Bach - Sorabji: Transcriptions of Chromatic Fantasy

[pianovirus]

I just found that Sorabji has transcribed the Chromatic Fantasy not only once as I thought, but rather twice, even around the same time (1940?): "in the Light of Harpsichord Technique" and in transcendental study 99. I recently bought the Habermann CD on which one can listen to the first of these two (btw, while I like the transcription itself, to me the playing sounds rather cold and steely on that CD). Now I would be very interested to hear in which way transcendental study 99 differs from the other transcription? I guess there is no recording available, or is there one? (I fear it will be some time until Ullen will have arrived at 99...). And what does Sorabji mean with the reference to "Harpsichord Technique" in the first one? In any case, I'm really interested in any comments on those two transcriptions. Are there people who know both?

[Etude]

Sorabji apparently wanted to show an example to pianists that they should compensate for the piano's lack octave coupling thingies, which the harpsichord has, by adding them manually (no pun intended).

I heard a small bit of a really terrible performance of no. 99 by that guy who does clusters with his foot.  It was like RVH's sledgehammer chords X 100.  Luckily, Ullen will eventually come along to save the day.

[minor9th]

I was disappointed that Sorabji used a different fugue--of course, Bach's is pretty powerful as it is; perhaps Sorabji felt he couldn't "improve" it! 

[pianovirus]

Thanks for the replies so far (and I hope there will be some additional insight to gain from others). Etude, I think I know who you mean and I saw some other videos by him...

minor9th, I was also puzzled (and still am), but not disappointed, that Sorabji decided to couple with another Bach fugue. It's a different answer to the fantasy and changes the impression it leaves upon listening. So to me this makes it an interesting alternative...

[thalbergmad]

Hinty and the archive are currently moving, so it might be a while before he enlightens us.

Thal

[ahinton]

It is curious that the Chromatic Fantasy transcription was written only shortly before study 99, which begins in a similar manner; it is almost as though the one piece is an actual transcription per se and the other an attempt to "recast" it, as it were, in Sorabjian terms. That said, the opening gesture of his Toccata No. 2 from a few years earlier also bears a resemblance to the openings of these pieces, so one can only imagine that it must have been indicative of some kind of occasional obsession...

Although there is no direct documentary evidence of which we are aware as to precisely why Sorabji chose the fugue that he did to follow the fantasy in his transcription, he did say that he felt that the one that usually follows it is a "weak" one so, rather than try to "improve" it (as has been suggested above), he sought to find the fantasy a better fugal partner in the form of BWV948 (whose authenticity was nevertheless once doubted, according to Schmieder!); in this he shares Busoni's view, as is made clear from a reference in his review of a recital in London's Wigmore Hall in 1939 of a piano recital by Busoni's distinguished pupil Egon Petri. Far more detail on all this than there is space for here is, however, to be found in the notes to Marc-André Roberge's edition of Sorabji's transcription, available direct from us.

Best,

Alistair