Reviving the Ghost: A Method for Baroque Improvisation Modelled through Telemann's Twelve Fantasias for Flute without Bass (1727-1728)

Improvisation was a standard part of eighteenth-century performance practice. As fully notated music increased in prevalence, however, composition and performance became separate areas of musicianship--and in Western art music today, many performers do not have improvisational fluency. This thesis seeks to revive the art of improvisation in the current performance environment. Through examining eighteenth-century sources to rediscover the conventions of improvisation in their original performance contexts, I propose an improvisatory method for modern performers. I then use my experiences of improvising in one of Telemann's Twelve Fantasias for Flute without Bass (1727-28) as a model to test this process.