159: Leonard Schick (Improvising Fugues) 

0:00 Intro 0:36 Start 1:41 Musical background 4:31 Are you Swiss or German? 6:11 Why is the Schola Cantorum in Basel so special? 8:55 Rudolf Lutz and Sietze de Vries 10:45 Did you learn basso continuo before improvisation or at the same time? 11:56 Figured Bass vs Roman Numerals 14:23 What Figured Bass treatises or manuals did you use? 19:59 Should beginners start with 4-voices or less? 20:44 Studying with Sietze de Vries 22:45 Does it take a lot of time to be good at improvisation? 24:20 How much time would you dedicate to improvisation a day? 25:13 What should beginners work on to put them on the path to improvising fugues? 28:17 What's your perspective on counterpoint? 30:36 Where do you get your simple subjects and themes from? 31:36 What sort of sources did Bach draw from in his development? 33:07 Nicolas de Grigny (1672-1703) 35:07 Nicolaus Bruhns (1665-1697) 38:13 The difference between the different German organ schools 40:43 Who are your favorite keyboard composers from the 17th century 45:47 Leonard improvises a short fugue on the spot! 48:13 Leonard explains his improvisation 50:23 Is Bach too complicated for beginners to look at in terms of learning to improvise fugues? 51:43 How many fugues from the repertoire have you played? 53:58 Did the French write fugues? and other nationalities 56:09 Louis Marchand (1669-1732) 58:57 Tuning and Temperaments discussion 1:09:40 Best way to learn written counterpoint for learning composition? 1:11:42 How does knowing how to improvise affect how you interpret repertoire? 1:14:35 Do you have any favorite contemporary recordings you enjoy? 1:18:30 Leonard improvises a fugue on a slightly longer theme 1:21:10 Wrapping Up 1:22:01 Outro

All those middle entries...! Chapeau, Mr. Schick ;)

Good episode! I really like how the humble Mr. Schick has his thoughts together. On the Marchand: I guess this story has been pushed a little becasue it'd fit the germano-centristic ideology of 19th- and early 20th century musicologists - the narrative of the suprimacy of "German rationality" over "french superficialty" (just as Chopin alledgedly learned his most valuable devices by studying the Welltempered Clavier). The mentioned D minor suite by Marchand is an absolute banger!

Great interview, Mr Schick was very interesting to listen to, thanks to both of you.

What a talent. Great, thanks!

Amazing improvisations and great interview! ❤🎹🎵

That theme for the last fugue is really great!

I can vouch for Christensen's book; he presents simultaneously 2 complimentary french treatises (on facing pages) in the first half of the book, and 2 german treatises in the 2nd half. The book is not one sequential method; you can flip between the two parts as needed. Be advised, these 4 historical works are abreviated for the sake of comparison, but its a very good way to get aquainted with different approaches.

Well, the good news is it's easier to move a Harpsichord than a piano...but I fear it's harder to find a good one...especially in North America, since the first wave of replicas were so off the mark. Refreshing to hear a younger master of historical improvisation sharing so many insights. Thank you for another great interview! Listening to Zerer now, first time :)

What is the closing music!?