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Robert D. Levin

Improvised embellishments
in Mozart's
keyboard music
to the disparitybetween the rapid strideswe have wit-
! i nessed in the masteryof historic instrumentsversusthe
slow progressin reinstatingthe 18th-centurypracticeof
improvisation. The fact is that all musicians today,
regardlessof their preferenceof instrument (historical
versus 'modern'-the latter word being of course ten-
dentious), are products of a system of conservatory
training that stresses technical security over imagina-
tion, and absoluterespectfor the sanctityof the printed
text over creativity.The decline in the stringency of
music theory requirementsin schools throughout the
world has led to a situationin which performersmaster
the syllabicsurfaceof the works they play without suf-
ficient knowledgeof the languagethat underpinsit. No
wonder, then, that it is still relativelyrareto hear a per-
: ?: : ::•!i~ii~i:i!,i:i~iiiii-i; formance of Classical music that goes beyond the
i~ii
i!!i•i5iiiiii
. ....
printedpage;and when it does, the embellishmentsand
cadenzas presented are usually the product of careful
preparation rather than risk-laden spontaneity. How
discouragingit is that the lack of freedom in perform-
ances of art music-practised by performerswith years
of training-results in far less communicative power
than jazzand popularmusic,whose equallydazzlingvir-
tuosi are often unable to read music but honour their
instincts and alwaysuse their languageactively.If visits
to concerts often seem indistinguishablefrom attend-
1 E. Schutz,Mozartplayingfor friendsin Salzburg.Water-
colour,c.178o(Salzburg, MuseumCarolinoAugusteum) ance at church,it is becausewe haveprizedheritageover
its content.
The advent of performanceson historicalinstruments Mozart'smusic possessednone of this patinawhen it
has wroughta fundamentalchange in the experienceof waswritten.His lettersreveala mastershowman,poised
listenersand performers.Assumptionsabout mattersof to delight, astonish, confound and move his audience.
tempo, articulation, character, sonority, texture and Virtuallyeverylistenerheardthe typicalMozartwork in
inflection have been challengedby the growingconvic- 1780sVienna for the first time; there was none of the
tion that the languageof a period is intimatelyrelatedto sense of the classicsubsequentlyascribedto his music.
its instruments of execution. It is remarkablethat the Nor shouldwe forgetthat Mozart'svirtuosityas a pianist
public has acceptedthis transformationof a span of rep- was prized above his composing, and his abilitiesas an
ertorythat has alreadyreachedwell into the Romantic improviser stood above both of these in the public's
era with far greater enthusiasm than traditionally esteem. If performershavebeen slow to realizethat true
trained musicians, whose early 2oth-centuryaesthetic rhetorical fluency in Mozart's language cannot be
bias seems to be a more reactionaryelement than the achievedwithout masteringits vocabularyand syntax,it
attitude of listeners. is precisely because our current teaching-and the
Perhaps this gap in attitude and acceptanceis related values of a music industrydefinedby competitions and

