I remember approaching the ornamentation of the pieces I was performing in my brash younger days with an “abolish the vocal line in any way possible” sort of thinking. In those pre-Internet dark ages, I had little access to scholarly works in the libraries available to me, a wonderful technically brilliant teacher who considered Mozart an early composer and, on most occasions, an audience that wondered what I had given up for my art. As I stumbled through trying this or that, I gradually learned (with the help of annual trips to Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute) how to ornament, what was appropriate, and how historically informed ornamentation could be really exciting and emotionally satisfying for me and for my audience.
But I want to clarify a few things up front. This will not be the “end all” scholarly report on Baroque ornamentation. Frankly, an article of this size cannot begin to cover all of the findings of scholars who have spent the last 100 years scanning the globe for treatises on historically informed performance. And what is offered here are only beginning suggestions. In addition, consult the list of books on p. 56 to delve further into the study of ornamentation. Hopefully the ideas shared here will whet your appetite for singing Baroque music.
Let’s begin with the most basic question: When do you ornament in a piece of music? A da capo gives you the chance to use ornamentation to dig deeper into your character as well as excite your audience. In a da capo aria, you must ornament from the very first statement of the da capo (repeat of the A section). How much you ornament and what you ornament depends on the piece, its mood, and its tempo. But it is mandatory that you ornament the first phrase and then continue with judicious and increasingly more imaginative and interesting ornaments. It is a way to telescope to your audience that this is indeed a repeat of material they have heard before but this time you will make it fresh. And many now believe, based on new information, that in the primary statement of the A section, slight variations can be inserted at the second statement of the text until the end, stopping the slight variations only when new text appears.
Once you have stated the text of a B section, you are allowed to ornament freely. Again, if new text appears, stop ornamenting until you begin to repeat text. At the end of the B section, the tactus (or beat) should not change tempo or stop unless the composer says so by indicating “adagio” or by a fermata followed by rests. This is a rule that is broken all the time. It was broken in the Baroque era and it continues to be broken today. But it is still good to know the rule.
Different composers require different ornaments. This is a more difficult task. It is a great generalization—but a way to begin to figure out how to ornament—to say that Italian ornamentation is generally more florid and free, while ornamentation of French music is much more structured and refined with many things happening at the cadential points. Early and middle German Baroque music is closer to the Italian school, but less florid. Late German Baroque music (except for Bach, who wrote many of his ornaments out) also tends to be similar to the Italian school. English music, before Handel and the advent of Italian opera in London, is closest to French music as the two countries were constantly borrowing ideas from each other.
There are symbols that tell you what kind of ornament to insert, and these can be easily found on the Internet at places like the Piano Society’s website (www.pianosociety.com/cms/index.php?section=1469). So you can see that rules abound and can be daunting, but all of this can be overcome quite easily by trying out new things, seeing what fits the music and style of the particular composer, and having a little bit of sheer audacity and bravery.
Now, let’s get down to the actual cheat sheet for ornamenting:
1. Fill in the gaps
This is a really simple trick. One of the easiest ways to create interesting ornaments is to fill in the gaps with passing tones. For example, if the music spells out a triad in root heading downward (5-3-1) all in quarter notes, change the first two quarter notes to four eighth notes ending on the tonic.
The artistic and interesting variety comes in your choice of rhythm to accompany this pattern. Will you dot the rhythm? Are the eighth notes equal? If you dot, where is the dot? Is it on the first eighth note or the second? All of this is based on the rhythmic character of the aria. Use your skills as a singer and try to match the character of the piece. Is the aria in triple meter? Is it in duple meter? It is truly an impressive thing to hear an originally arpeggiated section become a virtuosic roulade from top to bottom. This can add drama to a text showing more insight into a character analysis.
This trick works best for middle and late Italian Baroque music. It is also effective in early Italian music and can be expanded as far as imagination and musical time will allow—within reason and as long as the ornament fits the emotion of the text. Except for the smallest and most graceful of gesture, this kind of filling-in might be considered inappropriate for early and middle English and French Baroque music. Ornamenting like this is also not often used when singing music of Bach as he usually wrote out his ornamentation. That being said, this rule is also often broken.
