Accompaniment

The accompaniment (formerly often of French accompaniment to accompagnement ) is that musical material which will play in addition to a melody, to support them harmonically and rhythmically. This can range from simple chordal guitar accompaniment of a folk song to complicated and individually differentiated orchestral writing an opera aria.

Many songs come only through the accompaniment really into their own: The first theme of the slow movement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony, for example, consists largely of a repetition of the sound s that receives meaning only by the underlying chords, but also songs like somethin ' Stupid or the Beatles number Julia sound hollow and uninteresting without harmonies and counter voices.

Actually there are only two kinds of music without voices with accompanying activities: Firstly, the purely monophonic music and on the other hand, the absolute polyphony of voices louder equal as they can be found for example in the Renaissance motet.

Simple Song Accompaniment

Whether with the guitar around the campfire, the upright piano under the Christmas tree or behind the keyboard of the school choir: Where is sung, a companion is always welcome. However, if no notes or sheets ( melody parts with chord symbols ) are present, is often good advice and recommended a little knowledge of harmony. The basics to be taught in the excellent articles and stage theory circle of fifths.

Most folk and children's songs, but also many songs from the so-called light music, can be personalized with three basic chords that accompany those of the I, IV and V stage. Who a little concerned in private with these harmonies will soon develop a feel for it, at which point which chord fits well, and can later try to use in some places, the other four basic steps that can accompany more colorful and more interesting.

Accompaniments in the course of music history

Before 1600

The earliest forms of accompaniment were probably percussive movements to the rhythm of sung melodies that were carried out first on your own body later on percussion instruments. So the musical extension found only in rhythmically instead, which also has not changed, emerged as a more sophisticated melody instruments: In the ancient world and other cultures ( to this day, for example, in traditional Chinese opera ) was the instrumental accompaniment of a song that is basically only in play along with the melody that could be doing more or less heavily decorated.

The term companion in today's sense of additional musical voices could therefore only arise through the development of polyphony. Even their early forms ( antiphon, responsory, canon ) not distinguish between major and minor voice, only with formation of the organum, especially the Provençal expression, in which the upper voice emerges through melismatic ornamentation, you can by an emancipation of the vocals and subordination of other voices speak with the accompaniment.

But the art music of the Renaissance, with its strict polyphony no clear melody and accompaniment voices, later, with the entry of Baroque music is created monody, which enables this assignment.

General Bass (Basso continuo)

In Baroque music, especially the Basso continuo ( basso ) was used to accompany solo instruments, for example, in sonatas or monodic arias. However, the continuo had a permanent place in the orchestra and served as the basis of harmony that was there of course also supported by other instruments. In typical baroque concerto Italian type ( Vivaldi ) the passages of the solo instrument is accompanied only by continuo, while the interludes ( ritornello ) are played by the whole orchestra (with or without soloists ).

In the music of the great Baroque masters, of course, find the various forms and composition techniques for the accompaniment to a main voice, sometimes even without the inclusion of the figured bass, as in the Sonata for four violins without bc by Telemann. In Johann Sebastian Bach following two forms are typical:

On one hand, he often used ostinatos from simple motifs, on which long continued spinning tunes, as in the middle movements of the violin concertos and the imaged Italian Concerto.

On the other hand, there are refined built, polyphonic structures where accompanying and solo function can alternate with one another by several main cast. Frequently this is the case in the arias with obbligato solo instruments from the Cantatas and Passions. The figure shows a section of the Magnificat, share in the soprano and oboe d' amore, the main voice.

Obbligato accompaniment to

In the middle of the 18th century the importance of the basso continuo decreased gradually. . 's Orchestral music, church music ( organ) and in the opera itself held the practice of basso continuo (harpsichord or fortepiano ) until around 1800, the composer began but increasingly noting the company of their works exactly and orchestrating - first in the chamber music and in song. This obbligato accompaniment to directed to infringing the freedom of occupation of the figured bass and second, the freedom in design and decoration of the accompaniment. For improvisation, as it allows the harpsichord or Theorbenspielern Baroque Ensemble, were even demanded, in the classical was no more room, but the path for the psychologically motivated accompaniment, as they were essential for the development of the song and opera, was freed.

Often the obligatory accompanying voices were artfully designed and development of Baroque contrapuntal technique, but sometimes attacked the champion back in a simple accompaniment patterns. A typical example is the 4/4-Takt-Begleitungen in the strings, which are found in many solo concertos and arias by Mozart: On the stressed first and third beats playing cellos and basses the root, while the subsequent three eighth notes of violins violas and chord tones are filled.

In many works and the Alberti bass was used as an obbligato Akompagnement which makes a delightful combination of harmony and rhythmic structure, especially in piano music.

