Unusual dotted notes

[John Ruggero]

In J. S. Bach's time, when voice-leading was paramount, each note often had its own stem:

Bach WTC I Bb MS.png (629.8 KiB) Viewed 10377 times

Note that Bach was forced to break the beams of one inner voice of the four.

As Rameau's chord theories came into vogue, chord notes started to be gathered up on one stem:

From a student of Bach:

Bach WTC I Bb MS Copy.png (247.63 KiB) Viewed 10377 times

An 1800 edition:

Bach WTC I Bb 1800.png (140.43 KiB) Viewed 10377 times

This new style lead to interesting combinations of dotted and non-dotted notes on one stem that are now rarely seen.

1. From Mozart's Piano Sonata k. 309, New Mozart Edition:

Mozart K 309.2 NMA.png (61 KiB) Viewed 10377 times

2. From Beethoven's Pianos Sonata op. 7 in the original edition:

Beethoven op 7.3 1st ed.png (441.18 KiB) Viewed 10377 times

Despite the repeated use of this notation throughout the movement, the passage was persistently engraved as the following in later editions, in this case, Schenker's:

Beethoven op 7.3 Schenker.png (127.01 KiB) Viewed 10377 times

In Beethoven's version, the pianist is freed of the burden of holding the thumb note while pivoting on the second finger, which makes the phrasing of the melody B G easier.

3. In the following remarkable case from Chopin's Etude op. 25 no. 10,

Chopin op 35 no 10.png (347.42 KiB) Viewed 10377 times

the composer avoids the following notation that he evidently considered cumbersome:

Chopin op 35 no 10 performance.png (29.54 KiB) Viewed 10377 times