# The Art of Transcription



## Guest (Oct 8, 2012)

"The Art of Transcription" is the title of a lecture I'm delivering next year for Music Appreciation at my local conservatorium.

This piece, the Bach/Busoni Chaconne in D Minor is amongst the most sublime music ever written and will be my first piece for discussion in my lecture. It is a transcription of a solo violin chaconne (a miracle in itself, since 'chaconne' implies deep harmonic development and the violin is ESSENTIALLY melodic!!). Busoni's Bach transcriptions are miraculous. This performance by Helene Grimaud gives some idea of the magnificence of this masterpiece, one of the greatest in the history of western European art music IMO. (My only criticism of Grimaud, here, is that there is too much pedal in this performance.)


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## principe (Sep 3, 2012)

I cannot agree more. Transcription is an art by itself. It can transform a piece of music to something completely different, while it remains, in most aspects, the same.
I have a vast collection of works in transcriptions (only the ones for Bach's works might be some dozens of CDs). I also work with a Chamber Ensemble (Piano Quartet, which, accordingly, can be enhanced to a Piano Quintet), as producer, to prepare small concerts for specific audiences in "difficult" (far away) countries. We manage to perform a concise form of "Le Nozze di Figaro" for Piano Quintet!
On Atma label, there is a double CD with almost the whole "Don Giovanni" for String Quartet. And so on. 
The magic power of transcription is unlimited and miraculous.

Principe


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2012)

Thank you so much for that response!! I may tap into your knowledge as the time grows closer for my lecture - you may be able to give me additional information. 

And, of course, there are composers who transcribe their own music - this is a subject all by itself!!


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## principe (Sep 3, 2012)

Absolutely! One of my most beloved works: String Quintet K.406, in c minor, by the divine Mozart (from his Serenade for Winds, K.388). It's a much more mature, serious and profound work in this medium.

Principe


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

Transcription is a very interesting thing. I may be in the minority on this, but I consider transcription/arrangement/orchestration to be a form of composition, in a way. My reasoning being that, for me, timbre is of extreme importance, equal to harmony, melody, rhythm, texture... Transcriptions and orchestrations of pieces allow them to be experienced in new and interesting ways. Personally I haven't really enjoyed any transcription of this Chaconne that I have heard (piano, nylon-string guitar, saxophone quartet). I think the piece works best on the violin, the timbre suits the drama of Bach's music, the way the arpeggios and chords are broken due to the violin's limitations add such a dramatic effect to the music for me, that when those chords aren't broken on other instruments that can play all the notes at once, it loses something. It really is one of the most stunning pieces I've ever heard, 15 minutes of the same chord changes on a single instrument, not a second of boring material. This is all just personal opinion of course, and I am happy that these transcriptions do exist. Its good that more people than violinists are able to perform this piece, and that artists are brave enough to flex their creativity and imagination with something so heavy. Personally I'd like to see even more imaginative transcriptions and re-orchestrations of great pieces. There's more than one way to hear a Beethoven Symphony, or a Chopin piano piece, or a Debussy work or whatever.


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## Guest (Oct 9, 2012)

I am very interested in your comments about the violin and this D Minor Chaconne by Bach. Yes, the 'limitations' of the violin make Bach's Chaconne even more amazing and create drama! But I adore Busoni's transcriptions too, as they are so much about the piano itself - and new 'compositions', as you suggest. The Beethoven symphonies have been transcribed magnificently for piano by Liszt, but you probably already know these.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Very nice, a brilliant transcription. My favorite transcribed version of this work (obviously somewhat biased) is probably Segovia's transcription for guitar.


