verba docent

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been finishing the first draft of my PhD dissertation, which is a study of American performances of the B Minor Mass. I’m sorry that I disappeared for so long, but the good news is that I’ve finished the thesis draft! So I’m celebrating by returning to the blog, like any good Bach addict would do…

Antonio Vivaldi, prolific concerto composer

Speaking of “returning”– The topic of today’s post is Bach’s use of the ritornello in his music. At its most obvious, we know ritornelli from the hundreds of Vivaldi concerti; it is the “orchestral introduction” that we hear before the solo instrument enters. The same ritornello material is then played in the solo instrument, and then returns (hence its Italian name) again afterwards. It may change its guise a bit—changing keys higher or lower, so that the relative brilliance of the sound changes; changing orchestration so the colors change; or even going switching between major and minor so that the general feeling changes. But we are aware that something familiar is returning again and again, providing signposts along the way.

Ritornello form is most obvious in instrumental concerti, since the alternation between the soloist(s) and full ensemble are easier to pick out. In general, the tutti sections will feature all or part of the ritornello, whereas the solo “breaks” are based on that material, but explored in different ways.

In order to get a sense of this form, you might want to watch this performance of the first movement of Bach’s Brandenburg Concert No. 5.

Even listening to just the first half will give you a sense of the form:

This is actually typical of the use of the ritornello by Bach—always more creative than other Baroque composers, he expands upon current practice in new and sophisticated ways. So instead of just quoting the entire ritornello at the beginning, end and at one or two junctures in the middle, he is more apt to fragment and use the material in unexpected ways.

There is even an accepted form to the ritornello, which is usually sixteen or twenty-four bars long. We might as well use the German words to describe the three sections, since the terms were coined by the German musicologist Wilhelm Fischer in 1915:

The opening section, or Vordersatz (literally “front sentence”), presents a motive from which the rest of the ritornello—and the whole movement—will be derived. The section which follows, “spins” material out of the Vordersatz, so it’s called the Fortspinnung, or “spinning forth”. I love the use of the word “spinning” for that section, because it almost always involves sequences “spinning” around a circle of fifths, the classic Baroque progression. The final section is called the Epilog—as the word suggests, it closes the section, usually quoting something from the Vordersatz.

In the last post, I talked about the nature of the Kyrie I fugue subject and some theological ideas behind each section. This time, I’d like to suggest that you go back to that opening instrumental ritornello, but this time, listen with ears for the ritornello rather than the fugue. That is part of the particular genius of this movement: it is a ritornello masquerading as a fugue! That’s why Bach breaks off the fugue after only two entrances, something that is very unusual for a composer whose usual practice is to introduce the fugue subject in every voice before introducing new material.

So listen to Suzuki’s recording of those bars, noting the appearance of each section of the ritornello:

0:00 Vordersatz (fugue subject twice)
0:23 Fortspinnung
1:23 Epilog (fugue subject returns)

You’ll notice, by the way, that there is some more Fortspinnung material in the Epilog—as always, Bach won’t be straitjacketed by forms!

Opening Ritornello

In my next post, I’ll talk about the nature of each of those sections and how they relate back to the theological ideas I discussed in my post about the fugue subject.

And I really will be back sooner this time!