Dear David and all On Sat, 27 Mar 2004, David Rastall wrote:
> Your intabulations may not work when you finally sit down with the rest > of the ensemble: I think there needs to be a feeling of freedom to the > continuo part which can be lost when one is relying on a fully > written-out accompaniment part. The more I learn about continuo, the > more I see it as an opportunity for improvisation. The only thing > "etched in stone" is the bass line: everything else is added by you in > response to the music going on around you, and an intabulation does not > always accomplish that. I whole heartedly second this opininon! And perhaps it is good to add that even the same piece with the same fellow musicians can be different from time to time, the halls are different, the audience is different, etc. And playing continuo is demanding and very fun! (Roman said he likes to row his lonely boat by himself. I prefer the great vessel of chamber music... :-) Arto
