Ex. I:181
| Essay on the True Manner of Playing the Clavier Erster Teil | Part I |
Commentary (original text in black)
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| 3. Hauptstück. Vom Vortrage | Chapter 3. On performance |
| ...Zweydeutigkeit wegen der Ziffern... | ...confusion with numerals... |
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Ex. I:181 |
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| Bach refers here to the possible ambiguity caused by the similarity between the numeral “1” and a stroke mark. Ex. I:181 from the engraved plate given below very clearly shows the numeral “1” in m. 1 and dots in m. 2, although the text seems to call for strokes and dots here (“Staccato notes are indicated by little strokes or dots above”). Bach uses the numeral instead of the stroke in the example to illustrate this ambiguity and to make clear his preference in the Probestücke: numerals for fingerings, and dots–not strokes–for staccato articulation. | |
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