Mordent

Figure 1. Higher bite. Figure 2. Lower bite.

The mordente (from Latin mordere, "to bite") in music is a melodic ornament that usually indicates that the main or real note (the written note) must be played with a single rapid alternation of said note with the one immediately higher or lower by joint degrees. This alternation can be made up of three, four or five notes. In either case, the mordant notes must be played exclusively in the time previously occupied by the main note. The mordant can appear in combination with other musical ornaments such as the trill, the accent or the double cadence.

Typologies

Mordents can be classified according to various criteria.

Upper and lower mordents

	Mordecins on piano First compass Goldberg Variation No. 7 touched first with lower bites and then without them.
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• Senior: when you alternate three notes: the first is the main note, in which the bite symbol is found, moves by joint grades towards the next note (in line with the diatonic scale) and returns to the main note. This kind of bite has never been used in baroque music.
• Inferior or invested: when it alternates three notes: the first is the main note, in which the bite sign is found, it moves by joint degrees towards the previous note (according to the diatonic provision) to return to the main note.

Simple and double mordents

• Simple: when the notes to alternate are only three, as in the previous types.
• Double: when it is constituted by the union of two bites, regardless of whether they are inferior, superior or different types. The effect will be a group of four or five notes touched on a first part that is obtained from, according to the tender subdivision, the figure on which it is placed. If the figure itself constitutes a subdivision, the bite will occupy the whole of it giving rise to a trine.

Mordentes with prepended note

Just before the mordant there may be an additional upper or lower auxiliary note that generally serves to ensure that the flow of the melody is not interrupted. There are two variants depending on the duration of this initial note and the style with which it is played:

• A small vertical straight line located before the bite means that the interpreter will have to execute a small accent or at least stop in the auxiliary note. The auxiliary note will be superior or lower depending on whether the line is placed above or below the bite.
• A small curve line located in front of the bite means that the interpreter will have to interpret the auxiliary note without stopping too much, making a slight slowing if desired. Similarly, the auxiliary note will be superior or lower depending on whether the curve line is placed above or below the bite.

Figure 3. Mordentes with an anteposed note.

Grade and jump mordents

• Grade, mordente in which the distance between the main note and the auxiliary note is one degree, i.e. it is located at a distance of second.
• Jumpingin which the distance between the main note and the auxiliary note is greater than one degree.

Anticipation and delay mordents

• In advancein which the auxiliary note is found before the pulse. They are attached to the previous note and anticipate the following note, without delay.
• Delay, bit in which the auxiliary note is found after the pulse. They are attached to the following note delaying their execution.

Direct and circular mortenes

• Direct, bites that are directed "directly" to the main note.
• Circular or Gupeto, bites that do not "directly" address the main note. This type of bites has two variants:
  • Horizontal circular mordent: consists of four notes in the following order: note superior to the main, main note, lower note and main note.
  • Vertical or inverted circular mordent: it is also made up of four notes in the following order: note below the main, main note, upper note and main note again.

Horizontal circular mordent, or descending group.. Vertical circular mordent, or ascending rump.

Graphic representation

This musical ornament is represented in scores and scores by a wavy line like the one used to indicate the trill, but this time shorter. There are two main variants for the two basic types of mordents:

• The upper mordent is represented by a short scribble above the note.
• The lower is indicated with the same scribble crossed by a vertical line.

Figure 4. Notation of the upper and lower bites. Play (?·i)

As with the trill and the appoggiatura, the auxiliary notes that make up the mordant can be modified chromatically, which is represented by a small accidental sign (flat ♭, sharp ♯ or becuadro ♮), without such accidental affecting the rest of the measure. The accidental, in the case of the upper mordent, is above the mordent sign and below it in the case of the inferior mordent.

Uses and effects

The upper mordant involves a single rapid alternation between the main and the top note. The lower mordant involves a single rapid alternation between the main and the lower note. The exact speed with which the mordant must be interpreted, as in the case of the trill, varies depending on the tempo of the piece. Thus, the mordents in Figure 4 at a moderate tempo should be performed as follows.

Figure 5. Execution of the upper and lower bites. Play (?·i)

Music theorists do not always agree when calling the same ornaments mordents. This term is used with the If the Mordente is up first it goes down and if it is up the other way around

1. To designate both this type of ornament and, in addition, the opposite sense, that we call lower.
2. To designate any two note ornaments that are executed quickly before the main note.
3. To designate any ornament, regardless of the number of notes forming it, to be executed quickly before or after the main note.

History and examples

The precise meaning and execution of the mordent is not fixed, as it depends on both the period and the composer. Therefore, it has undergone various modifications throughout the history of music. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the execution in terms of rhythm, the initial note, the duration as well as the articulation of the music varied considerably. Most of the composers provide in the prologue of their works, a table of execution of the ornaments. In 1778, Dom Bédos de Celles detailed all the ornaments along with their execution in his treatise entitled L'art du facteur d'orgues (The Art of the Organ Builder) (plates from CV to CXIII).

In the Baroque period a «mordent» referred only to the lower mordent, while the upper mordent was called «Pralltriller» or "Schneller". For its part, in the 19th century the term «mordent» was normally applied to what is currently known as upper mordent and the lower mordent was called inverted mordent. In the denominations of other languages, the inheritance of the evolution of this ornament can be observed. For example, in German Pralltriller and Mordent correspond to upper mordent and lower mordent respectively. Also in French and sometimes in German the name mordant is used.

On the other hand, it is currently considered that mordents should consist of a single alternation between notes. However, during the Baroque, the mordents could sometimes be executed by means of more than one alternation between the main and the lower note, thus constituting a kind of inverted trill. At certain periods mordents of all kinds could start with an extra non-essential note, the lower auxiliary note, instead of starting with the main note. This practice is also applicable to trills, which during the Baroque and Classical periods generally began with the upper auxiliary note. According to a historicist interpretation, the execution of the mordents was faster in the classical period than in Bach's time. In short, the practice, notation and nomenclature of these musical ornaments present wide variations; and this article as a whole addresses the rough standard of the 19th century.

This ornament appears very often in Baroque keyboard music, as well as in piano pieces such as Chopin's repertoire. As an example, Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor contains a series of inferior mordents at the beginning.

Figure 6. Start of the Tocata and escape in minor, BWV 565Bach. Play (?·i)