Talk:Unfigured bass
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== A peculiar way of performing unfigured bass in 17th c. England mentioned in Gerald Abraham's Concise Oxford History of Music? ==
I remember reading in Gerald Abraham's Concise Oxford History of Music some years ago that in England, around 1660, a peculiar performance practice for unfigured bass parts was fashionable for a time, namely that the bass was performed (on a viola da gamba or cello) against obbligato parts (particularly against a solo vocal melody line) ''alone'', that is ''without'' any harmony instrument (such as a harpsichord) filling in the chords. Can anyone check the work at the relevant chapter and confirm that (just in case my memory is playing tricks on me) and post here what the exact wording is? And also give the exact reference (page number, etc.) <small><font color = "grey">Signed: </font></small>[[User:Basemetal|Basemetal]] <small>(<font color = "grey">write to me </font>[[User talk:Basemetal|here]])</small> 04:13, 28 November 2012 (UTC)Basemetal 12:06, 12 September 2016 (UTC)
Nonexistent topic[edit]
This isn't a real thing. Obviously there are bass lines without figures, but having an article on it is like having articles on "unpublished books" or "unpainted houses". Or "meals without bananas". Tell me why I shouldn't AFD this. Using sources. —Wahoofive (talk) 23:32, 22 January 2014 (UTC)
It does exist[edit]
It is an existent topic.[1] [2] I hypothesize that the prefix "un-" is the result of a corruption of the term under-figured bass (a term I've seen used as a synonym) which refers to the lack of guiding intervals. The fact is that around the time that this device was in use, there was no such thing as bass lines in orchestras that were not continuo parts; there essentially had to be figures played, whether they were given or not. I believe the article should be re-written due to its lack of sources, but the topic should not be gotten rid of entirely. There is plenty of literature on the subject. I have cited two sources mentioning the subject, but I can find more.
Sources[edit]
- ^ George J. Buelow, Johann David Heinichen: Thorough-bass Accompaniment According to Johann David Heinichen, Chapter 7 http://books.google.com/books?id=EVLHt2jw8-oC&pg=PA219&lpg=PA219&dq=italian+unfigured+bass&source=bl&ots=JdVMNTFlw3&sig=OGF2LIMlGAdISS1-bE3weleBohI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=N-KjU6bcC8qSqgbk3YH4Bw&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=italian%20unfigured%20bass&f=false
- ^ John Glenn Paton, 26 Italian Songs and Arias: An Authoritative Edition Based on Authentic Sources, pp. 7 http://books.google.com/books?id=qgPC5NAfrscC&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7&dq=italian+unfigured+bass&source=bl&ots=Sf5dju_GzS&sig=s5p9vPOBed_9DMUdUEs9R8hom3w&hl=en&sa=X&ei=N-KjU6bcC8qSqgbk3YH4Bw&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=italian%20unfigured%20bass&f=false
Cheers, Musicmaster7 (talk) 07:55, 20 June 2014 (UTC)
- I don't dispute that musicians in the Baroque had to improvise their parts based on incomplete (or missing) figures, but let's start with the current first sentence: "Unfigured bass is a kind of musical notation...." Except it's not notation at all. It's just something missing. It's a fact that people have to work around the missing info, just like you have to substitute something else for the chicken broth in your soup recipe when you don't have any, but is that worthy of a separate article? Wouldn't a small section in the Figured bass article be sufficient? —Wahoofive (talk) 16:31, 20 June 2014 (UTC)
- No, I don't agree that a section under figured bass would be sufficient because it is not figured bass. It is a different type of notation. And yes it is notation. Saying it's not is saying that a notated bass line is not notated. It's contradiction. And another thing: I didn't realize "meals without bananas" is a recurring topic of literature that can be found and cited like unfigured bass is.
Musicmaster7 (talk) 16:10, 23 June 2014 (UTC)
I have re-written the article[edit]
I have re-written the article, giving more information and citing sources. Hopefully this meets your expectations.
Musicmaster7 (talk) 10:01, 20 June 2014 (UTC)
Boccherini's Cello Sonatas performed by just two cellos?[edit]
Boccherini's Cello Sonatas (or some of them: I have not checked the scores of all 40 of them) are for Cello and unfigured bass. However my understanding was that the normal way to perform them was at the time to have a keyboard player improvise the chords, not to have the works performed by just two cellos. So how historically accurate is this performance of Boccherini's Cello Sonatas by just two cellos? Contact Basemetal here 16:08, 9 November 2014 (UTC)
- You might enjoy looking at Couperin's Nouveaux concerts. He says (p47) that although one could add a harpsichord or theorbo, nos. 12 & 13 always sound better with two viols and nothing more. He also figures some parts labeled "accomp." and leaves others for "violes sans accomp", although one such passage also has figures! Sparafucil (talk) 06:37, 22 November 2014 (UTC)