Volume 23 Issue 3 - November 2017

Renaissance musicians were aware at all times of the intervallic relationship
between bass and treble voices. Beginner sight-singing exercises
in the Neapolitan conservatories were not one-voice melodies,
but two-voice duets, with the vocal line accompanied by a maestro
or more experienced students. Musicians learned to improvise in
melodic counterpoint to bass lines. They even had a name for musicians
who possessed this skill: contrapuntisti. But contrapuntal
knowledge is not fostered effectively in modern training; it’s reserved
for advanced theory class, which is the worst place for it. So yes, I
agree – if you truly want to understand a melody, play the bass line
first! That should be de rigueur for all instrumentalists and singers.
“Freedom, invention, unpredictability.” These are the words
chosen in the Music at Metropolitan release to try to capture the
jazzy essence of the concert. But often in the jazz context the platform
for those things working is the strong sense the players, and
at best their audiences, have of the structures that allow for the
apparent spontaneity of the “improvisations.” How far would you
push the comparison in terms of the two musics structurally and in
terms of the kinds of spontaneous on-the-spot negotiation that will
take place among the players on stage during the performance? And
would you say a jazz-lover in the audience might even have an edge
over a typical period music aficionado, in terms of recognizing what
is taking place?
Audiences of the Baroque court were aficionados, quite similar to
the denizens of the jazz club. They were very aware of the components
of composition – dance forms, ground basses, structural elements that
recurred from composer to composer – and they expected invention
and variation. I’ve found that classical audiences really enjoy hearing
a model – a ground bass, madrigal or partimento – and then having
a musician vary it before their eyes, composing on the fly. It’s as fun
and engaging as watching a jazz musician take a solo, and rarer than it
should be in early music performance, especially in North America.
So, problems of tuning aside, do you see the potential for an
ensemble like yours, which is becoming comfortable with working
from charts, actually rocking out with a jazz quartet capable
of reading a Pergolesi oboe concerto score so you have a text to
work with?
I am very interested in any kind of stylistic interaction that gets
people challenging their preconceptions about how to play and sing
- and most crucially, how to listen to music. I think classical musicians
have a lot to learn from the jazz approach. And harmonically
and structurally, there’s a lot more connection between rock, folk
and early music repertoire than people understand or acknowledge.
I’ve played Bach and 12-bar blues; Cole Porter and Caccini. I see more
similarities than differences in them all. And I like to think of a score
as something to be adventuresome with, to alter and vary, rather than
to execute like a script within strict parameters. I’m advocating an
approach that is serious, but not solemn; historically informed, but
not historically constrained; and respectful, but not reverent towards
the written score. If I feel like interrupting a composed set of variations
to add my own, I’m going to do it – and encourage others to
do the same.
I’ve played Bach and 12-bar blues;
Cole Porter and Caccini. I see more
similarities than differences in them all.
So, all going well, what happen from here?
I’d simply like for the skill of improvisation to be more widespread
among classically trained players. Why stop at the Baroque era? What
if young musicians were given the tools and skills to improvise in a
Classical or Romantic style? For that to happen, it’s got to be bred in
the bone from the beginning of training, which means that our current
approach has to be rethought. Even with various pedagogical attempts
to develop creativity and stronger aural skills, we’re still very focused on
correct execution of the written score as a primary goal, to the exclusion
of all else. Score reading is a professional necessity, of course – but
increasingly, so is improvisation. Baroque musicians could do both, and
jazz musicians can do both, so it’s time for us to get with the program!
The Neapolitans learned this approach from the very start of their
training. Their beginner drills were simple, but the effect of them on
young musicians’ ability to listen and create was profound.
This pushes your musical buttons, I see!
I’m a bit evangelical about pushing this, for sure, especially in
Canada. It’s happening elsewhere, and has been for a while, but it’s
not at all prevalent here. Very few people know about partimenti, and
I’ve met players from all over the world who struggle to improvise
Anyhow, ranting again! I could add that there’s a terrific website about
partimenti, at Northwestern U which might entice people to have a
look. Just google “Gjerdingen Partimenti” and you’ll find it. The guy
who did it is one of the top two researchers in this area.
Better still, come on Sunday, November 19. Hopefully you’ll hear
what I mean.
David Perlman can be reached at publisher@thewholenote.com.
thewholenote.com November 2017 | 13