Memorables Vol.9 - Pvg

SKU: HL.49046941

ISBN 9783795722005. UPC: 196288087304. 9.0x12.0x0.163 inches.

The Easy Concert Pieces series presents easy to intermediate pieces for trumpet with piano accompaniment. Pieces typical of their era and suitable for auditions, public performance, competitions or examinations are ordered according to level of difficulty in three volumes. These Easy Concert Pieces also provide appealing additional material for use in trumpet lessons. Each piece has been recorded, both in full and playback versions (piano accompaniment).The audio files can be downloaded with a voucher code (in the book). In addition to the enclosed part for trumpet in Bb, a part for trumpet in C (Schott ED 22555-01) is available for download at www.schott-music.com. Volume 1 (ED 22555) contains very easy to easy pieces with a range up to written c'', with d'' appearing as a short top note in just afew pieces. Simple and memorable rhythms, readily playable note sequences and patterns of articulation that can be mastered quickly and easily make this book ideal for beginners. Volume 2 (ED 22556) contains easy to intermediate pieces with a range no higher than f''. Besides extending rhythmic scope and requiring a little more in terms of phrasing and articulation, these pieces will encourage further exploration of musical contrasts. Volume 3 (ED 22557) is of medium difficulty and intended for players with a well-developed embouchure who can play notes up to written g'', though this note only appears as a short top note. Flexible articulation and legato playing with a well-developed dynamic range are required for pieces that are longer than those in the preceding volumes.

SKU: BR.DV-32149

ISBN 9790200426823. 9 x 12 inches.

Every year, an important question never fails to arise during violin lessons: can beginners already take part in the performance of Christmas carols? Now the answer is: Yes, they can! thanks to the 35 pieces in Weihnacht voller Lichterglanz (The Bright Lights of Christmas). Eva-Maria Neumann, the author of the well-known Geigenschule (Violin Method) has arranged not only popular German carols, but also pieces from the Nordic countries, Russia, France, Spain and South America as well, and included free arrangements of instrumental Christmas music (Manfredini, Corelli, Haydn) in her collection. The book is arranged according to types of fingering in the first two parts. Sixteen carols are particularly well-suited to beginners who have only just begun learning their instrument. Their accompanying part is to be played only on open strings. Furthermore, all pieces have at least one part in the first position. Thus all violinists can contribute to a memorable Christmas of shared music-making.

The book is arranged according to types of fingering in the first two parts. Sixteen carols are particularly well-suited to beginners who have only just begun learning their instrument.

SKU: BR.EB-3938

ISBN 9790004162057. 12 x 9 inches.

