AbstractWestern classical pianism has developed and taken many transformations, which has
led to the creation of new sounds. The inclination and artistic derivations of the
virtuosic musician, composer, keyboardist, and improviser had become prevalent
during the 18th and continued into 19th century pianism. The practice of improvisation
decreased with composers’ concern of the score’s fidelity and began to notate in detail
during the 20th century. This has become a limitation to the performer’s creativity
during a performance. The aim of this dissertation is to explore added embellishment
of contemporary piano works from an established Turkish pianist Fazil Say (b.1970),
who performs Western classical repertory alongside his piano solo works. The
application of embellishment is considered a modification to the written notations based
on relevant studies by Paul Thom (2007) and Jullian Hellaby (2009). This study of
Say’s life, musical experiences and analysis of his selected .....