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## Guest (Oct 9, 2012)

principe said:


> Absolutely! One of my most beloved works: String Quintet K.406, in c minor, by the divine Mozart (from his Serenade for Winds, K.388). It's a much more mature, serious and profound work in this medium.
> 
> Principe


Can you explain HOW this transcription is a "much more mature, serious and profound work in this medium"? I'm particularly engaged by this idea of 'maturity' in music and will try and grapple with it in my Transcription lecture.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

principe said:


> Absolutely! One of my most beloved works: String Quintet K.406, in c minor, by the divine Mozart (from his Serenade for Winds, K.388). It's a much more mature, serious and profound work in this medium.
> 
> Principe


That example is one of the very few transcriptions I know of that transcends the original. The Bach-Busoni Chaconne is an excellent thing, but it has less impact than the original. Many transcriptions are 'reductions', created because they are easier to mount than the original, e.g. Haydn's Seven Last Words and (according to him) Liszt's transcriptions of the Beethoven symphonies. Even Busoni's transcriptions of Bach's organ works share that aspect, church organs not being found in many homes or salons.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Just a note that Glenn Gould did not like Busoni's transcriptions of Bach (nor did he like Tausig's or Schoenberg's or Stokowski's). Gould admired any transcription though which he said did not obscure the clarity of the voicings in Bach's counterpoint. Things he liked was the Swingle Singers transcriptions (which on the whole left as much of the original as untouched as possible) and also Wendy Carlos' transcriptions for the Moog synthesiser.

Some of Gould's interview I put on this thread, in my opening post: http://www.talkclassical.com/19922-how-do-you-like.html.
In that, Gould said "I think the evidence suggests that Bach didn't give a hoot about particular sonorities. But it also suggests that he cared a great deal, to a fanatical degree, even, about the integrity of his structures."

I just put this here as it might be relevant to read up on re the OP's lecture on transcription (as research for that).

Speaking personally, I like Stokowski's one (even though it sounds more like say Mahler than Bach, but it still brings a tear to my eye, like the original). & in recent months, a performance was done in Sydney by Synergy Percussion of the chaconne in a transcription for percussion instruments only.


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## Andreas (Apr 27, 2012)

Sid James said:


> Just a note that Glenn Gould did not like Busoni's transcriptions of Bach (nor did he like Tausig's or Schoenberg's or Stokowski's).


Yes, not even Schoenberg's. Which is strange. Personally, Schoenberg's colourful orchestration of Bach's St. Anne Fugue sends me spiralling into bliss every time I hear it.


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

Andreas said:


> Yes, not even Schoenberg's. Which is strange. Personally, Schoenberg's colourful orchestration of Bach's St. Anne Fugue sends me spiralling into bliss every time I hear it.


Its kinda ironic about Schoenberg, since he, like Gould, loved Bach's music for the clarity (same reasons he admired Mozart and Brahms). I think Schoenberg was critical of composers like Debussy who used sound and timbre in blurry ways.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

How about this one?






Some of the youtube commenters are complaining it's too romantic though. :S


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## Guest (Oct 9, 2012)

Hilltroll72 said:


> That example is one of the very few transcriptions I know of that transcends the original. The Bach-Busoni Chaconne is an excellent thing, but it has less impact than the original. Many transcriptions are 'reductions', created because they are easier to mount than the original, e.g. Haydn's Seven Last Words and (according to him) Liszt's transcriptions of the Beethoven symphonies. Even Busoni's transcriptions of Bach's organ works share that aspect, church organs not being found in many homes or salons.


Hello!! All excellent points. I've been thinking overnight a little more about this. The composers' own transcriptions of their works, eg. Brahms two-piano version of the Piano Quintette - this isn't the same type of transcription of the Bach/Busoni "Chaconne". Also Bach's transcriptions of a violin concerto across to a piano 'concerto', eg. D Minor. These are essentially the same works transposed; the Bach/Busoni is a new composition altogether. I'm wanting to get my head around all of this for my upcoming lecture. Separating out the 'new composition' element is important under the umbrella term "transcription", as opposed to "transposition". Any ideas Hilltrop?


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## Guest (Oct 9, 2012)

DeepR said:


> How about this one?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


IMO, this is one of the most magnificent pieces of music ever composed - transcription or not!! It is PERFECTION. A lot depends on the performer too - and Horowitz does tend to 'romanticize'. I have him playing Scarlatti and he thinks it's Chopin, I'm sure!!

This particular transcription has all that Bachian mood and sonority. I love it!


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Highly recommended along with his other two transcription releases!


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