Antoine Brumel (ca. 1460-ca. 1520) Um 1460 in den franzosischen Niederlanden geboren, wirkte Antoine Brumel 1483 als Vorsanger an der Kathedrale zu Chartres, spater in Laon. 1498-1500 war er Chormeister an Notre-Dame in Paris. Uber Lyon kam er 1505 als Nachfolger Josquins an den Hof Alfonsos I. von Ferrara und starb wahrscheinlich um 1520. Brumel gilt als einer der bedeutendsten ,,Niederlander der Josquin-Generation. Er schrieb uberwiegend Kirchenmusik: Messen (u.a. die 12stimmige Missa ,,Et ecce terrae motus, die noch 1570 in Munchen unter der Leitung Orlando di Lassos aufgefuhrt wurde), Motetten, Magnificat-Vertonungen und Bicinien, ferner einige Chansons. Brumel ist ein Meister des polyphonen Satzes; gelegentlich treten homophone Partien auf (Missa ,,Dringhs). Hans Buchner (1483-1538) Buchner wurde am 26. Oktober 1483 in Ravensburg (Wurttemberg) geboren. Bereits in jungen Jahren kam er nach Augsburg und Innsbruck, wo er Schuler Paul Hofhaimers war. In Wien lernte er in der kaiserlichen Hofkantorei wahrscheinlich Heinrich Isaac und Ludwig Senfl kennen. 1506 wurde Buchner Organist in Konstanz. Er starb im Jahre 1538. Von ihm sind zahlreiche Kompositionen (Orgelwerke, Motetten, Lieder, Tanze) erhalten. Buchners Hauptwerk ist das ,,Fundamentum, ein theoretisch-praktisches Lehrbuch der Orgelspielkunst. Es enthalt Anweisungen zur Improvisation, zum Orgelspiel und zur lntavolierung sowie 145 Orgelkompositionen. Heinrich Finck (1444/45-1527) Finck stammt wahrscheinlich aus Bamberg, wo er um 1444/45 geboren wurde. Uber sein Leben ist wenig bekannt. Er wirkte an der koniglich-polnischen Hofkapelle in Krakau und Warschau, war aber daneben viel auf Reisen. 1510 wurde er Kapellmeister am Hof des Herzogs von Wurttemberg, wirkte spater am erzbischoflichen Hof in Salzburg und erhielt im hohen Alter die Stelle des Hofkapellmeisters Ferdinands I. in Wien, wo er am 9. Juni 1527 starb. Von Heinrich Fincks Kompositionen ist nur ein kleiner Teil uberliefert. An erster Stelle sind seine deutschen Lieder zu nennen; ausserdem schrieb Finck Messen (Missa in summis) und Motetten. Der Komponist gilt als der erste deutsche Grossmeister der Musik. Seine Fruhwerke zeigen zum Teil noch eine karge Dreistimmigkeit mit harten Zusammenklangen; spater wird sein Satz vollklingender, wahrscheinlich unter dem Einfluss der ,,Niederlander (Isaac). Josquin Desprez (ca.1440-1521/24) Josquin ist der beruhmteste Meister seiner Epoche, die nach ihm als Joaquin-Zeit bezeichnet wird. Er wurde um 1440 wahrscheinlich in der Picardie geboren und soll Schuler Ockeghems gewesen sein. 1459-1472 war Josquin Sanger der Mailander Domkantorei, 1473-1479 Mitglied der Kapelle am Hof der Sforza in Mailand. 1486-1494 wird Josquin als Mitglied der papstlichen Sangerkapelle in Rom genannt. Seine Tatigkeit als Chordirektor am Dom zu Cambrai 1495-1499 ist urkundlich nicht gesichert. Er komponierte fur den Hof Konig Ludwigs XII. von Frankreich und fur den Hof der Este in Ferrara. 1502 wurde Josquin von Ercole I. als Kapellmeister nach Ferrara berufen, wo er bis zum Tode des Herzogs (1505) blieb. Sein Nachfolger wurde Brumel. Joaquin kehrte in seine Heimat zuruck und wurde zum Probst der Kirche Notre-Dame in Conde (Hennegau) ernannt. wo er am 27. August 1521 starb. Als Komponist gelangte Josquin bereits zu Lebzeiten zu europaischer Beruhmtheit. Sein Stil beeinflusste das gesamte musikalische Schaffen in Europa bis in die Palestrina-Zeit. Unter seinen Werken sind an erster Stelle die Messen zu nennen (darunter ,,L' homme arme, Missa sine nomine, sein Meisterwerk ,,La sol fa re mi, die zart-lyrische Messe ,,Ave maris stella, die Reprasentationsmesse ,,Hercules Dux Ferrariae und die Spatwerke ,,De beata virgine, ,,Pange lingua und ,,Da pacem); weiterhin schrieb er Motetten (u. a. ,,Stabat mater, ,,Miserere mei, ,,Memor esto verbi tui, ,,De profundis, ,,In exitu Israel, ,,Laudate pueri Dominum) und Chansons (die bekanntesten sind ,,Adieu mes amours, ,,Mille regretz und ,,J' ay bien cause). Josquin ist einer der genialsten Musiker aller Zeiten. Sein streng polyphoner Satz fuhrt konsequent den Stil Ockeghems weiter. Josquin erreicht in seinen Werken die hochste Meisterschaft im konstruktiv-imitatorische n Stil der ,,Niederlander. Gleichzeitig uberwindet er jedoch das nur Artistische dieser Kunst; sein subjektiv gefarbtes, von individuellem Ausdruckswillen bestimmtes Wort-Ton-Verhaltnis wird zum Ideal der Renaissancemusik. Josquins Kompositionslehre wurde 1552 von seinem Schuler Adrian Petit Coclico im ,,Compendium musicae aufgezeichnet. Heinrich Isaac (ca. 1450-1517) Isaac wurde kurz vor 1450 in den Niederlanden geboren. Er war wahrscheinlich Schuler Squarcialupis in Florenz und wirkte in Ferrara und am Hof Lorenzos de' Medici in Florenz. 