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The art of transcription - of recasting music, more or less literally, from one performance medium into another - has been a common practice for a long time. A good transcription (or a paraphrase) tests the abilities and the imagination of the transcriber as much as the creation of an original composition. Trying to maintain the distinct characteristics of a given work, while meeting the demands of a new medium, are not always easily achieved. But in a world where
The pursuit of stylistic authenticity has become the performance ideal, transcriptions and paraphrases have often been frowned upon by purists as tamperings or sacrilegious alterations with the purity of the composer’s original
With this attitude, regrettably, the transcription as a valid form of artistic expression and comment upon another’s work has sometimes been discounted and even neglected. Liszt was the most prolific of transcribers and audiences were not only entertained but they also had the chance to hear music they might otherwise never have encountered. His famous Tristan Liebestod transcription reached audiences before Wagner’s Opera did!
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