The Improvisation of Poetry, 1750 – 1850
A database of commentaries on improvisational performance
A mention of Faustino Gagliuffi, who in addition to being a lawyer, a professor of Latin literature, and a poet (in Latin), is also a well-known improvisatore, although he is too modest to have his poetry published.
Fernow provides a detailed history of Italian improvisation, recounting that improvisation (in Latin) experienced a peak in popularity in the court of Pope Leo X, a lover of the art, and that in the course of the eighteenth century a renewal of popularity has brought improvisation to new heights, this time in Italian. The author gives biographies of the most famous improvisatori that he mentions.