1484 weilte er gleichzeitig mit Paul Hofhaimer in Innsbruck, war danach bis 1494 wieder in Florenz und wurde 1496 Hofkomponist Maximilians I. in Augsburg und Wien. Er unternahm zahlreiche Reisen (u.a. 1497-1500 an den Hof Friedrichs des Weisen nach Torgau, 1503-1505 zu Ercole I. nach Ferrara). Spater lebte Isaac in Konstanz, wo er sein Motettenwerk ,,Chorale Constantinum (1550 von seinem Schuler Ludwig Senfl herausgegeben) schuf; von 1514 bis zu seinem Tode 1517 lebte er wieder in Florenz. Isaac ist einer der vielseitigsten Musiker seiner Zeit. Er ist in allen musikalischen Nationalstilen sattelfest. Der Bogen seines Schaffens spannt sich vom Konstruktivismus der niederlandischen Polyphonie bis zur anmutigen Intimitat des schlichten Renaissance-Satzes. Isaac schrieb Messen (u. a. die beruhmte ,,Missa carminum), Motetten (,,Chorale Constantinum), Chorlieder und Chorsatze auf deutsche, franzosische und italienische Texte (sein Satz ,,Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen wurde weltberuhmt) sowie Instrumentalsatze. Johannes Martini (1430/40-ca.1500) Der um 1430/40 in Flandern geborene Komponist wirkte 1474 neben Josquin und Compere an der Mailander Hofkapelle. 1475 wurde er Mitglied der Hofkapelle zu Ferrara, wo er noch 1492 tatig war. Sein Todesjahr ist unbekannt. Nach 1500 wird Martini nicht mehr in den Listen bekannter Komponisten gefuhrt. Von Martini sind Messen, Motetten und Chansons uberliefert, die stilistisch von Dufay und Ockeghem beeinflusst sind. Eine gewisse Erstarrung des Stils ist unverkennbar. Gregor Meyer (ca. 1510-1576) Meyer wurde um 1510 in Sackingen geboren und wirkte um 1535 bis 1558 als Organist in Solothurn, 1561 bis zu seinem Tode 1576 am Munster zu Basel. Auf Veranlassung Glareans schrieb Meyer fur dessen ,,Dodekachordon (1547) zahlreiche Kompositionsbeispiele; ausserdem sind in anderen Sammlungen einige Kanons, Motetten, einzelne Messsatze und kirchliche und weltliche Lieder erhalten. Jacob Obrecht (1450/51-1505) Als einziger der grossen ,,Niederlander stammt Obrecht aus dem nordniederlandischen Raum; er wurde wahrscheinlich am 22. November 1450 in Bergen op Zoom geboren. 1476-1478 war er Chormeister in Utrecht, 1479-1484 in seiner Heimatstadt. 1484/85 wirkte er als Kapellmeister an der Kathedrale in Cambrai und anschliessend in Brugge. 1487/88 besuchte Obrecht den Hof Ercoles I. von Ferrara. 1492 finden wir ihn als Chormeister an Notre-Dame zu Antwerpen, 1496 in Bergen op Zoom, 1498 in Brugge. 1500 schied er krankheitshalber aus dem Dienst und lebte bis 1504 in Antwerpen. Auf einer Reise nach Ferrara starb er im Jahre 1505 (angeblich an der Pest). Von Obrechts Kompositionen sind etwa 25 Messen (darunter ,,Maria zart, ,,L' homme arme, ,,Caput, ,,Je ne demande, ,,Fortuna desperata), Motetten und Chansons auf niederlandische, franzosische und italienische Texte uberliefert. Obrecht gehort mit Josquin, lsaac und Pierre de la Rue zu den Grossmeistern der Josquin-Zeit. Er setzt die Polyphonie Dufays und Ockeghems fort, doch spielen bei ihm die Durchimitation wie auch das bei Josquin stark ausgepragte Wort-Ton-Verhaltnis eine geringe Rolle. Obrechts Musik ist durch ihre vitale Kraft, Spontaneitat des Ausdrucks, klare Periodenbildung, den Hang zum vollen harmonischen Satz und ein neues Tonalitatsbewusstsein gekennzeichnet. Im Spatwerk ist der Einfluss des volkstumlichen italienischen Liedes festzustellen. Obrechte ausgepragter Penonalstil ist so unnachahmlich, dass er keine Fortsetzer fand. Nicht zu Unrecht wird Obrecht als der grosse ,,Aussenseiter zwischen den Perioden Dufay-Ockeghem und Josquin-Isaac bezeichnet. Marbrianus de Orto (ca. 1450-1529) Orto stammt moglicherweise ebenfalls aus Flandern; sein Geburtsjahr ist nicht bekannt. 1484-1494 war er gleichzeitig mit Josquin papstlicher Kapellsanger in Rom, spater (1505) am Hofe Philipps des Schonen von Burgund. Orto starb 1529 in Nivelles. Von ihm sind Messen, Motetten und Chansons erhalten. Vermutlich redigierte er wahrend seines romischen Aufenthaltes gemeinsam mit Josquin die Bearbeitung Duf'ayscher Hymnen. Ortos Messen reichen nicht an die Spitzenleistungen seiner Zeit (Josquin, Obrecht) heran; bedeutender sind seine Motetten, wie etwa die Motette ,,Ave Maria, die Petrucci 1501 an die Spitze seines ,,Odhecaton stellte, und die Vergil-Motette ,,Dulces exuviae.

