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Italian Baroque Ornamentation:Taking into account the Baroque Oboe

By Rebecca Kemper ScarnatiFlagstaff, Arizona

uring the first half of the eighteenthcentury, there were a tremendous numberof sonatas and concerti written for thethen newly-developed oboe. Particularly in

those works written by Italian composers, a greatdeal of ornamentation must be added by theperformer. Both the characteristics and thetechnical problems encountered when playing thebaroque oboe would have greatly affected aperformer’s choice of ornaments. Through theprism of the second movement of the OboeConcerto in d minor by Alessandro Marcello, thisarticle explores both the limitations of andpossibilities for ornamentation on the baroqueoboe, which can then be applied to the modernoboe in an effort to create more authenticornamentation.

Until the middle of the seventeenth century,double reed instruments were rather crude bytoday's standards. Around 1660 three families inParis began working on the shawm, converting itinto what has come to be known as the baroqueoboe. The families Philidor, Chédeville, andHotteterre were all members of the windensembles of the Grand Ecurie du Roi1, 2, whoperformed Lully's operas-ballets, the first worksthat frequently included the oboe/shawm.3 BruceHaynes has shown in his study of art works of the1660s to 1700s that the oboe evolved from theshawm over a period of twenty to thirty years,4

with the first oboe-like instruments appearing theearly 1650s.5 The baroque oboe's final develop-ment dates to in the early 1680s, with the publica-tion of the first technical description of the instru-ment by Bartolomeo Bismantova in his Regole . . .del Oboe of 1688 and a 1696 application made by J.C. Denner and J. Schell of Nuremberg askingpermission to build the new French musicalinstruments developed about twelve years earlier.6

The oboe had made its way to Italy by 1692,where it was used in the operas of Carlo FrancescoPollarolo and Giacomo Perti. It was introduced sixyears later into the orchestra of the chapel of SanMarco in Venice.7 The first oboists performing inItaly were from France and Germany.8 Aléxis Saint-Martin was thought to be one of the oboistsresponsible for bringing the instrument to Italy. 9

Saint-Martin was also the father of GiuseppeSammartini, an oboist and composer of many

works for the instrument in the eighteenthcentury.

The oboe which arrived in Italy differed greatlyfrom the loud and unrefined shawm. The baroqueoboe had no pirouette (the cupped top found onsome shawms), which allowed the oboist to playwith the lips directly on the reed and gave theperformer more control over sound, dynamics,and intonation. The oboe was also built in threesections with swellings along the bore, while theshawm came in one straight, although slightlyconical, piece.10 The oboe could play two octaveschromatically, with the exception of the c#'. Theoboe also had a smaller bore and tone holes thanthe shawm. Unlike the shawm, the oboe was fittedwith two or three keys (one or two keys foreb––the second being a duplicate key appearingonly on the earlier baroque oboes––and one for c',sometimes referred to as the "great key.)11 Therewere only two vent-holes on the oboe, while theshawm had five. The finger-holes on the oboe werepositioned lower on the instrument than on theshawm and the oboe also had a bell lip at itsbottom.12

The two- and three-keyed oboe remainedunchanged until 1760, when a few modestalterations were made.13 Exact details of theinstrument used in Italy at the beginning of theeighteenth century are not known, since noinstructional materials appeared in Italy before the1770 treatise by Vincenzo Paneraj of Florence. 14

Earlier treatises and instructional material, do notexist because the oboe was not successful inamateur circles,15 probably due to the technicaldifficulties of the instrument and the need forreeds.

Although the baroque oboe could fully playchromatic pitches from c' to d''' (with the omissionof c#'), the fingerings were often complicated.Bruce Haynes explains that with only eight holes,some of the semitones can only be obtained "byusing 'cross-fingerings,' i.e. lowering an open-fingered note by closing holes further down thebore."16 Cross-fingerings have a darker, more veiledtone quality. Special fingerings, which must beused for some trills, further affect the tonequality.17 Higher pitches are produced byoverblowing and tightening the embouchure,which also changes the tone quality by making it

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brighter. While a change of tone color might beintentionally called for by a composer's choice ofpitches, one would not want the changes in tone tobe random.

