I really think the decision of whether to ornament or not, or how much to
ornament, depends on the aria. I just did a concert of Handel arias and
duets with an early music group here, and ornamented to varying degrees for
the different pieces. One duet we ornamented extensively and the other not
at all. One of my arias was "Cara sposa" which I ornamented just a tiny bit
because it has such dignity and grace when it's simple. The other aria was
"Verdi prati", which, because it has one section which is stated once, then
returns 3 more times, I felt could use a bit more ornamentation. On the
other hand, I did a concert with the same group last spring and did a Bach
aria for which the text was so penitential that I felt that ornamentation
was out of place. It just depends on the piece.
Lee Morgan
Mezzo-soprano
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeffrey Snider [mailto:snide76258@y...]
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 7:55 PM
To: vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [vocalist] Re: ornamentation
--- In vocalist-temporary@y..., "Faber, Dave" <dave.faber@n...> wrote:
> Hello!
>
> I'm learning "Gerne will ich mich bequemen" from Bach's St. Matthew
Passion.
> Should I ornament the da capo?
>
Yes. Some will disagree, but if you don't, it's just plain boring,
IMO. Listen to some recordings by baroque specialists, they will do
something. Some easy things to do are appoggiaturas, "filling in"
thirds, adding little melismas and turns, etc.
Unfortunately, there isn't a lot out there in terms of "rules" etc.
Even the "experts" can only take the handful of writings on the topic
and the few examples of contemporary ornamentation that survives n
notation and "extrapolate" some trends.
Good luck, and have fun! (Can't help you on the Telemann, I don't
think, but I'll look.)
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