# Greatest transcriptions/arrangements.



## BenG (Aug 28, 2018)

I find transcriptions of pieces can either be extremely creative, almost rewriting the original piece, or they can be boring, just putting the notes from one score to another.
What is - in your opinion - the greatest transcription/arrangement ever made?

My vote goes to Alexander Warenbergs arrangement of Rachmaninoff's 2nd symphony as a piano concerto. It is extremely creative and well written, I think - I hate to say - that it is more convincing as a concerto (sorry). Here's the 3rd movement.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

I don't think the trick is being "creative" and making some new work out of it; it's in being as faithful as possible to the original while making the transcribed work convincing in its new setting. I think Liszt was one of the greatest at that. I think his transcriptions of Bach organ works to the piano are some of the finest examples of the form, along with his transcriptions of Beethoven symphonies.


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## level82rat (Jun 20, 2019)

I'm going to double down on what consuono said and post this masterpiece


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

On the other hand, here are two more of my favorite transcriptions/arrangements which I do think did become separate works in themselves somewhat:


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

The Schoenberg arrangement of Brahms' G minor Quartet is outstanding and outrageous.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

mbhaub said:


> The Schoenberg arrangement of Brahms' G minor Quartet is outstanding and outrageous.


Yup...very symphonic, pretty wild!! Schoenberg was a terrific orchestrator.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

BenG said:


> What is - in your opinion - the greatest transcription/arrangement ever made?


Maybe try to hear this


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

I think the Leibowitz transcription of Bach's C minor Passacaglia and Fugue is one of the best ever:





And there's also Max Reger's transcription of BWV 622:


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## BenG (Aug 28, 2018)

Heck148 said:


> Yup...very symphonic, pretty wild!! Schoenberg was a terrific orchestrator.


Pity he never wrote a book on the topic. His orchestration is on the level of Stravinsky, R. Strauss, Korsakov ect.


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

Guitarist Kazuhito Yamashita's stunningly original arrangement and playing of Mussorgsky's _Pictures at an Exhibition_ at the 1984 Toronto festival/competition changed the classical guitar scene forever. Players attending the festival could not believe what they were seeing and hearing. Yamashita had to invent a series of techniques to be able to play the work and its tremendous impact is still felt today.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

I still enjoy the Lucien Cailliet transcriptions of Bach organ works, that he did with Stokowski...(Cailliet was bass clarinetist in Stoki's PhilaOrch)...He also did some great band transcriptions- numerous Wagner works, Mussorgsky, etc....if you can get it - the Fennell/Eastman Wind Ensemble recording (Mercury) of "Elsa's Procession" from Lohengrin is a real spectacular....total knockout.


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## neofite (Feb 19, 2017)

Speaking of transcriptions for the guitar, allow me to mention Miguel Solés's (1878 - 1938) transcription of Isaac Albéniz's beautiful piano piece _Tango in D_ (1890), which has become one of the most popular pieces in the classical guitar repertoire.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Ilarion said:


> Really simple: B-minor Mass by JSBach


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

BenG said:


> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioc_Gb_q_Yk


the slow movement is a real gem in this piece


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## Holden4th (Jul 14, 2017)

1. Chaconne in D minor Bach-Busoni
2. Bach's transcriptions of his own works for other instruments/genres. He was never one to pass up the opportunity to reuse a good tune to good effect.


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## Guest (Sep 1, 2020)

Holden4th said:


> 1. Chaconne in D minor Bach-Busoni
> 2. Bach's transcriptions of his own works for other instruments/genres. He was never one to pass up the opportunity to reuse a good tune to good effect.


Totally agree. The Chaconne is one of the 'desert island works' for me. This one seems a bit perfunctory and dry; what you do think? No doubting the virtuosity, of course.






Does anybody else have difficulty detecting the time signature when music is created over the bar line like this is? Relying on your ear is very difficult; for me, at least.


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## Guest (Sep 1, 2020)

Here are some more transcriptions, this time played by Helene Grimaud:


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Bach's music generally sounds very good transcribed to virtually any instrument. Music that relies on harmony/counterpoint for expressive effect more so than timbre/dynamics generally work well. I once heard some of Bartok's pieces from Mikrokosmos transcribed for vibraphone and they sounded terrific.

Albeniz music sounds outstanding transcribed for guitar, the composer himself acknowledged this.


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## Guest (Sep 2, 2020)

What a magnificent instrument is the acoustic guitar when it is used for great music.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

tdc said:


> Bach's music generally sounds very good transcribed to virtually any instrument.


