Ornamentation According to C.P.E. Bach & J.J. Quantz

Excerpt #1

The turn symbol cannot be found in either the flute or the cembalo version of the A Minor Concerto, Wq. 166 and Wq. 26 respectively. But there are many places where the sign is used in the cembalo versions of the other three concerti that Bach transcribed for the flute: the Concerto in Bb Major, Wq. 28; the Concerto in A Major, Wq. 29; and the Concerto in G Major, Wq. 34. These are important sources to use when studying any of the flute concerti because Bach does not use the turn symbol in works for nonkeyboard instruments:. Instead the generic tr sign: is once again relied upon by composers in the eighteenth century to stand for this ornament:

Despite the musical worth of this ornament (i.e., the turn), its symbol is little known apart from the keyboard. It is often indicated by the signs of the trill....There are many examples in which the turn is better and easier than the trill.

The lack of symbols aside from the keyboard often leads to the setting of the trill's sign in places where this ornament is ill at ease. Sometimes the speed of a piece makes it impossible to execute.

Excerpt #2

The half or short trill, which is distinguished from the others by its acuteness and brevity, is notated for the keyboard in the manner of [example 63]. Included in the figure is an illustration of its execution. Despite the upper slur:, which reaches from the beginning to the end of the example, all notes are played except the second G and the last F, each of which is tied to its preceding tone by another slur which indicates that it must not be struck....The short trill joins the preceding note to the decorated one and therefore never appears over detached notes. It represents in miniature an enclosed, unsuffixed trill, introduced by either an appoggiatura or a principal note.

The half or short trill appears only in a descending second regardless of whether the interval is formed by an appoggiatura or by large notes....It is found over short notes or over those made short by a preceding appoggiatura.

These paragraphs and Bach's diagram need some explaining. First, Bach states that the two-waggle chevron: is his symbol for the half trill in keyboard music, yet he notates all of his trills, even those that will be interpreted as trilled turns and snapped turns, with the tr symbol: throughout the flute concerto. This notation: was not done out of negligence on the part of the composer or the copyist. It was simply a convention of the time for writing music for nonkeyboard instruments:

The lack of symbols aside from the keyboard often leads to the setting of the [normal] trill's sign in places where this ornament is ill at ease. Sometimes the speed of a piece makes it impossible to execute.

Singers and instrumentalists other than keyboardists who wish to perform well need most of our short embellishments just as much as we do. However, our ways are much more orderly than theirs, for keyboardists have given embellishments specific signs the more exactly to indicate the detailed performance of their compositions. Because others have not shown such commendable foresight, but have tried, rather, to indicate everything through only a few signs, the study of ornamentation is much more taxing for them than it is for the keyboardist. Their signs have grown ambiguous or, indeed, incorrect, a condition which even today causes many improprieties in performance. This is why it is so important for the musician to learn the contexts that are required for each of these ornaments in order to recognize the type of trill that a composer had in mind.