Johann David Heinichen’s Treatise “Der General-Bass in der Composition” (1728) and its Application in Practice
In my artistic-academic research project, I examine Johann David Heinichen’s monumental work “Der General-Bass in der Composition” in the extended version of 1728. Access to this treatise is difficult due to its size and the lack of a modern edition, and to date there is no complete English translation. The international reception of this work—especially in terms of its use in teaching and practice—is less than might be expected for such an important source.
Heinichen repeatedly makes an explicit distinction between a practical and a theoretical-compositional approach when addressing continuo players and composers. In the second volume of the treatise, for example, he offers a step-by-step guide to setting a cantata by Alessandro Scarlatti with a strongly practical orientation.
The aim of my project is to make Heinichen’s material my own in such a way that I can realize basso continuo realizations in a stylistically oriented but quasi-improvisatory manner.
The central research questions are: How do I deal with the tension between notation and improvisation in basso continuo playing? What creative contribution do the continuo realizations allow and under what conditions?
Furthermore, I am looking for ways to convey Heinichen’s instructions in a creative way and to link them with music-theoretical principles. As a result of this work, a practical guide to continuo realization in Heinichen’s style is planned, which should contribute to a broader, more differentiated reception of this source.
Erstbetreuerin: Univ. Prof.in Dr.in Anne Marie Dragosits, ABU
Zweitbetreuer: Univ. Prof. Mag. Dr. Markus Grassl, mdw
Biography
Alexandra Helldorff (* 1986 Jaroslawl, Russia) is a conductor, harpsichordist, pianist, and choir and ensemble leader. She received her first piano lessons at the age of five at the music school in her home town; she moved to Austria with her family in 1999.
Alexandra began her training (conducting with Tito Ceccherini and piano with Bozidar Noev) at the Tiroler Landeskonservatorium in Innsbruck; at the same time, she began comprehensive music studies at Mozarteum University in Salzburg, where she studied piano with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and Alexei Lubimov, choral conducting with Karl Kamper and orchestral conducting with Dennis Russell Davies. This was followed by further postgraduate courses in the field of historically informed performance practice with Reinhard Goebel and conducting with Hans Graf, as well as harpsichord and doctoral studies with Anne Marie Dragosits at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz. She also received important impulses from Margit Legler in the field of historical acting.
For her outstanding achievements during her studies, she was awarded the Bernhard Paumgartner Medal by the Mozarteum Foundation. In addition to numerous appearances as a solo and chamber music pianist, she has also conducted the Mozarteum University Ensemble, the Bad Reichenhall Philharmonic Orchestra and her own ensemble SÆSCH. She has also performed concerts and radio recordings with the Vienna Philharmonic, the WDR Orchestra and Choir, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Ludwigsburg Schlossfestspiele Orchestra and the Bayerische Kammerphilharmonie.