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Basso continuo parts, almost universal in theBaroque era (1600–1750), provided theharmonic structure of the music by supplying abassline and achord progression. The phrase is often shortened tocontinuo, and the instrumentalists playing the continuo part are called thecontinuo group.
The composition of the continuo group is often left to the discretion of the performers (or, for a large performance, theconductor), and practice varied enormously within the Baroque period. At least one instrument capable of playing chords must be included, such as aharpsichord,organ,lute,theorbo,guitar,regal, orharp. In addition, any number of instruments that play in thebass register may be included, such ascello,double bass,bass viol, orbassoon. In modern performances of chamber works, the most common combination is harpsichord and cello for instrumental works and secular vocal works, such asoperas, and organ and cello forsacred music. A double bass may be added, particularly when accompanying a lower-pitched solo voice (e.g., a bass singer).
In larger orchestral works, typically performers match theinstrument families used in the full ensemble: including bassoon when the work includesoboes or other woodwinds, but restricting it to cello ordouble bass if only strings are involved; although occasionally individual movements of suites deviate from this at the musical director's discretion (e.g. bassoon without oboes).Harps, lutes, and other handheld instruments are more typical of early 17th-century music. Sometimes instruments are specified by the composer: inL'Orfeo (1607)Monteverdi calls for an exceptionally varied instrumentation, with multiple harpsichords and lutes with abass violin in the pastoral scenes followed by lamenting to the accompaniment oforgano di legno andchitarrone, whileCharon stands watch to the sound of a regal.Contrabassoon is rare as a continuo instrument, but is often used in J. S. Bach'sJohannespassion which calls for "bassono grosso".[1]
The keyboard (or other chord-playing instrument) playerrealizes (that is, adds in an improvised fashion) a continuo part by playing, in addition to the notated bass line, notes above it to complete chords, either determined ahead of time orimprovised in performance. Thefigured bass notation, described below, is a guide, but performers are also expected to use their musical judgment and the other instruments or voices (notably the leadmelody and anyaccidentals that might be present in it) as a guide. Experienced players sometimes incorporatemotives found in the other instrumental parts into their improvised chordal accompaniment. Modern editions of such music usually supply a realized keyboard part, fully written out instaff notation for a player, in place of improvisation. With the rise inhistorically informed performance, however, the number of performers who are able to improvise their parts from the figures, as Baroque players would have done, has increased.[citation needed]
Chord-playing continuo instrument parts are often written in figured bass. A part so annotated consists of abass line innotes on amusical staff plus numbers andaccidentals (or in some cases(back)slashes added to a number) beneath the staff to indicate whatintervals above the bass notes should be played, and therefore whichinversions of which chords are to be played.
The phrasetasto solo indicates that only the bass line (without any upper chords) is to be played for a short period, usually until the next figure is encountered. This instructs the chord-playing instrumentalist not to play any improvised chords for a period. The reasontasto solo had to be specified was because it was an accepted convention that if no figures were present in a section of otherwise figured bass line, the chord-playing performer would either assume that it was aroot-position triad, or deduce from the harmonic motion that another figure was implied. For example, if a continuo part in the key of C begins with a C bass note in the first measure, which descends to a B♮ in the second measure, even in the absence of figures, the chord-playing instrumentalist would know to play afirst inversionV chord (spelled B–D–G, from bottom note of the chord to the top).
Basso continuo, though an essential structural and identifying element of the Baroque period, continued to be used in many works, mostly (but not limited to) sacred choral works, of theclassical period (up to around 1800).[2][failed verification] An example isC. P. E. Bach's Concerto in D minor for flute, strings and basso continuo. Examples of its use in the 19th century are rarer, but they do exist:masses byAnton Bruckner,Ludwig van Beethoven, andFranz Schubert, for example, have a basso continuo part that was for an organist.
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