Olivier Duverger-Houpert Comprovisation : Definition, Challenges and Limitations of an Emerging Practice

     The scientific jury is composed of:

• Alessandro ARBO, professor in musicology at the Université de Strasbourg (France)
• Clément CANONNE, research director at the CNRS (France) - reviewer
• Pierre-Albert CASTANET, professor emeritus in musicology at the Université Rouen Normandie (France) - reviewer
• Ludovic FLORIN, professor in musicology at the Université Jean Jaurès de Toulouse (France)
• Philippe GEISS, professor of saxophone at the Haute école des arts du Rhin Strasbourg (France) - guest
• Grazia GIACCO, professor in music and musicology at the Université de Strasbourg (France)
• Pierre MICHEL, professor emeritus in musicology at the Université de Strasbourg (France)

     The artistic jury is composed of:

• Alessandro ARBO, professor in musicology at the Université de Strasbourg (France) - guest
• Philippe GEISS, professor of saxophone at the Haute école des arts du Rhin de Strasbourg (France)
• Violaine GESTALDER, professor of saxophone at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Nancy (France)
• Vasiliki KOURTI-PAPAMOUSTOU, professor of composition (electronic music) at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg (Germany)
• Pierre MICHEL, professor emeritus in musicology at the Université de Strasbourg (France) - guest

     The term “comprovisation” — a portmanteau of composition and improvisation — refers to musical works whose identity is inextricably linked to the need to be improvised during performance. Although the concept has been used in academic literature since the 2000s, research has remained focused on compositional processes, neglecting the perspective of the musician grappling with the performance of such works. By adopting a research-creation approach, this dissertation examines the performer’s creative journey, from preparing the piece to performing it in public. The first part traces the historical context of compo-improvisation, examining its connections to the open work and free improvisation. It then examines its conceptual framework, extricating it from its in-between status, drawing on the ontology of improvisation, the philosophy of the performing arts, and research on the distribution of creativity. The redefinition resulting from this reflection forms the basis of a methodology for analyzing comprovisation notations and performances. These tools are finally applied to the body of work for the performance Allēlōn (2023–2026): four pieces that fall into the category of improvisational compositions, created in collaboration with three male composers and one female composer, and which constitute the artistic component of the dissertation. Analysis of the works in the corpus, the creative processes, and the performances shows that the performer’s unique strategies in approaching these works give rise to complex and recursive operations: from preparatory work to performance, from the overall form to the micro-gesture (depending on the characteristics of each work), the musician navigates his or her path through a constantly evolving interplay between the work’s compositional characteristics, his or her own expertise of improvisation, and the characteristics of his or her musical personality.