ABSTRACT
As well as its general influence on performance and on compositional style in the period, attempts were also made to 'fix' the phenomenon of improvisation itself in some way. There is evidence that some pianos of the time were fitted with 'recording' devices in the form of a strip of moving paper that could be perforated, giving a rough rendition of the performance. But improvisation gave rise to another type that purported to reproduce a real performance, the fantasy. Before dealing with this however, I will briefly look at a number of sub-genres in which particular aspects of improvisation were encapsulated, so to speak.
