Basso continuo chords

Where could I find the names of the different chords used in continuo? For instance, what’s the official name of the chord figured slashed five and six, or +4, etc.? There must be a list in some English language treatise.

Thanks.

That’s a very interesting question. I am no expert but I don’t think they talked about chords in those days the same way say jazz players now work off chord sheets and a common more or less standardised chord symbol set. I have never seen anything like this in 18c. Our learned colleagues here I am sure will have some definitive answers. I thought the closest they would get is to refer to the figures, as people do today; this is a 6 4 chord. In fact if they did have names for all types chords they probably would have written abbreviations for them instead of figures! From my dim recollection of reading CPE Bach a long time ago I don’t recall him talking about chord names in our modern way. I will be very interested to hear more about this.

I will risk suggesting that 18th century musicians didn’t think so much in terms of isolated chords, but rather, thought in terms of more genuinely musical contexts, such as, perhaps, a movement of bass line leading to a cadence. In the rare moments when I can think that way, I may be able to play a measure or two as if it were music, rather than clunking along from chord to chord.
Here is the source I’ll be studying for the rest of my life: Welcome to Partimenti.org

Hello Dennis,

Period terms do exist, for example, the slashed 6/5 chord is called the Diminished Fifth Chord. The+4 chord is called the Tritone Chord. The 6/4 chord is called the Consonant Fourth Chord. You can find these terms in Jesper Christensen’s Basso Continuo Method based on 18th Century Sources, published by Bärenreiter.

For some reason, the reply and thanks I sent via email never made it to the Jackrail. So I’m trying here instead:

Le 08/10/2021 08:55, Frank Mento via The Jackrail écrit :

Hello Dennis, Period terms do exist, for example, the slashed 6/5 chord is called the Diminished Fifth Chord. The+4 chord is called the Tritone Chord. The 6/4 chord is called the Consonant Fourth Chord. You can find these terms in Jesper Christensen’s Basso Continuo Method based on 18th Century Sources, published by Bärenreiter.

Thank you, Frank. And thanks also to Andrew and Ed. Christensen’s book, though based on 18th century sources, gives only French, German and Italian references. No English sources are mentioned. Which means his English terms are necessarily translations. Besides, the whole book is itself a translation from the German, and there is no reason to believe the translator consulted any English sources. To take just one example, his so-called “Tritone Chord” doesn’t appear in any English source I know of (which is why I raised the question here). “Chord of the tritone” does appear here and there, albeit rarely, and these occurrences seem to be 18-century translations from the French (Encyclopédie). Period terms do exist, indeed, but they aren’t necessarily consistent from one author to another. George K. Jackson (A Treatise on Practical Thorough Bass: With General Rules for Its Composition and Modulation. Op. 5 (1791)), calls this “the chord of the +4th”). Pasquali (Thoroughbass made easy) seems to call it a “chord of the second” (“the common chord of the note above”). Finally, there are terms that were apparently specifically French (“petite sixte”).

The reply I sent via email on 8 October was just returned to me as undeliverable this morning, 13 October (“temporary failure”), 5 days later…

Hello Dennis,

I was able to read your October 8 post.

Sincerely,

Frank Mento