Download Transcendental Bach

Transcendental Bach
Thomas Labé, Piano
CD CONTENTS
From the Suite No. 5, C Minor, for Violoncello Solo, BWV 1011 (arr. Godowsky)
1. Prelude
2. Fugue
From the Partita No. 3, E Major, for Violin Solo, BWV 1006 (arr. Rachmaninoff)
3. Prelude
4. Gavotte
5. Gigue
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Suite No. 3, C Major, for Violoncello Solo, BWV 1009 (arr. Godowsky)
Prelude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Bourée I/II
Gigue
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
Suite No. 2, D Minor, for Violoncello Solo, BWV 1008 (arr. Godowsky)
Prelude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Menuet I/II
Gigue
From Sonata No. 1, G Minor, for Violin Solo, BWV 1001 (arr. Godowsky)
18. Siciliano
From Partita No. 2, D Minor, for Violin Solo, BWV 1004 (arr. Busoni)
19. Chaconne
From Sonata No. 2, A Minor, for Violin Solo, BWV 1003 (arr. Godowsky)
20. Aria
LINER NOTES
The tradition of transcribing, arranging and adapting the music of Johann Sebastian Bach can
be traced to the master himself: Bach made a lifelong habit of arranging works, his own and
those of other composers. Indeed, Bach ranks among the most skilled and prolific arrangers in
the history of music. Arrangements of his work by others can be considered in two broad
categories. In the first are contained those transcriptions which do not incorporate substantial
changes to the original compositions, for example, Liszt's Six Preludes and Fugues. In the second
category are found those arrangements which display a creative intent on the part of the
arranger—one can think of Mozart's transcription for string trio of six fugues from The Well-
Tempered Clavier, each preceded by an original prelude (KV 404a), or Gounod's Méditation sur le
premier prelude de piano de S. Bach (1853), to which the words of the Ave Maria were
subsequently added. It is to this latter genre of creative Bach transcription that the works
contained on this disc belong.
The six suites for violoncello solo, and the six sonatas and partitas for violin solo, were
composed at a time when Bach's creative focus was directed almost exclusively toward the
composition of instrumental music. Between 1717-23 he served as Capellmeister and director of
chamber music at the Court of Duke Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen, an informed music lover whose
embrace of Calvinist ideology accounts for the relatively small output of sacred vocal music
dating from this period of employment. The solo string works, with their panoply of multiplestopping techniques and arpeggiated textures of style brisé, exhibit Bach's characteristic mastery
of idiomatic instrumental writing. More remarkable is his extension of the contrapuntal
capabilities of the instruments, skillfully managing multiple linear strands to effectively suggest
polyphony—all within the relatively narrow constraints of instruments that have, for the most
part, only four strings.
Not surprisingly a large number of composers have ventured to realize, in various ways, the
harmonic and contrapuntal possibilities inherent in this repertoire. Bach himself arranged the
Fugue from the 1st Violin Sonata or organ (BWV 539), and the opening movements of the 2nd
Violin Sonata for organ (BWV 539), and the opening movements of the 2nd Violin Sonata for
harpsichord. Among notable 19th century efforts, Schumann (Following Mendelssohn's examples)
composed piano accompaniments to all of the violin sonatas. This tradition is continued in the
solo piano adaptations presented here—works of Sergei Rachmaninoff, Leopold Godowsky and
Feruccio Busoni. All skillfully weave Bach's original solo lines--remarkably intact—into richer
textures, surrounded with added layers of counterpoint and sympathetic harmony derived from
the string originals.
By the time Leopold Godowsky (1870-1936) began the task of adapting for the piano three
each of the cello suites and violin sonatas in their entirety, he had already been somewhat vilified
as an arranger for his 53 published Studies on Chopin Études. This large-scale work of
transcendental difficulty, involving bold and elaborate alterations to one of the most venerated
works in the repertoire, shocked the sensibilities of many critics and musicians. "To justify myself
in the perennial controversy which exists regarding the aesthetic and ethical rights of one
composer to use another composer's works, themes, or ideas as a foundation for paraphrases,
variations, etc., I desire to say that it depends entirely upon the intention, nature and quality of
the work of the so-called “transgressor.” The original Chopin studies remain as intact as they
were before any arrangements of them were published; in fact, numerous artists claim that after
assiduously studying my versions, many hidden beauties in the original Studies will reveal
themselves," wrote Godowsky shortly before his death.
