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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