Performing Bach's Keyboard Music Embellishments, Part III, The Trill

Author(s): George A. Kochevitsky

Source: Bach, Vol. 6, No. 1 (JANUARY, 1975), pp. 24-35
Published by: Riemenschneider Bach Institute
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41639944
Accessed: 05-06-2017 00:29 UTC

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 Performing Bach's Keyboard Music
- Embellishments, Part III, The Trill
By George A. Kochevitsky
New York City

Bach's Use of the Trill

The trill was indicated by Bach with the following signs: av ,

, or (written rather carelessly). Bach seems to have
used all of these signs indiscriminately: that is, the short sign did not
necessarily indicate the shorter trill, and vice versa. The length of the trill
depended, rather, upon the duration of the note above which the sign
was written.

Auxiliary Trills: Pros and Cons

The execution of the Bach trill involves some controversial points,

the first and most serious of which is the beginning of the trill. Trills of
the sixteenth century served a primarily melodic function. As melodic
ornaments they could, and did, begin on either the main note or the upper
auxiliary. For instance, Fray Toms de Santa Maria, in his treatise Arte
de taer fantasia (Valladolid, 1565), writes out the realization of the
normal trill or quiebro as a main-note trill (see Example 1), while Gio-
vanni Luca Conforti, explaining the trill in 1593 ( Breve et facile maniera
d'esser citarsi a far pas s agi [Rome, 1592]) realizes the trill or groppo di
sopra as an upper-auxiliary ornament (see Example 2).

Baroque trills, being primarily harmonic ornaments, usually started

on the upper auxiliary. However, there seem to have been some major
exceptions to this general rule. While in France there was established in
the seventeenth century a relatively strict rule for starting from the upper
auxiliary, in Italy, some seventeenth-century treatises continue to advocate
the earlier practice of beginning trills on the main note.

Johann Jakob Froberger (1616-1667), a pupil of the Italian master,

Girolamo Frescobaldi, brought the Italian practice of ornamenting into
Germany. Although Froberger was strongly influenced by French practice
during his sojourns in Paris, he employed the freer, less pedantic Italian
style of trill ornamentation, even in his later works.22 Another German
Frescobaldi pupil, Johann Caspar Kerll, also seems to have started his trills
upon the main note. And as late as 1703, Kerll's pupil, Franz Xaver
Murschhauser (1670-1737), explained the trill as starting from the main
note.23 Erwin Bodky has correctly pointed out that the compositions of
both of these composers were a part of the repertoire of the Bach family,24

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while Eta Harich-Schneider observes that German musicians under Italian
influence occasionally employed this form of trilling as late as the middle
of the eighteenth century.25

Georg Muffat, who came under the strong influence of Jean-Baptiste

Lully while studying in Paris near the end of the seventeenth century, tried
to propagate the French style of performance in Germany. Putnam
Aldrich points out, however, that even though the French style became
popular, there was no consistent use of French ornamentation symbols in
Germany in the first half of the eighteenth century.26 It does seem strange
that some of the same musicians who insist upon the propriety of per-
forming Bach's music with great flexibility, personal freedom, and impro-
visatory spontaneity, insist that there are no exceptions in Bach's music
to the "rule" that the trill begins on the note above the written note.27
In assessing the situation, Aldrich goes on to state: "It is impossible to
determine the exact data (italics are mine) of the establishment of the
French treblement (trill) in Germany."28 The present writer would agree.
It stands to reason that for such a change of practice there was not, and,
in fact, never could be, such a thing as "exact data." One must assume
that such a change in style was gradual, not sudden. Therefore, it would
seem logical to expect to find both manners of trill execution functioning
side by side throughout the first half of the eighteenth century in Germany.

Even in France, there was evidently no absolute uniformity of trill

practice in the late seventeenth century. Jean Rousseau, writing in 1687,
states that the appoggiaturas occurring before trills as unstressed binding
notes should be played before the beat ( italics are mine ) . When the trilled
note stands on the first beat, Rousseau begins such an appoggiatura even
before the bar line. In such a case, the trill would, of course, begin on
the main note.29

In his article, Ornamentik - einmal anders gesehen, Hermann Keller

states: "In eighteenth century [Germany] the rule to begin the trill always
with the upper auxiliary was an innovation." Concerning the performance
of trills in Bach's music, Keller concludes: "Everywhere - and only there
- when, instead of the trill, could stand an appoggiatura, the trill starts
from the upper auxiliary."30
In so stating, Keller reinforces the conclusions published by Franz
Kroll almost a century earlier, namely: "Whenever an appoggiatura from
above would be out of place, then the trill had better not begin with the
accessory."31

Unfortunately, although these statements do elucidate the problem,

they do not really eliminate it. The solutions to such problems remain
matters of personal taste and choice.