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 221

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recordings-stifle risk-takingand invention.Yetwe are precondition for the ability to improvise idiomatic
in a better position to define and understandMozart's embellishments.The more aware one becomes of the
languagethan his contemporaries,thanks to the inter- idiosyncrasiesof each composer, the more vivid one's
vening changes of style and the distance of time. The characterizationsand embellishments become. The
existence of cadenzas and embellishmentsby Mozart melodic elaborationsfavouredby Mozartin his Salzburg
himself,and of contemporarytreatisesgivingexhaustive yearsare not alwaysemployedin the Viennaworks,and
prescriptionsfor embellishmentsand cadenzas,give us his overallpracticewill not necessarilywork with equal
all the informationrnecessaryto masterhis language.' successin compositionsby his contemporaries.Indeed,
Nonetheless, musicologists continue to debate the certain ornaments are peculiar to specific composers
appropriatenessof introducing embellishments-pre- and help define their style.
pared or improvised-into modern performances, Embellishmentis fundamentallya tactile,physicalact
pointing out that reviewsin the Classicalperiod often that cannot be mastered by analysis only. Like an
decriedthe ornamentationwrought by individualper- apprenticejazz musician, the would-be improviser in
formers. Furthermore,some modern scholars, having the Classicalstylemust developsuperiorreflexesand an
come of age with performancesdevoid of any embel- appropriatevocabularyof melodic patternsdrawnfrom
lishment, displaya musical taste uninfluencedby their the models he or she wishes to emulate.The difference
research. It should be obvious to historian and per- between a performerwho preparesembellishmentsor
formeralikethat the validityof a practicedependsupon cadenzasand one who improvisesthem is analogousto
the skill with which it is carriedout. Ornamentationis the differencebetween the beginning languagestudent
most effectivewhen it is fully organicto the expressive who can only replicatesentences taken from a phrase
and dramaticcontent of the work; it is not an external book, and one who has progressedto the point at which
process carried out upon a piece. A performerwith a it is possible to leap into the creativeworld of defining
thorough understandingof harmonic progressionand thoughts within the new language.
voice-leadingpossessesthe prerequisitesfor the assim- Whetherimprovisedor preparedin advance,embel-
ilation of Mozart'spersonallanguage.This in turn is the lishments added by the performerare an essentialele-

FONDAZIONE GIORGIO CINI ANDREA GABRIELI

Istituto per la Musica
[1533]- 1585
OPERA OMNIA
:?
A_: CRITICALEDITION
4 Volumesof historicaland criticalintroduction
and 18 volumes of works published in vita (1-10)
V?,i and posthumous works (11-18)
POSTHUMOUS WORKS
14-
Volume 11 (1597)
Concertidi Andrea, et di Gio. Gabrieli...
libroprimo et secondo
1.0000 Venezia,Angelo Gardano1587
Edited by David Bryant
1st Book 134665
2nd Book 134666
Already published:
HYSTORICALAND CRITICALINTRODUCTION
I. The "yearsof Gabrieli":biographyand chronology
(G. Benzoni,D. Bryant,M. Morell)(134347)
WORKSPUBLISHEDIN VITA
8 Lower James Street, Volume 9. Psalmi Davidici (1583)
woe London W1R 3PL
(tD. Arnold, D. Bryant) (134348)
phone: 01 287 5060
RICO(RDI
222 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992

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Ex.i Rondo in A minor, K511;five variants of principal theme
(a)
Andante

p _ _ _ _ _
• _•* • _
P

- scen-- do
crcre p
no 1

crc sc -d

(b)

- •- • • cre
•
- - scen -
•- do • • p
. ...--- -, _, •_--
_..-_----_----,

- scen do
cre - f3
cr creescendo p
(c)

rc creescendodof p
ceeendo
.

r. r. r. I r. .

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 223

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 (d)
129

crescendo

tr C

crescendo f

(e)

151 C_ _D C

crescendo, p
_-'- _ ~ ~ n~i-~:
___: - _

-
'
1 "---
---"-- --

crescendo
z r i- j K ? .

,g
ment in Classical music. The amount of ornamentation Mozart's written-out embellishments and the publi-
required from the performer depends upon the ornate- cation history of each work. The first editions of several
ness of the melody: at times the amount of elaboration sonatas published during Mozart's lifetime contain elab-
in the original text precludes additional ornamentation. orate embellishments not found in the autograph. An
An oft-neglected element of idiomatic improvisation oft-quoted example is the slow movement to the Sonata
is the observance of the five-octave range of Mozart's in F major, K332.3These embellishments, which are
instrument.! Embellishments and cadenzas that other- accepted by scholars as authentic, together with the
wise cohere to Mozart's language yet stray beyond these autograph embellishments in such works as the A minor
limits will strike the perceptive listener as faulty. rondo or the F major rondo, K494, give the cue to
There are generic places where embellishment is most Mozart's intentions in works that were not issued during
likely to be desirable. The most salient of these is the his lifetime. The re-emergence of the autograph to the
return of the principal theme in sonatas, and especially Fantasy and Sonata in C minor, K475/457, sheds addi-
rondos. It is instructive to collate Mozart's written-out tional light upon the relationship between Mozart's
decorations of a work such as the Rondo in A minor, more schematic original concept, reflecting his own
K511 (ex.i). Such decorations provide invaluable abilities to improvise, and the written-out elaborations
examples of spontaneity captured on the page. he prepared for his students (in this case Therese von
It is critical to understand the relationship between Trattner, the dedicatee of the sonata), or for the general

