Improvised vs. composed music

[Grazioso]

An interesting article by pianist Robert Levin about improv in classical music, particularly vis-a-vis Mozart:

http://www.aam.co.uk/index.htm Under More-->Features-->Mozart

"There is nothing more risky than improvisation, but there is nothing more devastating to music's dramatic and emotional message than avoidance of risk."

[some guy]

Much of the music I hear in concerts these days is improvised.

None of it is jazz. Or not "jazz" as represented by such names as Ellington or Blake or Coltrane. Maybe Coleman or Braxton or Zorn.

It is all, near as I can tell, best described as classical. When it's programmed with composed music, that composed music is always (in the concerts I attend) classical.

It is almost all, in the concerts I attend, electronic, what one might call "tafelmusik," in that the usual setup is a lot of equipment and objects strewn all over a table. Its spiritual progenitor in that regard is Cage's Cartridge Music, and while its prime practitioners have been from England and France, and more recently Japan, and have come from rock and jazz and classical worlds, there are some very talented people doing live electronics from all over the world.

Anyway, not to be a showoff or anything, or not MERELY a showoff , here are some of the names I expected to see in this discussion. If these names aren't familiar to you, then you're in for a real treat, I'd say:

Derek Bailey, Keith Rowe, Gino Robair, Lionel Marchetti, Jerome Noetinger, GOL, Christian Marclay, Otomo Yoshihide, Toshimaru Nakamura, Busratch, Ross Bolleter. Many of these people also do composed works as well, electroacoustic mainly.

Anyway, if we talked about these people, we'd at least be able to avoid the whole "which is better, classical or jazz" thing and go straight to the whole "which is better, modern or romantic/classical/baroque/renaissance..." thing. Hmmm. Maybe I should just let well enough alone.