Composing the Sarabande
Moving on from chorale harmonies and counterpoint exercises into real music is always a painful process and is always frustrating. Your situation is much better than mine was a year and a half ago. I had spent months learning common-practice harmony, and was left entirely clueless as to how real music worked.
It is most important to acknowledge the two freedoms real music offers in addition to the counterpoint and harmony you have already studied: rhythm and texture. Melody is something all students should have in mind from the very start. So if you start writing a few bars with some nifty harmonies and some counterpoints, do not be surprised if it sounds terrible. But be comforted that both texture and rhythm can be studied and learned just like any other aspect of music. Perhaps good harmony and counterpoint is not enough, but when you combine inspired harmony, counterpoint, melody, texture, rhythm and eventually structure, you will undoubtedly create something fantastic. I do not mean that these subjects should be turned into science, but mastering their technical sides now will only allow you more freedom later on.
THE STYLE BRISE (I've given up on the little French accents)
The
style brise originally comes from lute music. Essentially you play a simple melody or counterpoint but sustain some of the tones over the others in a shimmering texture. For the most part this effect is at home on the harpsichord with its clear but sustained tone rather than the piano and organ where it becomes too dense. The
style brise or
luthee is essentially the "pedal" of the harpsichord, achieved via the fingers rather than the feet.
So lets
open the attachment "Style Brise.
"
The first example is a true classic, a few bars from a Louis Couperin chaconne. You see that the upper two voices combine almost to form a single melody but with notes sustained over each other. The effect is soft and expressive. If only Finale would add in appropriate ornaments and some
inegal, we would have a nice performance. This is the lute style at its best. Notice that the three voices take turns playing rather than sounding simultaneously. The overall rhythm can be even since the texture provides sufficient variety. The figurations flow evenly yet the patterns change every bar; when an integral part of the melody itself,
the feel must be organic rather than formulaic. You can study this chaconne at
http://icking-music-archive.org/scor...conne_Dmin.pdf.
That said, simple
brise formulas can and should appear in other contexts. The next example shows a simple
brise accompaniment found in many grounds and passacaglias.
The next example from a courante by Johann Mattheson has the chordal style in the right hand (though these chords should be slightly rolled) and
brise octaves in the left hand. Such octaves are clearly not parallels; like orchestral doubling, they simply add weight to the sound. Feel free to use them to take advantage of the harpsichord's dark, low bass notes. (My harpsichord goes down to the G two octaves and a half below middle C.)
In the very same suite Mattheson includes a "double," a variation on the same courante. The next example shows how the composer reverses the arrangement; now the right hand has the
brise accompaniment figures and the left has two-note chords. The right hand figures sound like the gentle strumming of chords on a harp or lute or guitar. You can find both courantes at
http://icking-music-archive.org/scor...in/Suite_1.pdf.
The
brise style is very rich and can serve a variety of purposes. It hints at counterpoint and adds depth to otherwise simple two-part music.
SPACING and TEXTURE
In a four part chorale harmonization, the voices are traditionally within an octave of each other (except perhaps the bass) and share similar rhythms. The goal is one giant block of chordal sound.
This is not what you want in an accompanied melody on the harpsichord. Many different arrangements are possible and highlight the melody (or melodies in counterpoint) on different ways.
If composing for the harpsichord, remember that the sound is clearer and that thus fairly dense chords may sound fine fairly low. Thirds do not sound muddy until slightly past the C below middle C. If the thirds are arpeggiated in a
brise texture, they can make attractive but tenebrous sounds even lower.
One common texture on the harpsichord is chords in close disposition in the left hand with a singable melody farther away in the right hand. The melody can be separated by over an octave from the accompaniment for an even clearer sound. This is the arrangement Pachelbel uses in the arias of his
Hexachordum Appolinis; see the first aria of
http://icking-music-archive.org/scor...bel/1hexar.pdf. I strongly recommend studying the simple but inspired arias of the entire collection at
http://icking-music-archive.org/scor...el/pahexar.pdf. There are six arias, each with about six masterful variations.
The left-hand chords in such an arrangement are usually about two notes large, sometimes three at cadences. It is vital that the left hand not sound too regular or too loud in such a chordal accompaniment. The number of voices in the accompaniment should constantly change to suit the melody. (Of course the accompaniment can have a faster rhythm in other dances, but care must be taken that the melody is not drowned out. You could, for example, have the left hand play rapid scales, the right hand playing a melody doubled in thirds or in chords.)
In the best homophony there are still hints at counterpoint. Occasionally the accompaniment might hint at one of the melody's motives, as in the second bar of the first Pachelbel aria. The melody can move to the bass or even a middle voice for variety. Any pair of voices can double the melody in thirds or sixths or share a characteristic rhythm.
In your sarabande experiments, be sure to use both the
style brise as well as simple rolled chords, separately or together like in the Mattheson courantes.
If you would like to try some phrases or an entire piece in counterpoint, experiment with various dispositions and voicings. The left hand often has accompaniment and the right hand two contrapuntal voices. Or all the voices can share in imitation. The voices should not be too close in the bass, but, as I mentioned, this is not as much an issue on the harpsichord as on the piano.
Brise figures often hint at counterpoint, and the two techniques are often mixed since there is no clear-cut boundary in between them.
RHYTHM
I had planned an extensive section on rhythm, but I don't think I will have enough time today. Most importantly, be sure to observe the rhythms of the sarabandes you study, trying some of them out and observing what beats they accent. The sarabande traditionally accents the second beat of each measure, but some early sarabandes do not and even those that do are never consistent. Phrases may alternate between accenting the second beat and accenting the first and third.
The sarabande is usually a slow piece, but as some of yesterday's examples show, they can be a moderate dance as well, especially in the early 17th century. At a very slow tempo the melodies are likely to have intricate rhythms and flourishes; at a moderate tempo there will be less time for tiny notes but hopefully better flow.
Note: Many of the examples in the attachments do not sound nice in Finale. I might make a rough recoding of me playing them later on to demonstrate the style of performance involved.