Improvisation in the Baroque Style
  • I often take to the internet to look for examples of good improvisation to emulate and practice. If you are unfamiliar with Balint Karosi, I would highly recommend listening to some of his videos. Just listen to this beautifully conceived set of variations on NEUMARK / Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdKmNDGQaTE
  • francis
    Posts: 10,825
    very nice
  • I have been an admirer (and absentee student) of Karosi's for some years. One will hardly hear better. To hear his playing must surely be almost to hear what most any baroque organist worth his salt could sit down and invent off the top his mind at the drop of a hat. It's astounding to us to realise that Bach didn't have to 'compose' the likes of 'The Wedge' - he could sit down and improvise it out of thin air. And numerous others of his and previous generations could do almost-but-not-quite as well. And we XXIst century mortals? We take weeks, months, and sometimes years to learn what they bothered to write down. Is it any wonder, then, the quality and quantity of music that flowed from the pens of these men every week, month, or year?
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • GambaGamba
    Posts: 548
    In this vein I must recommend the wonderful Christa Rakich’s brand-new variations on “Heinlein” (Forty days and forty nights). She wrote it in homage to Bach, just a month ago, and shared it for free on her website. https://christarakich.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Heinlein.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0e9eXB9vrRAhKeNEQxJ-CQBhzoj5aJdzQdptpYo8O-hk9hSKx74OkuuhE