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 Of course, Bach was well acquainted with both the French and Italian
styles. Very possibly he was more inclined towards the French style (his
"Table of Ornaments" would seem to bear witness to that), but there is
no proof that he adhered strictly and exclusively to the French manner in
the execution of ornaments. There were, as a matter of fact, exceptions
made to the French rules in his time. Although one does not find excep-
tions to the rule to start trills from the upper auxiliary explicitly stated
in treatises of Bach's time, some musicologists, after thorough and meti-
culous analysis of Bach's works, have found it necessary to accept the fact
of such exceptions. Important evidence supporting this point of view lies
in the fact that when Bach and his pupils wrote trills in ordinary note
values, they sometimes began the trill on the main note. Alfred Kreutz
has called this type of evidence "occular demonstration,"32 while Neumann
terms it " . . . the external evidence . . . deduced from the notation. . . . "33
(See Examples 3 and 4 following the text of this article.)

It is interesting to note in this respect that in the written-out orna-

ments from the first movement of the harpsichord Concerto VIH (after
Vivaldi), the harmonic outline is kept intact; the bass is F-sharp, not G'

One can, then, deduce from solid evidence the following rules con-
cerning the performance of trills starting from the main note in Bach's
music:

The trill should start from the main note:

1. When it is preceded by the upper auxiliary note (this

avoids repetition of this tone). Such practice, of course, depends
upon the context: if the character of the piece (or a movement)
requires a smooth flowing execution, the repetition of the note
would create an undesirable kind of "musical stuttering" and
should be avoided

2. At the beginning of the piece or following a rest or a

staccato note

3. When an upper auxiliary trill would change a charac-

teristic skip in a melody or theme

(See also numbers 3 and 4 of the "common and general rules for
execution of Bach ornaments" BACH , Vol. V, No. 4, p. 28: "Ornam
should not change or blur the melodic outline of a composition,
"Ornaments should not alter the harmonic structure of a composition

Cases where the application of the above stated exceptions ap

necessary occur more frequently than one might suppose. Note, for
stance, measure 26 of Bach's Fugue in C-sharp Minor from the

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tempered Clavier, Bk. II (see Example 5). Johann Philipp Kirnbergers
main-note trill deciphering of Bach's sign jju as employed here illus-
trates the desire to avoid an awkward repetition of the A of the lower
voice while keeping intact the general metro-rhythmical pattern of the
triplet figure. Kirnberger s realization also suggests that the piece was
conceived to move at a rather lively tempo - a tempo in which it would
be inconvenient to trill at a more rapid rate of speed than that implied
by the triplet workings-out.

The initial statement of the subject of the Fugue in F -sharp Major

( W-T-C , Bk. II) presents a rather involved case of trill determination.
(See Example 6a.) At first sight, one can see that rule number 2, "The
trill should start from the main note at the beginning of a piece . . . ,"
would apply here.34 Bach's written-out use of the main-note trill figure
in measures 20 and 21 and 70 and 71 of this fugue further emphasizes
the appropriateness of executing a main-note trill at this point. (See
Examples 6b and 6c.)

Upon closer examination, however, a complication presents itself.

In measures 32 and 64 of the piece, the presentation of the fugue subject
with the upper auxiliary trill would necessitate the repetition of the note
standing before the trilled note. (See Example 6d.) Donald Tovey sug-
gests (as a means of resolving this dilemma) that the performer present
the trill of the subject as an upper auxiliary trill everywhere except for
these two entrances.35 His solution involves the upsetting of the uni-
formity of the presentation of the fugue subject - a disturbing situation
- and, also, sacrifices the "sharpness" (evidently desired by Bach) estab-
lished in the trilling of the tonic leading-tone pattern.

