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Improvisation: Performer As Co-Composer, Kyle Schick

Music and Worship Student Publications

Elements of musical improvisation have been present throughout the medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras; however, improvisation had the most profound recorded presence in the Baroque era. Improvisation is inherently a living practice and leaves little documentation behind for historians to study, but however elusive, it is still important to trace where instances of this improvised art appear throughout the eras listed above. It is also interesting to trace what role improvisation would later have in realizing the Baroque ideals of emotional expression, virtuosity, and individuality. This paper seeks to focus on a few of the best-documented mediums of improvisation within …