Studies in Historical Improvisation

In recent years, scholars and musicians have become increasingly interested in the revival of musical improvisation as it was known in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. This historically informed practice is now supplanting the late Romantic view of improvised music as a rhapsodic endeavour that dominated throughout the twentieth century. Throughout its various sections, this volume explores the path of improvisation from theory to practice and back again. It offers the first systematic exploration of the close relationship among improvisation, music theory and practical musicianship from late Renaissance into the Baroque era.