BACH’S E MAJOR VIOLIN SONATA

British violinist Simon Standage looks at the Adagio ma non tanto and ‘firework’ finale, in the second of two articles exploring this 18th-century work for violin and harpsichord

From Violin Sonatas no.1–3 BWV1014– 1016. Urtext edition, paperbound with marked and unmarked string parts. Ed. Hans Eppstein. Pf fingering Hans-Martin Theopold. Vn fingering and bowing Karl Röhrig. Order no. HN198, ISMN 979-0- 2018-0198-8. €25.50. Printed with permission of G. Henle Verlag, Munich © 1971/1999

By the time that Bach wrote this sonata in the 1720s, movement headings were becoming more specific indicators of character and speed. An andante, for example, indicated walking pace, but also a certain type of articulation. This vocabulary had increased tremendously by the time of Haydn, who himself had numerous qualifications of Allegro. Before the metronome came in, there were more degrees of speed variation than on a modern-day metronome stalk.

In this sonata, three out of the four movement tempo headings are in brackets, inserted by modern editors. In Bach’s day, players would have been expected to select their own tempos, determined by the character of the music, the speed of the harmonic movement, the complexity of the texture and the melodic ornamentation.

Adagio ma non tanto

In the case of the third movement, Bach’s instruction of ‘Adagio ma non tanto’ really says it all. Adagio is a relaxed tempo, not desperately slow, but ‘ma non tanto’ (‘not too much’) tells you something quite specific: to be calm and serene, but not too slow. The first note of the fiddle part needs to stand alone and to be in itself a thing of beauty, but the triplets from bar 5 have to move forward, the bass has to swing and the double-stopped quavers (e) from bar 13 should flow without disruption.

Identifying the important notes of the phrase

It can be instructive to write out the first bars of each movement in skeletal form, taking out the ornamentation and boiling it down so that you can recognise the most important notes of each phrase. This is a good exercise that will help you to appreciate what is ornamental and therefore needs to be treated more lightly, and which are the important notes to hear. In the third movement, for example, the second and third notes of each triplet from bar 5 are only decorative, so they can fall away slightly through each bow stroke, even within a growing, ascending line. When the two-and-two bowing begins in bars 9 and 29, the most important note is actually the B sharp, where the new phrase begins. I like to take a little time here, to emphasise that feeling, and I do the same in bar 57, where the phrase begins on the first G sharp.

THE SOLOIST

MICHAEL CLAXTON

NAME SIMON STANDAGE

NATIONALITY BRITISH

STUDIED WITH IVAN GALAMIAN

RECORDED FOR ARCHIV PRODUKTION, ARGO, CHANDOS, CRD RECORDS, NEDERLANDSE KLASSIEKE VAKHANDEL, VANGUARD CLASSICS

‘It’s only polite to try to match the harpsichordist’s articulation and style, and to help occasionally by stepping back or preparing a harpsichord entry’

Simon Standage’s 1999 recording of Bach’s Complete Sonatas for Harpsichord and Violin is available on RAM Records

Approach to shifting and timbre

A Baroque fiddle sounds best in the lower positions, so it would be uncharacteristic in this type of music to shift out of first position other than in exceptional or virtuoso circumstances. This is partly because, on an old fiddle with gut strings, you don’t have to go up the A string to avoid the sound of a metallic modern E. Nor would you go up the G, D or A strings just for a more subdued sound. Shifting up and down the strings is something that only became popular at the end of the 18th century.

Instead, create a more subdued sound using the bow, and try to move out of first position only for practical reasons.

For instance, when the material from the beginning of the third movement returns in a more subdued form in bar 33, I have written ‘less’. Warm up through bars 35–40 as that subdued feel dissipates with the rising tessitura, then just fractionally take time for the jump up to the E in bar 40. To prepare, you can move into third position on the D string to make the subsequent leap up the E string more secure. Then you can reduce in dynamic going into bar 41, to direct attention to the approaching harpsichord melody. Particularly in faster movements, it’s only polite to try to match the harpsichordist’s articulation and style, and to help occasionally by stepping back or preparing a harpsichord entry.

Anomalies in the score

In last month’s article I drew attention to a couple of rhythmic inconsistencies in the first movement, most likely made in error by Bach’s copyist and son-in-law Johann Christoph Altnickol. In the third movement, the notation of the second triplet of bar 43 also seems to be erroneous. If you compare it to other similar lines in the movement, such as the opening of the violin part, bar 43 is illogical and clearly anomalous. We can assume that the notes written should in fact be B–A#–G.

Of course, there is always a chance that Bach wanted what is written, but you have to weigh up probabilities. If this were intentional, I can’t think what sort of musical point it would make. Some people treat these inconsistencies as gospel truth, but to me it just looks like a mistake.

Fourth movement fireworks

The fourth and final movement goes at quite a lick. I would choose a speed based on the staccato triplets from bar 39, which should sound fast but comfortable – bearing in mind, of course, that the semiquavers (s) will be even faster! The whole thing is a bit of a firework, starting with the open E string bariolage in the violin part. The quick alternation between the open string and stopped notes makes the music feel alive as it jumps back Some people treat these inconsistencies as gospel truth, but to me it just looks like a mistake and forth. Playing this on the string in the middle to upper half of the bow will create a colourful, brilliant sound.

I would come off the string for the jumping arpeggio quavers in bars 5–7, and wherever that figure repeats, but then play slightly longer for the stepwise quavers that follow. I’ve marked tenuto lines in bar 8, but really it’s more in the mind: the effect should barely be audible, because the violin part here is subsidiary. In musical life you have to remind yourself of your station all the time, so that you don’t do something that isn’t your job! After this, it’s very exciting when in bar 12 the repartee between violin and harpsichord suddenly concludes with both parts locking together to run in parallel. That’s unprecedented so far in this piece.

In bar 29 you’ll see that I’ve put a square bracket on the top C sharp, because that is the beginning of a sequence exchanged between the violin and harpsichord. It’s important to play this strongly and clearly, and to recognise when you have to retreat. Don’t take too much of a breath before it begins: there’s no time to pause, but you can give the impression of a new start by using articulation instead, by playing very slightly longer on that first note.

Again, this is mostly in the mind, but I’ve written it on the page just in case the mind forgets!

In bar 38, you will need to use a whole bow on the minim (h), to set you up at the point for the staccato quavers that follow. That staccato itself should be gentle and light, not pressed into the string. It should also be exactly in time, but that’s not to say it should be inflexible! It is important to punctuate the music clearly, for example by taking tiny amounts of time at the main cadence points.

These same ideas recur throughout the movement, up until the hemiola in bars 152–153. This wraps everything up by stretching time so that suddenly the beats last twice as long. It is a sort of harmonic rit, written into the music, bringing the movement and the piece to a close without having to make any great change of tempo. You can then pull up just a little for the final two Es, so that you don’t hit your head on the end.

INTERVIEW BY PAULINE HARDING