We're going to spend part of each day this week exploring improvisation in classical music. It used to be a vital part of every musician's skill set. What changed and why? We'll have conversations with a pair of experts on baroque improvisation - guitarist Rolf Lislevand and recorder virtuoso Matthias Maute - and listen to them play music of Vivaldi and Johann Kapsberger.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Ralph Vaughan Williams: "The Running Set"
The Bournemouth Sinfonietta with conductor George Hurst
Joseph Haydn: Sonata in B-flat, HOB XVI: 41
Pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin
Portland Center for the Performing Arts, Portland, Oregon
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 8 in D Minor
The Halle Orchestra with conductor Mark Elder
The BBC Proms, London, England
George Enescu: Transcription of Piano Suite No. 1 for violin
Violinist Alexandru Tomescu and pianist Horia Mihail
Mihail Jora Hall, Bucharest, Romania
Hour 2
Henry Purcell: "Prelude/Rondeau" from "The Fairy Queen"
Red Priest
Johann Sebastian Bach: Three-Part Invention No. 1 in C
Pianist Till Fellner
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Yuri Kuznetsov: "Perpetuum Mobile" ("Fantasy on Themes by Bach")
Pianist Yuri Kuznetsov
Grand Concert Hall, Minsk, Belarus
Rolf Lislevand: "Improvisation on Spanish Haqueras"
Guitarist Rolf Lislevand
National Public Radio Studios, Washington, D.C.
Johann Kapsberger: "Improvisation on a Theme"
Guitarist Rolf Lislevand
National Public Radio Studios, Washington, D.C.
Antonio Vivaldi: First movement from Flute Concerto in B-Flat, RV 375
Matthias Maute, recorder, with Ensemble Caprice Analekta
Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat, Op. 10
Pianist Daria Rabotkina with the Music Academy of the West Festival Orchestra and conductor Giancarlo Guerrero
Lobero Theatre, Santa Barbara
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American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.
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