Adaptive performance practice refers to a historical approach to music-making in which notated repertoire is altered in terms of instrumentation or other elements to meet the requirements of the performers and the moment (Laurie Stras, 2018). This flexibility is evident in Nicholas Baragwanath’s analyses of Mozart’s accompanied keyboard sonatas, where the keyboard texture is both commented and expanded by improvised instrumental and vocal lines (2012). The codification of musical patterns (schemata) enabled spontaneous contrapuntal solutions in real-time, but this prevalent 18th-century performance style has largely been lost to us today. However, the research of Baragwanath (2020) and Robert O. Gjerdingen (2007) provides modern musicians with insights into the subtle nuances of the Italianate galant style, a highly codified musical discourse central to late-18th-century performance and reception in central Europe. These findings are complemented by the studies of Emily Dolan (2013) and Deirdre Loughridge (2018), which illuminate the historical significance of timbre in the evolution of 18th-century chamber and orchestral idioms.
In 2024, I collaborated with fortepianist Anastasios Zafeiropoulos to rehearse, perform, and record accompanied keyboard sonatas by Johann Schobert (Eb Major Op. 7 No. 1), Johann Christian Bach (A major Op. 17 No. 4), and Muzio Clementi (F major Op. 2 No. 5), using replicas of 18th-century fortepianos and traversos. This study aimed to develop theoretical and rehearsal methods that facilitate the performance of accompanied keyboard sonatas. By employing historical fortepianos, I also investigated how tonal quality contributes to the construction of musical meaning when a keyboard sonata is accompanied on the traverso. The research methods integrated schematic analysis, organology, and a hands-on chamber music approach to access and document the rich musical knowledge embedded in adaptive and improvisatory practices.
Keywords: adaptive performance, accompanied keyboard sonata, galant style, traverso, fortepiano
Vera Plosila 