# Chamber versions of orchestral works.



## mwd (Apr 7, 2012)

I have just discovered chamber recordings of Chopin’s piano concertos Nos. one & two. They are delightful and I think I enjoyed them more than the full orchestral versions.

I was aware that many full orchestral works were transcribed for piano since in the early 19 C this music could then reach audiances who otherwise had no easy access to the limited number of concert venues existing at that time. However, transcriptions for chamber groups give a completely new dimension to these particular works and I shall be looking for more similarly transcribed orchestral works.

I wonder what I am going to find?

MWD.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

What are you going to find? _Lots!_

I couldn't begin to scour my collection for examples, but coincidentally, the top of the heap from my current listening is such a work:

Haydn's _Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze
_
It was originally composed an orchestral work, and was later transcribed for string quartet, oratorio and piano. I am listening to the string quartet version.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde was transcribed for chamber ensemble and soloists by Arnold Schoenberg for performance in his private Society for Contemporary Music. You have to remember that Mahler was not considered mainstream at the time, so there were few performances of these works. He, Berg, and Webern also arranged other works, some of them light music, like Strauss waltzes, for similar groups.

There's a recording of Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony for two pianos available, from the composer's own reduction.

Aaron Copland's Sextet is actually an arrangement of his "Short Symphony", made because the latter was deemed unplayable at the time.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

I'd say Siegfried Idyll qualifies.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

The orchestral parts for Chopin's concertos are... uninspired. Chamber versions could actually give the music a lift. I'm not real happy with the orchestration for Victor Herbert's 2nd cello concerto either. Never heard of a chamber version. I don't suppose one of our whippersnapper composers would be interested?


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## realmassy (Oct 26, 2010)

Hummel arranged a few Mozart's Piano Concertos replacing the orchestra with flute, violin and cello. He even rearranged Mozart's Symphony no. 40! I have a BIS recording with Fumiko Shiraga, and I quite like it.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Ukko said:


> The orchestral parts for Chopin's concertos are... uninspired. Chamber versions could actually give the music a lift. (...) Never heard of a chamber version.


DUDE

There is cycle of Chopin piano & orchestra works transcribed for piano & solo strings, recorded by pianist Karol Radziwonowicz and I Solisti di Varsavia. Might be problematic to get though.

http://radziwonowicz.com/kr_discs.html


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Aramis said:


> DUDE
> 
> There is cycle of Chopin piano & orchestra works transcribed for piano & solo strings, recorded by pianist Karol Radziwonowicz and I Solisti di Varsavia. Might be problematic to get though.
> 
> http://radziwonowicz.com/kr_discs.html


Some other Chopin reductions there too. Nothing by Herbert though


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Except for arrangements for solo piano or piano duo, it´s usually the other way round, at least as regards what´s available on the CD market - works for a few instruments then being arranged for larger ensembles.

But:
_Schoenberg´s "Verklärte Nacht_" has been arranged as piano trio by the pianist Steuermann




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_Steuermann

_Shostakovich´s 15th Symphony _for a small ensemble by a Victor Derevianko





There´s a recorded chamber version of _Mahler´s 4th Symphony by Erwin Stein_, who like Steuermann belonged to the Schoenberg circle, 
http://www.allmusic.com/album/mahler-symphony-no-4-chamber-version-mw0001943214
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwin_Stein

A good deal of _Mozart´s piano concertos _can also be found in arrangements for piano and string quartet.

_EDIT_: Oh yes, a number of _Sibelius´ works has been arranged for cello and piano_, including "Finlandia", "Valse Triste" and some works for violin and orchestra etc. There´s a CD from Naxos and an equally fine one from the Finlandia label, containing such pieces.


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## ahammel (Oct 10, 2012)

_Verklärte Nacht_ was originally written as chamber music, though, wasn't it? I thought the sextet version was the original composition and the string orchestra version was the transcription.

I don't know of any other piece off-hand that's been re-arranged two ways: both for larger and smaller forces.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

ahammel said:


> _Verklärte Nacht_ was originally written as chamber music, though, wasn't it? I thought the sextet version was the original composition and the string orchestra version was the transcription.
> 
> I don't know of any other piece off-hand that's been re-arranged two ways: both for larger and smaller forces.


The original version of Verklärte Nacht was not only a sextet, but Schoenberg first had in mind that sextet be a homogenous group of six Celli! -- tantalizing, that, (..._and shades of Villa-Lobos' Bachiana Brasileira No. 5_) I don't know if that concept was ever realized, i.e. either in his first "final" draft or its premiere performance, and then soon later transcribed for two each; violins, violas, 'celli, but leave that to a musicologist to reveal.

The string orchestra version came later, with the same practical purpose many a suite is drawn from a ballet -- extended performance possibilities in more and larger venues, bringing not only wider exposure to the work but also yielding more performance and royalty fees for the composer


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