“Richtig, gut, leicht und bequemer”: Reviving Literacy in the New German Keyboard Tablature and the Keyboard Partitura

This doctoral research project investigates the capacity of the contemporary keyboard player to internalize historical notation systems that predate the hegemony of modern staff notation. The period under examination is 1550–1650, and the focus is on the New German Keyboard Tablature (Neue Deutsche Orgeltabulatur, hereafter simply German Tablature) and the Keyboard Partitura (or Italian Keyboard Partitura, or open score; hereafter simply Partitura). Within their respective chrono-geographical cultures, both systems were central to a keyboardist’s expertise, and widely used media tailored to the polyphonically oriented musical practices of the time. German Tablature, consisting only of letters and lines, served both solo keyboard and ensemble music. Partitura, by contrast, was a staff notation for keyboard comprising one staff per part—usually four—and required mastery of seven distinct clefs.

The project combines autoethnographic research applied to artistic practice, and historical content analysis, all of which pursued through the lens of Historically Informed Performance (HIP). The research is divided into two parts—one for each notation—that use the same methodology. In both cases, a period of intensive internalization of the notation will be autoethnographically documented, and the proficiency gained through it used as the basis for a concert. A subsequent article integrates these artistic and experiential findings with historical content analysis examining the discourse among, and output of, musicians and theorists of the period. In addition, a lecture recital analyzes how the extensive transmission of German Tablature sources in areas such as Scandinavia, the Baltics and Poland can help us understand the dissemination of musical expertise from Germanic regions.

The overarching aim is to establish a more performer-oriented perspective on historical notations and to challenge their prevailing status as a predominantly musicological concern. In recent decades, performing with facsimiles has become increasingly common—even normative in some contexts—but this progress has not yet extended to historical keyboard notations. I argue that the next big step in the evolution of HIP will lie in the cultivation of notational polymathy. The results in this study may also serve as a basis for future pedagogical applications.

Keywords: historical notation, historically informed performance, HIP, autoethnography, early music, renaissance, baroque, keyboard instruments

Jasper Koekoek is a doctoral researcher in the Arts Study Programme at the DocMus Doctoral School.