A translation on the section on the Delle Dissonanze, o sia legatura di quarta, or suspension of the bass in Fedele Fenaroli’s Partimenti ossia basso numerato, Book III, Naples (1775) Ed. Gjerdingen, with adaptions to the guitar.
When the partimento note is tied and returns to the same pitch, the suspended note above it should be harmonized with a major 2nd and a perfect 4th. When the partimento then descends by a semitone, the note that was a 2nd above the tied pitch should remain in place and function as a 3rd above the new note. The note that was a 4th above the tied partimento can also stay, now forming a diminished 5th above the new note. (See letter A and B)
Note: In strict style, the tied bass note should be held. However, due to the limitations of the guitar, some adaptation is necessary. To accommodate the instrument, the “tied” bass note may be re-plucked.
Notice that this same note (previously a 4th above the tied note) can alternatively rise by step to form a 6th above the descending semitone in the partimento.
When the tied partimento note does not return to the same pitch, the suspended note should be harmonized with a major 2nd and an augmented 4th above it. Additionally, a major 6th can be added to the accompaniment. (See letter C and D)
This augmented 4th should then rise by a semitone to become a 6th above the following note in the partimento, which has descended by a semitone. The note that was a 2nd above the tied note remains and becomes a 3rd in the new harmony. (See example E)
Observe that suspensions involving the 2nd and the augmented 4th create the effect of shifting from the harmony of the original key to that of its dominant. For example, this may imply a move from G major to D major. Consequently, the note that follows the tied partimento note, when it descends by step, is no longer heard as the ⑦ of the original key but as the ③ of the new key to which the harmony has modulated. (See example F)
Note: In Partimenti ossia basso numerato, Book III (ed. Gjerdingen), only examples in the major key are provided. I have applied the same principles to the minor key examples below.
Now follows a section with each of the variants A through F,
presented in six common major and minor key signatures.
This concludes this essay on the suspension of the bass as instructed by Fedele Fenaroli in his Partimenti ossia basso numerato. You can download this essay as a PDF for free.
Karl Michelson 