Fingering problems make music pitched insome tonalities much easier to play on thebaroque oboe than others. Tonalities with up tothree sharps and flats are generally recognized asthe outer limits of the instrument. Haynes hasdemonstrated that a preference exists in the litera-ture for tonalities with no accidentals to two flats.18

Even so, some finger combinations areimpossible to effectively execute, while others aresimply clumsy. Many of the trills that can beplayed on the baroque oboe require specialfingerings. For example, as seen in example 2-1moving between c#'' and d#'' is not possible. Thekeys on the baroque oboe used to play these twonotes are both played with the right hand fifthfinger and, because of the distance between thetwo keys, playing these two notes consecutively isimpossible without inserting another notebetween them. This fingering problem alsoemphasizes the difficulty of playing in tonalitieswith four sharps or four flats.

Similar fingering combinations occur in theupper range of the instrument involving the sameEb and C keys of the oboe. As can be seen inexample 2-2, pitches bb'', c''', and c#''' all use the Ebkey, while d''' uses the C key. This situation makesit difficult to reach the d''' in any diatonic scale.The usual alternative is to leave the c key off forthe d'''; however, this results in an even sharperand brighter tone on a note that is already quitebright.

Many fingerings are simply quite clumsy toexecute. Fingering combinations as simple as b' or

bb' to c'', or a' to bb' are difficult to play withoutcreating extraneous pitches. As can be seen inexample 2-3, the performer must lift one or twofingers while putting down a different finger, whichoften results in other pitches being heard inbetween.

This same problem occurs in both octaveswhen going from f or f# to e (one finger coming upwhile another goes down, or, in the case of f#, thefinger sliding half-way off a finger-hole seen inexample 2-4). The alternative fingering for f# to eeliminates the difficult half-hole but creates abrighter and sharper sound.19 A similar half-hole isused in both octaves to produce g# or ab, whichmakes going to g or bb difficult.

High-note fingerings look complicated becausemore holes must be covered, but they are no morecomplicated than the cross-fingerings of b' and bb'to c''. In fact c''' to c#''' is easier to play in thisupper register, not only because fewer fingersmove, but one is not moving over the "break" ofthe instrument (see example 2-5).

Leaping across the break of the instrument isdifficult to control. The break comes between c'' andc#'' (one finger down to all fingers down in examples2-1 and 2-3). Not only are more fingers involved, the

Example 2-1

Example 2-2

Example 2-3

Example 2-4

Example 2-5

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air stream must be intensified and the embouchureslightly tightened. The intensity and tightening areincreased as one ascends. Large leaps over thebreak are quite difficult to control, especiallydescending. Leaps using g'' and higher will oftencreate both extraneous pitches and a sag in pitch asthe upper note drops to a lower one. Tonguing theseleaps greatly improves the chance of success.

Other technical problems occur when playingtrills. The cross fingerings discussed above maketrilling between these notes impossible withstandard fingerings. Alternate fingerings are used,but these fingerings are usually out of tune andchange the color of the notes. For example, to trillfrom b' to c'' one plays b' and then adds one of thelower two fingers in the right hand (the finger addeddepends on the particular instrument being used).The result is a slightly dulled b' and a sharp andbright c''. Another bad cross-fingering trill is e to f.Although easy to play by simply lifting the secondfinger in the right hand, the resulting f is very sharp.In fact, the f is so sharp that the e to f# trill can beplayed using the same fingering by playing withmore reed in the mouth. There are also problemswith trills such as bb to ab, db'' to c'', all other cross-fingering combinations, and over-the-break trills. Infact, the fingerings one chooses for these trillsdepends entirely on the instrument being used andeven instruments constructed by the same makermay require different fingerings.

Although there were acknowledged intonationproblems such as those found in the lower registerof the baroque oboe, players had to adjust to play intune.20 Intonation also varied not only from countryto country, but also from church to church in thesame city.21 For example, the organ at San Marco inVenice was tuned higher than other organs in thecity. In addition, there were two acknowledged pitchlevels in Germany (Chor-ton or "choir pitch" andCammer-ton or "chamber pitch").22 Cammer-ton waslower than Chor-ton by anywhere from a whole stepto a minor third.23

In addition to the tuning problem there was theadded problem of temperament, which in theeighteenth century was closer to just or mean-toneintonation.24 Just temperament meant that there wasa difference between enharmonic tones, with flatssounding higher than sharps.25 In fact, harpsichordswere developed with split keys so that thesedifferences could be voiced.26 Fingering charts forthe baroque oboe also support this tuning system.In Eric Halfpenny's collection of six different baroqueoboe fingering charts, one sees fingering differencesfor the g#' and ab', a#' and bb', and f#'' and gb''.27

When playing keyboard instruments without splitkeys, the solution to ensemble tuning was varied.28

