Hi everyone,<br><br>I’m grateful for all the suggestions my little query
has elicited. I’m interested where thread is going and thought I might
try to clarify my use of the word “improvisatory” for the benefit of
Eliot, Charles, and others. (I feel responsible as the initiator of this
discussion for pinning down this word, which we all seem to use while
hoping no one asks for a definition). <br>
<br>My initial interest is the transition (perhaps even “state change”)
between a passage that is ambiguous with regards to tempo and one that
is not. Tapping or conducting along with a performance of the G-minor
Ballade can be very difficult at the beginning and is usually much
easier after m. 9.<br>
<br>This is the feature that makes the opening of the Ballade seem
improvisatory to me. To say that the opening is improvisatory is of
course fictive. I know the sequence of notes that starts the piece and I
would be quite surprised if a performer deviated from them. But if for
whatever reason one was trying to convey such a fiction, avoiding a
clear tempo would be a good strategy. If I can’t predict when events
will happen, it seems easier to maintain the fiction that I also can’t
predict what those events are. And because I can more successfully
maintain this fiction, the passage seems improvisatory even though I
know it’s composed.<br>
<br>I’d be interested in others’ considerations of this very common word.<br><br>Thanks again for the many recommendations,<br><br>-Mitch Ohriner<br>Shenandoah Conservatory<br>