Unlocking the Art of Composition
Short description
Project title: Unlocking the Art of Composition: Playing with Purposefully Incomplete Keyboard Notations in Northern Europe
Only a small portion of the music played on keyboard instruments during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries survives in the form of fully notated compositions. Much of the music-making in Europe was improvised according to the practices of the time. Today, we can only partially understand this through preserved treatises and a limited number of notated examples. Improvisation and composition were not clearly separated; much of the surviving material exists somewhere in between these two categories.
This project investigates what such incomplete forms of notation can mean today for improvisation on keyboard instruments, for artistic development, and for the interpretation of difficult-to-decipher repertoire. Materials such as figured bass, partially notated music, exercises, and so-called partimenti provide essential knowledge of historical music-making practices and are central to artistic work in this field.
The project focuses on Nordic and Northern European material and employs artistic and experimental methods. This complements earlier research, which has primarily concentrated on Italian and Central European sources. Through practical music-making on historical keyboard instruments—such as the clavichord, harpsichord, and Swedish eighteenth-century organs—the project is connected to historical environments, previously overlooked sources, and an experience-based, reflective practice.
The project may help reduce the gap between the interpretation of historical music and contemporary improvisation. Through creative exploration of Nordic and Northern European sources, a musical working method that has often been misunderstood or ignored is brought to light. This approach existed at the intersection of composition and improvisation and was central to the keyboard music people heard in the early modern period. The results are expected to transform perspectives and methods for artistic innovation grounded in historical notational practices.
The project investigates the solo thoroughbass tradition in the Nordic countries and Northern Europe and explores how artistic methods can strengthen musical creation through practical performance. Its point of departure is deliberately incomplete notation, which allows the musician to move freely between improvisation and composition. By working with such material, the project seeks to blur the boundary between these two practices and to demonstrate how they can mutually enrich one another.
A central focus is the difference between fully notated keyboard music and intentionally open thoroughbass sketches. Through so-called “reverse engineering,” finished works can be deconstructed into their original, more open forms. This enables present-day musicians to engage in an artistic dialogue with historical sources and to explore alternative interpretations. The method influences not only how notated music is performed or how incomplete sources are realized, but also how music can be reshaped and creatively developed.
In Italy, partimento was an institutionalized pedagogical method during the eighteenth century. In Northern Europe, however, teaching was more closely tied to individual teachers. A clear example is Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck in Amsterdam, who used his own compositions in teaching. His shorter and simpler pieces appear to have been intended for beginners, while more extensive works were aimed at advanced students. This points to a pedagogy in which improvisation and composition were closely intertwined.
The project focuses on solo thoroughbass practice, in which the keyboard player works alone rather than in an ensemble. A central research question is whether the Nordic tradition corresponds to the Italian partimento practice or whether it fulfilled a different function. Research in this area is still at an early stage, and there is no consensus on how these traditions relate to one another.
An important concept in the project is “intentional incompleteness.” What has previously been regarded as deficient notation is here understood as deliberately open and rich in possibilities. Such sources contain multiple potential solutions and invite the musician into creative participation. “Artistic realization” describes the balance between stylistic correctness and personal expression when these sources are brought to life in performance.
The significance of the project lies in offering new ways of interpreting historical repertoire and in using historical methods as a foundation for newly created music. By working with incomplete notation, classical musicians can develop improvisational skills, compositional thinking, and a more active engagement with musical works. In this way, a central yet often overlooked aspect of musicianship is revived.
Musical material from the project will be used in the teaching of organ improvisation at the Academy of Music and Drama and Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. In this way, students become active participants in the project, and their work and experimentation with the material form an important part of the final outcome.