224 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992

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Ex.2 Sonatain C minor,K457,ii, bars 17-23;threeversions of autograph:(a) firstversion;(b) second version; (c) thirdversion
(a) f
Adagiogcresc, jj•u
k-
Kq-""R r-
A
..II.IM
fQ is

sotto voce

p f
cresc,

p
fP f p
cresc,

(b)
CO
17 CO

A Elm f- I f-?If di

iv
IL ;::
dor

• r--3 ---1 3
r-1
Iv i i Vl " I i i I
,i

_R -

/.?
i"r

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 225

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 (c)

pb

____ 7
.. >j7__ .

1........

Scresc.

pp

cresc f

....._._. ._
....- -

public. The recurrences of the principal theme of the literal reprinting of the theme with its attendant mis-
slow movement to K457 (ex.2a) is signified in the auto- leading implication that the composer desired a note-
graph by the direction 'Da Capo 7 bars': they are not for-note reiteration of the opening music.
written out. An extra leaf contains diminutions for each Given the evidence presented above, it would seem il-
return-unknown before the rediscovery of the auto- logical upon stylistic and expressive grounds for the
graph (ex.2b).4 These in turn are superseded by a more theme of the second movement to the Sonata in B flat,
elaborate set of embellishments on a further leaf, K570,to be performed six times in succession (counting
labelled 'Variationen' in Maximilian Stadler's hand the prescribed repeats) in a single, unadorned state. Ex.3
(ex.2c). It is the latter versions that appear in every mod- presents sample embellishments for each of its
ern edition. appearances.
What insight these versions give into Mozart's crea- The practice of embellishment at returns is docu-
tive process! We witness not merely the narrative evo- mented in Mozart's manuscripts in other interesting
lution of an idea as in K494 and K511,but the recastings of ways, some of which require particularly creative
a single passage. This example documents a notational solutions:
practice of great consequence to the question of orna- 1. In several of the piano concertos, the theme is una-
mentation, i.e. the common use of shorthand da capo dorned at reprises in the solo instrument, but deco-
signs rather than renotations of the principal theme. The rated in the orchestral ritornello that follows (ex.4).
modern performer is unaware of these, seeing only the It is an essential contradiction of the relationship

226 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992

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Ex.3 Sonata in B flat, K570,ii; sample embellishmentsof the principal theme
(a z: tr
Adagio 2: tr

(b)
9 2 2
tr_

(in L.H.)

(C)
28 nB 3k

(d) tr
44 tr

%;~c
47 CDf

(1: first time; 2: second time)

F VAV
PFR7
:::ii-::

J. C. NEUPERT
established1868

Clavichords-
Spinets
Harpsichords ? Fortepianos

Fortepiano after C. Graf

Vienna 1822 D-8600 Bamberg, Zeppelinstr. 3
West Germany Tel. (0951) 31001

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 227

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Ex.4 Concerto in D minor, K466,ii: (a) solo version of theme; (b) elaboratedorchestralversion
(a)
131

(b)
139 -

13 9

--::_• •
•__,___•,__-- ____• _••: •_
_
_.._

ob.
__i...
p -

bna
p

hn. F
(in B
b)---

P
pf _

vl. Pf

F~ll
f

via.
p.
VC.~
db .

f p

between solo and orchestra, with its underlying ment of both main themes and subsidiary material.
assumptions of invention and virtuosity, for the At times the composer may embellish the return
soloist to present a less elaborate theme than that section of a sonata, thereby creating a significant
played by the band. In cases such as the above, the contrast with the first, unadorned treatment of a
soloist must play something as active in the ante- given theme. The performer taking both repeats
cedent as will be heard from the orchestra in the note for note in such a sonata movement runs the
consequent. A literal carry-over is not necessary, but risk of turning the flexibility of the composer's
certainly possible. invention into a rigid stylistic exercise: first the audi-
2. A special problem is posed by movements con- ence hears a simple version of a tune twice; then a
taining repeat signs. The repeats invite embellish- highly elaborated one which is also repeated. The

