Gus Denhard on Baroque Continuo Performance

My vision for an excellent continuo accompaniment in baroque music consists of two ideas, one somewhat technical and the other based on instincts developed through experience:

1. The accompanist must complete the composition in a manner that the composer would have recognized as coherent and stylish.

This is the part that can be learned through study to a large extent. In the most blatant example, it means not playing a 1960s-style funk accompaniment to a 17th-century song, unless you are attempting parody! But of course we are looking for a much finer distinction here. Every period, nationality, and composer had a distinctive compositional style, with some elements the same and others differing. Here are ways to hone in on this information, such as:

A. Study the fully composed (non-continuo) repertory of the composer you want to play an accompaniment for. If you are accompanying Bach, study scores and listen to a range of his music, not just the genre you are accompanying.

B. Find a continuo method by the composer if there is one, and by his colleagues. Start with the composer's immediate circle and work out. For example, if you want to play Purcell, read his own ideas first, then those of his teacher, John Blow, then Matthew Locke, a colleague from the previous generation. If you have time, look at the French and Italian sources from his time, but don't start at that end.

C. Use the above information to put together your own approach to accompanying the specific repertory, idiomatic to your instrument. Of course use the harmonic language that the composer used, but also copy the figuration you see in the composed music as it seems to fit your instrument: broken chords, scales, implied counterpoint, etc.

All that for one composer! Most of us fall very short of this kind of preparation. It takes time, patience, and a desire to put the composer and his time ahead of our own musical personality. It means that there is no default continuo style, no whitewash that we can apply to all music and get away with it. It may mean we have a special instrument for Purcell that we do not use for Monteverdi. To the degree we can manage it, the above is the best approach. The limits that it imposes on what and how we play will put us in a better position for the next, and most challenging aspect of good continuo playing:

2. Giving yourself over to the soloist and the musical moment.

When the items noted above in part one are in order, this part comes naturally. Your goal here is simple - to arrive at the best possible performance in collaboration with the soloist. It requires a certain humanity and sympathy to do this well. Every soloist, every moment in rehearsal and performance requires your full attention and participation. In order to do this you need to:

A. Know the vocal text if there is one. Study the language, learn the grammar, so you can get the jokes, irony, pathos that is trying to be communicated. Sing the song yourself as you accompany in practice.

B. If there is no text, try to understand and connect to the instrumental language of the violinist, flutist, etc. Play their part on your instrument while you sing the bass, then sing their part while you play a full accompaniment. THEN add words to their untexted melody, sing and play.

C. Both A and B will connect you to the music, but nothing will substitute for lots of experience accompanying singers and instrumentalists. You'll learn to follow without looking, to lead and follow at the same time, and most importantly, to relish every musical moment for the soloist, composer, and audience.


Gus Denhard
July 16, 2008