Begun during a 1923 tour of the Far East, Godowsky's Bach arrangements were intended to
create effective material with which to begin recital programs. Perhaps to stem possibly negative
critical reaction, Godowsky advanced his rationale in a preface to the original edition (Carl Fisher,
1924): “It was with awe and reverence that I approached these imperishable works of Johann
Sebastian Bach, which he created for violin solo and violoncello solo … To explore inner
meanings; to probe hidden beauties; to give utterance to vaguely suggested thoughts; to project
undivulged ideas—inarticulated subconscious impressions—was for me a labor of love and an
inexhaustible souce of inspiration.
“In venturing to transcribe these works I fully realized the burden of such a responsibility. I
likewise took into consideration the possibility of the adverse critical opinion which I was courting
by treading on such sacred soil, by trespassing the portals of tradition.
“In a number of instances Bach himself has shown that he approved of transcriptions,
arrangements, adaptations and diversified versions of the same work. Nor has he limited himself
to his own compositions, for he has not hesitated to arrange freely works by other composers of
his period for instruments other than those for which they were originally intended.
“However, in the present instance I may be accused of greater intrepidity in that I have not
merely transcribed, but have created new contrapuntal parts and introduced occasional harmonic
modifications, while fully availing myself of he developments of our modern pianoforte and the
strides we have made in the technique of piano playing.
“In extenuation of such procedure, may I state that my endeavor has been to develop the
polyphony and the harmony in the spirit of the master and his period. At times aesthetic
considerations have prompted me to deviate slightly from this reverential attitude, a course I
believe Bach would not have disapproved, in view of the amazing harmonic modernisms so
frequently found in his compositions and considering his very free amendments of his own and
other composers' works.
“On several occasions I have been tempted to slightly modify the architectural design in
order to give the structural outline a more harmonious form. Thus, when the return to the first
subject of a movement seemed imperative, I have interpolated a part of the main idea before the
close of that movement. I wish to make clear that I have never introduced any themes, motives,
or counter-melodies which were not a logical outgrowth of the inherent musical content.
Appended to each transcription will be found the complete original text of Bach's composition
upon which these free elaborations were made. The performer is thus enabled to discriminate
fully and intelligently between the original thought of the composer and the adaptations and
elaborations of the transcriber.” Godowsky further advises that, given the nature of these
arrangements, it is permissible to perform individual movements removed from the suites and
sonatas, a practice followed on this recording.
The Prelude, Gavotte and Gigue from the 3rd Partita for Solo Violin were chosen by Sergei
Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) to fashion a short suite of contrasting movements, and may have
been inspired by a performance of the Partita by Rachmaninoff's friend and sometime
collaborator Fritz Kreisler. Bach himself had transcribed the entire Partita for lute/pedal
harpsichord (BWV 1006a), and also used the music of the Prelude as the basis for the opening
movement of his 29th Cantata (as an orchestral sinfonia with organ obbligato). Rachmaninoff
premiered his arrangement in November 1933, making minor alterations to the Gavotte and
Gigue before their publication in 1941.
The imposing Chaconne that concludes Bach's 2nd Partita for Solo Violin has been the subject
of numerous adaptations, including an orchestration by Joachim Raff (1873), and an
arrangement for the piano left-hand along by Johannes Brahms (the last of his Five Studies for
the Piano). On a larger scale than any other movement in Bach's solo string works, the Chaconne
is comprised of three successive episodes (each built upon an eight-bar theme) containing
fifteen, ten, and five variations, respectively. The solo piano arrangement by Feruccio Busoni
(1866-1924), complete in Boston 1892, illustrates at once Busoni's fascination with counterpoint
and lifelong interest in the music of Bach.
~ Thomas Labé