View source for Bebung

{{hatnote|'''Bebung''' may also refer to a musical composition by [[Michael Jarrell]].}}
{{more footnotes|date=March 2013}}
[[Image:Clavicórdio.jpg|thumb|right|260px|A clavichord]]
[[Image:Clavichord action.svg|thumb|280px|Clavichord action]]
'''''Bebung''''' (German: ''a trembling''; {{IPA|de|ˈbeːbʊŋ|}}) is a type of [[vibrato]] executed on the [[clavichord]].

When a clavichord key is pressed, a small metal [[tangent (clavichord)|tangent]] strikes a string and remains in contact with it for as long as the key is held down. By applying a rocking pressure up and down the key with the finger, a performer can slightly alter the tension of the string itself, producing the vibrato quality known as ''bebung''. While the vibrato on fretless [[string instruments]] such as the violin typically oscillates in [[pitch (music)|pitch]] both above and below the nominal note, clavichord ''bebung'' can only produce pitches above the note.

[[Sheet music]] does not often explicitly indicate ''Bebung''. Composers assumed that, like other [[ornament (music)|ornaments]], performers would apply ''bebung'' at their discretion. Where sheet music does indicate ''bebung'', it appears as a series of dots above or below a note, with the number of dots indicating the number of finger movements. For example: <score>
{ \time 4/2 \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \override TextScript #'avoid-slur = #'inside \override TextScript #'outside-staff-priority = ##f \slurUp \hideNotes f''4( \unHideNotes f'2^\markup { \halign #0 . . . . } \hideNotes f''4) }</score><ref>Grove, George (ed.), [[s:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Bebung|''A Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', vol. i, p.160''b'']]</ref>

[[Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach]] called the vibrato "Bebung", however other composers like [[Johann Mattheson]] had described the term earlier on. C.P.E Bach often used Bebung in his music, and says it was one of the reasons why the clavichord was superior to the recent [[pianoforte]]. In 1789, [[Daniel Gottlob Türk]] added the Bebung definition to the pianoforte, yet instead of the rocking-pressure, it is restating the tone/note by continuously and gently pressuring it. While, [[Alexander Agricola]] used it in vocal works.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7yEUTTyqgJkC&dq=bebung&pg=RA23-PP7|page=521|chapter=45|title=Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music|author=Frederick Neumann|orig-date=1978|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|date=1983|isbn=9780691027074|access-date=18 October 2022}}</ref>

==References==
* {{cite book |last=Brauchli |first=Bernard |title=The Clavichord |year=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-63067-3 |pages=267–74 }}

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[[Category:Musical techniques]]
[[Category:Ornamentation]]