The ornamentation of the four flute concerti of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: An examination of their notations according to the original manuscripts, and a discussion of their executions according to eighteenth-century treatises

This document explores the ornamentations found in the four flute concerti of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. It considers C. P. E. Bach's and J. J. Quantz's suggestions for the execution of trills and appoggiaturas according to the directives found in each of their treatises, and it proposes a style of execution for the various types of trills and appoggiaturas written into the original manuscripts of Bach's flute concerti. Often the execution that works best goes against the conventional rule of on-beat performance of all embellishments. The document also examines any differences in notation of these ornaments between the versions for the flute versus their original versions for the keyboard. Many of the elaborate symbols used to notate ornaments in keyboard music are simplified in music for non-keyboard instruments, but the executions are still intended to be just as varied.