TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
9th Biennial Conference on Baroque Music
ABSTRACT
Johann Joseph Fux and the Question of Einbau Technique
Harry White
Although Einbau or 'embedding' technique in the arias and choral
movements of J.S. Bach has received considerable attention (notably in
recent research by Stephen Crist and Norbert Dubowy), the extent to which
this technique is employed by other composers has been largely neglected.
As a means of formal and structural control, Einbau technique is
a primary resource not only in the Lutheran cantatas of Bach, but also
in the Roman Catholic oratorios of J.J. Fux. In Fux's case, the application
of this technique is restricted to certain of his da capo arias,
but given the preponderance and formal dominance of the da capo in
Fux's oratorios, the use of Einbau therein provides good grounds
for a scrutiny of the (da capo) form itself, in a domain which is
comparable to but unnconnected with Bach's music.
In this paper, Fux's use of Einbau is disclosed and analysed
under three headings: (a) cultural history (b)the psychology of forms (c)
expressive capability. Fux's construction and manipulation of ritornello
forms, which pre-determine and generate both the vocal elaboration and
instrumental counterpoint of his verse settings, can be shown to depend
upon Einbau technique in terms which invite comparison with Bach's
practice. Given that this technique --- in Fux as in Bach--- inevitably
bears upon text setting, a contextual study of Einbau in Fux enriches
our understanding of compositional practice and aesthetic expression in
the da capo aria as a self-standing form.
Last updated on 22 March 2000 by Yo
Tomita