I wrote this essay about 11 or 12 years ago when I was studying music. I still need to edit it a bit, put in the references, footnotes, clear up the text etc.,  because the computer transfer

from the original print was a bit dodgy.

 Essay: An inquiry into Biber's Das liderliche Schwarmen der Musquietire from his chamber piece Battalia

                    

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Von Biber (1644-1704) was born in Bohemia. He earned his living through serving as musician to various princes, bishops and archbishops during his lifetime. He was also appointed Kapel meister and dean of a choir school, and at one stage reached the rank of lord high steward. He married in 1672 and had eleven children, four of which survived childhood. His main output consists of 8 masses and other various sacred works, four violin sonatas, and around  17 ensemble works. H also composed several operas, cantatas and school dramas. Biber was a virtuoso violinist, but did not perform a great deal.

One of Biber's most popular works is the Battalia (1673). The piece is scored for three violins, four violas, two cellos and harpsichord. In the score, Biber gives a textual introduction outlining the different movements of the work- "The Battle. The dissolute revelling of musketeers, Mars, the fight, and the lament of the wounded, imitated with arias, and dedicated to Bacchus [the Roman god of wine and revelry]." The piece certainly has its fair share of unusual compositional techniques, including striking the violin with the bow to reflect battle type sounds, attaching paper to the strings in the march to create a drum sound, and snapping the strings with the right hand to imitate the sound of canon fire.                    

However, one of these movements stands out in particular due to its obscure sounding dissonance. Not only is it unusual in Biber's music, but quite extraordinary in the entire context 

of Baroque music as well. This is the second movement, called "Das liderliche Schwarmen der Musquietire" - which has been translated into English in many ways, one of the most accurate arguably being ' the dissolute reveling of the musketeers'.  It is essentially a quodlibet, a work combining different popular melodies at the same time, common in particular to the Renaissance and Baroque eras. Das liderliche is a portrayal of eight drunken musketeers all singing folk tunes. Each part consists of a different folk tune, except for the 4th viola and 1st cello which both incorporate more or less the same folk tune an octave apart. In order to musically reflect the drunkenness of the group and also the various ethnic crossovers of the different folk tunes, Biber actually creates certain lines in clashing keys and adds rhythmic tension as well. It is this clashing of keys which marks this quodlibet out as quite unique (standard quodlibets generally contain their differing melodies in the same key). The result is a chaotic tapestry of sound which seems more at home in 20th century avant-garde music than in the harmonically conservative 'rational' sound of the Baroque. In Das liderliche, the harpsichord is absent. There are several reasons why this might be. If it were included, it would be alienated from the rest of the music. Biber wanted to represent each musketeer using a single bowed stringed instrument. If a harpsichord is added for a single line, the result would be incongruous to this formula (yes, essentially the harpsichord is a stringed instrument but the sound is produced by plucking and very different to that of a bowed string. Also it would be too weak in tone against the plethora of strings). Also. serving as a continuo instrument. how could the harpsichord reinforce the harmony, if the 'harmony' is essentially dis-harmony? One of the main functions of the harpsichord as a continuo is to reinforce harmony. When traditional harmony is subverted. the continuo's traditional function is negated. On their own. each folk tune line is not unusual, all of them generally displaying typical traits of the folk tune idiom. We shall analyze each of them briefly: The second violin opens the piece in the key of D major. with a robust, jocular sound. This has been identified as the Bohemian song Vojanskv figator. and the melodic line implies a simplistic harmony based around the tonic and dominant notes. This is all typical of folk music. The 1st viola enters next with a D major type mode employing a near-consistent c natural. The occasional GG-C natural motif as in bar 30 implies a brief transition to C major. At bar 31 an F natural  implies a D minor harmony and further on it modulates to the key of F at bar 33 before going back to a D minor tonality at bar 41. The third violin enters at bar 30 with Kraut and Ruben. a folk-tune common to Italy, Austria and Hungary. It is in the key of C major. So already by bar 31 we have three contrasting keys- D major, D minor, and C major! The second viola enters at bar 31 in D major and changes to the key of A major at bar 38. retuming to D for the end. The third viola enters the melee at bar 32. with a melody based on the Styrian folk tune Nambli wol kan ich glauben. It is firmly in D major and contains nothing unusual. The first violin plays a very distinctive folk tune with a triple feel. which has been identified as a Slovak folk song called Ne takes my mluvuel. It enters at bar 33 and is purely in D major. Like the 2nd violin, the melodic line implies a simplistic harmony based around the tonic and dominant notes. The 4th viola and 1st cello both enter at bar 34 playing more or less the same line an octave apart. The two parts change constantly from a modal G lydian to a G major tonaIity, Rhythmically both parts are exactly the same. Pitch wise they are identical, as well, apart front two very subtle brief clashes:  at bar 35 the cello plays a C natural quaver again the viola's C sharp quaver, and at bar 39 the same thing happens vice-versa but with semiquaver passing notes instead of quavers. The last entry in the 2nd cello is in E minor and features the least amount of rhythmic interest, generally reinforcing the beat with alternating groups of crotchets and quavers.