SKU: CF.B3467

ISBN 9781491156773. UPC: 680160915316. 9 x 12 inches.

Paginula is Latin for little page or short letter. As a title, it connotes something similar to album leaf or moment musical. Daniel Godfrey completed this work as a contribution to Boston-based Music for Food, an organization in which Kim Kashkashian - viola professor at the New England Conservatory - and her colleagues volunteer extraordinary, memorable performances in concerts whose proceeds go entirely to combating food insecurity, homelessness and domestic violence.

SKU: CF.PL1056

ISBN 9781491153390. UPC: 680160910892. Transcribed by Franz Liszt.

Introduction It is true that Schubert himself is somewhat to blame for the very unsatisfactory manner in which his admirable piano pieces are treated. He was too immoderately productive, wrote incessantly, mixing insignificant with important things, grand things with mediocre work, paid no heed to criticism, and always soared on his wings. Like a bird in the air, he lived in music and sang in angelic fashion. --Franz Liszt, letter to Dr. S. Lebert (1868) Of those compositions that greatly interest me, there are only Chopin's and yours. --Franz Liszt, letter to Robert Schumann (1838) She [Clara Schumann] was astounded at hearing me. Her compositions are really very remarkable, especially for a woman. There is a hundred times more creativity and real feeling in them than in all the past and present fantasias by Thalberg. --Franz Liszt, letter to Marie d'Agoult (1838) Chretien Urhan (1790-1845) was a Belgian-born violinist, organist and composer who flourished in the musical life of Paris in the early nineteenth century. According to various accounts, he was deeply religious, harshly ascetic and wildly eccentric, though revered by many important and influential members of the Parisian musical community. Regrettably, history has forgotten Urhan's many musical achievements, the most important of which was arguably his pioneering work in promoting the music of Franz Schubert. He devoted much of his energies to championing Schubert's music, which at the time was unknown outside of Vienna. Undoubtedly, Urhan was responsible for stimulating this enthusiasm in Franz Liszt; Liszt regularly heard Urhan's organ playing in the St.-Vincent-de-Paul church in Paris, and the two became personal acquaintances. At eighteen years of age, Liszt was on the verge of establishing himself as the foremost pianist in Europe, and this awakening to Schubert's music would prove to be a profound experience. Liszt's first travels outside of his native provincial Hungary were to Vienna in 1821-1823, where his father enrolled him in studies with Carl Czerny (piano) and Antonio Salieri (music theory). Both men had important involvements with Schubert; Czerny (like Urhan) as performer and advocate of Schubert's music and Salieri as his theory and composition teacher from 1813-1817. Curiously, Liszt and Schubert never met personally, despite their geographical proximity in Vienna during these years. Inevitably, legends later arose that the two had been personal acquaintances, although Liszt would dismiss these as fallacious: I never knew Schubert personally, he was once quoted as saying. Liszt's initial exposure to Schubert's music was the Lieder, what Urhan prized most of all. He accompanied the tenor Benedict Randhartinger in numerous performances of Schubert's Lieder and then, perhaps realizing that he could benefit the composer more on his own terms, transcribed a number of the Lieder for piano solo. Many of these transcriptions he would perform himself on concert tour during the so-called Glanzzeit, or time of splendor from 1839-1847. This publicity did much to promote reception of Schubert's music throughout Europe. Once Liszt retired from the concert stage and settled in Weimar as a conductor in the 1840s, he continued to perform Schubert's orchestral music, his Symphony No. 9 being a particular favorite, and is credited with giving the world premiere performance of Schubert's opera Alfonso und Estrella in 1854. At this time, he contemplated writing a biography of the composer, which regrettably remained uncompleted. Liszt's devotion to Schubert would never waver. Liszt's relationship with Robert and Clara Schumann was far different and far more complicated; by contrast, they were all personal acquaintances. What began as a relationship of mutual respect and admiration soon deteriorated into one of jealousy and hostility, particularly on the Schumann's part. Liszt's initial contact with Robert's music happened long before they had met personally, when Liszt published an analysis of Schumann's piano music for the Gazette musicale in 1837, a gesture that earned Robert's deep appreciation. In the following year Clara met Liszt during a concert tour in Vienna and presented him with more of Schumann's piano music. Clara and her father Friedrich Wieck, who accompanied Clara on her concert tours, were quite taken by Liszt: We have heard Liszt. He can be compared to no other player...he arouses fright and astonishment. His appearance at the piano is indescribable. He is an original...he is absorbed by the piano. Liszt, too, was impressed with Clara--at first the energy, intelligence and accuracy of her piano playing and later her compositions--to the extent that he dedicated to her the 1838 version of his Etudes d'execution transcendante d'apres Paganini. Liszt had a closer personal relationship with Clara than with Robert until the two men finally met in 1840. Schumann was astounded by Liszt's piano playing. He wrote to Clara that Liszt had played like a god and had inspired indescribable furor of applause. His review of Liszt even included a heroic personification with Napoleon. In Leipzig, Schumann was deeply impressed with Liszt's interpretations of his Noveletten, Op. 21 and Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17 (dedicated to Liszt), enthusiastically observing that, I feel as if I had known you twenty years. Yet a variety of events followed that diminished Liszt's glory in the eyes of the Schumanns. They became critical of the cult-like atmosphere that arose around his recitals, or Lisztomania as it came to be called; conceivably, this could be attributed to professional