Questions: Basso Continuo Practice and Realization

Question 1

A harpsichordist is performing a Baroque sonata. The bass line shows a 'B' in the bass with a '6' figure beneath it. The violinist plays a long sustained note. What should the harpsichordist do?

• A. Play only the exact notes specified by the figure, in the lowest possible register
• B. Interpret the '6' as meaning a sixth and third above B, choosing voicing and texture that supports the violin
• C. Double the violin melody in the right hand to fill out the texture
• D. Wait for the composer's written-out chord before playing

Answer: (B)

The figure '6' tells the continuo player which intervals are required above the bass note — here, a sixth and third — but leaves voicing, register, doubling, and rhythmic realization to the performer's judgment. A skilled continuo player would support the violin line without overwhelming it, choosing texture appropriate to the moment. Option A mistakes the figures for exact prescriptions of register. Option C is an over-literal misreading. Option D contradicts the entire premise of the system: continuo is the written-out instruction.

Question 2

What is the most important way that basso continuo performance practice differs from modern keyboard accompaniment in, say, a 20th-century art song?

• A. Continuo players read a melody line rather than a chord chart
• B. Modern accompaniment is fully written out; continuo realization is improvised from a bass line and figures
• C. Continuo is played only on harpsichord; modern accompaniment uses piano
• D. Modern accompaniment follows the singer; continuo players are free to play independently

Answer: (B)

The defining difference is notation: modern accompaniments are fully composed and written out, leaving the performer's task as interpretation and expression within a fixed text. Continuo realization is generative — the performer creates the actual notes in real time from a sparse bass-line shorthand. This demands harmonic knowledge, stylistic fluency, and ensemble sensitivity that goes well beyond reading notated pitches. Options C and D describe real features of Baroque practice but are not the most fundamental distinction.

Question 3

Basso continuo figures prescribe the exact voicing and register in which the chord should be played, leaving the performer primarily the task of executing the notation faithfully.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

This is the central misconception about figured bass. The figures specify which intervals (and thus which chord tones) must be present above the bass note, but they say nothing about which octave to place them in, how many voices to use, what rhythm or texture to create, or how to embellish. A skilled continuo player exercises constant creative judgment about texture density, voice leading, and embellishment — listening to the ensemble and adapting the realization to serve the music as a whole.

Question 4

The continuo group in a Baroque ensemble was the harmonic foundation of the texture, not a subordinate or decorative role.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: True

This is correct and worth emphasizing because modern ears sometimes hear the keyboard and bass as 'accompaniment' in a subordinate sense. In Baroque polarized texture — melody at the top, bass and harmony below — the continuo is structurally essential. A Handel aria without continuo collapses harmonically; the soloist is floating without a foundation. The continuo was not peripheral ornamentation but the harmonic skeleton on which the entire piece depended, realized freshly at every performance.

Question 5

How does basso continuo practice reflect a fundamentally different relationship between composer and performer than we find in, say, a fully notated Beethoven piano sonata?

Model answer: In basso continuo, the composer provides a skeletal specification — bass pitches and interval figures — and the performer supplies the actual harmonic texture through real-time realization. The composer specifies harmonic intent; the performer makes sonic decisions about voicing, texture, rhythm, and embellishment. In a Beethoven sonata, every note is specified; the performer's role is interpretive expression within a fixed text. Continuo practice treats performance as collaborative creation, not faithful reproduction.

This distinction captures something deep about Baroque musical culture: composition and performance were not yet the separated domains they became in the 19th century. A Baroque keyboard player was expected to be a trained improviser who could realize harmonies fluently. The system trusted performers to understand style and make musical decisions that served the ensemble — which is why continuo realization was a core part of professional musical training throughout the Baroque era.