In the case of the second measure of the subject of Bach's Fugue in

D-Minor from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Bk. I (see Example 7a), the
trill has been traditionally executed from the main note according to the
exception for avoiding the upper auxiliary trill "after a staccato note."
Recently, however, pianists have started to play the trill from the upper
auxiliary (see Example 7b). Arnold Dolmetsch, who insisted upon this
interpretation, wrote that the trill should be reproduced exactly wherever
the subject occurred.36 In the case of the statement in measure 12, how-
ever, such an execution would result in parallel fifths (see Example 7c).
Erwin Bodky points out that (1) the important descending third (after
the B flat) of the subject should not be obscured and (2) that the "most
ugly potential fifths" offer proof that Bach did not intend that this trill
should start on the upper auxiliary.37

Other examples which call for main-note trill execution include:

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 1. The Fugue in G Major from the W ell-tempered Clavier , Bk. I.
(See Example 8.) Starting the trill on the upper auxiliary in
measures 25 and 26 where the subject appears in inversion
would change the characteristic interval of a seventh into a
sixth, a procedure which would hardly have been Bach's inten-
tion. The trill in this fugue subject must, therefore, begin on
the main note.

2. The Memiet II from the French Suite in D Minor. (See Ex-

ample 9a.) Starting this trill on the upper auxiliary would
result in parallel octaves. Therefore, it must be handled as a
main-note execution. (See Example 9b.) In addition, the
main-note trill preserves the characteristic repeated-note figure
which occurs sixteen times in this menuet. (See Example 9c.)

In his article "Ornamentation in J. S. Bach's Keyboard Works," Alfred

Kreutz mentions two kinds of trills which were common in Italy and
Germany and were frequently used by Bach. Both types were main- note
trills. The function of the first of these trills was to supply rhythmic
animation to pedalpoints. Before the end of such a trill, Kreutz notes, it
was permissible to make a leap of a third. (See Examples 10a and 10b.)
Another kind of main-note trill is described by Kreutz as one "with the
leaning on the principal note."38 (See Example 11.) Such trills are found
in the subjects of the fugues in E-flat major, F-sharp major, F-sharp minor,
and B major from the Well-tempered Clavier, Bk. I. Such a solution is
also possible for the trill of the G-Major Fugue (see Example 12) and
for the Gavotte from the D-Minor English Suite?9

The case for the Gigue of the English Suite in D-Minor , with its
abundance of trills, is an interesting one. In the second part of the Gigue ,
the theme is always inverted (except for the statements of the last two
bars where the bass is playing the inversion while the theme appears
simultaneously in the alto in its original form). Though no autograph
of this suite is in existence, Walter Emery states that the correct notation
in the second part of the Gigue ("satisfactorily established") is not
but or - indications of the so-called full-length mor-
dent (F. Couperin's pinc continu) , the trill which starts from the main
note but alternates with its lower auxiliary.40 Such a realization is abso-
lutely logical in view of the inversion. The present writer would also
suggest that the pedalpoint trills in the first part should begin on the
main notes. Such an execution will make the inversion still more complete.

In summary: While some musicians in their writings and/or prac-

tices insist that Bach's trill must invariably begin with the upper auxiliary,

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others - though accepting this rule in general - see the necessity for
some exceptions to it.
Trill Duration

It is important to remember that the long trill sometimes takes the

duration of the entire value of the note to which it belongs and some-
times only a part of that value - a decision which can be made only after
consideration of the trill in context. In Bach's Two-Part Invention in D
Minor, for instance, the long trill should be stopped before the new motive
begins to make clear the entrance of the motive, rather than clouding it!
(See Example 13.)
The trill upon a dotted note is usually ended on the dot or near the
dot, while the trill upon the tied note stops before the second ( tied ) note,
without stress and without closing notes. Usually, however, Bach's trills
(particularly the long ones) require termination and, most often, Bach
writes out these terminations in regular notes. In cases of this type where
Bach has not written out the terminations, the performer should feel free
to terminate according to his taste. The performer will usually select the
turned ending as given by Bach in his "Table of Ornaments" (see BACH ,
Vol. IV, No. 4, p. 30). The forming of such terminations does not con-
stitute a problem, and there are many examples in Bach's music to follow.
Preferably, but not necessarily, the termination is formed in somewhat
slower note values than those of the preceding trill.

