 [1328]Re:Re:Re:4.5 Marimbas (401 reads) |
2001-09-04 02:45:11 |
Rather than get into something long-winded (which, admittedly, I tend to do from time to time), I think I can boil my position down to this: since we're playing this music on marimba, an instrument which Bach never dealt with, the performer (and/or transcriber) has to make a value judgement between the authenticity (sanctity?) of the written page, and the goal of making the piece function on the instrument of choice. IMHO, performing the piece on marimba already harpoons the idea of a thoroughly "authentic" performance - the next step is to make the piece work, if it can work at all, on the marimba. Certainly, there are a number of movements in the Sonatas and Partitas which work just fine on the marimba when performed in the "as written" range - the Presto from the G Minor leaps to mind. However, given the choice, I'd much rather take the other movements from that same Sonata down the octave. This does require that the performer make some creative choices regarding situations which don't arise when playing the piece in the violin range - your example of closed-position chord voicings being a perfect example. Should one open up the voicing? Eliminate certain pitches to "thin out" the voicing? Arpeggiate the chord rather than rolling it or playing it as a single attack? If the rest of the piece sounds good down the octave, do these changes disrupt the integrity of the music so much that it outweighs the other perceived benefits of taking the piece down the octave? I hope my original post in this thread didn't leave a mistaken impression, that I thought that _every_and_any_ piece of music should be taken 8vb if the range allows, when transcribing for the marimba. Again, the Presto from the G minor is a perfect example, of a piece which I _would_ keep in its original written range when performing on marimba. And if a piece was composed specifically for the marimba, I would make every effort to interpret the piece according to the composer's notated score, without making the changes being discussed here. Guitarists and lutists make these creative choices all the time when transcribing the Sonatas and Partitas for Violin, for their own instruments. The obvious goal in any transcription is to make the piece sound good on that particular instrument - to make it sound like the composer created the work with that instrument in mind. Personally (FWIW, IMHO, YMMV, etc.), I'm willing to make some alterations to the original text in order to make the piece suit the marimba as effectively as possible (or vice versa) - as long as the alterations are done with a valid musical underpinning, they are fair game as far as I'm concerned. Well, so much for me not getting into something "long-winded..." ;-) And we haven't even gotten into a discussion of ornamentation... JW http://www.malletjazz.com Remote Host: |
 [1325]4.5 Marimbas <Alex> |
2001-09-02 12:26:50 |
 [1326]Re:4.5 Marimbas <James Walker> |
2001-09-02 23:33:06 |
 [1327]Re:Re:4.5 Marimbas <William Trigg> |
2001-09-03 09:51:36 |
| [1328]Re:Re:Re:4.5 Marimbas <James Walker> |
2001-09-04 02:45:11 |
| [1329]A couple of suggestions <Percussion Specialist> |
2001-09-06 06:12:19 |