jealousy. Clara, in particular, came to loathe Liszt, noting in a letter to Joseph Joachim, I despise Liszt from the depths of my soul. She recorded a stunning diary entry a day after Liszt's death, in which she noted, He was an eminent keyboard virtuoso, but a dangerous example for the young...As a composer he was terrible. By contrast, Liszt did not share in these negative sentiments; no evidence suggests that he had any ill-regard for the Schumanns. In Weimar, he did much to promote Schumann's music, conducting performances of his Scenes from Faust and Manfred, during a time in which few orchestras expressed interest, and premiered his opera Genoveva. He later arranged a benefit concert for Clara following Robert's death, featuring Clara as soloist in Robert's Piano Concerto, an event that must have been exhilarating to witness. Regardless, her opinion of him would never change, despite his repeated gestures of courtesy and respect. Liszt's relationship with Schubert was a spiritual one, with music being the one and only link between the two men. That with the Schumanns was personal, with music influenced by a hero worship that would aggravate the relationship over time. Nonetheless, Liszt would remain devoted to and enthusiastic for the music and achievements of these composers. He would be a vital force in disseminating their music to a wider audience, as he would be with many other composers throughout his career. His primary means for accomplishing this was the piano transcription. Liszt and the Transcription Transcription versus Paraphrase Transcription and paraphrase were popular terms in nineteenth-century music, although certainly not unique to this period. Musicians understood that there were clear distinctions between these two terms, but as is often the case these distinctions could be blurred. Transcription, literally writing over, entails reworking or adapting a piece of music for a performance medium different from that of its original; arrangement is a possible synonym. Adapting is a key part of this process, for the success of a transcription relies on the transcriber's ability to adapt the piece to the different medium. As a result, the pre-existing material is generally kept intact, recognizable and intelligible; it is strict, literal, objective. Contextual meaning is maintained in the process, as are elements of style and form. Paraphrase, by contrast, implies restating something in a different manner, as in a rewording of a document for reasons of clarity. In nineteenth-century music, paraphrasing indicated elaborating a piece for purposes of expressive virtuosity, often as a vehicle for showmanship. Variation is an important element, for the source material may be varied as much as the paraphraser's imagination will allow; its purpose is metamorphosis. Transcription is adapting and arranging; paraphrasing is transforming and reworking. Transcription preserves the style of the original; paraphrase absorbs the original into a different style. Transcription highlights the original composer; paraphrase highlights the paraphraser. Approximately half of Liszt's compositional output falls under the category of transcription and paraphrase; it is noteworthy that he never used the term arrangement. Much of his early compositional activities were transcriptions and paraphrases of works of other composers, such as the symphonies of Beethoven and Berlioz, vocal music by Schubert, and operas by Donizetti and Bellini. It is conceivable that he focused so intently on work of this nature early in his career as a means to perfect his compositional technique, although transcription and paraphrase continued well after the technique had been mastered; this might explain why he drastically revised and rewrote many of his original compositions from the 1830s (such as the Transcendental Etudes and Paganini Etudes) in the 1850s. Charles Rosen, a sympathetic interpreter of Liszt's piano works, observes, The new revisions of the Transcendental Etudes are not revisions but concert paraphrases of the old, and their art lies in the technique of transformation. The Paganini etudes are piano transcriptions of violin etudes, and the Transcendental Etudes are piano transcriptions of piano etudes. The principles are the same. He concludes by noting, Paraphrase has shaded off into composition...Composition and paraphrase were not identical for him, but they were so closely interwoven that separation is impossible. The significance of transcription and paraphrase for Liszt the composer cannot be overstated, and the mutual influence of each needs to be better understood. Undoubtedly, Liszt the composer as we know him today would be far different had he not devoted so much of his career to transcribing and paraphrasing the music of others. He was perhaps one of the first composers to contend that transcription and paraphrase could be genuine art forms on equal par with original pieces; he even claimed to be the first to use these two terms to describe these classes of arrangements. Despite the success that Liszt achieved with this type of work, others viewed it with circumspection and criticism. Robert Schumann, although deeply impressed with Liszt's keyboard virtuosity, was harsh in his criticisms of the transcriptions. Schumann interpreted them as indicators that Liszt's virtuosity had hindered his compositional development and suggested that Liszt transcribed the music of others to compensate for his own compositional deficiencies. Nonetheless, Liszt's piano transcriptions, what he sometimes called partitions de piano (or piano scores), were instrumental in promoting composers whose music was unknown at the time or inaccessible in areas outside of major European capitals, areas that Liszt willingly toured during his Glanzzeit. To this end, the transcriptions had to be literal arrangements for the piano; a Beethoven symphony could not be introduced to an unknowing audience if its music had been subjected to imaginative elaborations and variations. The same would be true of the 1833 transcription of Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique (composed only three years earlier), the astonishingly novel content of which would necessitate a literal and intelligible rendering. Opera, usually