Isn't there a famous anecdote about a famous Viennese pianist once
performing one of his own concerti from a blank part?  Supposedly, he had a
page turner and everything, but he hadn't had time to copy out the part, so
it was all for show.  I can't remember whether it's Mozart or Beethoven,
though.

Speaking as a composer (in period styles) who also plays, it's almost
easier to arrange the piece and play it from memory than to go to the
trouble of writing it down.  Granted, I've never written a concerto, but I
have written a rather elaborate musical setting of Mark Akenside's "Ode to
Sleep," and I have all the music memorized, but not all the text, but I can
still play and sing it with just a copy of the poem.

Beth

p.s. There's probably also a fine line between performing from memory and
improvising--i.e. if you forget how something goes but can improvise, it
doesn't matter as long as there's no one there who knows the original piece.

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