The Tradition of Improvisation

Improvisation is not the opposite of classical music but a creative practice it long kept hidden.

Related

BaroqueModernConcertoPiano

The question

A score records a result; improvisation records a process. Classical music is often imagined as exact score-reading, yet figured bass, cadenzas and organ preludes depended on decisions made in the moment. Why did improvisation move from centre to edge, and how did it return in jazz and experimental music?

Historical arc

Medieval singers added ornaments to a fixed melody. Baroque figured bass supplied only a bass line and chord signs, leaving texture to the player. Concertos left the cadenza open to the soloist. In the nineteenth century scores grew more detailed, improvisation shrank, and cadenzas were written out. Jazz returned improvisation to the centre in the twentieth century, while ragtime and blues supplied phrases and bebop sped up harmony. Experimental music restored choice through graphic scores and open instructions.

Key cases

Bach's Well-Tempered prelude builds from broken chords like an exercise. Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu fixes an improvisatory gesture as a finished work. Hummel's cadenza for Mozart shows that even freedom can be written down.

What to listen for

Hear whether the prelude tests a key. Hear whether the right hand of the Fantaisie-Impromptu arrives ahead of the beat. Hear whether the cadenza leaves the theme and finds its way back.

Related

Improvisation crosses Baroque and Modern. The cadenza belongs to the Concerto, freedom of speed to Rubato, and the keyboard tradition to the Piano.

Sources

• Paul Berliner, Thinking in Jazz (University of Chicago Press) — argument checked, not quoted
• Grove Music Online, entry "Improvisation" — history checked, not quoted

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.