Le 28 juin 2017
de 12h00 à 12h30
Le Patio (université de Strasbourg)
22 rue René Descartes, 67000 Strasbourg
salle 3203
Séance - Improvisation and Style
Pré-acte / Acte
Auteur : Andrew Wilson
There is growing evidence that some musicians affiliated to early 20th century modernism engaged in forms of improvisation as a mode of composition as well as a means of performance. For instance, Erwin Schulhoff, the Czech composer and virtuoso pianist of German-Jewish descent, not only composed scores that allow performers interpretive freedom (possibly actualized in the moment of performance) but was also known as a keen and capable improviser. In this talk I will analyse two instances of Schulhoff’s improvisations which have been preserved on distinct media. The first is a recorded performance probably dating from 1933 of a piece entitled Sami Dva (Only Two) whose score remains lost. This recording is a rare testimony of Schulhoff’s jazz orientated piano duo performed with Oldrich Letfus. The second is a 1936 solo extemporization known as Optimistische Komposition, which Schulhoff is believed to have transcribed on paper a few days after the performance. Drawing on various analytical methods, I will address some of the challenges that emerge when theorizing on Schulhoff’s improvisatory skills from a historical perspective.