (1803: 6) distinguishes three different types of attacks, and he describes them in the following manner:

™ Coulé: This articulation is marked by a long slur. Ozi claims that only the first note should be pronounced.

™ Détaché: Articulation designed by a stroke ( ' ), and it requires a sharp tongue stroke over each note.

™ Piqué: Marked by a dot (·) over the note. It should be performed with less strength, that is to say, with a less sharp tongue stroke as the détaché, but with a support similar to the preceding one.

(Ozi 1803: 6) Although Ozi becomes a reference for decades, the theoreticians that followed introduced new nuances and complementary explanations to Ozi’s claims. However, the innovations and apparent variances can be understood just as a different approach to the same practical idea. The key to this disambiguation, in theory more than in practice, is in the main reference used by musicians to explain the idea.

Bassoonists like Blumer (1840: 5) or Willent-Bordogni (1844: 6), among other wind players, take string instruments as their reference, claiming that each articulation in wind instruments has its direct equivalent in the bow strokes. In the theoretical explanations for the different attacks they struggle to find similarities, asking the student to imitate different bow strokes, depending on the case. The comparisons with the strings’ articulation made by Willent-Bordogni, however, represent the search to find a sound reference in other instruments beyond the bassoon. They are based on the musicians’

assessment of the sound and in the seek for similarities in the resulting articulated sound between the strings and the bassoon.

Nevertheless, if we make the opposite comparison, that is to say, if we look into string instrument tutors similar to that by Willent-Bordogni, like Baillot’s 1834 L’Art du violon, it becomes harder to establish parallels between strings and wind, since the different kinds of articulations are described through the violin’s performance technique. Therefore, in order to find similarities with what is written in wind tutors, it becomes necessary to withdraw from the literal explanation and focus on the sound result of the described practice having in mind that, in some cases, the assigned mark may lead to misunderstanding.

Besides, Willent-Bordogni’s tutor shows another attempt to describe the practice—a sound idea of each articulation type—together with the assignment of a graphic sign and a name to it. As it often happens in his tutor, Willent-Bordogni extends Ozi’s words by adding a correlation with the string instrument technique describing to which bow stroke each attack corresponds. Moreover, Willent-Bordogni (1844: 6) adds a new type not mentioned before by Ozi. Therefore, articulation attacks are now divided in four:

™ Coulé: It is defined quoting Ozi together with the same musical examples.

™ Détaché: Designed by a stroke ( ' ). After sharing Ozi’s definition, Willent-Bordogni matches the bassoon détaché with the staccato in string instruments. But just as if he were not convinced by the similarity, he justifies it in a foot note explaining that the comparison is not completely exact, but, due to the bassoons slow vibration, the final result would be the same¹.

™ Piqué: Indicated by a dot (·). To Ozi’s words, that placed the piqué with one degree less of hardness than détaché, Willent adds that the tongue stroke should be dry in order to imitate the strings pizzicato.

™ Louré: This articulation, which was not mentioned by Ozi, is designated by dots under a slur. To explain its performance, Willent-Bordogni introduces a new consonant Do. In previous examples he used TU, as had done before².

(Willent-Bordogni 1844: 6)

1 La comparaison n’est pas parfaitement exacte, mais comme la vibration du basson est lente, le resultat será le même (Willent-Bordogni 1844: 6).

2 See the next subchapter 6.3. “Articulation from a woodwind perspective” for a deeper discussion on the use of syllables to describe the attacks.

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No matter how usual the attempt to generalize becomes in some musical practices, and despite of their being applicable to different families of instruments, these generalizations might lead to misunderstandings. For instance, the fact that Willent-Bordogni, writes justifications in foot notes, or that he does not find a reference for the last type of attack he describes, suggests that Willent-Bordogni was not completely sure that the similarities between the bassoon and string instruments were, in this case, sufficiently obvious.

Willent-Bordogni introduces the four types of attacks on which most authors agree, however, nineteenth-century tutors often suggest a different order in which to present them. Berr (1836b: 19), for instance, in both his bassoon and clarinet tutors, distinguishes only two different types: coulé and notes piqués. In the last group he includes the three types already mentioned détaché, piqué y pointé coulé (louré for Willent). Therefore, Berr explains the same performance practice, but changing the order and name of the last type of attack.

