Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Mozart's Counterpoint


In music history there are examples of great mentorship. One of the greatest -in my opinion- is that of Johann Sebastian Bach, who left entire volumes of his works that are devoted to the musical education of his family. There is also the teachings of Albrechstberger to the young Beethoven. However not even a great Bach-admirer like myself can overlook the particular case of Padre Giambattista Martini.

Giovanni Battista Martini (1706-1784) was a catholic priest considered to be one of the greatest counterpointists of the 18th century. "Padre Martini, the great counterpoint teacher of the eighteenth century, has left no really didactic work" , says Knud Jeppesen in his Counterpoint. Padre Martini wrote Essemplare o sia saggio fondamentale prattico di contrappunto fugato dealing with the fine art of fugue writing. This work is a complex one and it is not well-suited for the beginner. One must think of it as a "graduate-course" intended for the student who has completed studies on counterpoint and fugue, only then will one realize that Martini's unconventional teaching method marks the structure of the whole work, a method "neither divided into chapters and paragraphs...nor based on mere precepts" as Willi Reich would put it.


A valuable account of this teachings has survived in the correspondance between Martini and Johann Christian Bach. In his early twenties, J.S. Bach's youngest son went to Bologna to study under Martini. This endeavor was followed by a lively exchange of letters between student and teacher. J.C. Bach wrote to Martini asking for advice many times; he even wrote answers to his own questions for Martini's opinion ocassionally. Johann Christian would travel to London and remained there the rest of his life. He later became known as the "London Bach".



Johann Christian Bach


Another remarkable example of student-teacher relationship is given by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This happened during Mozart's visit to London in 1764-1765. Johann Christian Bach was the most famous musician in England for twenty years, even more famous than his father, the great Johann Sebastian, ever was (old Bach was remembered as "the father of Johann Christian Bach"). J.C. Bach's works caused a lasting impression on young Mozart. Only a few years later, Wolfgang would travel to Bologna to study with Padre Martini. Then he became his direct student.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart made a very personal use of counterpoint. The Requiem K626, The unfinished C-Minor Mass, the final movement of the 'Jupiter' symphony are all evidence of it. However, the world of counterpoint is a complex and serious one. The rules one must observe and follow are sometimes too strict: they seem to limit the composer. I have met "accompished" musicians that are hostile towards counterpoint. Counterpoint is being replaced by harmony in most academic programs for this reason.



The Bologna Mozart. This painting was commisioned by Martini in 1777, when Wolfgang was 21 years old.




In October 9, 1770, Mozart presented his admission test for the Bologna Accademia dei Filarmonici, a very prestigious institute that remains to our days as one of the finest in the world. The test Mozart was set to solve was to compose a 4-part piece on an anonymous gregorian antiphon, Quaerite Primum Regnum Dei: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God". The results granted Mozart's admission to the Accademia, and even the aknowledgement of the faculty. Wolfgang's father, Leopold later wrote that his son took half an hour to complete what to most took three hours. W.A. Mozart was 14 years old.




Mozart's admission letter, followed by a copy of the piece he wrote.


The object of the test was not to evaluate Mozart's powers as a composer, but to see if he was able to sumbit himself to a more academic form of composition. The Quaerite of Mozart fails to achieve this completely, and for this reason his teacher, Padre Martini, wrote a different example to ilustrate his pupil on the correct solution to the excercise. This is where things get interesting.

Martini's version does not correct Mozart's. Martini instead choose the best ideas from his pupil's work and used them as thematic material for an entirely new example. Martini's version is related to Mozart's in almost every measure yet it stands as a finished masterpiece against the much less polished though amazing work of the fourteen-year old Mozart.

One could speak volumes of the comparison between both excerises, like the omission of Mozart's second subject and the use of perfect cadences to confirm the tonality of F in the eleventh measure and the tonality of D at the end. However, I would like to emphasize the fact that Martini acknowledges the powers of his pupil. With only one exception, I haven't met a professor capable of doing this. Thesis and dissertation supervisors are no different. Most people will only criticize destructively thinking that they are constructively doing so.

Padre Martini's teachings came as revelations to Mozart. As in the case with J.C. Bach, both master and disciple sustained a lenghty correspondance throught their lives. Martini's teachings were the foundation on which Mozart built fantastic works of art, filled with the most impressive and beautiful complexity.