Song and Opera

Already in the first opera by Claudio Monteverdi is apparent that the emotional content of a sung melody and text of their statement can be enhanced by a suitable accompaniment. With chromatic passages, fanfare-like chords or tremolos sorrow, triumph or anxiety may be expressed in the Baroque opera.

Mozart goes in his operas one step further and revealed with subtle accompaniment ideas also the unspoken thoughts and feelings of his characters: The tragicomic cladding game of his opera Così fan tutte exists alongside the superficial level of the libretto text, an additional emotional world by monitoring, which does not always cover with the sung assertions of the people.

In the song the " psychological support ", which already Haydn and Mozart had indicated was perfected especially by Franz Schubert, who can put the audience with a few bars of piano introduction into the mood of the set to music the poem ( Der Lindenbaum ) or tensions that the text builds up in the epilogue again dissolves ( dream of Spring in the Winter Journey ). Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms and Hugo Wolf are continuing this tradition.

With the development of the leitmotif as the main element for the design of the orchestral writing an opera had composers such as Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss is a powerful tool, not only the people on the stage and their motives expressed by, but also absent persons are recalled can: for example, if at the end of the Marschallin from Der Rosenkavalier the " men, quite generally " sings, the listener feels that they therefore particularly Octavian says, because its theme is heard to.

Dances and entertainment music

The dancers of the Baroque period distinguished the various dance forms by the pace, typical rhythms in the vocals or simply by the ranking within the suite. Also has the minuet of classical music as a feature of the 3/4-time, the moderate pace and the ABA form, but not a typical accompaniment pattern.

Only at the Viennese Waltz, the characteristic accompaniment with the low note at the clock starts, the following two lookups in higher instruments to sound forming element. This proverbial Hum -pa -pa - pattern is indeed already present in the Landler, but now it is the primary distinguishing feature of the dance.

As the waltz can also be the Polka easily recognizable by their escort, in which deep base tones and high lookups alternate eighth example ( above based on the onomatopoeia could be that as Hum -pa - hom -pa - pattern call ), and the same applies for most other dances from the 19th century.

Even the styles of popular music of the 20th century can be distinguished primarily by their support: Typical rhythmic patterns, characteristic harmonies and the cast allow the listener to assign also an unknown number to a specific genre. Rock and roll music can be seen for example on the decomposed seventh chords in the bass and plucked to swing off-beats in the harmony instruments.

Other examples are the short, the stopped guitars lookups of reggae or virtuoso electric bass runs in the radio. In rap, in its chant melody and harmony plays a subordinate role, of course, the typical accompaniment is also a purely rhythmic pattern.

In jazz, the accompaniment is usually played by the so-called rhythm section, which may consist of drums, bass, piano or other instruments. But here it is very often the case that individual musicians temporarily emerge solo from this group. Rare, especially in the through-composed big band, other jazz instruments are entrusted with the accompanying function.

About accompanist and soloist

Through all phases of music history is a social discrepancy between the players of melodic instruments and their companions pulls. The second consists stands, although its function is irreplaceable, never in the spotlight as the soloist and, since his voice is usually less demanding, ridiculed by the virtuoso melody players. Classical musicians like to do violist jokes or those about bassists in jazz rhythm guitarists are sometimes victims of teasing.

About the nature and personality of a good companion to many musicians and theorists have given some thought to Johann Joachim Quantz dedicated in his attempt at a statement, the Transverse Flute to play the obligations of all accompanying instrumentalists even a whole chapter. It says, among other things:

But that companion must also have important virtues, Leopold Mozart describes the attempt at a thorough Violin School:

Today, the responsibility lies more with the conductor, as with the individual musicians, and indeed it can be observed that certain maestros like to accompany soloists, but others prefer to play with the orchestra alone symphonies. Also for the management of opera needs a conductor, of course, a good sense of accompanying, and the great opera conductor can be seen from the fact that they manage their own interpretation of a work without the singers to take all their freedom.

Similarly diffizil is the task of the (classical) song companion, on the one hand has to cope with the demanding piano parts by Schubert or Wolf songs, but then withdraw getting behind the singer and need to know exactly when and what volume and what speed are comfortable to sing. Master in this subject were, for example, Irwin Gage, Gerald Moore, Günther Weissenborn and Erik Werba, tell you about the many famous singers in her memoirs, anecdotes.

Hörtipps

It can be a rewarding experience for any music lover to concentrate while listening only to the accompaniment. In principle, any piece of music is naturally suited for the treated in the article genres and composers but some works are particularly recommended:

• Baroque: The solo concertos by Antonio Vivaldi and everything by Johann Sebastian Bach
• Opera: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro and Così fan tutte, Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier
• Songs: Franz Schubert's Winterreise, or Schumann's song cycle, Op 39
• Viennese dance music: recordings of the New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic
• Pop: The Beatles: The Beatles