Tempo and tactus in the German Baroque : treatises, scores, and the performance of organ music /

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Includes bibliographical references (pages [477]-514) and index.Introduction -- Treatise theory. The foundation of German Baroque tempo theory : Michael Praetorius ; Duple meter ; Triple and compound meter : proportional relationships ; "2" and blackened/whitened notation ; Beat patterns and tempo ; Source excerpts ; Tempo words -- Score analysis. The functional equivalency of the two "ordinary" duple meters in later seventeenth-century organ music ; Stylus phantasticus ; Differentiations between the two "ordinary" duple meters in Johann Sebastian Bach's music ; The large Allabreve and the "Kirnbergian" small Allabreve ; Triple meter and tempo words -- Synthesis. Case studies ; Final remarks, summary, and synthesis."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."--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 (that is, 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, Dieterich Buxtehude, Matthias Weckman, and Nicolaus 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 (such as allegro) functioned; and how the choice of performing forces-chorus, solo keyboard, and so on-could affect the way tempo was notated. By addressing questions of tempo fundamental to German Baroque music, this book lays important groundwork for organists and for performers of other instrumental music of this period.Julia Dokter is a musicologist (PhD, Utrecht) and organist (DMus, McGill) who teaches at Georgia State University in Atlanta.Online resource; title from digital title page (EBSCOhost, viewed June 7, 2021).