Generally, when the keyboard was a solo instrumentin an ensemble such as in a trio or solo sonata, theother instruments tuned to the fixed semitones ofthe keyboard. However, when the keyboard waspart of the continuo as in an orchestral work, thenthe group tuned to the temperament of the oboe.29

History of Marcello's ConcertoThe second movement of Alessandro Marcello's

oboe concerto provides an excellent example todiscuss the effect of the baroque oboe onornamentation choices. Before considering theornaments one must first decide on the key. Boththe composer and the key of this concerto havebeen mistakenly identified for more than 200 years.Bach originally included his Marcello transcriptionin a collection of XVI Concerti nach A. Vivaldi.30 Whenthe model for Bach's transcription was found withthe name Marcello attached, it was assumed to bethe work of Alessandro's renowned youngerbrother, Benedetto.31 Not only was Benedetto morefamous than his older brother, but Alessandrousually used his Arcadian name of Eterio Stinfalico inhis publications.32 Not until 1950 was Alessandrocredited with the Concerto through Frank Walker'sdiscovery of the c.1714-17 Jeanne Roger printhoused in the British Library.33 However, musichistorians continued to mis-attribute the work aslate as 1967.34

Establishing the original key of the Concerto hasalso generated much confusion. There were twopublished versions of the work, one in C minor andanother in D minor.35 There is a statement found inthe print of the C minor version that the work isnotated in transposed Dorian with two flats. Theoriginal untransposed key then appears to havebeen D minor. C minor is also a difficult key to playon the Venetian baroque oboe. Finally, there are anumber of mistakes in the C minor version.

Explanations for the existence of the C minorversion is that it was transposed to C for the Bboboe.36 Modern baroque oboist and historian BruceHaynes believes that the concerto was transposedto C minor because of the high pitch used in Venicewhich was closer to modern bb37. Local variation inpitch was not unusual at this time. For example, inFrance the pitch standard for "a" was often theequivalent of today's ab or g,38 while in Germany itwas closer to bb.39

The Ornamentation of Marcello's Concerto II, Adagio

The adagio second movement of the Concerto IIin d minor by Alessandro Marcello is a large-scaleslow movement. It contains no tutti sections andrequires a great deal of ornamentation. The

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accompaniment is a repeated eighth-note figure pro-viding the harmony under a simple skeletal melody.

Bach's ornamentation of this movement workswell on the harpsichord, but there are problemswhen using these keyboard ornaments for theoriginal oboe concerto (of course, there is also theissue of how appropriate Bach's North Germanornaments are for the work of a Venetiancomposer). While one might be inspired by Bach'sornamentation, one should not be restricted by itwhen composing ornaments of your own.

One way to ornament this movement might be asfollows (all examples come from the music at theend of the article). The first eight bars of the sololine, measures 4-11, consist of four two-measurestatements of a sequence. When this author writesornaments, the first statement of a sequence is keptsimple, as in many examples of Italianornamentation from the period. In fact, the Bachornamentation works well here except for themordent in measure 5, where an impossible fingercombination is created. The second statement of thesequence in measures 6 and 7 uses a few moreornaments with two neighboring tones in measure 6and a lower neighbor figure in measure 7 (the Italianversion of the mordent). In the third statement of thesequence in measure 8 and 9, ornamental activityincreases. Although a cross fingering is created frome'' to f'', the slow tempo should minimize theproblem. In the final statement of the sequence,measures 10 and 11, the most ornaments are added.The faster part of the ornament avoids the use offorked-fingerings, although when it slows on beatthree the e'' to f'' is used. The mordent suggested byBach in measure 11 is not practical here where thee'' to f'' moves more quickly.

A similar procedure is used in the next threemeasures which each contain a statement of asequence. Each statement starts on the secondsixteenth note of the second beat. The firstsequence in measure 11 is unornamented except forthe slow, written-out mordent on the first beat ofmeasure 12. The second sequence adds a few moreornaments, but they are still slow-moving with aslide, upper neighbor figure, and a suspension. Thethird statement of the sequence in measure 13 is themost highly-ornamented, with a scale patternfollowed by a suspension on the down-beat ofmeasure 14.

