Reimagining Historical Improvisation

Author:

Rabinovitch Gilad1

Affiliation:

1. Florida State University

Abstract

Reimagining historical improvisation is a speculative pursuit: like any other aspect of historical performance practice, historical improvisations by living musicians create modern sounds (Taruskin 1995). However, historical notations, treatises, and accounts of performances provide substantial clues for reconstructing historical practices of improvisation (Gjerdingen 2007a; Levin 2009; Sanguinetti 2012; Guido 2017). Gjerdingen (2007a) highlights the role of phrase schemata in eighteenth-century music learning and creativity in composition, improvisation, or anywhere in between. Levin’s live improvisation in the style of Mozart at Cambridge University on October 29, 2012, captured on YouTube, serves as an analytical case study for the significance of conventional schemata in the musicianship of a living, elite-expert historical improviser. I reflect on Levin’s manipulations of schemata, allusions to the original pieces requested by the audience, as well as on interconnections between the various parts of his fantasy. Music analysis thus becomes here a reflection on improvisatory technique. The analysis also outlines the challenging listening horizons for audience members with significant experience in the style. Finally, our age of digital reproduction allows us to turn this ephemeral act of musical communication into an object for speculation, creating analytical “suggestions” for readers (Temperley 1999) or a listening guide for a historically-informed fantasy.

Publisher

Society for Music Theory

Subject

Music

Reference72 articles.

1. abu Shumays, Sami. 2013. “MaqamAnalysis: A Primer.”Music Theory Spectrum35 (2): 235–55.

2. Allanbrook, Wye J. 1992. “Two Threads through the Labyrinth: Topic and Process in the First Movements of K. 332 and K. 333.” InConvention in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Music: Essays in Honor of Leonard G. Ratner, ed. Wye J. Allanbrook, Janet M. Levy, and William P. Mahrt, 125–71. Pendragon Press.

3. Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel [1753/1762] 1949Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments, ed. and trans. William J. Mitchell. Norton.

4. Badura-Skoda, Eva, and Paul Badura-Skoda. 2008.Interpreting Mozart: The Performance of His Piano Pieces and Other Compositions. 2nd ed. Routledge.

5. Bazin, François. 1857.Cours d’harmonie théorique et pratique. 2nd ed. Escudier.

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3