Monday, 11 February 2013
Down a fourth
Bass Matthew Rose and pianist Gary Matthewman have a new record out, on Stone Records, of Schubert's great song cycle Die Winterreise. The disc is getting very good reviews and, though I have not heard the disc, I heard the two of them performing the cycle live at a private recital in 2011 and their performance was superb. But this brings me back to a subject that continually nags at me - transposition. Rose performs most of Schubert's songs transposed down a fourth (Schubert's originals are for the tenor voice). Is it acceptable to shunt Schubert's piano part down a fourth, does it make any difference? I suppose the answer is in the performance. a great performance transcends the medium. But still I worry.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts this month
-
Helen Charlston (Photo: Julien Gazeau) On 8 May, mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston has a new solo disc out on BIS . It is something of a contr... -
Peter Tranchell (Courtesy: Independent Society of Musicians) Peter Tranchell: Tu es Petrus in fuga , Seven Pieces in Alphabetical Order, The... -
Fitzwilliam Quartet at the Assembly House, Norwich The inaugural concert of the Norfolk & Norwich Music Club fell on 26th May 1951 given... -
Bach: St Matthew Passion - Alex Rosen (Jesus), Nick Pritchard (Evangelist), Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen at Barbican Hall (Photo: Ed Maitland... -
Foyer of Wigmore Hall in 1901 when it was Bechstein Hall (Photo courtesy of Wigmore Hall) Like many major cities, London's concert halls... -
Edward Gardner (Photo: Jason Bell) The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) has announced its 2026/27 season at the Southbank Centre. Under t... -
Hanover Square Rooms In 1672 John Banister, a former violinist at the court of King Charles II, set up a concert room in his house and start... -
Handel: Tamerlano - James Laing - London Handel Festival (Photo: Craig Fuller) Handel: Tamerlano : James Laing, Benjamin Hulett, Nardus Wil... -
Gimnazija Kranj Symphony Orchestra I get all sorts of mail, people sending my information on concerts and recordings. Everything gets gl... -
Suddenly it's that time of year and the BBC Proms programme has been launched again. This year there are 72 concerts at the Royal Albert...
It makes a difference, but I think whether or not it works depends on the performers' ability to not get bogged down in the thicker sonority of a low key, and also the song itself -- a song about twittering birds or twinkling stars might be harder to convincingly transpose down a 4th than, say, a song about digging a grave.
ReplyDeleteSo it works best with a gloomy cycle like Winterreise!
ReplyDelete