(Editor's note: Kevin Schilling teaches oboe, bassoon, and theory at Iowa State University. A baroque music enthusiast, he plays oboe, baroque oboe, and English horn with his colleague Lynn Zeigler-Dickson (organ and harpsichord) in the Dickson/Schilling Duo.)
Although I have no interest in
composing, I usually prefer to write my own cadenzas for 18th
century concertos. Too often cadenzas supplied with modern editions
are too long for my taste, and they sometimes relate more to 19th
century etude style than to the style of the composition for which
they were written. Although a cadenza need not do this, I like
to make a cadenza reflect the movement which it concludes. It
is easy to create this kind of cadenza without "composing"
anything; simply manipulate the material of the movement. The
first movement cadenza is more of a "singing allegro"
than a virtuosic one, as is the movement itself. I treat the cadenza
quite freely but have not written in my suggestions for tempo
changes; I feel that the performer should make the cadenza his
own, even if he does not make his own cadenza. One point I do
show with the " rit. " and "Allegro" at the
end, however, is the sudden mood change and arrival at the movement's
basic tempo for the closing tutti. This mood change is, of course,
typical of C.P.E. Bach in general as well as in this movement.
One remark about the cadenza for the second movement: I can't
help thinking about Tristan every time I hear the first
three notes of the movement. Therefore, I couldn't
help myself in writing the cadenza; I added the fourth note which
my thoughts of Tristan demanded.