Theoretical constructs latent in thoroughbass treatises of the 18th century can serve students of thoroughbass today. In the following work, I draw from Johann David Heinichen’s Der General-Bass in der Composition (1728), David Kellner’s Treulicher Unterricht im General-Baß (2nd edition, 1737), Johann Mattheson’s Der vollkommene Capellmeister (1739), Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg’s Handbuch bey dem Generalbasse und der Composition, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen (part 2, 1762), and recent scholarship in the areas of Partimento theory, Musica Poetica, and early music theory in general, to demonstrate how the many thoroughbass figures can all be contextualized in an historically informed theoretical framework. In the first two chapters, (1) thoroughbass figures are analyzed as having an internal hierarchy of primary and auxiliary intervals, allowing chords to be understood both vertically and linearly; (2) chords are localized in the major and minor modes according to bass scale steps; and (3) the various contrapuntal procedures associated with dissonant chords used in both the strict style (stylus gravis) and freer styles (stylus luxurians communis and stylus luxurians theatralis) are analyzed as German musical-rhetorical figures. In chapter 3, these three theoretical constructs are used to organize an extensive collection of dissonant chord progressions derived from the aforementioned treatises of Heinichen, Mattheson, Marpurg, and Bach. In chapter 4, I draw from basic elements of partimento theory—namely cadences, sequences, and the Rule of the Octave (regola dell’ottava or règle de l’octave)—to construct a series of exercises; most of these exercises use a relatively strict four-part texture and are illustrated from multiple righthand starting positions to promote flexibility in the student. Finally, in chapter 5, practical matters of thoroughbass realization, namely pragmatic and expressive concerns, are discussed and illustrated with examples from many treatises of the 17th and 18th centuries.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/48782 |
| Date | 17 May 2024 |
| Creators | Haskell, Sheridan |
| Contributors | Coelho, Victor |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | Attribution 4.0 International, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
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