2. Upper and lower appoggiaturas
Another way to create graceful ornaments is by using appoggiaturas, or nonharmonic notes, which can be added anywhere in the music but generally come at cadences. They are good for denoting all sorts of emotion. Appoggiaturas from below can indicate sadness, longing, despair, and other negative emotions. And they provide the opposite emotions when approached from above. You can also extend their length to increase the emotion. Of course, there are all sorts of rules written by composers and artists of the day about appoggiaturas that contradict each other. Taste is in the ear of the listener.
3. Sequential changes
Most melismas have a pattern. When ornamenting, it is very easy to change the pattern sequence. You can reverse the rhythms (e.g., the pattern of an eighth and two sixteenths becomes two sixteenths and an eighth). You can go the other direction (e.g., if the original melisma moves in an upwards motion, go the other way) as long as it fits within the harmonic structure. Inserting leaps at any point in the sequence can change entire sequences and provide interesting changes. If the sequence, however, has a general shape (e.g., rising over a series of beats), it is a good idea to retain that shape even if you are reversing the direction of the melisma.
Again, the later the piece in the Baroque era, the more a change of pattern can be done, especially in Italian music. But, also again, avoid doing this in early Italian, French, and early or middle English music, as well as with anything Bach wrote.
4. Trilli, gruppi, and early Italian ornaments
Early Italian ornaments are truly text and emotion driven. A trillo (not to be confused with the trill, see below) is the rapid repetition of a single note over a period of time. You can use the execution of the trillo to indicate a variety of emotions. For example, you can start slowly, then speed up to a very fast execution, and then back to slow to indicate excitement or love or even conflict, with the appropriate resolution. Experience will guide you in this.
Gruppi are trilli with a turn at the end. These can also be endlessly varied by how long you actually pulse the trillo before the turn. These variations can help you express an array of emotions. Just take a few chances in the practice room.
5. Trills
Trilling is a skill that we all strive to perfect from day one. Baroque trills are usually approached from the step or half-step above the harmonic tone and are considered obligatory at all cadences. Weight is usually applied to the nonharmonic tone (or appoggiatura) to emphasize the ornament and to telescope “here comes a trill” to your audience. You can start the trill immediately after a slight leaning on the upper note, or you can start to alternate between the notes slowly and gradually build up the speed. The reverse is also possible.
It is essential that both pitches be audible. This is assisted by building the trilling technique, which actually requires the vocal mechanism to shake—hence the old English name for a trill: the shake. There are occasions when it is possible to start the trill on the harmonic tone, but that is usually only in later Baroque music or some French music. Once again, the rules are not always clear from the texts available and they may change from composer to composer. So for the occasional Baroque singer, it is always safest to approach the trill from the upper note.
6. Dynamics
Dynamics can be used to prevent what I like to call “phrase fatigue” or the continuous repetition of a phrase at the same dynamic level in either the A or B section of an aria (or in any section of a through-composed piece). Dynamic changes can add depth to any character analysis of a piece.
To demonstrate the possibilities, I like to use an old childhood game that my siblings and I used to play. It is called “John and Martha” and involves two people saying the names John and Martha in as many different ways with as many different dynamics and colors as possible. This same game can be used when discovering the many ways to shade your text dynamically.
A very important ornament that was highly prized in the Baroque era is the messa di voce. This involves beginning a pitch from the softest sound possible and growing it to the loudest and back again to the softest. A highly effective ornament, it was thought that if you could execute it well, you had truly achieved the apex of vocal technique and flexibility. This can be used on any long note at varying degrees of loudness depending on the instrumentation under the singer.
7. Vibrato vs. non-vibrato
Nothing raises more controversy than vibrato vs. non-vibrato. Whether you otherwise use vibrato or not, you should know that it can and should be used as an ornament. Long notes can be stunning when approached with less vibrato that grows with the messa di voce. The same is true for declaiming entire passages that are filled with great emotion in non-vibrato. This, of course, takes skill and, with time, it can be a useful color in other time periods of music as well.
Like the modern jazz idiom, ornamenting provides singing artists with an incredible range of interpretive options. The possibilities for expression are endless, and it can be incredibly fun to explore and experiment. All it takes is a little study, a sense of adventure, and a brave heart!
