MUSICAL IMPROVISATION IN THE AGE OF BEETHOVEN AND ‘OPEN’ FORMS FONDAZIONE GIORGIO CINI, ISOLA DI SAN GIORGIO MAGGIORE, VENICE, 28–29 NOVEMBER 2014

Extract

The multi-dimensional topic of improvisation in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries has been explored in various recent publications and international conferences. For example, the proceedings of the conference L’improvvisazione nella musica occidentale del Settecento all’Ottocento, held at La Spezia in 2010, were published as Beyond Notes: Improvisation in Western Music of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (Turnhout: Brepols, 2011), edited by Rudolf Rasch. Rasch (Universiteit Utrecht) was one of several participants at La Spezia who reappeared in Venice for the third in a series of conferences on improvisation, organized like the previous two by the Fondazione Giorgio Cini. The first two (November 2012, 2013) dealt with different eras. ‘Musical Improvisation in the Age of Beethoven’, held over two days, brought together scholars of varying provenance, from Belgium, Canada, Germany, Holland, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The first day of papers was followed by an evening recital from Mozart scholar and fortepianist John Irving (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance) and violinist Davide Amodio. Scott Burnham (Princeton University), scheduled to speak on the second day, was absent, but a ‘draft outline’ of his paper was read by William Caplin (McGill University) and distributed as a handout. In the face of an unreliable broadband connection, Elaine Sisman (Columbia University) read her paper over Skype and participated frequently in the other sessions.