Measured or Non-Measured Trills

Another controversial, though not so heatedly debated, point con-

cerning Bach trills is the question of whether or not they should be
measured. Ferruccio Busoni always deciphered the trills in measured nota-
tion. Rosalyn Turek believes that Bach trills are never to be played as
"a haphazard whirr of speed and sound" but are to be measured as either
two or four notes to a note in another voice.41 Madame Turek refers to
"Bach's Table of Ornaments," which in the opinion of the present writer
is an erroneous procedure, since in the various "Tables" the deciphering
is always given in regular note values. Ambiguously and contradicting
herself, Madame Turek adds the opinion that measured trill execution
provides more expressive possibilities, i.e., a trill should be played rubato
but this freedom must be, as she says, "founded on the two-note frame-
work." The question is, does she, then, mean to play another coincidental
voice rubato?

Jorg Demus suggests playing Bach trills (especially in fugue sub-

jects) in a fixed number of notes in order that they could be repeated
unchanged at each appearance of the theme.42 His consideration is quite

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reasonable. However, some other musicians hold the view that Bach's
trill is never to be executed in regular sixteenth- or thirty-second note
values.43

The author of this essay is inclined to place Bach trills in a fixed

metro-rhythmical system but to admit that, as with any rule of inter-
pretation, there will be exceptions.

Opinions differ, again, as to whether the trill should be played

evenly from beginning to end or with an acceleration. In his edition of
the Goldberg Variations, Ralph Kirkpatrick presents the second point of
view, following the French manner (although Franois Couperin him-
self stated that such speeding up "must be imperceptible").44

It would seem that such an accelerating trill execution is not really

characteristic of Bach, even though Example 4 would seem to prove the
opposite. Such an extraordinary situation could, however, hardly be taken
as usual for Bach. In any event, in that instance, Bach speeds up the trill
abruptly and two-fold, in contrast to Couperins suggestion.

Johann Joachim Quantz maintained that the correct execution called

for the use of the trill of equal rapidity from beginning to end45 - and
this, in spite of his French influence! Busoni was of the same opinion
as, evidently, is Putnam Aldrich, while Hans M. Linde leaves the decision
to play the trill evenly or to accelerate it towards the end to the taste of
the performer.46

Bach also occasionally employed aspirated or interrupted trills. Ex-

amples of this type of trill can be found in the E-Minor Prelude of the
W ell-tempered Clavier , Bk. I , measures 10 and 12 and in the French
Overture ( 2nd Grave, measure 2 and in the first movement, measure 145 ) .
(See Examples 14 and 15.)

Bach trills in the faster pieces of an energetic, gay, or lively char-

acter should sound extremely brilliant and should, therefore, be executed
quite distinctly by active fingers. However, in pieces which seem to have
been intended for the clavichord, the trill sound should resemble the
bebung ("vibrato") effect possible upon that instrument. This type of
trill should be executed by forearm rotation and with very little finger
movement in such a way that the keys of the piano do not return to their
initial positions between strokes.

C. P. E. Bach, who loved the clavichord and played mostly upon this
instrument, was probably indicating such an execution when he wrote:
"The trill and the mordent . . . must be so performed that the listener
will believe that he is hearing only the original note."47

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 Examples

Ex. 1. Fray Toms de Santa Maria, Quiebro or normal trill,

Arte de taer fantasia ( 1565 ), fol. 48r

Ex. 2. Giovanni Luca Conforti, Groppo di sopra (trill) from

Br eue et facile maniera di esser citarsi ... a far pas aggi (1593)

Ex. 3. J. S. Bach, [Organ} Prelude and Fugue in A Minor,

BWV 551, Fugue, meas. 46-47

Ex. 4. Bach, [Clavier] Concerto VIII ("after Vivaldi"),

BWV 979, First movement, meas. 35

Ex. 5. Bach, Fugue in C-sharp Minor, W ell-temp er ed Clavier, Book II,

BWV 873, meas. 26 and proper execution of trill in the same

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Ex. 6a. Bach, Fugue in F -sharp Major, WTC, II,
BWV 882, meas. 1-2 and proper execution of the same

Ex. 6b. Bach, Fugue in F -sharp Major, meas. 20-21

Ex. 6c. Bach, Fugue in F -sharp Major, meas. 70-71

Ex. 6d. Bach, Fugue in F-sharp Major, meas. 32-33

Ex. 7a. Bach, Fugue in D Minor, WTC, I,

BWV 851, meas. 2 (as traditionally played)

