The Performer's Creative Voice in the Late Nineteenth-Century: A Reimagined Portrayal of Schubert's Four Impromptus Op. 90

This Artistic Research project focuses on the recomposition of Schubert's Four Impromptus, Op. 90, foregrounding the performer’s transformative role as a co-author. It explores the integration of preludes and interludes, drawing on the nineteenth-century ideal of creative autonomy, where the performer’s artistic agency stands on equal footing with that of the composer. Building on this perspective, the project aims to construct a continuous musical discourse that links the Impromptus into a unified expressive arc. Central to this conception is the figure of the Romantic wanderer—a recurring archetype in Schubert’s oeuvre—which anchors the narrative interpretation. Historical sources play a pivotal role in this process, not merely justifying interpretive choices but serving as points of departure for innovative re-readings of the work. They foster a creative engagement with the past that challenges conventional approaches to the canonical repertoire. This process of recomposition sheds light on how artistic practice emerges from an hermeneutic dialogue with the work, its historical contexts, and performance traditions. Both the written commentary and the recordings serve as tangible outcomes of this enquiry.