Modern editions of such music usually supply a realized keyboard part, fully written out for a player, in place of improvisation. The figured bass notation, described below, is a guide, but performers are also expected to use their musical judgment and the other instruments or voices as a guide, and experienced players often incorporate motives found in the other instrumental parts. The keyboard (or other chording instrument) player realizes a continuo part by playing, in addition to the indicated bass notes, upper notes to complete chords, either determined ahead of time or improvised in performance. Sometimes instruments are specified by the composer: in L'Orfeo (1607) Monteverdi calls for an exceptionally varied instrumentation, with multiple harpsichords and lutes with a bass violin in the pastoral scenes followed by lamenting to the accompaniment of organo di legno and chitarrone, while Charon stands watch to the sound of a regal. Harps, lutes, and other handheld instruments are more typical of early 17th-century music.
Practica musica realizing figured bass full#
Typically performers match the instrument families used in the full ensemble: including bassoon when the work includes oboes or other winds, but restricting it to cello and/or double bass if only strings are involved. The most common combination, at least in modern performances, is harpsichord and cello for instrumental works and secular vocal works, such as operas, and organ for sacred music. In addition, any number of instruments which play in the bass register may be included, such as cello, double bass, bass viol, or bassoon. At least one instrument capable of playing chords must be included, such as a harpsichord, organ, lute, theorbo, guitar, regal, or harp. The makeup of the continuo group is often left to the discretion of the performers, and practice varied enormously within the Baroque period. Bach's Concerto for Two Violins, Strings and Continuo in D Minor.
The titles of many Baroque works make mention of the continuo section, such as J. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing the continuo part, if more than one, are called the continuo group. Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music.
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