Ex. 7b. Bach, Fugue in D Minor, meas. 2 (as frequently played today)

Ex. 7c. Bach, Fugue in D Minor, meas. 12

Ex. 8. Bach, Fugue in G Major, WTC, I,

BWV 860, meas. 2 and meas. 25

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Ex. 9a. Menuet II from French Suite in D Minor ,
BWV 812, meas. 18, together with realization of trill
from main note showing parallel octaves

Ex. 9b. Bach, Menuet II, proper execution of trill in meas. 18

Ex. 9c. Bach, Menuet II, meas. 1-2

Ex. 10a. Bach, Fugue in G Major , WTC , II,

BWV 884, meas. 57

Ex. 10b. Bach, proper execution of the trill in meas. 57

Ex. 11. Bach, Violin Sonata in E minor, Allemande,

BWV 1023, meas. 12-13

Ex. 12. Another possible solution for Example 10a

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Ex. 13. Bach, Invention in D Minor,
BWV 775, meas. 12-22 and proper execution of same

Ex. 14. Bach, E-minor Prelude, WTC, I,

BWV 855, meas. 10 and 12

Ex. 15. Bach, French Overture (2nd Grave),

BWV 831, meas. 2

Footnotes:

22 Eta Harich-Schneider, The Harpsichord (New York: Brenreiter, I960),

23 Erwin Bodky, The Interpretation of Bach's Keyboard Works (Cambridge,
Harvard University Press, I960), p. 161.
24 Ibid.
25 Harich-Schneider, p. 38.
26 Putnam C. Aldrich, "On the Interpretation of Bach's Trills," The Musical Quar-
terly 49 (July 1963) : 293.
27 Putnam C. Aldrich, Ornamentation in J. S. Bach's Organ Works (New York:
Coleman Ross Co., 1950), p. 32.
28 Putnam C. Aldrich, "The Principal Agrments of the XVII and XVIII Centuries:
A Study of Musical Ornamentation" (Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University,
1942), p. 316.
29 Jean Rousseau, Trait de la viole (Paris: Ch. Ballard, 1687), pp. 79-82.
30 See Hermann Keller, Ornamentik - einmal anders gesehen, Neue Zeitschrift fr
Musik, Vol. 11, 1956.
31 Franz Kroll, ed., J. S. Bach, Das Wohltemperierte Ciavier, in Bach Gesellschaft
(Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hrtel, 1866), Vol. 14, p. xxiii.
32 Alfred Kreutz, "Ornamentation in J. S. Bach's Keyboard Works," Hinrichsen's
Musical Yearbook, VII (London: Hinrichsen Edition Ltd., 1952), p. 361.
33 Friedrick Neumann, "External Evidence and Uneven Notes," Musical Quarterly 52
(October 1966) : 448.
34 Walter Emery, Bach's Ornaments (London: Novello & Co., Ltd., 1953), pp.
43-44.
35 Donald Francis Tovey, ed., Forty-eight Preludes and Fugues by J. S. Bach, Book 11,
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1924), pp. 23-24.
36 Arnold Dolmetsch, The Interpretation of the Music of the XVllth and XVlllth
Centuries (London: Novello & Co., Ltd., 1915), p. 169.

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37 Bodky, Interpretation, p. 158.
38 Kreutz, "Ornamentation," pp. 369-370.
39 Ibid., p. 370.
40 Emery, Bach's Ornaments, p. 146.
41 Rosalyn Turek, An Introduction to the Performance of Bach (London: Oxford
University Press, I960), Vol. I, p. 9 and Vol. II, p. 9.
42 See Jorg Demus, Bach am Klavier in sterreichische Musikzeitschrift for Janu-
uary, 1954.
43 Harich-Schneider, p. 41.
44 Ralph Kirkpatrick, ed., J. S. Bach, The Goldberg Variations (New York: G.
Schirmer, 1938), "Preface" and various notes throughout.

45 Johann Joachim Quantz, On Playing the Flute (New York: The Free Press,
1966), p. 102.
46 See Hans M. Linde, Kleine Anleitung zum Verzieren alter Musik (Mainz: B.
Schotts Shne, 1958).
47 C. P. E. Bach, Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments (New
York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1949), p. 150.

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