'Stravaganze': the presentation of 17th-century improvisation to a 21st-century audience

在过去的50年里，“早期音乐”运动一直致力于拓宽古典音乐的领域，它通过重建早期音乐的乐器，使数百年来从未听到过的曲目得以复兴。现在，作为主流音乐制作的一部分，“历史性的表演”变得越来越复杂，但它才刚刚开始认真地接受过去表演的一个关键因素--即兴创作。强大的口头传统的存在和音乐印刷的局限性意味着一些前古典音乐被写在简单的骨架中，由表演者精心修饰，磨练了即兴表演的技巧即兴论文从这个时候文件的方式乐器演奏家和歌手学习他们的手艺，与增量练习练习和书面的例子即兴教学的目的。今天，早期的音乐表演者更倾向于演奏那些写出来的例子，而不是即兴创作自己的例子--就像一个爵士音乐家在音乐会上演奏另一个艺术家的独奏一样！即兴创作为音乐家提供了一种在音乐上打上个人印记的方式，也是他们技艺的重要组成部分。这一直是我的目标，在我的AHRC奖学金在创意和表演艺术，以促进更多的即兴在早期音乐表演，并带来早期即兴的观众，特别是在古典音乐领域的兴奋。为此，在AHRC研究资助的支持下，我建立了一个17世纪风格的即兴合奏团，The Division Lobby，将早期的即兴表演带给公众。作为我对17世纪意大利即兴表演研究的一部分，我一直在研究音乐论文和手稿中的证据，这些证据为表演者如何即兴表演提供了线索。Mandaript来源可能特别有趣，因为它们非常实用，它们可以揭示有关音乐如何表演的有趣细节。它们通常是学生在音乐课上使用的书籍或作曲家可能正在创作的笔记本。最近，这样一本来自17世纪意大利的“工作笔记本”在苏富比拍卖行拍卖，其中包含了我研究领域的有趣证据，关于人们如何演奏音乐，即兴创作旋律线，以及即兴创作和弦乐器上的一条低音线，即连续低音艺术。这份手稿中的证据支持了我从其他来源获得的许多研究发现，也提供了一些非凡的新证据，特别是关于我的乐器，一种长颈鲁特琴。我的目标是通过录制三张CD来实际展示我的发现，这些CD突出了早期即兴练习的不同领域。第一部分将通过16世纪和17世纪意大利独奏歌曲的平行发展来追溯连续低音的发展。一个和弦乐器演奏者会在一条低音线上即兴伴奏，用一个数字代码暗示和声，这种技巧与爵士钢琴家或吉他手可能做的事情没有什么不同。第二张CD将突出吉他的即兴创作，其中包括增加伴奏的独奏，即兴作品和合奏作品，展示了乐器作为旋律低音的作用。第三张CD将与The Division Lobby合作，展示不同种类的独奏和合奏即兴演奏，包括鲁特琴和吉塔龙琴，小提琴，“康提”，大键琴，管风琴和歌手。这些CD将激发人们对即兴艺术的兴趣，将它带给更广泛的观众，并鼓励更多的即兴表演。他们将进一步了解艺术，并使同事，学生，业余爱好者和来自其他音乐传统的即兴创作者受益。

Over the last fifty years the 'early music' movement has been responsible for broadening the field of classical music by resurrecting repertoires which sometimes have not been heard for hundreds for years, enabled by the reconstruction of instruments from earlier times for which this music was composed. Now a part of mainstream music-making, 'historically-informed performance' grows ever more sophisticated, but it has only just begun to seriously embrace a crucial element of performance from the past - that of improvisation.The existence of strong oral traditions and the limitations of music printing meant that some of pre-classical music was written down in simple skeletal frameworks which were embellished by performers with well-honed improvisation skills. Improvisation treatises from this time document the way instrumentalists and singers learned their craft, with incremental exercises for practise and written-out examples of extemporisation for didactic purposes. Today, early music performers are more inclined to play those written-out examples than to improvise their own - comparable to a jazz musician playing a transcribed solo of another artist in a concert! Improvisation provided a way for musicians to put their personal stamp on music and was a vital part of their craft. It has been my objective throughout my AHRC Fellowship in the Creative and Performing Arts to promote more extemporisation in early music performances and bring the thrill of early improvisation to audiences, especially in the classical music sphere. To this end, with the support of an AHRC Research Grant, I established a 17th-century style improvising ensemble, The Division Lobby, to bring early improvisation to the general public. As part of my research into extemporisation in 17th-century Italy, I have been looking at evidence in musical treatises and manuscripts which gives clues as to how performers improvised. Manuscript sources can be particularly interesting because they are so practical, and they can reveal interesting details about how music was performed. They are often books used by students in their music lessons or notebooks in which a composer might have been working out a composition. Recently such a 'working notebook' from 17th-century Italy came up for auction at Sotheby's which contained fascinating evidence in my research area about how people ornamented music, improvised on melodic lines, and extemporized accompaniments from a single bass line on chordal instruments, the art of basso continuo. The evidence in this manuscript supported many of my research findings from other sources, and also provided some extraordinary new evidence, particularly concerning my instrument, a long-necked lute called the chitarrone. I aim to demonstrate my discoveries practically by recording three CDs highlighting different areas of early improvisation practice. The first will trace the development of basso continuo through the parallel development of solo song in 16th- and 17th-century Italy. A chordal instrument player would extemporise an accompaniment over a single bass line with a numerical code which suggested the harmonies, a technique not dissimilar to what a jazz pianist or guitarist might do. The second CD will highlight improvisation on the chitarrone, which will include solos with added ornamentation, improvised pieces, and ensemble pieces which demonstrate the instrument's role as a melodic bass. A third CD with the The Division Lobby will showcase different sorts of solo and ensemble improvisation with lute and chitarrone, violins, 'cornetti', harpsichords, organ, and a singer.These CDs will stimulate interest in the art of improvisation, bring it to a wider audience, and encourage further extemporised performances. They will further understanding of the art and benefit colleagues, students, amateurs, and improvisors from other musical traditions.