A. Historical meaning of preluding and interluding
Interluding could be considered an extension of the form of preluding. Because of this reason, first preluding will be discussed. Originally a prelude was an introduction that preceded another piece and would present the tonality of this piece. In this sense preluding is presenting a key and using improvised ornamentations. It is an activity that is a been a part of the Western instrumental music tradition.
Preludes can be improvised, but are also written down as compositions. The oldest found compositions that use this form are the praeambula for organ in the tablature of Adam Ileborgh (1448). The use of fugal section in improvised preludes on the organ, eventually led to the preludes and fugues by amongst others J. S. Bach. Not only keyboardists, but also melodic instruments were used for preluding. Catherine Coppola discusses preluding on the violin in her work Didacticism and display in the capriccio and prelude for violin, 1785-1840.
In the 19th century preludes became more virtuosic and hard to distinguish from the étude, for instance Chopin’s 24 Préludes, op. 28. Teachers advised their students time and again to transpose and memorize these preludes, in order to be able to improvise similar pieces. There are even recordings that show that the tradition of preluding was still alive in the early twentieth century.
Today preluding still occurs in places where music is part of a larger whole, like in church services and theater. Organists today can still extemporize preludes and interludes in a concert. This way the organist turns a recital into a series of connected stories.
What was the function of this historical prelude from the 18th and 19th century? Mooiman believes that the audience did not expect an abrupt start of the concert that time. The player had to prepare the listener and bring them into the right mood by a suitable prelude. Also, it would give a keyboardist the time to get to know the instrument he was playing. Other functions could be for the player to warm up or to get the attention of the audience. Furthermore, the prelude would establish the key of the following piece or in between pieces modulate from the key of the previous piece to the key of the next one. Finally, a prelude could also be used to bring the listener in the right mood of the piece. The prelude would present a certain atmosphere that would be adapted to the character of the following piece.
Mooiman describes different kinds of preludes and examples in his doctoral thesis. There is the ornamental prelude. This prelude is short, stays in one key and lacks any clear thematic material. Secondly, there is a more extended prelude. These preludes are longer and often use thematic material hinting at the composition that is being introduced. Because of the length, more complex harmony and modulations are used. These preludes don’t necessarily have to start in the key of the piece that will follow, but tend to end on the dominant chord of the tonality of the next piece. Very similar to these extended preludes are interludes. The two terms are not always clearly separated in historical sources. Generally, interludes describe improvisations that go from one tonality and atmosphere to another.
C. My take
I am looking for a personal, more contemporary style of cadenza-like interluding inspired by the previous and the next piece. In this research I am mainly focusing on building linear interludes using required vocabulary from two pieces. This structure is chosen because of its simplicity and clarity. This is a good starting point to build on in complexity as one masters one's own improvisational language.
For my interludes I decided not to improvise in a manner consistent with historical performance practice, instead, I tried to develop my own musical language. The main reason behind this decision is the repertoire and instrumentations I tend to choose for concerts. I wanted to be able to include 20th century and contemporary music as well in my concert program with interludes. Historical preluding is mainly focused on the 18th and 19th century, and I didn’t want to restrict myself repertoire-wise.
To solve this problem my method is generic and applicable on any style. First, the player starts developing vocabulary based on a composition using different exercises. This results in an interlude inspired by the chosen pieces. However, also the personal contemporary taste of the player will play a big role in how the vocabulary is used. I felt drawn to some of the examples described above. Listening to predecessors helps to develop this personal taste. To illustrate my view on the personal input of the player, I would like to share the philosophy of violist Tanya Kalmanovitch (2008). ‘By continually asking the question 'what makes this sound good to me?' I encourage students to think critically about their own aesthetics, to describe the musical techniques that create these sounds, and to translate these structures into their improvised performance.’
B. Examples by musicians today
When looking at the classical improvisation landscape today, it is noticeable that mainly keyboardists are trying to keep the tradition of (historical) classical improvisation alive. The pianist Robert Levin is an exceptional example of a contemporary performer who extemporizes cadenzas, fantasies on themes provided by the audience and ornamentations in repeats in his concerts. Keyboard player Robert Levin talks about how Mozart used improvisation in his time and also explains how we can try to recreate that today. According to Bochner, Robert Levin together with David Dolan are the key pedagogues of classical improvisation today. Finally, organist Christophe Bull is an example of a musician interluding today.
There are also several pianists that have used classical compositions like Bach as a start for jazz solo improvisations. The After Bach cd of Brad Mehldau is my favorite example. One could see this cd as an example of contemporary interluding since it contains five compositions from Johann Sebastian Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier interspersed with pieces by Mehldau that were inspired by them. Other examples of jazz pianists that compose and improvise inspired by classical music are Uri Craine and Dan Tepfer.
Here in the Netherlands there are string players working to keep this tradition alive. Cellist Maya Fridman for example starts a lot of her practice sessions by improvising. Sometimes she uses a poem or a painting as a starting point. Her own compositions also start from the over time crystallized ideas of these daily improvisations. On several occasions she improvised together with violinist Merel Vercammen. There are also some recordings of their improvising based on already existing compositions. Ernst Reijsiger is a second example of a Dutch improvising cellist. In his CD Walking Out he combines music by Purcell with his own compositions and improvisations.
A last example I would like to mention is the album Insight by Rosanne Philippens. Whilst listening to this album I started thinking about improvising interludes for the first time. This Cd contains works of Biber, Bach, Ysaye and four of Rosanne’s own compositions which originated from improvisations.