 

So altogether throughout the piece Biber uses the keys of C major, D major (sometimes with dominant 7th inflections), D minor , E minor, F major, G major (often with lydian deviations), and A major. That is seven keys altogether! If we account for G lydian being a distinct key in itself, we reach a total of eight different keys. One of the reasons Biber uses these tonalities is because keys with few flats or sharps were the norm in early Baroque. Also, these keys are generally easy to play on strings. because most of them require open strings and thus there is a continual point of reference with regard to intonation. The consistent clashing comes from an extremely high abundance of dissonant intervals, including many of the most dissonant ones - minor seconds, augmented 4ths (and diminished 5ths depending on context) and major 7ths. For example, bar 39 has 4 major 7ths, seven minor 2nds, one diminished 5th and 2 augmented 4ths! From the chart we can see the most amount of keys being played at the same time is 6, from bars 38 onwards.

 

The main way Biber creates the obscure sound in Das liderlich is, obviously, through the blatant dissonance caused from his use of polytonality. However, Biber adds to the confusion using cross-rhythm as well. The juxtaposition of the triplet style melody in the 1st violin against the duplet quadruplet style of the rest of the instruments only adds to the chaos. We should note here that since the triplet style is in the first violin, which is typically the highest part overall, 't .• teal Bib, was intending to really ring out the conflicting time signature (essentially the first violin is in the compound time of 12/8). Thus in performance it is important to really make sure this part can he heard clearly above the cacophony. below. I am encouraging our flautist (who is playing the 1st violin part), to ring out her prominent 12/8 melody to achieve maximum rhythmic clashing. So despite the 1st violin, there is certainly an clement of rhythmic sanity. All the folk tunes are in common time, bar the 1st violin part if you want to call it M 12/8. One can tap one's foot along to the pulse no problem, as there is plenty of emphasis on each beat. But aurally knowing which heat of the her we one at can be very difficult to discern. The ear tends to tune in and out of each melody, rather like a fugue. Despite the prominent sounding melody in theIn violin which generally emphasizes with clarity the 1st and 3rd beats of the her, the listener may still get lost with regard* to which beat of the bar the piece is at. It is interesting that  put the fblk tune with the most simplistic and solid rhythm in the bottom cello f-rct s , mostly walking crotchets and quavers. This is not just because cellos are typically rri,o suited towards this type of less florid part, but because Biber wants to seem to acting someakniondr, of f rhythmic stability. In other words, it could be said that the second cello is cting rhythmic continuo part. This is a wise decision on Biter's behalf. With hnbasarrsay:oaf,dooiffdeirdeenat instruments, each generally on their own path, a bit of rhythmic stability in the • - to give the piece a bit of simplistic metronomic security. Limited resources meant Das liderhche was performed in a very' un-authentic manner. I played the first and second movements on solo piano. A harpsichord was no good as I could not get any of the blatant sectional dynamic contrasts using it for these two movements. For the Das liderliche movement, the line up was (from top stave to the bottom): flute, piano, clarinet, clarinet, alto voice, viola, harp, and bass voice. This meant being short of the 4th viola part, which was not to muc of a concern as it is doubled an ocatve below (with nearly all the same notes) by the 1st cellt> played by the harp). 

Cut an extremely long short, I only received the complete music for Battalia a day afier the concert. However, I did manage to get a copy of the Das liderhche movement faxed over from England. several weeks before the concert. which I distributed amongst the players. (I leamt the surrounding 2 movements by ear). The edition I received is from 1996 and edited by Brian Clark and Clifford Bartlett. The editorial notes at the back explain that the edition follows the autograph manuscript of the composer except for the missing 2nd violin part. This part was taken from a non-autograph edition which omits the dynamics. The editors have added these in accordance with the other parts. The edition also points out a few mistakes and omissions in the original score which have no relevance to the movements we performed. The edition does not include an example of the original clefs but does notify the fact that the 3rd and 4th violas originally had tenor clefs. On the whole the edition is of high quality and was fine for our performance. The second clarinet player and alto voice had to transcribe their viola clef parts for ease of reading. No ornamentation is marked in the score, which is typical of Baroque composers. It is perfectly authentic to add ornamentation — this was unarguably standard practice in the Baroque era. Them is certainly evidence to suggest that the original folk melodies in their day were ornamented. although ornamenting them in the same way as their original singers did would not be. somewhat ironically, as authentic as ornamenting them with standard early Baroque ornamentation. Although cannot know for sure if Biter's performances would have had ornamentation, the occasional oque ornament at certain points in this movement would. I believe, be perfectly authentic. so the tact that this movement is made up of folk melodies which by their nature are informal, unpredictable and susceptible to change is further impetus to add spur of the moment 

