Between Composition and Improvisation: about the Form of Existence of Music at the Intersection of Cultural Traditions
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Abstract
At the focus of the article’s attention lies the form of existence of music, which has been practiced from the Middle
Ages to the present day. It does not possess its own term and, as a rule, it is referred to “improvisation”. According to
the author of the article, this form of music existence has an independent meaning and holds an intermediate position
between “composition” and “improvisation”. Its necessary condition is the presence of a “basic note musical text”,
which forms the foundation for improvisation. Its function may be taken by either a monophonic cantus firmus (as in
the practice of “singing over a book”), and original polyphonic music by a composer (as in the practice of intabulation).
Specific manifestations of this form include certain genres of music from the Middle Ages – for example, contrapuntal
additions to cantus firmus lines, intavolation and “singing over the book” from Renaissance music, improvisation in
any particular genre (fugue, ricercar, etc.), the practice of playing harmonies over figured bass and the unmeasured
preludes from the Baroque era, as well as improvised cadenzas in solo concerto of the Classical and Romantic periods.
Keywords: musical composition, improvisation, promptum, culture of musical activity, form of musical existence,
musical ontology.
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