more popular and accessible for the general public, was a different matter, and in this realm Liszt could paraphrase the original and manipulate it as his imagination would allow without jeopardizing its reception; hence, the paraphrases on the operas of Bellini, Donizetti, Mozart, Meyerbeer and Verdi. Reminiscence was another term coined by Liszt for the opera paraphrases, as if the composer were reminiscing at the keyboard following a memorable evening at the opera. Illustration (reserved on two occasions for Meyerbeer) and fantasy were additional terms. The operas of Wagner were exceptions. His music was less suited to paraphrase due to its general lack of familiarity at the time. Transcription of Wagner's music was thus obligatory, as it was of Beethoven's and Berlioz's music; perhaps the composer himself insisted on this approach. Liszt's Lieder Transcriptions Liszt's initial encounters with Schubert's music, as mentioned previously, were with the Lieder. His first transcription of a Schubert Lied was Die Rose in 1833, followed by Lob der Tranen in 1837. Thirty-nine additional transcriptions appeared at a rapid pace over the following three years, and in 1846, the Schubert Lieder transcriptions would conclude, by which point he had completed fifty-eight, the most of any composer. Critical response to these transcriptions was highly favorable--aside from the view held by Schumann--particularly when Liszt himself played these pieces in concert. Some were published immediately by Anton Diabelli, famous for the theme that inspired Beethoven's variations. Others were published by the Viennese publisher Tobias Haslinger (one of Beethoven's and Schubert's publishers in the 1820s), who sold his reserves so quickly that he would repeatedly plead for more. However, Liszt's enthusiasm for work of this nature soon became exhausted, as he noted in a letter of 1839 to the publisher Breitkopf und Hartel: That good Haslinger overwhelms me with Schubert. I have just sent him twenty-four new songs (Schwanengesang and Winterreise), and for the moment I am rather tired of this work. Haslinger was justified in his demands, for the Schubert transcriptions were received with great enthusiasm. One Gottfried Wilhelm Fink, then editor of the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, observed of these transcriptions: Nothing in recent memory has caused such sensation and enjoyment in both pianists and audiences as these arrangements...The demand for them has in no way been satisfied; and it will not be until these arrangements are seen on pianos everywhere. They have indeed made quite a splash. Eduard Hanslick, never a sympathetic critic of Liszt's music, acknowledged thirty years after the fact that, Liszt's transcriptions of Schubert Lieder were epoch-making. There was hardly a concert in which Liszt did not have to play one or two of them--even when they were not listed on the program. These transcriptions quickly became some of his most sough-after pieces, despite their extreme technical demands. Leading pianists of the day, such as Clara Wieck and Sigismond Thalberg, incorporated them into their concert programs immediately upon publication. Moreover, the transcriptions would serve as inspirations for other composers, such as Stephen Heller, Cesar Franck and later Leopold Godowsky, all of whom produced their own transcriptions of Schubert's Lieder. Liszt would transcribe the Lieder of other composers as well, including those by Mendelssohn, Chopin, Anton Rubinstein and even himself. Robert Schumann, of course, would not be ignored. The first transcription of a Schumann Lied was the celebrated Widmung from Myrten in 1848, the only Schumann transcription that Liszt completed during the composer's lifetime. (Regrettably, there is no evidence of Schumann's regard of this transcription, or even if he was aware of it.) From the years 1848-1881, Liszt transcribed twelve of Robert Schumann's Lieder (including one orchestral Lied) and three of Clara (one from each of her three published Lieder cycles); he would transcribe no other works of these two composers. The Schumann Lieder transcriptions, contrary to those of Schubert, are literal arrangements, posing, in general, far fewer demands on the pianist's technique. They are comparatively less imaginative in their treatment of the original material. Additionally, they seem to have been less valued in their day than the Schubert transcriptions, and it is noteworthy that none of the Schumann transcriptions bear dedications, as most of the Schubert transcriptions do. The greatest challenge posed by Lieder transcriptions, regardless of the composer or the nature of the transcription, was to combine the vocal and piano parts of the original such that the character of each would be preserved, a challenge unique to this form of transcription. Each part had to be intact and aurally recognizable, the vocal line in particular. Complications could be manifold in a Lied that featured dissimilar parts, such as Schubert's Auf dem Wasser zu singen, whose piano accompaniment depicts the rocking of the boat on the shimmering waves while the vocal line reflects on the passing of time. Similar complications would be encountered in Gretchen am Spinnrade, in which the ubiquitous sixteenth-note pattern in the piano's right hand epitomizes the ever-turning spinning wheel over which the soprano voice expresses feelings of longing and heartache. The resulting transcriptions for solo piano would place exceptional demands on the pianist. The complications would be far less imposing in instances in which voice and piano were less differentiated, as in many of Schumann's Lieder that Liszt transcribed. The piano parts in these Lieder are true accompaniments for the voice, providing harmonic foundation and rhythmic support by doubling the vocal line throughout. The transcriptions, thus, are strict and literal, with far fewer demands on both pianist and transcriber. In all of Liszt's Lieder transcriptions, regardless of the way in which the two parts are combined, the melody (i.e. the vocal line) is invariably the focal point; the melody should sing on the piano, as if it were the voice. The piano part, although integral to contributing to the character of the