Free Ensemble Improvisation
Abstract
The aim of this doctoral project has been to study so-called non-idiomatic improvisation
in ensembles consisting of two or three musicians who play together without any
restrictions regarding style or genre and without having predetermined what is to be
played or how they should play.
The background to this thesis has been the author’s own free improvising, which he
has pursued since 1974, and the questions that have arisen whilst music-making. The
thesis takes three of these questions as its point of departure:
– what is free ensemble improvisation, what characterizes free ensemble improvisation
and how can it be defined
– how does free ensemble improvisation relate to:
– – instrumental technique
– – idiomatic improvisation and stylistic influences
– – composition
– – interpretation
– – aleatorics and indeterminacy
– – different types of sytems (e.g. biological, social, dynamic/chaotic systems)
– what might a conceptual model as a theoretical base for free ensemble improvisation
look like?
The artistic/performative part of this research project has primarily consisted of public
concerts, as a result of longer/shorter periods of cooperation with four permanent and a
number of temporary (ad hoc) ensembles.
The results provide a better understanding of what free ensemble improvisation is,
in what respects it differs from other forms of music-making and how it can be defined.
Free ensemble improvisation’s relations to the points mentioned above were found to
be more multifaceted than expected. However, it was possible to attain a basic twolayered
conceptual model as a theoretical base for free ensemble improvisation and, in
its extension, as a basis for the analysis of free ensemble improvisation.
The study includes numerous concert projects, of which several are recorded and included
in this book on two CDs with MP3 files.
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
University
Göteborgs universitet. Konstnärliga fakulteten
University of Gothenburg. Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts
Institution
Academy of Music and Drama ; Högskolan för scen och musik
Disputation
Tisdagen den 9 juni 2009, kl 13.00, Ensemblesalen, Högskolan för scen och musik, Artisten, Fågelsången 1, Göteborg
Date of defence
2009-06-09
Harald.Stenstrom@hsm.gu.se
Other description
There are two CDs with MP3-files attached to the thesis. A concert is given in conncetion to the public defence.
Date
2009-05-14Author
Stenström, Harald
Keywords
aleatorics
artistic research
attractor state
central tone
chaotic systems
collective understanding
comprovisation
conceptual model
directed motion
ensemble size
feedback and feedforward
free ensemble improvisation
gesture
importance of rhythm
indeterminacy
interactional skill
listening skill
musical evaluation
musical interaction
musical maturity
musical chemistry
musical interpretation
musical composition
non-idiomatic improvisation
rhythmic flow
sound properties
stylistic influences
Publication type
Doctoral thesis
ISBN
97891977757-8-6
Series/Report no.
ArtMonitor
13
Language
eng
Metadata
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