MEASURE, BEAT, AND UPBEAT
A: Monsieur l‟Abé et monsieur son varlet, B: L‟un est grand fol, l'autre petit follet:
6.9 The compound afterbeat: Bach‟s Capriccio BWV
The Arioso of Bach‟s Capriccio sopra la lontananza del fratello dilettissimo, BWV 992/1, opens with a special type of afterbeat, fundamentally different from the ones discussed above. The main difference between the two afterbeat types is the
156 This device of “subdominant recapitulation” is common in other Bach‟s works, e.g., in the E major 2-part Invention, m. 21–24, and in the F major Sinfonia, m. 17; and Italian Concerto
BWV 971/1, m. 103, as well as in the first movement of Mozart‟s Piano Sonata K. 545.
preceding rest sign:
or
in the canzona-type;
in the new type, which I termcompound. Its best-known examples, beside BWV 992/1, are the E major (WTC I)
and f minor (WTC II) fugues, and the A major Fughetta on Allein Gott in der Höh‟
sei Ehr (Clavier-Übung III, BWV 677).
Example 43
a) BWV 677: Fughetta super Allein Gott in der Höh‟ sey Ehr
b) BWV 854/2: Fugue in E major, WTC I
c) BWV 883/2: Fugue in f minor, WTC II
Whereas the evolution of the former afterbeat type definitely tags it as canzona- engendered, the origins of the compound afterbeat are less clear. Instead of attempt- ing here a „generic‟ explanation of the compound afterbeat, as I have done with the canzona-type, it seems that each instance of the compound afterbeat needs its own exegesis. I will limit myself here to two cases, a) the Capriccio BWV 992/1; b) the
f
minor fugue (WTC II), BWV 883/2.Since the compound afterbeat is not very common in Bach‟s music, one may ask whether he just follows here an old-fashioned notational tradition, or uses it for an intended “special effect”.158 As with all afterbeat types, the opening rests (
) result in an end-accent of the entire phrase. The difference becomes clear if we compare the original notation with a rebarring of the same phrase (Examples 44 a, b).158
One precedent of compound afterbeat is Johann Kuhnau‟s “Sonata quarta” from Frische
Example 44 a: BWV 992/1: Capriccio (Arioso) – original rhythm Adagio
Example 44 b: Capriccio BWV 992/1 – shifted rhythm
The apparent reason for opening the piece with rest signs is the end-accent of the first phrase. But we see later on that other important occurrences too – the pedal point (2nd quarternote, m.5), the tonic cadenza (3rd quarternote, m.16), or the final chord (3rd quarternote, m.17) – fall on metrically weak points. As in many slow
pieces, the difference between a full measure and mid-bar is blurred; a
meter could have served here just as well. But, following the conventions of his time (about 1704–1707), Bach seldom used the relatively modern
signature for ada-gio.159 Beside following older notational traditions, it seems that Bach had here a certain poetic intention. Trying to convey longing, or some similar non-assertive affects, he begins the piece from mid-air, as it were. The entire Arioso closes in the same way, with the final chord on mid-bar.
As for the theme of the f
minor Fugue (WTC II), the effect of the afterbeat is that none of its notes, until the very last one (on measure 4), falls on a mainbeat. Thus the compound afterbeat achieves here a syncopated, hovering feeling.159 Peter Williams, “Two Case Studies in Performance Practice and the Details of Notation: 1. J. S. Bach and 2/4 Time”, EM 21 (1993), 613–622). According to Williams, the signature was relatively modern in Bach‟s early years, who used it only later than the Capriccio (ca. 1703), in the Weimar period (e.g., in his version of Prince Johann Ernst of Weimar‟s Concer- to (BWV 984/2, Adagio e affettuoso; 1713–14).
