realization

In music, the writing out or playing at sight of the harmony from a thorough-bass; it may also involve the preparation for performance of an uncompleted or sparsely written score, such as Friedrich Cerha's version of Act 3 of Alban Berg's Lulu, or Raymond Leppard's popular and imaginative versions of Venetian opera.

In the music of the 18th century and earlier, continuo lines were written in a shorthand that needs realization, often taking account of extremely refined skills cultivated in the baroque era. Up to the end of the 18th century many works were written in the expectation that the soloists would improvise and embellish, often quite elaborately.

Before about 1700, composers often did not specify the ensembles to be used, and it is a complex business devising an ensemble appropriate to the style and techniques of the music. Beyond that, there could be a good argument for believing that an historically accurate reconstruction would be insufficient for present-day audiences; and there is a considerable history – going back to the early 19th century – of recasting earlier works to make them more acceptable to later conditions.