Beethoven-Liszt: Symphony No. 9, transcribed for 2 pianos, S. 657 (McCawley/Wass)
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- Опубликовано: 9 июл 2024
- 00:00 - I. Allegro ma non troppo e un poco maestoso
13:39 - II. Molto vivace
27:05 - III. Adagio molto e cantabile
39:10 - IV. Finale: Presto
May of 1864, Madonna del Rosario, Monte Mario. After having transcribed for solo piano the first eight of Beethoven's symphonies and all but the last movement of the Ninth, an exhausted Franz Liszt could not find a way forward. In an unusual display of resignation, the great Master outright refused to transcribe the Finale of Beethoven's final symphony. At the end of the third movement one can find the following sentence in Liszt's manuscript:
"Von dem 4ten Satz der 9ten Sinfonie ist eine Bearbeitung für 2 Pianoforte von F. Liszt erschienen." (An arrangement by F. Liszt of the 4th movement of the 9th Symphony for 2 pianos has previously been published.)
Two months later, Liszt writes a letter to his publisher Breitkopf & Härtel repeating much of what he had written on the manuscript, noting that he had been "inevitably and distinctly convinced" that a two-hand arrangement of the fourth movement that could "in any way be even approximately effective or satisfactory" is impossible. He refers once again to his two-piano transcription wherein "the possibility was offered to [him] of reducing the most essential parts of the orchestra-polyphony to ten fingers, and of handing over the chorus part to the second piano." However, he continues, "to screw both parts, the instrumental and vocal, into two hands cannot be done either 'à peu près ou à beaucoup près!'" (The publisher would convince him otherwise, and in another two months, Liszt would complete the transcription for the fourth movement).
More than a decade earlier, in 1852, Liszt had completed this 2-piano transcription of Beethoven's Ninth; it would be published by Schott a year later. Prior to this, he had transcribed the 5th, 6th, and 7th Symphonies for solo piano (all before 1840). It goes without saying that Liszt is a master transcriber in all aspects. While his transcription for solo piano is incredibly ingenious, this version is doubtlessly more capable of bringing out the force of an entire orchestra. Nearly every single detail is squished out here; with the equal sound of the piano coupled with brilliantly clear playing, one can hear everything. Liszt maintains an unusual fidelity to Beethoven's score, for even if some of Beethoven's articulation and dynamics seemed somewhat confusing and arbitrary, he still followed them most of the time. The later solo transcription takes a lot more freedom in notation.
Leon McCawley and Ashley Wass present a powerful performance that does justice both to Beethoven's immortal symphony and to Liszt's insightful transcription. Note that their tempo choices are quite brisk compared to most. Of particular note are the fleet-footed trio and the HIP-like tempo of the slow movement, both closer to Beethoven's own metronome marks. There is not much else to be said-the recording speaks for itself!
Performers: Leon McCawley & Ashley Wass
Score: Engraved and edited by me (LilyPond 2.22), released in IMSLP
Common timestamps, for your reference :)
00:00 - I. Allegro ma non troppo e un poco maestoso
12:41 - "Funeral march" ending
13:39 - II. Molto vivace
20:49 - Presto
27:05 - III. Adagio molto e cantabile
29:05 - Andante moderato
30:05 - Tempo I
31:43 - Andante moderato
33:53 - Stesso tempo (12/8)
39:10 - IV. Finale: Presto
39:46, 40:17, 40:32, 40:56 - Fragments of each movement
41:21 - Allegro assai. Famous instrumental part
44:14 - Presto. Callback to the beginning of the movement
44:23 - Recitativo
45:11 - Allegro assai. First variations invoking the voice
47:33 - Allegro assai vivace, alla Marcia. Turkish march variation
49:05 - Double fugue between variations of the "Ode to Joy"
50:45 - Famous choral part
51:37 - Andante maestoso
53:00 - Andante ma non troppo ma divoto
54:39 - Allegro energico e sempre ben marcato. Double fugue between the "Ode to Joy" and "Seid umschlungen" melodies
56:50 - Allegro ma non tanto
59:19 - Presto
1:00:10 - Maestoso
1:00:30 - Prestissimo
(EDIT) With regards to the score: I'm planning to release it to IMSLP by Christmas break, so hopefully before 2024. Let's all celebrate this very special piece of music as we near the 200th anniversary of its premiere on May 7th, 1824. :)
thanks‼️
I’m confused, which Funeral March?
@@ShaunakDesaiPiano I've seen that part being compared to a funeral march. It is not an entirely accurate description, but the chromatic bassline does make it quite haunting.
@@pizzacheeto haunting indeed. Hey, I was thinking, you should upload more score videos of piano transcriptions of symphonies. There aren’t enough of those.
“No transcription can make the piano sound like an orchestra.”
Liszt: hold my beer.
Imo the orchestral version with the choir sounds infinitely better than this. This is as good as you can get with two pianos but it's nowhere close to the experience you get when listening to the actual symphony
@@Numberonesorabjifan relax dude. Of course it cannot sound THE SAME as the original, but Liszt sure did a hell of a job making the two piano version sound powerful. He really does use the full potential of the instrument, while writing it in away that is difficult, but playable.
@@Numberonesorabjifan No issue here - in the preface to the solo transcriptions Liszt made it clear his intentions of transcribing Beethoven's symphonies. In a time where orchestral music is difficult to access, Liszt wanted to popularize these symphonies, hoping that any effort by a conscientious transcriber - Liszt admits that his transcriptions are "mediocre" - could at least preserve some hints of Beethoven's genius. In transcribing these symphonies, Liszt cements himself as the foremost bearer of Beethoven's immortal spirit.