The next four bars, measures 15-18, appear to bethe start of yet another sequence. However, at theend of measure 17 the figure takes a different turnand acts as a bridge to the sequences of measures19-21. These measures also have a morecomplicated harmonic progression with a circle offifths/secondary dominant sequence in measures 14-

16 (V7/vi to V7/ii to ii7) and a V6/iii to iii in measures17 and 18. Any ornaments added to these measuresshould avoid covering the harmonies; in fact, theornaments should emphasize the harmony. Sincethe first three measures start as a sequence, theornamentation of measure 15 is kept simple and theonly ornaments are chord tones. The ornament onthe first beat of measure 16 echoes the d minorseventh chord by using the c'' and a'. Choosing thesetwo notes also avoids the cross-fingering of c'' to b'.Measure 17 is the beginning of a second statementof a sequence and should receive more ornaments.However, with the exception of one passing tone, allornaments are chord tones because of thecomplicated harmony. The use of chord tones alsohelps eliminate any problems with g# (whichrequires a half-hole fingering). Approaching andleaving the g# from above further eliminate the half-hole problem which exists when coming frombelow. Measure 18 is no longer part of a sequenceand is kept simple with only an elongation of thelower neighbor on the third beat.

Measures 19-21 represent yet another sequencewith three statements. Unlike earlier sequences, thiscontains a longer tied note which must be taken intoaccount. The sequence actually starts with the thirdbeat of measures 18. Ornaments are avoided oneach of the tied notes, with only a few notes beingadded at the ends of the quarter-tied-to-eighth-notedurations. In the first statement, the ornaments thatBach wrote are usable on the baroque oboe;however, the mordent on the third beat is written-out in keeping with the Italian tradition. Theornamentation of the second statement of thesequence is also similar to Bach's, although personaltaste changed the g'' on the second sixteenth of thefirst beat of measure 20 to an a''. The Bachornamentation in the third statement of thesequence in measure 21 does not work as well withthe back and forth from c'' to b' and e'' to f''. Instead,the e'' to f'' motion is limited to one statement andthe movement from c'' to b' is slowed andarticulated, making the cross-fingering easier to play.

Measure 22 is a transitional measure from thesequence to the cadence of measures 23 and 24.More ornamentation is required in measure 22because it contains no long durations and a simpleharmonic progression from vi to IV. Theornamentation Bach uses loses a feeling ofimprovisation and with all of the bb's, createsfingering problems on the baroque oboe. To avoidthe bb problem on the first beat, d'' to a'' is used. Onthe second beat a scale would be effective, but thebb to c and the e'' to f'' move too quickly to beperformed on a Baroque oboe. An arpeggiated figureis used which is easier to finger quickly. The third

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beat starts slowly, while the e'' to f'' is played. Theornamental activity can easily progress, giving thepassage a more improvisatory feel. The next twomeasures move to a cadence and modulation. Ahemiola, typically used at cadences, is establishedwith the dotted quarter- and eighth-note figurestarting in measure 23. The ornaments must notdetract from the hemiola and the dotted quarternote must maintain its duration. Measure 23 is leftunornamented, except for the appogiatura on thefirst beat. A turn is added to the first beat of measure24, playing it slowly to minimize the e'' to f'' problem.Because of the cadence, tradition dictates that thesecond beat of measure 24 be a trill which resolvesto the f''. Unlike most cadences, however, the workimmediately moves to a brief section in Bb major. Toavoid the abruptness of this modulation, anornamental figure similar to Bach's is used.

The next four measures again contain dotted-quarter notes which need to maintain some length.In measures 25 and 26, ornaments similar to Bach'sare used, but the rhythmic motion is slowed so thatany fingering problems are overcome. Theornamentation of measure 27 is also similar to theBach's; however, Bach uses a faster-movingornament. Fingering problems of the baroque oboemust be taken into account, like the e'' to f#'' thirty-second notes at the end of the second beat asornamented by Bach.

Measure 28 has the important role of re-establishing the key of D minor with its dominant-seven chord. To emphasize this chord, theornament is arpeggiated at the beginning of themeasure. The third beat is left alone to avoid the f''to e'' problem, and in measure 29 the same problemis avoided with the leap of a third from g'' to e''. Onthe second beat of measure 29 a trill is dictatedbecause the second violin part, playing in unisonwith the solo part at this point, also uses one. Thelong tone of measure 30 is left alone until measure31, where the Bach ornament is used for the firsttwo beats, but a more improvisitory-soundingornament is added on the third beat. The first beatof measure 32 is unornamented, with a mordent onthe second beat, and an arpeggio leading to measure33.

The Bach ornamentation in measure 33 with allof its g#''s and f#''s is unplayable on the baroqueoboe. In its place, an arpeggiated figure is usedwhich avoids this problem. In measure 34 the Bachornament is used, omitting the e'' for fingeringpurposes. The second beat sounds a dominantchord before an authentic cadence requiring a trill.However, since the second violin dictates a trill andits anticipation (c#'' trill to d''), the same is used inthe oboe part.