music, is designed to function as accompaniment. A singing melody was a crucial objective in nineteenth-century piano performance, which in part might explain the zeal in transcribing and paraphrasing vocal music for the piano. Friedrich Wieck, father and teacher of Clara Schumann, stressed this point repeatedly in his 1853 treatise Clavier und Gesang (Piano and Song): When I speak in general of singing, I refer to that species of singing which is a form of beauty, and which is a foundation for the most refined and most perfect interpretation of music; and, above all things, I consider the culture of beautiful tones the basis for the finest possible touch on the piano. In many respects, the piano and singing should explain and supplement each other. They should mutually assist in expressing the sublime and the noble, in forms of unclouded beauty. Much of Liszt's piano music should be interpreted with this concept in mind, the Lieder transcriptions and opera paraphrases, in particular. To this end, Liszt provided numerous written instructions to the performer to emphasize the vocal line in performance, with Italian directives such as un poco marcato il canto, accentuato assai il canto and ben pronunziato il canto. Repeated indications of cantando,singend and espressivo il canto stress the significance of the singing tone. As an additional means of achieving this and providing the performer with access to the poetry, Liszt insisted, at what must have been a publishing novelty at the time, on printing the words of the Lied in the music itself. Haslinger, seemingly oblivious to Liszt's intent, initially printed the poems of the early Schubert transcriptions separately inside the front covers. Liszt argued that the transcriptions must be reprinted with the words underlying the notes, exactly as Schubert had done, a request that was honored by printing the words above the right-hand staff. Liszt also incorporated a visual scheme for distinguishing voice and accompaniment, influenced perhaps by Chopin, by notating the accompaniment in cue size. His transcription of Robert Schumann's Fruhlings Ankunft features the vocal line in normal size, the piano accompaniment in reduced size, an unmistakable guide in a busy texture as to which part should be emphasized: Example 1. Schumann-Liszt Fruhlings Ankunft, mm. 1-2. The same practice may be found in the transcription of Schumann's An die Turen will ich schleichen. In this piece, the performer must read three staves, in which the baritone line in the central staff is to be shared between the two hands based on the stem direction of the notes: Example 2. Schumann-Liszt An die Turen will ich schleichen, mm. 1-5. This notational practice is extremely beneficial in this instance, given the challenge of reading three staves and the manner in which the vocal line is performed by the two hands. Curiously, Liszt did not use this practice in other transcriptions. Approaches in Lieder Transcription Liszt adopted a variety of approaches in his Lieder transcriptions, based on the nature of the source material, the ways in which the vocal and piano parts could be combined and the ways in which the vocal part could sing. One approach, common with strophic Lieder, in which the vocal line would be identical in each verse, was to vary the register of the vocal part. The transcription of Lob der Tranen, for example, incorporates three of the four verses of the original Lied, with the register of the vocal line ascending one octave with each verse (from low to high), as if three different voices were participating. By the conclusion, the music encompasses the entire range of Liszt's keyboard to produce a stunning climactic effect, and the variety of register of the vocal line provides a welcome textural variety in the absence of the words. The three verses of the transcription of Auf dem Wasser zu singen follow the same approach, in which the vocal line ascends from the tenor, to the alto and to the soprano registers with each verse. Fruhlingsglaube adopts the opposite approach, in which the vocal line descends from soprano in verse 1 to tenor in verse 2, with the second part of verse 2 again resuming the soprano register; this is also the case in Das Wandern from Mullerlieder. Gretchen am Spinnrade posed a unique problem. Since the poem's narrator is female, and the poem represents an expression of her longing for her lover Faust, variation of the vocal line's register, strictly speaking, would have been impractical. For this reason, the vocal line remains in its original register throughout, relentlessly colliding with the sixteenth-note pattern of the accompaniment. One exception may be found in the fifth and final verse in mm. 93-112, at which point the vocal line is notated in a higher register and doubled in octaves. This sudden textural change, one that is readily audible, was a strategic means to underscore Gretchen's mounting anxiety (My bosom urges itself toward him. Ah, might I grasp and hold him! And kiss him as I would wish, at his kisses I should die!). The transcription, thus, becomes a vehicle for maximizing the emotional content of the poem, an exceptional undertaking with the general intent of a transcription. Registral variation of the vocal part also plays a crucial role in the transcription of Erlkonig. Goethe's poem depicts the death of a child who is apprehended by a supernatural Erlking, and Schubert, recognizing the dramatic nature of the poem, carefully depicted the characters (father, son and Erlking) through unique vocal writing and accompaniment patterns: the Lied is a dramatic entity. Liszt, in turn, followed Schubert's characterization in this literal transcription, yet took it an additional step by placing the register of the father's vocal line in the baritone range, that of the son in the soprano range and that of the Erlking in the highest register, options that would not have been available in the version for voice and piano. Additionally, Liszt labeled each appearance of each character in the score, a means for guiding the performer in interpreting the dramatic qualities of the Lied. As a result, the drama and energy of the poem are enhanced in this transcription; as with Gretchen am Spinnrade, the transcriber has maximized the