I don't think Bach's original music sounds really that great on the modern piano:


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## Botschaft (Aug 4, 2017)

Sitkovetsky's orchestral arrangement of Bach's Goldberg Variations.






Atterberg's orchestral arrangement of Brahms' G major string sextet.

These are my favorite arrangements of two of my favorite works of music.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

hammeredklavier said:


> I don't think Bach's original music sounds really that great on the modern piano:


We all have our preferences, but the sheer number of recordings featuring Bach performed on a piano I think are an indication that his music works well on the instrument.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Having played and listened to Bach's music on both, I prefer the piano to the harpsichord as a vehicle for it. Both under the fingers and to my ears, the piano enables more nuanced performances and a more flowing grasp of the counterpoint.


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## BenG (Aug 28, 2018)

I don't actually think Bach cared very much what instruments played his music. Probably why he didn't indicate instruments for the Art of Fugue. If Bach lived today, I expect he would like even the synthesiser and electronic versions of his pieces.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Animal the Drummer said:


> Having played and listened to Bach's music on both, I prefer the piano to the harpsichord as a vehicle for it. Both under the fingers and to my ears, the piano enables more nuanced performances and a more flowing grasp of the counterpoint.


By "piano", do you mean the 18th century fortepiano or the modern piano? I find it hard to believe Bach would have wanted his music played with the slow developing tones and fuzzy, muddy bass of the modern grand played at constant mezzopiano. I think some people don't understand the *harpsichord-era aesthetics* properly. They just have favoritism towards the kind of sound they're more familiar with.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

hammeredklavier said:


> By "piano", do you mean the 18th century fortepiano or the modern piano? *I find it hard to believe Bach* would have wanted his music played with the slow developing tones and fuzzy, muddy bass of the modern grand played at constant mezzopiano. I think some people don't understand the harpsichord-era aesthetics properly. They just have favoritism towards the kind of sound they're more familiar with.


You might find it hard to believe Bach would like the sound that way, others may find it hard to believe he would not enjoy the sound of his music on a modern piano, just as Albeniz loved the sound of his piano compositions on a guitar, even though that instrument is very different in quality. Ultimately it is just speculation.

An instrument itself will infuse some of its character on a piece of music, just as a performer will. I am ok with this. Only Mozart can play Mozart exactly to specifications, only Bach can play Bach in exactitude. Therefore I am not that concerned with exact historical replication. Nor do I agree there is only 1 'correct' way to interpret a piece of music, or that a composer's interpretation is the only valid one or even necessarily always the best. I am interested in good music, not 'correct' music.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Ravel's own orchestral version of Le tombeau de Couperin is pretty great. And I also really like the one by Zoltan Kocsis who orchestrated the remaining two pieces that Ravel did not.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

hammeredklavier said:


> By "piano", do you mean the 18th century fortepiano or the modern piano? I find it hard to believe Bach would have wanted his music played with the slow developing tones and fuzzy, muddy bass of the modern grand played at constant mezzopiano. I think some people don't understand the *harpsichord-era aesthetics* properly. They just have favoritism towards the kind of sound they're more familiar with.


That video presents things that are such subjective judgements. On stage are 3 pianos, a modern grand and a design from c. 1780 and one from c. 1820. Now, would the 1820 design be inappropriate for playing Mozart? That particular one sounds fairly close to a modern one. So I take it the only proper way to play Mozart would have to be on an original or exact replica of a piano extant during Mozart's own time.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

This Arcadi Volodos transcription of Rachmaninoff is beautiful:


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## BenG (Aug 28, 2018)

DeepR said:


> This Arcadi Volodos transcription of Rachmaninoff is beautiful:


The entire CD with all the transcriptions is really amazing.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

consuono said:


> That video presents things that are such subjective judgements. On stage are 3 pianos, a modern grand and a design from c. 1780 and one from c. 1820. Now, would the 1820 design be inappropriate for playing Mozart? That particular one sounds fairly close to a modern one. So I take it the only proper way to play Mozart would have to be on an original or exact replica of a piano extant during Mozart's own time.


If the fortepiano from c. 1820 is straight-strung (presumably it is), I would say it's acceptable to play 18th century music on it.

This is performance by Viviana Sofronitsky on a modern replica (built by Paul McNulty) of Walter and Sohn's 1805 fortepiano:





Some other videos regarding this topic:
(At 2:40, Levin demonstrates the beginning of Beethoven's waldstein sounds much clearer on the 18th century fortepiano than on the modern piano)


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