@@Numberonesorabjifanobviously two instruments isn’t gonna sound the same as 100+. But for two pianos this is as full of a sound as you’re gonna get.
you should check out gryaznov. his transcriptions are probably the best piano reductions in existence
Beethoven to 11 year old Liszt:
"'You go on ahead. You are one of the lucky ones! It will be your destiny to bring joy and delight to many people and that is the greatest happiness one can achieve.”
Liszt recounting the moment he met the maestro:
"'This was the proudest moment in my life - the inauguration to my life as artist. I tell this very rarely - and only to special friends.'"
You don’t need orchestra when you got Liszt’s genius.
He he he ha
@@chamestb6632 grrr
… and two pianos. Also you do need orchestra to listen to the original masterpiece.
@@eldarsadykovIndeed.
end of first movement is fantastic
wow the second movement sounds so perfectly like it were written for the piano!!
idem pour le 3eme mouvement !
The biggest problem is that I don't have any friends to play with.
there's a solo piano version of this symphony check it out
Nice to see a score video of this piece
I saw Wass perform Liszt's transcription of the 6th on a fortepiano at Wigmore Hall some years ago
Great!
Thank you! I've heard the Liszt transcription for one piano. I always wanted to hear what TWO pianos can do!
great work. Congratulations and thanks for loading this up.
Amazing performance..!! thanks for sharing
Wow! Bravo!
Thoroughly enjoyed this
This is incredible!!!!!!!!
47:32
50:40
54:26
59:23
Astonishing performance.
Wonderfull, loved! 😍😍😍😍😍
Great
Here before this video blows up as it ought.
Yep me too
41:21 ode to joy
Awesome!
ode to joy starts here 50:45
Not sure I've ever heard the famous "ode to joy" section played this quickly. I like it a lot!
You could hear it at an even faster tempo in recordings of conductors who try to follow Beethoven's metronome marks. Zinman, Gardiner, Zander, Chailly, etc. - it might not be everyone's cup of tea but it opens up a new perspective!
@@pizzacheeto I'll have to check them out. Is the 80 metronome marking in the score Beethoven's? I'm actually clocking these guys in at about 85 - so they're surpassing even that.
@@christianatteberry6806 Oh, you were talking about the instrumental part near the beginning! (I thought this was about the 6/8 choral part.) Then yes, I think this recording would rank very high up there in terms of tempo for this section - possibly even faster than some of the performances I mentioned. The metronome mark is Beethoven's, and I think you're correct with this recording going over a little bit. Perhaps they thought the Allegro wasn't "assai" enough in that tempo? Haha...
I love listening to orchestral works in 'monochrome'. as it were. Try the 2 piano arrangement of Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring'. It opens up new possibilities
I was wondering why the engraving and footnotes looked so beautiful, you engraved them yourself!
Great performance of course
This score is a bit dense though
물론
When will the imslp be available?
Also, bar 205 in 4th movement has a wrong G note
Hi, thanks for reporting the error - silly mistake on my side. I appreciate it!
As for the score, I can't tell yet. But I'll be replying in this thread again once I do
Thanks. I look forward to it
50:45
41:22 I can play that too omg
Prodigy. I can't
what notation software is this? I'd like to use it for my compositions, thanks!
LilyPond. If you like to listen as you compose, be wary that LilyPond does not have playback features. The score in the video was engraved in version 2.22.1, but the latest version is 2.24.2.
@@pizzacheeto thank you! :)
I have Liszt's transcriptions for Symphonies 6-9 for solo piano. That guy couldn't leave a single note to make it a little user friendlier!
Liszt never quite realized that the average customer for his published works was nowhere near as perfect at playing the piano as he was.
On the other hand, why compromise? If it can be played, it should be played. ;)
@@Quotenwagnerianer I had to use my right foot in addition to my hands...
Liszt at his best I personally dont like Liszt but i have great respect for his deep sense of musical understanding He was so obsessed by Beethoven in moment of desperation he stated after Beethoven nothing new in the world of music.Was he right was he wrong we need an answer....
I believe what you are talking about is a quote from Schubert, who upon hearing the String Quartet Op. 131 apparently remarked "After this, what is left for us to write?"... from my understanding, this is apocryphal (I'm not sure who reported this).
Schubert too made same remark i think both were wrong
@@pizzacheeto
Maybe thou shoudest try to like Liszt’s everything right now, and begin to learn his all works too.
Eternal Congratulations! With a 1% of it going to Liszt. Although this piano version sounds horrible, one has to recognize that it conveniently captures the composition from the partiture for a better understanding of it, which would be very hard to do from the full partiture. I find this video ideal to follow after having heard the original symphonic version for a hundred times, and be able to read the two piano lines in real time without problems. This can explain how the orchestral music sounds like it does, and experience further admiration for the mind of Beethoven.
This 2-piano transcription is certainly a blessing! It was common to separate the scores of the 2 pianos in such arrangements but when Liszt submitted his manuscript to the publisher (Schott) he specifically requested that the two pianos be engraved on the same page (the style of which is reflected in the score used in the video). Alongside its possible usage for study, the justification can be found on the cover page of the first edition - Liszt had declared that an effective performance of the transcription may only be realized if both performers are aware of the full scope of the work. This manner of engraving was considered unsaleable and we have Schott to thank for pushing through with its printing. Extra points to Schott because when Liszt returned the proofs he noted that there were very few mistakes in the engraving!
E una bergah
Mio Dio... perchè piango così?