The guidelines as proposed by the theorists above attempt to return the performance of cadenzas to their original purpose, that is, to embel- lish a final cadence in a concerto or aria. Although the reports of abuses
by performers may be exaggerated and certainly cannot indicate the
frequencyofsuchabuse,theydotellusthatlateeighteenth-century per- formers had perhaps lost sight of the original intention behind the ca-
denza. The cadenza had attained the status of a performance tradition,
or at least a requirement, but not before great expansions of its improvi-
satory elements had made its original function impossible. By limiting the use of foreign keys, the technical display, and above all, the length of
a cadenza, Bach, Quantz, and Turk hoped to restore this function.