IV.AN0C otimmentat ion. Xianv of the folk may wish to add ornament, when  se wigare repeated, and in accordance with ths `0,,th revaral „name__ . rPeInion()oecur(s). as was commove pra tAtK the I lair trills would suit the occasional long note such as tje , „its tt'iee erandsta,r1In pan in bar 37. The performer should be aware of the fact m the cedaznrLthesoiuuptpenr note. Appoggiaturas can be added but their the lit,k of standard hanuon■! Quick grace notes and mordpeantshwtUhlcdhbeeis si7emcetwfohratth7sipd.ri;hitelyn paste sound of 1.)a, They would suit in particular tonic anddominant notes at the end of phrases and at 'cadence points (in the context of the one line!). For example, they .could addod to the 1st violim line at 33 on each of its dotted crotchet notes. LC iS The ``Pent ng allegro marking Bibers pen. A 1971 recording of the Battalia, that of the eetseeithict Ahvicam direct y Nikolaus Harnoncourt, presents Das liderliche at one crotchet cqual to 104 beats per ttriautel This is One for a performance. Intuition really dictates the tempo of the opening melody kies,simpl■ a lively folk tune and the only alteration of pace throughout /uierlicite is a sligti—iit in the last bar to end the movement. The opening should just be approaclied without too much thought in a lively manner. This will result in a suitable tempo. It is not known prisetv boy. fast Biber meant by Allegro. but it is unlikely he would have been ton, Arict exact overall speed . gin-en the non-strict nature of the movement. — _ onn_v With regardf to dynamic, they basically stay the same for the duration of the movement. is  Prom harmonic structure to dictate any dynamic change. In the Harnoncourt record ing there are no dynamic changes. I encouraged the performers to just go for it at a boisterous mezzo-forte. L . 1 - 

To perform this piece most authentically, the correct period instruments have to be used. Of :ourse, string instruments of the aroque were quite different to those of our modem day. The ,:rmg tone in general was -brigh er. clearer. less loud and less 'mellow' "1 in Bibe. time. The Harnancotat recording features period instruments and the results are admirable: light, delicate. rw o tomantic and with a nice treble edge to compliment the myriad of moving string parts. The 1 used were not only modem instruments but completely wrong as well, bar the 4th viola. I encouraged the harpist in particular to really try and project her part out due to the harp's more delicate s.nd. I also encouraged the alto voice to as well because she does not have a strorq: voice. The overall sonic effect of all the instruments was, despite being authentically void, ver. pleasant and intersting and only added to the unusual sound of the piece. As the piece was composed in 1673. the overall pitch should be at Cornet tone pitch (where 4emO hertzi. seeing as this was the standard pitch of the time. In around the1670ts and 1680's there was a renewed interest in French music. and the different lower pitch of French instruments began to affect the overall pitch in nearby countries. However, none of the instrments in the Rattalia are French and because it was composed just at the turn of the 16700s. we can safely say 5--ench influence of a lower pitch does not affect the Battalia. Our performance was at 440 hz ot- our modem instruments. We should note that equal temperament was not in use when ,ce was composed. and that the open strings of the instruments would have been tuned to -.7 of well-temeperament which the harpsichord would have being using when it is - the other movements. This view is perhaps pedantic: string players of Das liderliche wow.). :end natural!y to unconsciously play more towards purely-toned intervals of the harmonic hezause their fretless instruments allow this liberty, and there is no well-tempered :nord continuo in the movement to curb their temperament. However, with our instrumentation only three out of the eight players would be able to do this (the two voices and the viola, due to their non-fixed intonation), so the endirnesult was basically in equal tempe ent because of the equally tempered instuments we w g-

With regard to articulation, although we have completely the wrong instruments bar the viola, I tried to get t e players to think like string players and whether plucking, blowing or singing the notes, told them to imagine producing the notes using brisk up and downbows. I stressed the muskateers, the players must not play at a importance of a certain frenetic resoundingeneistergy. dAl, though the parts depict drunken To conclude, I chose this piece partly because of my strong attraction to unusual and esoteric music. The concert on the whole displayed a wide variety of musical styles from Italy, Germany, and France, spanning from early to late Baroque. I felt it was important to add the pleasant anomaly which is Das liderliche to the programme (as well as the two movements on either side to put it into context), in order to enrich the overall diversity of the concert. The main reason I arranged a performance of the piece was to express my deep respect for a man who had the guts, wit and humour to just ditch the rule book for a change and create something very, very different — regardless of its musical credibility! There is something almost wonderfully satiric about Das liderliche - was its composition due in part to boredom with the conventions of standard music? Was Biber being subtly rebellious? The piece is certainly not a work of genius in itself, but more a work of (Perhaps) rare subversion which can only make me smile.