27:25 "Improvisation, even though it's not really used in classical music from Europe..." Santos is simply mistaken about this. Bach was an amazing improviser. So was Beethoven. People would come from all over to hear them improvise on the keyboard. Handel and Scarlatti had a famous play-off where (among other things) they had to improvise fugues on a theme they were given on the spot. Do you know how hard it is even to compose a fugue, much less improvise one?? And the tradition in European is much much older and deeper than that. It was well established going back to the beginning of the Renaissance and even before. There are published treatises (first one is Ganassi's La Fontegara, 1535) explaining how to improvise on a tune or over chord changes or a bass line, and including tables of licks-just like modern jazz tutors-that will blow you away.
conuropsis But this was a great concert, and I loved Santos's intelligent, passionate answers in the Q&A session after the performance. Especially his remarks on the elimination of Latin jazz, other ethnic and independent music, and 4 categories of classical music from the corporate-dominated GRAMMY awards. Screw the GRAMMYS!!
my bad - thank you for the correction. Sorry I didn't see the comment until now, 5 years later! I should've said that improvisation is not an integral part of Euro classical music (despite the fact that the geniuses you mention could improvise) as it is in jazz.
