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II. Western art music.
1. Introduction.
2. History to 1600.
3. The Baroque period.
4. The Classical period.
5. The 19th century.
6. The 20th century.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Improvisation, §II: Western art music.
1. Introduction.
The concept of improvisation has been current in the West since the late 15th century to designate any type, or aspect, of musical performance that is not expressive of the concept of the fixed musical work. Its precise definition depends on the stability and perceived identity of the ‘fixed musical work’, which varies widely according to musical culture and historical period (see Composition). If the performance is of a work in the form of a notated composition, ‘improvisation’ tends to refer to departures from the text that would have been notationally available but were not actually written out, often for reasons of notational economy, and which rely on the existence of well-known, implied conventions of performance (such improvisations may therefore be recognized by the composer – perhaps within limits – as well as the performer as essential to the complete performance of the work). This definition normally excludes choices of tempo, but does include ornamentation and other kinds of melodic elaboration, as well as cadenzas in solo concertos. Looser definitions of the fixed musical work tend to allow much greater scope for improvisation. This is true of memorized harmonic schemes, as in 16th-century dance music or in jazz. Such schemes are usually identified by the performers as ‘pieces’ and may circulate under popular titles, even though the actual performances may obscure the identity almost beyond audible recognition. Even in musical cultures where there is no actual concept of the ‘musical work’, there may still be some perception of musical identity between one performance and the next, in terms of which ‘improvisation’ may also be identified. Typically, the definition of musical identity depends on the nature of the notational system or on methods of memorization; often it embraces versions that would be heard as different by Western listeners.
Musical traditions that do not rely on a strong conception of the fixed musical work tend not to have a concept of ‘improvisation’, but rather qualify performances in terms of a musical idiom or a set of performative conventions. For instance, polyphonic improvisation over plainchant melodies was designated as discant or contrapunctus throughout the late Middle Ages, until the conceptualization of the musical work (Res facta) in the late 15th century necessitated the identification of ‘singing on the book’ (cantare super librum) or ‘counterpoint made in the mind’ (and, in the 16th century, such terms as Sortisatio and singing ex tempore, subita, abrupta, improvisa, repente, alla mente). In such cases it may be inappropriate to speak of ‘improvisation’ as though it described the objective state of affairs in that musical tradition, and scholars often prefer to use terms less obviously premised on modern ‘work’ concepts (for instance ‘oral’ or ‘idiomatic’). As this example suggests, since the 15th century the Western classical music tradition has developed an acute sense of what constitutes improvisation, though musicologists have become increasingly circumspect about projecting that sense on non-Western or popular musical traditions, or remote historical periods. It is now considered essential for historical and ethnographic research to make explicit whether the concept of ‘improvisation’ is being applied as an ‘emic’ (from within the culture) or an ‘etic’ (from the ‘outsider's’ point of view) concept.
This distinction is important also for another reason. Once the written – improvised distinction had become identified in the West, it allowed two interesting permutations to emerge: compositions written in the style of improvisations, and improvisations shaped with the distinguishing properties of musical works. In such cases, to insist on an etic, technical definition of improvisation – involving the absence of, or departures during performance from the texts of, written or memorized works – would be to overlook compositions that, although written, do shed light on the emic understanding of improvisatory style. One such piece, for example, is Josquin's motet Stabat mater which, according to Joachim Thuringus (Opusculum bipartitum de primordiis musicis, 2/1625), was fashioned ‘in imitation of sortisatio’, and is indeed virtually unique having a cantus firmus without rests, an essential feature of polyphonic improvisations. A composition like this is conceptually quite different from the many earlier compositions that were indistinguishable from improvised discant simply because they implied no distinction to begin with (an obvious example being the discant settings in the Old Hall choirbook). The same may be true of such improvisatory keyboard genres as the 16th-century fantasia and ricercare, of the 19th-century prelude and rhapsody. Conversely, the purpose of improvised fugues, variations, and fantasias on given material, in the 18th century, was surely that listeners should evaluate the performer's skill on the terms of written compositions. In this sense, improvisation and composition can also be viewed, over and above the strictly technical distinction between them, as musical styles distinguished by the degree to which they give the appearance of performative spontaneity or authorial planning. (This distinction is essential, for instance, to any understanding of the history of piano music in the early 19th century.)
For information about particular aspects of improvisation see Aleatory; Cadenza; Continuo; Division; Jazz; Notation; Ornaments; Performing practice; Prélude non mesuré; and Singing.
Improvisation, §II: Western art music.
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