Bach Piano Transcriptions
Bach Piano
Bach was a master of transcription, recycling material from one composition to another for different instruments and combinations of instruments. This practice can be a powerful way of familiarizing oneself with the music of others, but it can also be a challenge.
Transcriptions can often lead to a more comprehensive understanding of the original work by revealing how it was composed, highlighting key passages or presenting new musical information. For example, a pianist might learn how to play a chorale melody by studying the counterpoint of a piano transcription of it.
Some of the most famous transcribed works are those that have been taken on by famous musicians. The Goldberg Variations, for example, have been performed by some of the greatest classical musicians in history, such as Glenn Gould and Pablo Casals.
Bach Piano Transcriptions
The transcription of the Goldberg Variations, in particular, requires a great deal of technique and skill on the part of the performer. It is one of the most difficult pieces in the entire repertoire for the piano, and it takes a very good pianist to play them as they were intended.
In many of the transcriptions, the performance quality is high and the audio fidelity is excellent. The sound is generally quite mellow and rich, which makes it easier for the performer to hear the details of the music.
Rather than simply mimicking the instrument, these transcriptions are designed to imitate the acoustics of the church in which the piece was originally performed, with selective doubling, registration (octave placement on the keyboard), pedal and distribution of notes. The result is a very specific tone and texture that is incomparable to any other transcription.
These transcriptions are all very beautiful, and they are worth exploring!
Ferruccio Busoni, a complex visionary figure of German-Italian ancestry, produced a series of transcriptions of Bach’s music that combine the sensibilities of both organist and pianist. He used selective doubling and resonant piano playing to achieve an alchemically precise and ethereal sound.
He made these adaptations to Bach’s music because he saw it as a means of developing his own voice, bringing the composer’s compositions to a wider audience. The results were stunning, and it is impossible to listen to this music without being moved to tears.
Unlike Stokowski, who casts the contrapuntal setting as an ornamentation of Nicolai’s chorale melody, Bantock treats Nicolai’s chorale as a foundation upon which to build a musical edifice, combining his own counterpoint with Bach’s.
Finally, Respighi’s reading of the Chorale prelude is different from the other two because he maintains the tension between Nicolai’s chorale and Bach’s contrapuntal line that Stokowski brings to our attention. In addition, he adds a chromatic layer to the chorale melody that reaffirms its significance, while simultaneously reinforcing the registral conflict between Nicolai’s tune and the soprano line that forms the centerpiece of the prelude.