Transcriptions -- Is There A Standard?

[Glyptodont]

I am not very knowlegeable, and I am sure this question will bring that out.  But I do play the piano a lot, so I suppose that makes me a "fit" at this forum. 

I am gone back to re-learning Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring again, partly because I desperately needed a change from Chopin waltzes.  (I was practicing three different Chopin waltzes and just needed a break.)

The "Jesu" piece brought up for me some questions about transcriptions.  The piece is identified as a "chorale."  That means the original version was for voices, right?  I'm assuming that at some point it had to be arranged for the piano.  The edition I have -- inclusion in Felton's book "Favorites of Familiar Music" -- doesn't credit any arranger. 

Does anyone know if different editions of this piece for piano are the same?  Put differently, is there a standard for something like this?  Does that mean that every editor can just make what he wants of it? 

A comparable example - - -  I got interested in the Pachelbel Canon in D last fall.  I got my hands on four different editions.  They are all totally different.  Some at least try to incorporate the melodic patterns of the orchestral version.  Others totally go off on a lark, and except for using the base chords seem to have little in common with the original.  In fact, two of the editions are not even in the key of D.  I still have not found an edition of the Pachelbel Canon I really like.  But there are so many out there I suppose a favorite is waiting for me to discover it.      Do you suppose some of these arrangers are a bit irresponsible?

Thanks for the great comments from the board - - - -

[thalbergmad]

Transcriptions are a minefield, and you can spend a long time searching for one you like. I have spent years collecting them and discovered 12 different versions of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor and about the same for the Chaconne. For the Jesu, you can't go wrong with Myra Hess. If you PM me I will happily send it to you.

[nomis]

I am not very knowlegeable, and I am sure this question will bring that out.  But I do play the piano a lot, so I suppose that makes me a "fit" at this forum. 

I am gone back to re-learning Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring again, partly because I desperately needed a change from Chopin waltzes.  (I was practicing three different Chopin waltzes and just needed a break.)

The "Jesu" piece brought up for me some questions about transcriptions.  The piece is identified as a "chorale."  That means the original version was for voices, right?  I'm assuming that at some point it had to be arranged for the piano.  The edition I have -- inclusion in Felton's book "Favorites of Familiar Music" -- doesn't credit any arranger. 

Does anyone know if different editions of this piece for piano are the same?  Put differently, is there a standard for something like this?  Does that mean that every editor can just make what he wants of it? 

A comparable example - - -  I got interested in the Pachelbel Canon in D last fall.  I got my hands on four different editions.  They are all totally different.  Some at least try to incorporate the melodic patterns of the orchestral version.  Others totally go off on a lark, and except for using the base chords seem to have little in common with the original.  In fact, two of the editions are not even in the key of D.  I still have not found an edition of the Pachelbel Canon I really like.  But there are so many out there I suppose a favorite is waiting for me to discover it.      Do you suppose some of these arrangers are a bit irresponsible?

Thanks for the great comments from the board - - - -

Yes, the original is for voices. Different editions of the same piece will probably be different, as they will be transcribed by someone else.

As for "irresposible" transcriptions, you have to bear in mind the audience the transcriber is transcribing for. If it's for a child, the arrangement will be highly simplified so that it is playable. The main aim would only to be to have the melody always dominant. Other transcribers may stick to the original as close as possible, preserving all the voices but making it pianistic i.e. playable for a pair of hands. Others will do a Jazz styled arrangement. If you want an arrangment that satisfies your own needs, do it yourself.

[Sketchee]

I've seen many transcripts of Jesu, it's pretty much just as you described with Canon.  The same deal.

I play a transcription of one of Bach's Cello suites and have never found who arranged it.

[ChopChop]

Well, I have a question that's in line with this thread. For those of you who have seen several transcriptions of Canon in D by Pachelbel or Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring by Bach, are there any editions that come to mind that try to stay as close to the original as possible, while being made pianistic?

Thank you.

[porilo]

The best one which I know is by Myra Hess, but I believe there's also one by Busoni although I don't have the music for that. 

Gregory

[rafant]

If there is a standard it is the distinction between an arrangement and a paraphrasis. Although there is some controversy in defining them, arrangement and transcription seems to be synonymous and are closer to the original score, whereas in a paraphrasis there is more freedom and a whole new piece is constructed around the original themes.

There is also a definited tendency to disdain the piano transcription genere. Maybe some purism is involved, (purism isn't necessarily bad, since does contribute to preserve the integrity of good music), or perhaps the genere was affected by void exhibitions and excesses of certain virtuosi.  My own teacher was alarmed when I talked to her about learning  the piano solo version of the Bach's Toccata and Fugue in d. But the genere is well stablished since the beginning of the keyboard music, and was cultivated by Bach, Liszt, Busoni, etc. It appears that, before the recordings, the great opera and symphonic works were known first in distant cities through piano reductions, and so it's a pity that this art is no longer cultivated. Fortunately there is music enough to satisfy the tastes of both factions.

I collect both recordings as scores of piano transcriptions. The crown's gem so far is the F. Libetta's recording of the whole Liszt's transcriptions of Wagner's operas. Superb piano music! I'm fond also of the M. Ponti's Operatic Piano CD and the A. Volodos's CD, where there is a sublime Bach's Largo transcripted by Feinberg (how I wish to get the sheetmusic!). Recently I bought the Rachmaninoff's complete piano transcriptions CD, but I'm dissapointed since the music is not what I thought.

A good starting guide is the Maurice Hinson's book about the subject. And as far as I'm concerned I plan to add some Bach-Busoni and Bach-Kempff chorales to my repertory.

[allchopin]

Thank Joel for posting this for us:
https://joell12068.zftp.com/SheetMusic/Hess_Bach_Jesu.pdf

[hodi]

i searched for the best transcription of bach's tocatta & fugue in d minor
and i didn't find one
so i took a transcription and with my teacher we changed it a lot and made the best transcription !... sometimes u just have to work alone on transcriptions