New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-05-02
MIISIC AND THE DRAMA.

Mr Rristow's excellent arrangement for the Or
.h.stra of Bach's Chromatc Fantasia and Fugue
has called out O vigorous protest not that 1t is
an done but because subscriptions are assumed
to be improper. Critic after critic has taken the
chorus of condemnation. One censures all orches-
trail transatOns Of piano-forte works, and another
disoountenances all arrangements of Anything.
Complaints Of this sort are often made, but we
never knew of their being supported by any rea-
son. Whenever master of the orchestra under
takes to score q composition originally designed
for something else, the rigOristS cry out; You
shall not you shall nOti" but this is only dOgmatc
prohibition, and they do not tell us tchy he shall
not Meanwhile the ablest musicians continue the
practice the great pleasure and advantage of the
public.
II example counts for anything, we have the
authority of Bach himself, who rewrote for the
harpsichord the violin sonatas of Vivaldi Men,
delssOhn enriched Bachs ChacOnne with piano
accompaniment. Schumann did the same thing for
the series of Bachs violin sonatas. Raft set the
Chaconne for orchestra. The process in all these
cases was closely analogous to the transcription Of
piano piece for the band; it was a filling out and
recoloriDg of the original. No surely will re-
greet that BerOz thought himself justified in setting
WebeTs Invitation to the Dance" for the orches-
ira, although in this brilliant and beautiful ar
rangement the character of piano music has en-
tirely disappeared. Liszt's magnificent orchestral
transcriptiOns of Schuberts songs aud Marches MS
arrangement from Beethoven's Septette his addl'
ton of an orchestra to Schubert's Fantasia in and
to Webers PolOnaise Brillante, etc., are works
of real value. The same eminent master
has piven a signal approval to the custom OF tran
eeribinR piapo-music for the orchestra by Lending
his name and more or less of his assistance TO tho
scoring of six of his own Hungarian Rhapsodles Dy
Doppler. Esser and Albert have made excellent
trauscriptons of Bach Renecke has scored Han
dels Harmonious Blacksmith" II rs forbidden
to set piano compositions for the orchestra all these
admired arrangements are offences against the
canons of art. But if we once admit the rule that
nothing composed for Que SOFT of instrument shall
ever be PLAYED by other Sorts we cannot stop at or
ebestral transcriptiOns; we must prohibit every
kind of transcription. Various compositions OF
Beethovens have been adapted to other than their
original uses bv List, Hummel, Czernv, Ferdinand
David Moscheles, II. Ries. Chwatal, Raft, and so on
Chopin's and Mendelssohn's piano pieces have been
transcribed for the violin by Lipinski, David, Wiz
helmj, Remenyi. DIR. Damrosch; and, on the otner
hand, Paganini's violin Caprces have been
set for tue piano by Schumann and Llszt
List has likewise arranged for the piano tic Ylohn
pieces of Ferdinand David, the organ Preludes and
Fugues of Bach, the songs of Beethoven Sehumann'
Mendelssohn Schubert Franz and ROssini. Gounod
made his charming AVE Maria" out of one of tho
Preludes in Bach's " Well-TemDered HarpsichOrd,''
and AiOscheles was inspired by GOunods example to
take several pieces from tho same collection ana nt
to them original melodies for the violoncelio. Ii
the prohibition of transcriptions rests upon any
fixed principle all these things must be equally inn
proper.
But it is urged, when planO-piece is set for the
orchestra its color and effect are changed. AndJnst
here begins the confusion of ideas which inspires
ha iuiD il nat
changed; it remains entirely unaffected By the
work of the adapter but III addition to the original
q new aud independent composition is created,
copied in part from the one previously existing IL
it is we'll made, 1t shows how the same musical idea
can be used In q variety of ways. There
is no reason why it should present the
same effects as its prototype. Bach I'M
doubtedly changed the color and effect of Vivaldrs
violin pieces when he transcribed them for the
harpsichord; but that change Of this kind is not
necessarily an injury we have hundred examples
besides his to show. WebeTs :" Invitation to the
Dance" in its original form is exactly adapted to
the character of the piano, but no one can
say that in the transcription IL Is any less
perfectly adapted to the spirit OF the or
chestra LISTS Rhapsodies are certainly
remarkable specimens of modern piano music by a
master who has never been surpassed for intimate
familiarity with the characteristics, the resources.
and the limitations of that instrument; but when
they were set for the orchestra it hard to real
ize that they had not been originally conceived for
the full band and this true not only of the ar
rangements in which Liszt himself took part, but
also of the well-known transcription of No. 2 by
Carl MHner-Berghaus. The remarks of Schumann,
propos of his second volume of prescriptions OF
the Paganini Etudes. are worth quoting: When
formerly edited book of studies after Paganini,
copied the original, perhaps to its injury almost
note for note, and merely changed little harmOni-
cally but in this case have broken loose from
too closely initiative translation and strven to give
the impression of an original pianOforte compost
ton, which, without separating itself from tue
original poetic idea had forgotten its violin origin
But 1t has been done with all the considera-
ton due to such an houored spirit as Paganini"