Click here to download a copy of the score for Mozart's version. (KV86)

Click here to download a copy of Martini's version.


Comments Welcome!

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Trucos (I)


Alguien anónimo dejó un comentario respecto a mi observación respecto al filtro del aceite del coche. El comentario me dió mucha risa, pues en su picardía se intuye algo muy cierto: ¿entonces para qué @#&%$! le ponen filtro de aceite a los coches?

La respuesta se puede tomar como mi truco Nº1 para mejorar la eficiencia del motor del coche.

El aceite está para lubricar las partes móviles del motor y así evitar el desgaste y el calentamiento del mismo por fricción. Las partes móviles que más necesitan lubricación son los pistones, bielas y cigueñales. Esta lubricación se provee al bombear aceite mediante -claro- una bomba que extrae este líquido del carter ("oil pan" en inglés). Al succionar aceite del carter, la bomba manda el aceite a un filtro que remueve basuras e impurezas. Luego, el aceite es rociado a presión sobre las piezas móviles, lubricándolas. El aceite luego gotea de regreso al carter, donde el ciclo comienza nuevamente. Abajo pueden ver una imágen que ilustra cómo funciona un motor de 4 tiempos (Otto). Al fondo podemos ver el recipiente del aceite.




Habiendo dado esta explicación express de cómo funciona la lubricación en el motor del coche ahora procedo a decir esto:

El motor funciona mejor sin el filtro de aceite.

Mucha gente me ha dicho que eso no es posible, que cómo voy a saber más que los ingenieros en Detroit. La cosa es muy sencilla; el filtro de aceite es un seguro contra la gente que no cambia el aceite del motor cada 2 meses o cada 5,000 Km.

Al pasar los años, y con la introducción del sistema de inyección de combustible, la combustión dentro del motor se ha hecho más "limpia", o sea que deja menos residuos. También tenemos que los bloques del motor son de aluminio, que es menos propenso a despostillarse.

Los fabricantes recomiendan cambiar el aceite del motor cada 5,000 Km. CASI NADIE HACE ESTO. La respuesta de la industria automotriz es seguir usando filtros de aceite, por seguridad de los usuarios desidiosos. Ahora, que cambiar el aceite del motor es cosa sencilla... lo que pasa es que la desidia es grande.

Imagínense esto: un filtro de aceite tapado (por que el usuario lleva 10,000 Km recorridos en el auto sin reemplazar el aceite del motor) entorpece el gasto de aceite en el motor. La lubricación no es adecuada y el motor se calienta innecesariamente. El calentamiento produce que el aceite se queme dentro del motor, humeando la máquina y causando que el nivel del lubricante baje. Esto último a su vez produce más calentamiento. Calentamiento = Desgaste.

He visto autos con 100,000 Km en el odómetro que sufren enormemente por el desgaste del motor. En cambio he visto otros con 160,000 Km a los que se les ha quitado el filtro del aceite cuyo motor ronrronea como gatito.

Does it work?....

Sí. por supuesto que funciona. Sin el filtro de aceite, el motor es mejor irrigado por el aceite y como consecuencia lógica es mejor lubricado. Un motor bien lubricado usa menos energía para funcionar. ¿Y de dónde creen que venga la energía que usa el motor? Pues de la combustión que provee la gasolina. Menos energía usada = Gasolina ahorrada.

¿Exáctamente de cuánta gasolina hablamos? Ahí si me toman desprevenido. No sé. Lo qué sí puedo decir es que durante un embotellamiento el motor trabaja menos "estresado", con lo que se ahorra un 2%-3% de combustible. Las prestaciones de esto no solo son el ahorro de combustible, sino el hecho de que el motor se "humea" menos. Es benéfico para el coche que el motor esté lo más limpio posible.

¿Recomiendo que se deshagan del filtro del aceite de su coche? Si van a cambiar el aceite del motor cada 5,000 Km con afanosa puntualidad, ¡Sí!

Ahora bien, para aquéllos que no quieren gastar en los frecuentes cambios de aceite o que no sepan como cambiarle el aceite al carro NO RECOMIENDO QUE SE DESHAGAN DEL FILTRO.


English Spoken.

Próximamente punctus contra punctus tendrá artículos en inglés...