«Taking a Walk at the Molo»: Partimento and the Improvised Fugue Peter van Tour (Norwegian Academy of Music) D uring the last few decades, the partimento repertoire and its pedagogical functions have been discussed in an increasing number of books, articles, and dissertations 1 . Although there is general agreement among scholars that partimenti were used in the Neapolitan conservatories for developing improvisational fluency at the keyboard, it has not been entirely clear exactly when students carried out their studies in partimento in relation to their studies in counterpoint. Were partimenti studied prior to the study of written counterpoint, or was it rather a certain part of this repertoire that had that function? In recent years it has become increasingly clear that partimento, solfeggio, and counterpoint were applied as integral parts of the curriculum in the Neapolitan conservatories to teach composition through vocal improvisation, composition at the keyboard 2 , and through written counterpoint and composition. It was necessary to have some basic skills in partimento playing before one could advance to the counterpoint class. The educational context has helped us to further define the term ‘partimento’, showing its double pedagogical function: on the one hand partimenti were used for developing musical imagination through the realization of figured or unfigured basses at the keyboard, on the other hand partimenti were used for developing fluency in written composition. In other words, the term ‘partimento’ can be understood as «a notational device, commonly written on a single staff in the F clef, either figured or unfigured, applied both in playing and in writing activities, and used for developing skills in the art of accompaniment, improvisation, diminution, and counterpoint» 3 . Partimento and 1 . Borgir 1987; Christensen 1992; Renwick 1995; Renwick 2001; Gjerdingen 2007; Gingras 2008; Callahan 2010; Sanguinetti 2012; Van Tour 2015; Bellotti 2017, among others. 2 . For a brief reflection on this term, see Bellotti 2017, p. 115. 3 . See also Van Tour 2015, p. 19.