Adjustments after meeting Oct 15

- regarding the research question, "A perform practice" has been changed in "A certain performance practice", which I intended to say in the first place but evidently was not clear in language
- Marcel rightly suggested that I should limit the huge field of partimenti to one particular case
- the methodology is clearer now: the heart of the matter is internalizing the musical material similar to radif and partimenti in such a way that every detail if it can be performed at any given moment (in my case also without the instrument and even while being half asleep). In addition, studying sources on radif partimenti and contemporary performance practices. 

For the time being the result is:

Research question: can a certain performance practice of eighteenth and nineteenth century Western classical music in which improvisation, composition and interpretation were fully integrated be revitalized in a contemporary context, with a connection to world music, jazz and pop?

Aim: restoring improvisation as a missing link between composition and interpretation in contemporary performance practices

Methodology: 1. internalizing the music material which forms the basis of my performance practice 2. studying the tripartition improvisation/composition/interpretation in various contexts, in particular partimento playing in Western classical music, radif in Persian classical music and contemporary performance practices by other musicians.

Outcome: a structured discipline of exercises for improvisation similar to partimento playing and radif, which is integrated in my performance practice, solo and with other musicians

Significance: 

-generating new insights into interpretation and improvisation and consequently provide new possibilities for performances
-functioning as a case study of combining several, often segregated from each other, musical disciplines and traditions

I am thinking now of studying the field of partimenti in search of a particular performance practice that would suit my purpose and use a bit of imagination to make it a good spring board for my 21st century practice, by inventing a little story:

"In 18th century Naples, a student of a conservatorio is preparing for -besides his daily studies of partimenti- a performance of a piece by Domenico Scarlatti, then famous in the whole of Europe for his brilliant oeuvre for cembalo. One evening, he plays the piece by Scarlatti during a concert for a small audience of music lovers and connoisseurs. As the piece is well-known and a touchstone for any clavecinist, he does his best to play exactly what is written in the score and be acclaimed for his refined interpretation. The next day, however, during his daily routine of partimenti, he remembers an intriguing passage from Scarlatti's score and starts to play around with it, in an improvisatory manner. He then combines the passage with some of the partimenti that he is actually working at, as a special exercise and to make the improvisation more varied. The same evening, he shares his musical experiment with some fellow musicians in an informal setting, different from the concert the day before. This time, he doesn't play around, but critically judges the balance between variety and repetitions, as a composer would do and returning home he makes some sketches, as a memory aid. On Sunday, at the organ in a church nearby, he is asked to play some music during the offertory. Again our student improvises on the passage by Scarlatti and the partimenti, according to the sketches he made, but taking care to adapt his improvisation to the particular qualities and needs of the organ. During the week that follows, he writes a complete version of the piece, one that he considers as well-balanced. This does not imply that on future occasions he would always play this version; on the contrary, one day, waiting for his bread at the baker's, he heard someone whistle a tune that would match his piece to perfection, so he decided to integrate that also, with some slight adjustments. On another occasion, this adapted version served a duet for flute and cembalo. Unfortunately, the student's piece did not remain in history; the manuscript was never printed and one day accidentally thrown away by his landlady."

Of course, if I should find something similar in historical facts this story would not be necessary, but I doubt if that will be the case. But is this kind of imagination allowed in artistic research, or should I stick to a correct academic framework?