The wonders of improvised polyphony

[LeTromboniste]

One more reason to study theory is reaching the point where you can do bad-ass stuff like improvising polyphony on one written monodic part while respecting all the rules of voice-leading, like this:



And for extra bad-assery, you do this thing at 1:28 and improvise two voices at the same time by showing your colleague what notes to sing using your hand while you're singing the other improvised voice (he could actually improvise a third voice with his other hand).

[boneagain]

I think, in many decades, this is the FIRST time I've seen "Guidonian Hand" in action.

Well, maybe "Close Encounters" had a little.

And I got a substantial exposure to the work of John Curwen in Brasil, of all places.

To be honest, I never would have noticed "The Hand" (that is, not "the hand" trombonists get all the time) had you not pointed it out. The singers were so far out front of technique musically that I would have just listened without the helpful specific hint you gave.

So, thanks for the hint, and thanks for the link!

[Posaunus]

Remarkable.

Thanks, Maximilien.

[Gary]

Beautiful. I am a contemporary composer and yet I don't believe things et better with time, they just evolve. How do you get better than this?

[Kbiggs]

This is beautiful. Thanks for sharing this, Maximillien. Reading ancient music is one thing. Singing improvised polyphony is another thing. Singing with good technique is yet another thing. Doing all while leading with the the Guidonia hand (which I, too, have never seen in practice) is another. Amazing performance, and beautiful music.

[AndrewMeronek]

Very cool.

[bkessler]

Wow. Thanks for posting!

[glenp]

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

I noticed they have another video they posted with a sackbut.

[BGuttman]

Beautiful.

Question for those of you who do this kind of music. Do the instrumentalists have the same "lead lines" that the singers have and thus have to create parts on the fly (improvise)?

[LeTromboniste]

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

I noticed they have another video they posted with a sackbut.

Nice, I hadn't seen it yet! The sackbut player is a close friend of mine and my former flatmate actually.

Beautiful.

Question for those of you who do this kind of music. Do the instrumentalists have the same "lead lines" that the singers have and thus have to create parts on the fly (improvise)?

That second video is not improvised music but actually composed polyphony, and the instruments are doubling vocal lines (there's a link in the video description where you can see the parts they're reading from if you're interested in seeing what the notation looks like).

But the type of improv shown in the first video is also done with instruments, in which case, yes they would all be looking only at a monophonic chant and improvising other voices against it (while following the rules of counterpoint).