Collective Improvisation and Instant Composition in Europe, 1960-1980

Gianmario Borio presents a comprehensive scholarly examination of European improvisation collectives that reveals how these groups developed distinctive approaches to spontaneous music-making during a transformative period in twentieth-century music.

Contributors offer insight into the musicians involved and their interrelationships, the contexts in which ensembles formed and operated, instrumental techniques and preparatory exercises, and the intersections of collective improvisation with the politics of the protest movements around 1968. Based on observations about the practices of the AMM, Globe Unity Orchestra, Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, Instant Composers Pool, Musica Elettronica Viva, New Phonic Art, and the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, contributors develop theoretical perspectives on topics such as the relevance of freedom and democracy for music making, the multifarious forms of interaction among performers, the affordances of sounds and instruments, and the relationships between jazz culture and compositional aesthetics. As a whole, the volume provides contextual understanding as well as detailed musical analysis.

The book will capture the interest of musicologists, performers, composers, and scholars of experimental music history, offering valuable research on how these collectives operated at the intersection of avant-garde composition, free jazz, and new performance practices.