Free Improvisation: History and Perspectives

The book, on the initiative of Associazione Nuova Consonanza-Rome in collaboration with Sapienza-Univeristy of Rome, addresses two relevant aspects of the conceptual and pracitcal field of improvisation in general, and of 'free improvisation' in particular, mainly in the 1960s and 1970s. On the one hand, some precise historical moments are investigated, documented and dicussed; on the other hand, some theoretical and analytical criteria are brought into focus. The main objective is to clarify the historical context within which the activities of the Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza (GINC) took place, introducing also other similar experiences such as the Chicago Art Ensemble, or other figures such Giacinto Scelsi, Giovanni Guaccero, Cornelius Cardew, Mario Bertoncini, Walter Branchi, Alvin Curran and other protagonists of the improvisational scene in Rome (and beyond) in those decades.