Jancourt (1847: 25) shares the same order with Berr, but in order to avoid the confusion with names normally used by the strings, he simplifies the name of each attack. Then, he adapts it to the bassoon specifics, taking the articulation mark as the starting point. So, just like Berr, Jancourt (1847: 25) writes about two different attacks:

™ Coulé: Jancourt quotes Ozi, using, as he did, the TU syllable as the performance key. However, in the musical example he adds some dynamic marks (cresc. and dim.) under the long slur, which is an indicator of the changing times.

™ Piqué à trois nuances bien distinctes (Piqué in three different nuances).

ƒ Accent ordinaire (ordinary accent): Indicated by a dot (·). Its performance should be made by pronouncing the syllable TU.

ƒ Accent doux ou coulé (soft accent or coulé): Described by a dot under a slur. In the musical example Jancourt indicates that it should be performed with the syllable DU.

ƒ Accent dur ou Détaché (hard accent or détaché): Indicated by a stroke ( ' ). He suggests a hard attack with a firm tongue stroke pronouncing the syllable TTU. However, Jancourt advises to use it only in the orchestra, not in solo playing, due to the hardness of this attack in the bassoon.

(Jancourt 1847: 25)

Jancourt endeavours to stress that, even one kind of attack, such as piqué, might have different nuances according to how it is played. In the case of the bassoon, the consonant used represents the key in the performance.

The French tradition described by the bassoon tutors appears to be quite homogenous, which makes us wonder if their claims concerning articulation are shared by German bassoonists. Even if at first, some apparent discrepancies arise between both traditions, they fade away after a closer look.

Joseph Fröhlich (1810-11: 63), important reference for wind instruments at the beginning of the nineteenth century in German speaking countries, contemplates two different types of attacks: Schleifen (legato) and Stoen (staccato). However, Fröhlich claims that Stoen, in turn, is divided into two different types; a sharper and a softer attack. The first type is indicated by a stroke; the second one, which he names staccato, is marked by a dot, and, as he remarks, it should be played with less hardness than the other one.

Although Fröhlich’s theories are presented differently from those in Ozi’s tutor, it becomes easy to relate Ozi’s Coulé with Fröhlich’s Schleifen; Détaché with the harder Stoen, both marked by a stroke; and the Piqué with the softer Stoen also called Staccato, marked by a dot. The same similarity between Ozi and Fröhlich, appears among the French and German bassoonists that follow.

Table 6.1 presents the inter-correlations among the articulation attacks as well as what is implied by the marks. It summarises the contributions of the different bassoonists quoted in the analysis, keeping the name each one of them uses for the articulation.

Mark Ozi Coulé Schleifen Coulé Coulé Schleifen Coulé

____

Piqué Piqué Staccato Accent ordinaire Table 6.1. Comparative articulation chart. Source: made by the author

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However, the apparent differences shown in the chart (table 6.1) can be seen just as a diverse approach to the same practical concept.

For instance, Neukirchner (1840: 17) refers in his Allgemeine Fagottschule to the same general articulations mentioned by Fröhlich: Schleifen (legato) and Stoen (staccato). However, instead of dividing Stoen into two groups, as Fröhlich does, Neukirchner divides it into three, according to the intensity of the attack. This is the same kind of division seen in French tutors of a similar date, like Berr’s, Willent-Bordogni’s or Jancourt’s (see chart in table 6.1).

If, for instance, we compare Neukirchner with Jancourt (1847: 25), Neukirchner’s named Staccato relates in its description to Jancourt’s Accent ordinaire (ordinary accent); weiche Staccato or weiche Accentuirung (soft accent) corresponds to Jancourt’s Accent doux ou coulé (soft accent); and Neukirchner’s harte Accentuirung (hard accent) corresponds, also graphically by a stroke, to Jancourt’s Accent dur ou détaché (hard accent).

It is important not to ignore the differences between French and German traditions concerning this subject, as they are described by Brown (1999: 200-240). However, I would like to introduce a nuance: In the case of the types of attacks used by wind instruments, the divergence in the names converges on a similar performance practice; as table 6.1 reveals.