The Improvisatori (also spelled "improvvisatori") were a group of Italian improvisational poets who first appeared during the Trecento,Philip T. Jackson, "Review: (untitled)", The Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 19, No. 3, (Autumn, 1988). and gradually disappeared around 1840.Benedetto Croce, "Gli improvvisatori", La Letteratura Italiana del Settecento (Bari: Laterza, 1949) Although few written copies of their poems exist today,Lindsay Waters, "The Desultory Rhyme of Don Juan: Byron, Pulci, and the Improvisatory Style", ELH, Vol. 45, No. 3, (Autumn, 1978), Johns Hopkins Press, p. 431 the importance of the improvisatori to Italian literature is significant for both their original poetic compositions as well as for the effect they had on the Italian madrigalMark Jon Burford, "Cipriano de Rore's Canonic Madrigals", The Journal of Musicology, Vol. 17, No. 4, (Autumn, 1999), pp. 459–497. Published by the University of California Press and the role they may have played in preserving older Italian epics.James Haar, Essays on Italian Poetry and Music During the Renaissance, 1350–1600. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1986. Print. pp. 76–99
History
James Haar traces the figure of the improvisatore (the singular male form of "improvisatori") back to the middle of the 14th century. Throughout the Renaissance (which Haar defines as the period spanning 1350 to 1600), an improvisatore or improvisatrice (singular feminine form of “improvisatori”) was unlikely to glean a living solely from performing improvised poetry (although some, like the Brandolini brothers of the 15th centuryJoseph Forsyth, Remarks on Antiquities, Arts, and Letters, During an Excursion in Italy, in the Years 1802 and 1803. Boston, Wells and Lilly, 1818. Print. p. 58. achieved a modicum of renown). Instead, the improvisatori of the Renaissance were likely to have participated in religious festivals and community celebrations, performing mainly for their friends and neighbours. During this time, however, the improvisatori were closely linked with the performance of sung madrigals, as well as the recitation of Italian oral epics, and the survival of these songs and poems is due in large part to the improvisatori of the Renaissance.James Haar, Essays on Italian Poetry and Music During the Renaissance, 1350–1600. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1986. Print. p. 83
During the Italian literary "period of decadence," which spanned most of the 17th century, Italian literature as a whole produced little notable work. Although the improvisatori likely continued to exist in some fashion during the 17th century, they did not contribute significantly to Italian literature for most of the century.
1690, however, marked the dawn of what Benedetto Croce dubbed a "Golden Era" ("epoca d'oro") of Italian improvisational poetry, which would last until around 1840.Benedetto Croce, "Gli improvvisatori", La Letteratura Italiana del Settecento (Bari: Laterza, 1949). Pp. 299–311. During this time, not only did the numbers of the improvisatori increase greatly, but their influence on Italian literature likewise expanded. During the first half of the 18th century, the French diplomat Charles de Brosses wrote about encountering a famous Florentine improvisatore named Bernardo Perfetti,Charles de Brosses, Lettres Familières sur l’Italie, ed. Yvonne Bezard, 2 vols. [Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1931], 1:385–387 and expressed admiration for Perfetti’s ability to express "true feeling"” in his extemporaneously-composed poetry. By 1754, the improvisatori were relevant enough within Italy that the Italian dramatist Carlo Goldoni published a play titled Poeta fanatico, in which the protagonist is an improvisational poet. During the second half of the 18th century, the importance of the improvisatori continued to increase.
By the dawn of the 19th century, the influence of the improvisatori had expanded beyond the realm of art, and improvisational poets like CorillaAvriel Goldberger, "Introduction", in Corinne, or Italy by Madame de Staël. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987. Print. Pp. xxix–xxx. were receiving the laurel of Petrarch, Italy's highest poetic honor.Madame de Staël, Corinne, or Italy. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987. Print. Pp. 19–20. Moreover, the improvisatori were by this time so widely respected that they were frequently lauded in foreign travel journals (see “Significance outside of Italy”).
The improvisatori continued to enjoy widespread fame and success during much of the Romantic Era. Improvisatori like Tommaso Sgricci mingled with leading English Romantic poets, including Percy Shelley and Lord Byron.Jeffrey C. Robinson. "Romantic Poetry: The Possibilities for Improvisation" Wordsworth Circle; Summer2007, Vol. 38 Issue 3, p. 94 Early 19th century novels, like Germaine de Staël's Corinne, or Italy (1807) and Francesco Furbo’s Andrew of Padua (1820), featured improvisatori as protagonists. By 1840, however, the popularity of the improvisatori had begun to wane, likely due to some combination of stagnation in form and their overexposure to foreign tourists.Lindsay Waters, "The Desultory Rhyme of Don Juan: Byron, Pulci, and the Improvisatory Style", ELH, Vol. 45, No. 3, (Autumn, 1978), Johns Hopkins Press, p. 438James Haar, Essays on Italian Poetry and Music During the Renaissance, 1350–1600. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1986. Print. p. 97 However, academic interest in the improvisatori remained strong until the end of the nineteenth century, and numerous articles were published on topics ranging from the relation of the improvisatori to the German Meistersinger"Of the Maistersingers' Gracious Art", The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, Vol. 34, No. 606 (April, 1893), p. 457 to the effect Sgricci had on the poetry of Shelley and ByronH. Buxton Foreman, "The Improvisatore Sgricci in Relation to Byron", The Gentleman's Magazine, 1880. Pp. 115–123.
