Re: vibrato

[AGREENBA <AGREENBA...>]

In a message dated 2/3/02 4:02:48 AM, ericabuxbaum (at) yahoo(dot)com writes:

<< I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you mean by
"ornaments rather than something added to the sound." 
Erica Buxbaum >>

I guess I should clarify by saying ornament on one note rather than pervasive 
throughout a performance on more than just long notes.
There existed, as according to Hotteterre's treatise (as one trusted source) 
for flute and oboe, an ornament called vibrati. The chapter on it followed 
the one on the trill and it really ends up to be "smaller" shallower version 
of a trill and only really used in the middle of a long note of say a whole 
note's length or certainly something long enough to accommodate such an 
ornament and to often be together with the nuance of messe di voce, the 
swelling of the dynamic. So what I'm saying here is that often a discussion 
on vibrato, which is something more pervasive throughout a performance, 
begins in the baroque period but that this concept is not the consistent 
wavering that we think of today; it was really considered an ornament. 
Therefore, when siting texts on early usage of "vibrato" I'm wondering and 
also pointing out that perhaps it's no more a relationship or progression 
then say the existence of the piano as an outgrowth of the harpsichord 
because these are two very different instruments. Maybe that's not a great 
analogy but something like that. Or perhaps the development of the flute as 
coming from the recorder as if, when the recorder came out of fashion, there 
came along the flute. Not so, since they existed and were written for at the 
same time. 
Merely points to ponder as I'm not sure if vibrato, per se, actually DID come 
from the ornament called vibrati, becoming a more pervasive nuance throughout 
a performance rather than for just one note to add the ornamental shimmer. To 
be sure, Hotteterre describes vibrati as an ornament that is spoken of 
similarly to a trill.

Adrianne

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