Articulation in bass diminutions

Diminutions are (improvised) embellishments that replace long notes with notes of shorter value.  Adding diminutions to a vocal line was a practice that was developed in the 16th century, with the purpose of ornamenting a vocal line in a polyphonic piece. This could be done by a singer or by an instrumentalist who was replacing or doubling the singer.

Towards the end of the sixteenthth century this practice developed more and more into a distinct genre. Virtuoso instrumentalists took a previously composed (by another composers), often popular, madrigal, and ornamented one of the vocal lines. The original madrigal would be played on an organ or other instruments as an accompaniment to the diminution. These originally vocal madrigals were now used as a base for a newly ‘composed’ diminution, making the composition a fusion between 2 composers: the one composer who composed the madrigal, and the other one who wrote the diminutions.^[1]

In the sixteenth century, the musical objective of instrumentalists is clear: namely, to get as close  to the human voice as possible. Not only articulation-wise, but also matters such as sound production, phrasing and dynamics should be in favor of a vocal treatment of the music.

Sylvester Ganassi opens chapter one of his treatise La Fontegara^[2]with the following statement:

  ”You have to know that compared to the human voice, all musical instruments are subordinate. This is why we concern ourselves to learn from them, and to imitate them.”

Francesco Rognoni Taeggio advocates in his Selva de varii passaggi:^[3]

 “The cornetto is an instrument which partakes more in the qualities of the human voice than does any other[…] You should play it with discretion and delicacy, seeking to imitate the human voice; and the tongue should be neither too dead, nor too harshly struck, but rather be similar to the gorgia.”

If we have a look at solo bass repertoire from this period, diminutions for basso solo, what are the fastest notes we are dealing with? When we have a look at the diminutions on bass parts by Giovanni Bassano, we see that they all have 16th notes as fastest note value.  This is typical for this repertoire from this period. With a maximum speed of approximately minim 60, this means all the notes can be attacked, either using a fast paired,  or a double tongue-stroke.

As we have pointed out before, the objective in this repertoire is to stay as close as possible to the human voice. Dalla Casa commences his chapter about the three principal tonguings on the cornetto^[4], with a tongue-stroke that resembles the gorgia most: the Lingua Riversa. Gorgia means throat in Italian. The word was used for the vocal technique that described the execution of fast vocal diminutions and ornaments such as the trillo executed by the throat. The lingua riversa consists of two syllables, strong and weak.

When, because of a lack in technique, using a fast single-tongue instead of a paired or double-stroke, there is a danger that all the notes will sound equal in strength and the alteration between strong and weak be lost. In this case,  I would recommend slurring two-and-two.

Not every double-reed player is able to use a double-tongue articulation in a flexible, expressive and virtuosic manner. As mentioned before, I believe that in the end, the audible result is more important than the technique used. Slurring two by two can give a satisfactory result. It resembles the le-re le-re articulation on the cornetto. Personally, I prefer the du-ge du-ge double-tonguing on the dulcian, because of its clarity, and its diversity of nuances.

Appendix I contains a diminution on Ancor che col partire by Cipriano de Rore with a suggestion of articulation syllables to be used on a bass dulcian.

Conlusion

In sixteenth century diminution repertoire played on the dulcian, we should restrain ourselves from using slurs over more than two notes at a time in fast passages, however a double tongue-stroke is to be preferred. When using a double tongue-stroke is not an option, slurring two by two can be a good alternative. The aim of articulation in this genre is to resemble the gorgia articulation of the human voice.