6.10 Conclusion
The forebeat incipit, a universal device, became in the 17th century a particularly French predilection. Whereas 16th- or early 17th-century forebeats were usually limited to simple patterns, they were more developed in French circles, especially by lutenists, apparently beginning with Jean-Baptiste Besard. Compound upbeats (
;
) became a fashion in French dances and characteristic incipit of cer- tain dance types. The one-note (or three-note) forebeat became typical of the cou- rante and allemande, while the sarabande – later also the minuet – were usually mainbeat. Bourrée and passepied usually display one- or two-note forebeat. Since mid-17th century, the half-measure upbeat became closely associated with the ga- votte. The process was at first erratic: dances of the early to mid-17th-century French lute repertory do not keep to any fixed model, and even the various repeats of the same dance may begin with different upbeat patterns. At the threshold of the 18th century, the French predilection for upbeats reached its height, with extended forebeats almost one measure long. Many long-measure (
,
, etc.) pieces show an extended forebeat pattern through all repeats, in binary forms and in variations. As a result, the final chord, sometimes no longer than a quarter, or an eighth-note, may constitute the entire last measure. Thus the phrase structure becomes end-accented, conforming to the rhythm of the French language. This process reached its peak in the music of François Couperin but, with the exception of the gavotte and chaconne dance patterns, found little echo outside France. In Germany, mainbeat, as well as the short forebeat, were characteristic of many songs and dances.160 On the other hand, a preferred pattern of opening abstract instrumental pieces was the afterbeat, marked by a very short rest in the beginning of the first phrase. Opening Afterbeats are most characteristic of Pachelebel, Buxtehude and J. S. Bach. However, they are largely a heritage of the stile antico tradition, probably evolved from the contracted form of chanson, canzona and ricercar rhythm, and are thus of cosmopolitan ori- gins. They are often met in conservative French organ music (Livres d'orgue of Raison [1688], de Grigny [1699] and others), particularly in the repertory of fugues, ricercars and similar genres. Whereas afterbeats are a common hallmark of the so- called learned-style, the French-style forebeats are nearly absent in non-French repertories, although the French style was readily imitated in all countries.The French extended forebeat and the German afterbeat are, in a way, similar. At times they are not easy to distinguish from each other, since the formal presence (or not) of a rest sign at the opening measure is not a sufficient distinction between them. But in essence they are opposed to each other. I suggest a simple criterion to
160 A certain predilection for upbeats is observed also in the German traditional song, particular- ly noticeable in Protestant chorales, most often set to iambic verses.
distinguish between an unambiguous (canzona-engendered) afterbeat and other types of upbeat: the afterbeat is usually marked by a very short rest sign (a single
or
), whereas longer rests at the opening may designate other upbeat types, such as the French extended forebeat, or a different type (as in the example of the CapriccioBWV 992). While the French forebeat makes the phrase end-accented, the afterbeat
may also have an opposite effect. On the one hand, both contribute to an end- accented phrase balance. The forebeat shifts the close to the accented part of the measure, while the afterbeat does the same by adding something to the phrase. The afterbeat also adds extra weight to the head of the phrase; indeed the missing first beat paradoxically acquires a stress of its own, lending a special emphasis to the first measure, while at the same time also enhancing the expectation of what fol- lows. This is confirmed by a device which I term bass-prepared afterbeat. The bass preparation before an afterbeat, an everyday occurrence in German late Baroque, is in fact absent in Couperin‟s Pièces de clavecin, or in the French solo lute repertory; but it was often used by French composers in vocal and chamber music (Example 45).
Example 45: Prepared afterbeat – François Couperin, Ad te levavi oculos meos
We may explain the paradox of the accented missing beat as conditioned by the habit of the bass-prepared afterbeat. This device has become so self-evident in the Baroque musical language, that it was often expected – perhaps even heard in the imagination – without being actually played. It could be missing in one version, and present in another version of the same composition.
Example 46 b: BWV 29/1: Sinfonia from Cantata Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken
dir (1731)
The special accent implied by the afterbeat, combined with the German tenden- cy to a sturdier harmonic scaffolding than in the French style, naturally gives rise to the head- and end-accented phrase structure, so characteristic of Bach.
Finally, although each of the various upbeat types discussed has its own differ- ent musical significance and history, the most specific Baroque types – the French forebeat and German afterbeat – eventually shared a common fate. In the following Classical era both became obsolete with the new wave of “natural simplicity”. The prevailing upbeat became again the old simple short one, already known since the 15th century.
A note on performance
The Couperinesque way of forebeat notation ought to have some consequence on performance practice as well; but it is not easy to define a generally recommended performing manner that makes the long forebeat understood as such. The common- est way to mark a short forebeat is to play it more lightly than the following main- beat note, or to separate it from the mainbeat by articulation. But these rudimentary means are inadequate for rendering an extended forebeat intelligible, or making a phrase end-accented, particularly on the organ or harpsichord. Perhaps the differ- ences between short-forebeat, long-forebeat and afterbeat phrases are only of nu- ance, or accomplished by means of thinking alone. By „thinking forward‟, an end- accented phrase becomes different, of a wider scope, with a certain élan and light- ness, with more grace and sophistication, than a head-accented one. Even the tempo may acquire a new lightness. One might wonder indeed why this French trait, well known outside France, was so rarely used, practically ignored, by composers of other nations (Germany in particular), who otherwise eagerly emulated everything French, in music and in other respects.