"Violin Visions and Improvisations"

The title of this programme is not mine, but it describes the concept of the recital I gave at the Early Music Festival in Utrecht this year: I created another programme based on existing repertoire, in this case the late 17th century virtuosic Austrian violin music, using partimenti in that style as a base for my own, newly created, partly composed, but mostly improvised music.
Much of the instrumental solo repertoire of this period, with some obvious exceptions (such as polyphonic passages for violin intertwining with the bass part), is based on certain forms of partimenti and could technically be improvised by a master in this art, which most of the famous players at the time were.
I took some of the typical forms of violin solo pieces, each by a particular composer, and created a similar piece using the same style and structure, composing partimenti or complete passages if necessary, and improvising the rest.
Of course there is a narrow line between improvising and composing, and they naturally lead into each other in both directions. Historical improvisation is limited in the sense that one always uses material which “already exists, or may have existed” in order to suit the style, and most of the time one works around a given harmonic, rhythmic or formal structure (a partimento). Furthermore, improvising is an art that requires a lot of practice, which means endless repetition looking for musical and technical possibilities, with the obvious result that a player will learn certain figures by heart and may not invent a new thing every time. In a way it can be seen as choosing an element from a catalogue, and it seems legitimate to ask whether this can still be called improvisation - but the catalogue is a mental one, and a player has to choose from it at any moment and with hardly any time to reflect while being in front of an audience, which means being in an emotional state and in a concentration incomparable to any practising situation. So in the end it is almost impossible to plan an improvisation: it will come out differently most of the time, depending on the context. And then, if certain parts have to be written down (or “composed”, if you will), it is still necessary in most cases to try out several things and improvise until one finds a version worthy to be on paper (and that often changes again further in the process).

The programme we played in Utrecht consisted of the following pieces:
1) A sonata for violin and continuo based on Biber’s violin sonatas, especially the Annunciation and the sonata in A major from the 1681 book.
I started the concert with Biber-like figures on an organ point in A major, followed by an E major organ point. Then a small, composed canzona, followed by an aria with variations (the aria written, the variations improvised). In the end an organ point on D, and a final cadence. It took me a lot of work to get into Biber’s language as his figures are normally very virtuosic and use the entire range of the violin.
2) A monody for violin and harp based on Pandolfi Mealli
I took the famous cantus firmus La Spagna and used it as a very slow bass line for an improvised monody for violin, accompanied by a harp (this combination allows both instruments to play very softly and freely). I tried to copy the style of Pandolfi Mealli’s La Viviana from op. 4 using his figures and arpeggios, leading the harp into each new harmony without a stable tempo.
3) A chromatic fantasia for harpsichord
Dirk Börner improvised a toccata and a fugue on a chromatic theme.
4) A suite for violin solo based on the suites by Westhoff
The suites for violin solo by Johann Paul von Westhoff are among the first pieces for violin without a bass. They all consist of an allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue, and employ the complete harmonic possibilities of the instrument. At first I wanted to completely improvise these pieces (as improvising dance movements is a common skill among historical players), but then, for this occasion, I preferred to create something more elaborate than I could have improvised. I wanted to make sure not to repeat harmonic progressions, to be able to play repeats, to play in fast tempi and to give each movement a very distinct character, and thus decided to write down the entire gigue and some chords and the bass line of the other movements. This still left a lot of room for free figuration in the upper parts and for embellishment.
5) Recitativo and Aria based on Pandolfi Mealli and Antonio Cesti
Some of Pandolfi Mealli’s sonatas, especially La Clemente op. 3 and La Vinciolina op. 4, have a very vocal character and are a bit similar to the cantatas for soprano by Mealli’s Innsbruck superior Antonio Cesti. I created a recitative (bass written out, melody line thought out but played a bit differently each time) and an aria with a refrain and some couplets. I ended up writing out the aria, as I really wanted to build it up like a song with a narrative and a certain dramaturgy. Other than Mealli and Cesti there are some Frescobaldi elements to it, which were still on my mind after I had been working on the Cento Partite for an other improvisation concert.
6) Toccata for harp and harpsichord
I really like the combination of these instruments: their different ways of producing the sound (one with fingers on gut strings, the other with plectra on metal strings) create such an interesting texture. Vera Schnider and Dirk Börner agreed on a harmonic progression and certain figures, and took turns in leading each other through the piece, which came out as an interesting sound exploration.
7) Choral phantasy on “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme”, based on the anonymous piece “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern” attributed to Strungk.
The glorious Morgenstern phantasy, with the choral melody playing as a cantus firmus over the Passacaglia and appearing in several forms in the other movements, is a favourite among violinists, and for me it was a very alluring challenge to try to do the same with another choral melody. “Wachet auf” seemed suitable, and with some rhythmical tweaks here and there I managed to put it over the Passacaglia in a sensible way. The rest of this movement was, of course, improvised. The composed canzona with the opening of the choral as the subject was a collaboration with Dirk Börner, as well as the closing gigue, where he had the idea to use the entire choral as a bass line, on which I had to write out the melody in order to make it flow naturally. In between there were a recitative (bass written out, upper part not written) and a composed fast movement with a diminution on the choral in semiquavers.

I am not sure in how far the audience understoood that a very big part of the concert was actually not written down, and I invited them to have a look at our music afterwards. Some of them did, and were quite surprised.