Improvization<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bruce Ellis Benson (Improvisation of Musical Dialogue) doesn\u2019t think that \u201cthe binary schema of \u2018composing\u2019 and \u2018performing,\u2019 which goes along with the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2016\/11\/improvization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Improvization\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bruce Ellis Benson (Improvisation of Musical Dialogue) doesn\u2019t think that \u201cthe binary schema of \u2018composing\u2019 and \u2018performing,\u2019 which goes along with the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2016\/11\/improvization\/\" \/>\n<meta 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{"id":18496,"date":"2016-11-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leithart.level2d.com\/?p=238"},"modified":"2016-11-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T00:00:00","slug":"improvization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2016\/11\/improvization\/","title":{"rendered":"Improvization"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

B<\/span>ruce Ellis Benson (Improvisation of Musical Dialogue<\/em><\/a>) doesn\u2019t think that \u201cthe binary schema of \u2018composing\u2019 and \u2018performing,\u2019 which goes along with the construal of music making as being primarily about the production and reproduction of musical works\u201d describes \u201cwhat musicians actually do.\u201d <\/p>\n

In place of the binary scheme, he offers \u201can improvisational model of music, one that depicts composers, performers, and listeners as partners in dialogue. From this perspective, music is a conversation in which no one partner has exclusive control.\u201d He admits that \u201cthe binary schema of composition\/performance always has <\/em>allowed for a kind of dialogue\u2013and astute composers, performers, and listeners would be quick to point that out.\u201d But he argues that \u201cthe dialogical character of music making is not particularly well described by that binary schema and, furthermore, that the binary schema has significantly inhibited genuine dialogue\u201d (x\u2013xi).<\/p>\n

To make his case, he sketches a phenomenology of musical experience, in an effort to show that \u201cthe process by which a work comes into existence is best <\/em>described as improvisatory at its very core, not merely the act of composing but also the acts of performing and listening. On my view, improvisation is not something that precedes <\/em>composition . . . or stands outside and opposed to composition. Instead, I think that the activities that we call \u2018composing\u2019 and \u2018performing\u2019 are essentially improvisational in nature, even though improvisation takes many different forms in each activity\u201d (2).<\/p>\n

Benson critiques a standard model of the relation of composition and performer, in which the composer provides a true work that the performer mediates priest-like to an audience. That view has been held by both composers and performers, but Benson thinks it obscures the fluidity and complexity of both processes. <\/p>\n

Early opera scores (Rossini for instance) leave much to the performer, and composers don\u2019t necessarily provide a finished, definitive text. He writes, \u201cthe very idea of a \u2018correct\u2019 performance of Handel\u2019s Messiah <\/em>turns out to be highly problematic, for Handel himself never provided anything like a definitive version of Messiah<\/em>. Instead, all we have are competing versions in which Handel constantly changes all sorts of things to fit the many occasions on which it was performed\u201d (19). Evidence comes from the other direction as well: \u201cBach was soundly criticized for writing everything out,\u201d including all the embellishments that other composers left to the performer (20).<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t mean that composition was a free-for-all. Citing Gadamer, Benson points out that dialogues take place within rules, and so does musical dialogue: \u201clike any dialogue, not just anything <\/em>was acceptable. There were still rules. But, having said that, it is clear that performers were expected to be much more active improvisers than in the dialogue of classical music of today\u201d (21).<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"