Interpreting and adorning the bass lines of Handel's Italian continuo cantata arias: a catalog of possibilities
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Abstract
This study explores the possibilities for violoncellists to embellish the Italian baroque aria bass. The invention of the wire-wound bottom string on the violoncello in Italy around the 1660s forged two diverging paths on the use of this novel instrument in aria accompaniment: 1) it is observed in the works by composers such as Stradella, Scarlatti, Giovanni Bononcini, Gasparini, Handel and Caldara that the bass line of the continuo aria assumed an obbligato character, and was creatively developed and refined into an interesting part that engages meaningfully with the voice to render the poetic texts between the 1670s and 1710s; 2) the advancing invention techniques demonstrated in the early solo cello works by Gabrielli, Galli and Vitali enabled cellists to devise variations and embellishments spontaneously, and critical accounts suggest such creative display flourished in aria accompaniment. Shall performers consider the written bass a complete form of embellishment and reproduce it faithfully? Or could they attempt to rediscover improvisation-based period practice and revive an elaborate style of accompaniment? In an attempt to open up avenues for present-day cellists to actively engage in the creative process of breathing life into a poetically inspired bass, I have conducted an exploratory study into Handel's continuo cantatas, composed in Italy between 1706 and 1709—a pivotal time when the maturing lyricism of cantata-aria and cello technique dynamically influenced each other. Their meticulously crafted bass lines show various types of ornaments, in the form of ornamental figures, namely the passing note, the mordent figure, the appoggiatura, the passing appoggiatura, the trill, the slide and the figurate arpeggio, being integrated as motivic elements to echo the sentiments expressed in the texts. In addition, their extended applications within the surveyed collection of arias are further explored and discussed for use in enlivening the bass-only ritornellos in the da capo section.