228 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992

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Ex.5 Sonatafor piano, four hands, in F,K497,ii; decorationsto principaltheme in Levin'sand Bilson'sperformance:(a) expo-
sition; (b) repeat of exposition; (c) recapitulation;(d) repeat of recapitulation

(a) Andante

(b)
7,-.. .
9_7
...7:

5
etc. (as above)

(c)
(C)
5-
64

(b)

I I I I

1
P 33 -I

(d)

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 229

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 Ex.6 Concerto in C, K503,ii, bars 57-64, with sample embellishment
elaborated version

57 tr

pf. ___ _
_ .

_(+hns)
vl.
~~~
via.-
- ..
-__ . . . .
mfp mfp
vc. _ _
db.

ifp lmfp

61 __ __[y _

-f-- -f----f-
(+ wind)
_~_
_ _ : _.......
__ __
_-_mfp
-

mfp ._ .
_
...........
f
.
..

- - ------- 1
mfp Mfpf
illusion of spontaneity created by the written-out Mozart'sversionfor the repeat.This strategyof pro-
embellishment will be crushed the second time gressivemelodic elaborationis typical,but not abso-
around by the player'slack of imagination.5It is lutely necessary;rather,the ornaments chosen for
incumbent upon the performer to create inter- each recurrenceof the theme should provide a dis-
mediate (or at leastdifferent)statesof decorationso tinctive flavourthat balancesthe structuralsymm-
that an organic development of the initial idea etry with an ever fresh, unpredictableinflection.
occurseachtime it is heard.Ex.5showsa solution for Apartfrom principalthemes, certaingenericpassages
the second movement of Mozart'sSonata in F for invite filling
out:
piano, four hands, K497,as carriedout in a record- 1. Whenevermelodic and rhythmicactivitysuddenly
ing made by the author with Malcolm Bilson. slacken without obvious dramatic or expressive
While successiveembellishmentsof an idea need motivation. Two such cases are:
not become ever more intricate, Mozart'swritten a. sequencesin slow movements (see ex.6);
ornamentationin the recapitulationis so consum- b. passageswhose top and bottom notes aredelin-
mate that it seemed prudent to invent a less fancy eated without the necessaryconnective arpeg-
readingfor the first time the returnis heard,saving gios requiredto give them their intendedshape.
230 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992

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 Ex.7 Concerto in C minor, K491, i, bars 257-64, with filled-in passagework

257

hn.
(E b)

pf.

_h- -
i
... .
___
_!••1- - . _-
(Pf.

vl.

db.

261

- - ____ - . --.-cresc.

elaborated version

or
_ 3Ey# t- ~ z m - __ - - --
--------------

cresc.

cresc. f

cresc.
f

W fF

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 231

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 Ex.8 Concerto in B flat, K595,ii, bars 49-58, with sample embellishment

pf. P

Solo

vl.I 0 Solo p

Solo

vla.---_ Solo

db.
P - -
1.1_.
elaborated._M-
version
_ __ _ 7.. 7 - -& yi
_ _ _ _ _ - %-
54 .--_ -.
54 ,.--..,._ ,hi_ a_ _
. _

iO

_ f-Ac

These occur in the piano concertos in E flat major, dated 9 June 1784. His sister Nannerl had found
K482; in B flat major,K595;and especially in C 'something missing' in this passage, and Mozart
minor, K491. They are particularly noticeable confirmedthis in the letter,promisingto 'supplythe
because the orchestra'srhythmic activity suddenly deficiencyas soon as possible and send it with the
eclipsesthat of the soloist (see ex.7).6 cadenzas'.Every modern edition prints the more
2. The 'piano recitatives'in the slow movements of elaborateversion from the St Peter parts in Salz-
Mozart'sconcertos,in which a melodyin the piano's burg-presumed to be Mozart's revision-above
right hand, punctuatedby rests,is accompaniedby the starkeroriginal version, showing the relation-
repeated chords in the strings. Such passages are ship between what was notated and what was
