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Another thread had a side discussion about improvisation, which seemed to generate a bit of interest. For that reason, I though it might be a useful topic in its own right. To kick things off, I thought I would share some comments from an article in the November 2008 issue of the Diapason about Henri Mulet. There is a link below to the entire article for those who may want to read all of it.
Mulet studied improvisation with Guilmant and was reputed to be a master at it. He is said to have improvised in the manner of César Franck. He never wrote down his improvisations. His wife Isabelle once said of her husband, “ if he had written down all of the improvisations that he played on different occasions, he would have been renowned.”
When his assistant Henri Heurtel once asked Mulet how one learned to improvise. Mulet replied, “one has to be born with the gift of improvisation which cannot be learned under any circumstances.”
Mulet disagreed with what Dupré and others termed “improvising.” He felt that improvising was spontaneous, not planned in advance. In his view the performer developed ideas immediately, rarely remembering what he had played.
For purposes of clarity in this discussion, I suggest we distinguish between spontaneous and planned improvisation. When a performer is given a theme at the console, that is an example of spontaneous improvisation. When someone works on an improvisation for a half hour, or more in advance, that is an example of planned improvisation.
So are you in the Mulet or Dupré camp? Or do you value both?
https://www.thediapason.com/henri-mu...anist-composer
Mulet studied improvisation with Guilmant and was reputed to be a master at it. He is said to have improvised in the manner of César Franck. He never wrote down his improvisations. His wife Isabelle once said of her husband, “ if he had written down all of the improvisations that he played on different occasions, he would have been renowned.”
When his assistant Henri Heurtel once asked Mulet how one learned to improvise. Mulet replied, “one has to be born with the gift of improvisation which cannot be learned under any circumstances.”
Mulet disagreed with what Dupré and others termed “improvising.” He felt that improvising was spontaneous, not planned in advance. In his view the performer developed ideas immediately, rarely remembering what he had played.
For purposes of clarity in this discussion, I suggest we distinguish between spontaneous and planned improvisation. When a performer is given a theme at the console, that is an example of spontaneous improvisation. When someone works on an improvisation for a half hour, or more in advance, that is an example of planned improvisation.
So are you in the Mulet or Dupré camp? Or do you value both?
https://www.thediapason.com/henri-mu...anist-composer
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