The performance In his Remarks on Antiquities, Art, and Letters during an Excursion in Italy..., a work "cited as a travel classic for over a century",Keith Crook, "Introduction", Remarks on Antiquities, Arts, and Letters during an excursion in Italy, in the Years 1802 and 1803. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2001. Print. P. xi. Joseph Forsyth describes an encounter with an improvisatrice as follows:This lady convenes at her house a group of admirers, whenever she chooses to be inspired… She went round her circle and called on each person for a theme. Seeing her busy with her fan, I proposed the Fan as a subject. In tracing its origin she followed Pignotti and in describing its use she acted and analyzed to us all the coquetry of the thing. She allowed herself no pause… So extensive is her reading, that she can challenge any theme. One morning, after other classical subjects had been sung, a Venetian count gave her the boundless field of Apollonius Rhodius, in which she displayed a minute acquaintance with all the Argonautick [sic] fable.Joseph Forsyth, Remarks on Antiquities, Arts, and Letters, During an Excursion in Italy, in the Years 1802 and 1803. Boston, Wells and Lilly, 1818. Print. p. 59.
This improvisatrice (Signora Fantastici) and her rival La Bandettini were street performers, who would frequently pass a hat around before, during, and after improvisations, into which appreciative listeners would make donations. However, there were other settings and styles in which improvisatori might perform.
Beyond using the streets as theatres, some improvisatori performed at private shows. The less-famous of these improvisatori frequently performed at private residences, in which "a small table with writing implements, and an old shattered jingling piano, occupied one side of the room, and a small space was left in front for the poet."Michael Caesar, "Poetic Improvisation in the Nineteenth Century: Giuseppe Regaldi and Giannina Milli," The Modern Language Review, Vol. 101, No. 3 (Jul., 2006), p. 701 Other, more famous improvisatori like Tommaso Sgricci and Bernardo Sestini, could sell out entire theatres, and had to be accompanied by retinues of bodyguards.Caesar 702Esterhammer 4 In both types of private performances, the improvisatore or improvisatrice would still take suggestions for topics to perform on. However, rather than listening to the audience call out themes, the poet requested that audience members write down suggestions on spare pieces of paper and deposit them in a box before the show.Esterhammer 2Caesar 703 The suggestions would then be read to the poet and the audience at the same time, and seconds later, the poet would begin his composition (these readings could elicit significant audience reactions in their own right – Lord Byron reports that, upon hearing "the apotheosis of Vittorio Alfieri" suggested as a topic for Sgricci to improvise upon, "the whole theatre burst into a shout, and the applause was continued for some moments"Lord Byron. The Works of Lord Byron, Complete in One Volume. Third ed. Frankfurt: H.L. Broenner, 1837. Google Books. April 2010. p. 721.).
In addition to private performances, nationally-celebrated improvisatori (like Sgricci, or Corilla Olimpica, the improvisatrice whose fame and high repute in Italy inspired Madame de Staël's novel Corinne, or Italy, before him) could be called upon to improvise for state functions and national celebrations,Avriel Goldberger, "Introduction", in Corinne, or Italy by Madame de Staël. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987. Print. P. xxxviii while lesser-known improvisatori might solicit donations from wealthy foreign travellers. Moreover, rural improvisatori continued performing for family and neighbours in Tuscan villages, just as their predecessors in the Renaissance used to do.Joseph Forsyth, Remarks on Antiquities, Arts, and Letters, During an Excursion in Italy, in the Years 1802 and 1803. Boston, Wells and Lilly, 1818. Print. p. 60. Whatever the occasion or setting, the improvisatori rarely failed to impress their audience. Forsyth writes:An Italian improvisatore has the benefit of a language rich in echoes. He generally calls in the accompaniment of song, a lute, or a guitar, to set off his verse and conceal any failures. If his theme be difficult, he runs from that into the nearest common place, or takes refuge in loose lyrick [sic] measures. Thus he may always be fluent, and sometimes by accident be bright… Such strains pronounced and sung unmediated, such prompt eloquence, such sentiment and imagery flowing in rich diction, in measure, in rhyme, and in musick [sic], without interruption, and on subjects unforeseen, all this must evince in [the improvisatore] a wonderful command of powers… Joseph Forsyth, Remarks on Antiquities, Arts, and Letters, During an Excursion in Italy, in the Years 1802 and 1803. Boston, Wells and Lilly, 1818. Print. Pp. 60–61.
Significance outside of Italy