In conclusion, the characteristics and technicalproblems encountered when playing the baroqueoboe would have influenced the choice ofornaments used in any concerto or sonata written inthe first half of the eighteenth century. The secondmovement of the Oboe Concerto in d minor byAlessandro Marcello has been used here as a sourceto explore ideas of ornamentation as influenced bythe physical and acoustical structure of the baroqueoboe. If one desires to play these works on themodern oboe, the baroque oboe's characteristicsand limitations should keep in mind if one wants touse ornaments that could have been heard duringthe period.

Footnotes1 Rebecca Harris-Warrick, “A Few Thoughts on Lully’shautbois,” Early Music, XCIII No. 1, February 1990: 102.2 Philip Bate, “Oboe,” The New Grove Dictionary of Musicand Musicians, 6th ed., vol. 13, ed. Stanley Sadie (London:Macmillan, 1980) 465.3 Bruce Haynes, “Lully and the Rise of the Oboe as Seenin Works of Art,” Early Music, XVI No. 3, August 1988: 324.4 Haynes, “Lully,” 328, 330.5 Haynes, “Lully,” 326.6 Haynes, “Lully,” 330, 331.7 Alfredo Bernardini, “The Oboe in the Venetian Republic,1692-1797,” Early Music, XVI No. 3, August 1988: 374.8 Bernardini, 374.9 Janet K. Page, “The Hautboy in London’s Musical Life,”Early Music, XVI No. 3, August 1988: 362.10 Haynes, “Lully,” 325-6.11 Haynes, “Lully,” 326.12 Haynes, “Lully,” 326.13 Erick Halfpenny, “The French Hautboy: A TechnicalSurvey, Part I,” The Galpin Society Journal 6 (1953): 26-27.14 Bernardini, 376.15 Bernardini, 376.16 Bruce Haynes, “Tonality and the Baroque Oboe,” EarlyMusic 7 (1979): 355.17 Haynes, “Tonality and the Baroque Oboe,” 355.18 Haynes, “Tonality and the Baroque Oboe,” 355.19 In a fast tempo the pitch would go by quickly so that thechange of sound would be less obvious, but in a slowerpassage this sound would be too noticeable to use.20 Erick Halfpenny, “The French Hautboy: A TechnicalSurvey Part I,” The Galpin Society, No. VI, July 1953: 31-32.21 Bruce Haynes, “Bach’s Pitch Standards: The WoodwindPerspective,” Journal of the American Musical InstrumentSociety, XI, 1985: 109.22 Mary Cyr, Performing Baroque Music, (Portland:Amadeus Press, 1992) 61.23 Cyr, 61.24 Bruce Haynes, “Beyond Temperament: Non-keyboardIntonation in the 17th and 18th Centuries,” Early MusicXIX no. 3 August 1991: 358.25 Haynes, “Beyond Temperament,” 358.26 Haynes, “Beyond Temperament,” 362.27 Halfpenny, 53-53.28 Haynes, “Beyond Temperament,” 362.

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29 Haynes, “Beyond Temperament,” 362.30 James A. Hobbs, “Marcello’s Concerto in D Minor forOboe, Strings, and Basso Continuo: A View of its originand use in J.S. Bach’s Concerto III for Solo Harpsichord,BWV 974,” Journal of the International Double Reed Society10 (1982): 1.31 Hobbs, 1-2.32 Eleanor Selfridge-Field, The Music of Benedetto andAlessandro Marcello: A Thematic Catalogue withCommentary on the Composers, Repertory, and Sources.(Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1990) 7.33 Frank Walker, “A Little Bach Discovery,” Music andLetters 31 (1950): 184.34 Norman Carrell, Bach the Borrower (London: Allen andUnwin, 1967): 246.35 Hobbs, 3.36 Hobbs, 3.

37 Bruce Haynes, “Johann Sebastian Bach’s PitchStandards: The Woodwind Perspective” Journal of theAmerican Musical Instrument Society, 1985, 110.38 Haynes, 59.39 Haynes, 67.

About the author …Rebecca Kemper Scarnati is an associate professor of

oboe at Northern Arizona University, principal oboist of theFlagstaff Symphony, and oboist for the Kokopelli Quintet.She earned her doctor of musical arts degree fromUniveristy of Arizona and both her bachelor and master ofmusic degrees and the performer’s certificate in oboe fromIndiana University. Her principal teachers have includedJerry Sirucek of Indiana University and John Mack of theCleveland Orchestra.

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