Le 28 juin 2017
de 11h00 à 11h30
Le Patio (université de Strasbourg)
22 rue René Descartes, 67000 Strasbourg
salle 3203
Séance - Improvisation and Style
Pré-acte / Acte
Auteur : Andreas Metz
Galant-style keyboard improvisation, as it is currently practiced, relies largely on partimento bass-line realization exercises and diminution exercises that involve idiomatic outer-voice patterns known as schemata. Schemata are particularly effective for two reasons: they facilitate improvisation in a manner consistent with the stylistic conventions of the eighteenth century and they can be combined to generate short pieces or entire sections of a longer movement. However, as useful as schemata are for the purpose of improvisation, they do not necessarily guarantee the kind of large-scale melodic direction and continuity (melodic fluency) that is often characteristic of composed rather than improvised music.
In order to address the issue of melodic fluency, the author will highlight the relationship between schemata, large-scale melodic design, and form in ten short menuets by C. P. E. Bach. Since the large-scale melodic paths of major and minor compositions usually differ, the author has chosen to examine menuets that are exclusively in the major mode.
The analytical results suggest that there are three large-scale melodic paths that typically govern the choice and order of schemata in C. P. E. Bach’s major-mode menuets. Each melodic path features a distinct stepwise descent that occurs in the first reprise and determines the melodic contour of the second reprise. The three melodic descents are as follows: 5-4-3-2; 6-5-4-3-2; and 3-2-1-7-6-5. Adherence to these melodic paths will result in menuet improvisations that are not only melodically fluent but also stylistically authentic.