found in the concertosin D major,K451;in D minor, expected. It is to be hoped that creativeperformers
K466;in C major,K467;in C minor,K491;in D major will be inspired by this illustrationto find similar
('Coronation'),K537;and in B flat major,K595.As is embellishmentsfor the 'something missing' in the
generallyknown, Mozart commented on the bare- other concertos cited. Heretofore,such embellish-
ness of the passagefrom K451in a letterto his father ments have been lamentably rare, and limited to

232 EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992

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Ex.9 Trio in B flat, K498,ii, bars 38-41
38

3 3

Ex.lo

Ti-

" "I"I #- ? ?

relativelycarefuldecoration.An alternativefor part enlighteningto me because,while thoroughlyidiomatic

of the recitativefrom K595is given in ex.8. to Mozart'slanguage,they are differentfrom the ones
3. Isolated spots where a note value could be orna- that form my personalvocabulary.Mozart'soeuvreis so
mented by a gracenote, trill, or turn (ex.9). immense! There is so much to be inspired and influ-
I have chosen not to treat the constructionand rhet- enced by, that a performerdisplayinginsight and stylis-
oric of cadenzas here, as I have done this elsewhere.7 tic awarenesscan develop an individual vernacularof
Nonetheless,it is worth observingthat there are certain ornamentationthat will be as distinctive as her or his
harmonic formulas that appear regularlyin the piano performingstyle.
concerto cadenzas,for example that shown in ex.lo. A
related formula used in lead-ins (the shorter cadenzas RobertLevin is a leadingperformeron bothperiod and
that precedethe principaltheme, especiallyin rondos), modernpianos whose performancesinclude innovatory
is given in ex.ii. The abilityto improviseupon such for- improvisedcadenzasandfantasiason Mozarteanthemes.
mulas,using the thematicmaterialof the respectivecon- He is also a pioneering scholar whose completionsof
certo, is of great importance to successful cadenza Mozartfragmentshavebeenwidelyperformed:the latestis
improvisation. a new versionof the Requiempremi&red in Stuttgartin
August1991.
Ex.11 'For discussion of these sources see R. D. Levin, 'Instrumental
Ornamentation,Improvisationand Cadenzas',PerformancePractice,
ed. H. MayerBrownand S. Sadie (London, 1989),pp.267-91.
SwI..
8
-g
••" [
P [
i .-.
K-
'•
TI
•[ I
l
I 2Onlyone keyboardwork, the Sonata in D major for two pianos,
K448/375a,contains a note outside this limit: f"# (in the first piano
part), and we know from a letter that Josepha von Auernhammer
playedthatpart,so she must havepossesseda fortepianothat extended
How restrictiveare the criteriaexpounded above?In up to g"'".
my experience,not at all. Not that improvisedcadenzas 3Thetwo versionsarenot reproducedhere,as they arefound in vir-
in styles other than Mozart's have not been created tually every modern edition:cf. also the articlecited in n..
4Bars20ff. in ex.2baresimilarto bars41ff.of the thirdversionof the
before-especially in the late 19th and early 20th cen- autograph.However,bars 41ff.in the second version are different.
turies;but let us returnfor a moment to ex.i. We see five 'The unpopularityof second repeatsin sonata movements is per-
differentversionsof a single idea, and no doubt Mozart haps not entirelyunrelatedto performers'anxietyabout this challenge
to the imagination.
could have written another ten if his formal require- 6For extendeddiscussionof such passages,see the essayreferredto
ments had mandatedit. More to the point, the embel- in n.i.
lishments I have encountered in the work of such 7See n.1 and Levin, 'Improvisation and Embellishment in the
Mozart Piano Concertos' Musical Newsletter,v/2 (Spring 1975),
informedcolleaguesas MalcolmBilsonhavealwaysbeen pp.3-14.

EARLY MUSIC MAY 1992 233

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