The art of transcription for the pianoforte

Abstract

Transcription - driftwood in a sea of vagueness and misconceptionI Why should this he all that remains of a word as simple in its meaning as it is expressive in its achievements?Transcription has one, and only one, meaning and that is, the presentation of the matter of an intricate musical score in compact playable form, with the usual modifications of figure and figuration to meet the requirements of keyboard technique. It does not mean (as others would have it) the literal translation from one musical medium to anotherThe art of transcribing requires the skill of the specialist. The reproduction must be in the most perfect manner of the contents of the original score. It must not only bring out the thematic texture, but also - and this is important - imitate the effects of light and shade by means of the dynamic gradations. Thus the forms of figuration are varied, as is the greater or less fulness of the chords. The frequent and necessary alteration of the orchestral shape of chord effects and accompaniments into forms playable on the piano is in reality the principle underlying transcription. Without compromise of some kind or another the reproduction of massive orchestral writing by means of a piano solo cannot be accomplished. As a whole the subject of transcription so teems with Ideas that It is not possible to do more than touch upon a few of the features which most readily strike the reader, when studying the transcriptions of the masters.Liszt, in his transcriptions, displays the wide scope of his musical knowledge, and his individuality asserts itself in ever increasing measure. The advocates of transcription consider that arrangements of the musical masterpieces are of educational value. Especially was this the case before the advent of the gramophone and radio. Others think that an orchestral tone picture Is totally defaced when translated Into the pianistic-idiom, but to quote from H. S. Mencken's essay "The Critic as Artist" - "Criticism is anything but scientific, for It cannot reach judgments that are surely and permanently valid. The most it | can do at its best is to pronounce verdicts that are valid here and now in the light of living knowledge and prejudice."There is no musical instrument so extensively used as the pianoforte and it has not inaptly earned the title of "the instrumental maid-of-all-work." . Its democratic functions are represented in Its literature, since owing to Its lack of variety of timbre or tone colour effects, It must rely mostly on ideas and their development. Ample proof of this Is shewn in the absolute Ineffectiveness of the piano rendering of modern orchestral music.