content of the original. Elaboration may be found in certain Lieder transcriptions that expand the performance to a level of virtuosity not found in the original; in such cases, the transcription approximates the paraphrase. Schubert's Du bist die Ruh, a paradigm of musical simplicity, features an uncomplicated piano accompaniment that is virtually identical in each verse. In Liszt's transcription, the material is subjected to a highly virtuosic treatment that far exceeds the original, including a demanding passage for the left hand alone in the opening measures and unique textural writing in each verse. The piece is a transcription in virtuosity; its art, as Rosen noted, lies in the technique of transformation. Elaboration may entail an expansion of the musical form, as in the extensive introduction to Die Forelle and a virtuosic middle section (mm. 63-85), both of which are not in the original. Also unique to this transcription are two cadenzas that Liszt composed in response to the poetic content. The first, in m. 93 on the words und eh ich es gedacht (and before I could guess it), features a twisted chromatic passage that prolongs and thereby heightens the listener's suspense as to the fate of the trout (which is ultimately caught). The second, in m. 108 on the words Betrogne an (and my blood boiled as I saw the betrayed one), features a rush of diminished-seventh arpeggios in both hands, epitomizing the poet's rage at the fisherman for catching the trout. Less frequent are instances in which the length of the original Lied was shortened in the transcription, a tendency that may be found with certain strophic Lieder (e.g., Der Leiermann, Wasserflut and Das Wandern). Another transcription that demonstrates Liszt's readiness to modify the original in the interests of the poetic content is Standchen, the seventh transcription from Schubert's Schwanengesang. Adapted from Act II of Shakespeare's Cymbeline, the poem represents the repeated beckoning of a man to his lover. Liszt transformed the Lied into a miniature drama by transcribing the vocal line of the first verse in the soprano register, that of the second verse in the baritone register, in effect, creating a dialogue between the two lovers. In mm. 71-102, the dialogue becomes a canon, with one voice trailing the other like an echo (as labeled in the score) at the distance of a beat. As in other instances, the transcription resembles the paraphrase, and it is perhaps for this reason that Liszt provided an ossia version that is more in the nature of a literal transcription. The ossia version, six measures shorter than Schubert's original, is less demanding technically than the original transcription, thus representing an ossia of transcription and an ossia of piano technique. The Schumann Lieder transcriptions, in general, display a less imaginative treatment of the source material. Elaborations are less frequently encountered, and virtuosity is more restricted, as if the passage of time had somewhat tamed the composer's approach to transcriptions; alternatively, Liszt was eager to distance himself from the fierce virtuosity of his early years. In most instances, these transcriptions are literal arrangements of the source material, with the vocal line in its original form combined with the accompaniment, which often doubles the vocal line in the original Lied. Widmung, the first of the Schumann transcriptions, is one exception in the way it recalls the virtuosity of the Schubert transcriptions of the 1830s. Particularly striking is the closing section (mm. 58-73), in which material of the opening verse (right hand) is combined with the triplet quarter notes (left hand) from the second section of the Lied (mm. 32-43), as if the transcriber were attempting to reconcile the different material of these two sections. Fruhlingsnacht resembles a paraphrase by presenting each of the two verses in differing registers (alto for verse 1, mm. 3-19, and soprano for verse 2, mm. 20-31) and by concluding with a virtuosic section that considerably extends the length of the original Lied. The original tonalities of the Lieder were generally retained in the transcriptions, showing that the tonality was an important part of the transcription process. The infrequent instances of transposition were done for specific reasons. In 1861, Liszt transcribed two of Schumann's Lieder, one from Op. 36 (An den Sonnenschein), another from Op. 27 (Dem roten Roslein), and merged these two pieces in the collection 2 Lieder; they share only the common tonality of A major. His choice for combining these two Lieder remains unknown, but he clearly recognized that some tonal variety would be needed, for which reason Dem roten Roslein was transposed to C>= major. The collection features An den Sonnenschein in A major (with a transition to the new tonality), followed by Dem roten Roslein in C>= major (without a change of key signature), and concluding with a reprise of An den Sonnenschein in A major. A three-part form was thus established with tonal variety provided by keys in third relations (A-C>=-A); in effect, two of Schumann's Lieder were transcribed into an archetypal song without words. In other instances, Liszt treated tonality and tonal organization as important structural ingredients, particularly in the transcriptions of Schubert's Lieder cycles, i.e. Schwanengesang, Winterreise a...

SKU: BR.SON-616

More than 40 unloved works?

ISBN 9790004803189. 9 x 12 inches.

The Complete Edition Jean Sibelius Works has made a big step forward with this volume: the publication of all piano works which the composer personally supplied with opus numbers, thus bequeathing them to posterity in an authorized form. The piano pieces with opus numbers ranging between 85 and 114 were written partly during World War I and, more importantly, during the first post-war years up to 1924. This is when for various reasons, and not only for lack of funds Sibelius once again applied himself intensively to the composition of piano pieces. The more than 40 works eloquently refute the claim that the composer had little esteem for the piano. With the little collection of op. 114, Sibelius leads us into the memorable year 1929, when he ended his compositional activity once and for all.