Jean Alexis Smith - Bach In Transcription (Piano Adaptations) (2020)

The art of transcription is a very old and time honored craft, dating as far back as the Middle Ages when vocal compositions were often transcribed for the pipe organ and lute. During the subsequent Baroque period, this practice became even more widespread, culminating with works of Johann Sebastian Bach, who is acknowledged today as perhaps the greatest keyboard transcriber in history. Over half of his transcriptions were based either on his own pre-existing compositions or adapted from the works of other composers.

In the mid nineteenth century Romantic movement, Bach’s works were rediscovered and thousands of transcriptions were created from Bach’s tremendous musical output. Most of these transcriptions were composed by virtuoso pianists, serving the dual purpose of presenting music that would not otherwise be frequently heard while concomitantly providing virtuoso repertoire for pianists to demonstrate their talents.

Bach and Liszt are certainly among the most important composers in the history of keyboard literature. There are many similarities between them. Both were prolific composers as well as great virtuosos on different keyboard instruments and both were important representatives of their respective Baroque and Romantic periods. Bach and Liszt also demonstrated a predilection for composing skillful transcriptions for keyboard instruments. Of paramount significance, both Bach and Liszt were inspired by strong religious convictions.

By the time Liszt appeared on the scene, the piano had evolved to a complete and powerful instrument that was discovered to be capable of providing a greater depth of expression than any other instrument. To a great extent, Liszt’s transcriptions were pioneering efforts and are recognized today as an extremely important body of work. After his death, Ferruccio Busoni, Leopold Godowsky, Alexander Siloti, Harold Bauer and other prominent composers, artists and students, ushered the art of the transcription into the twentieth century.

As the twentieth century progressed, transcriptions unfortunately largely disappeared from concert programs. Busoni, the twentieth century Italian composer and pianist, believed that this disappearance was the consequence of inferior performances of Liszt’s works by superficial virtuosos who emphasized brilliance at the expense of melody and substance. Indeed, some of the Romantic transcriptions are fiendishly difficult and a tremendous test of a pianist’s abilities. For Busoni, whether a piece was a transcription or not was irrelevant because he believed that all music existed in the cosmos and, consequently, a composer’s original work actually constituted the first transcription! For him, a “subsequent” transcription of an original work was, by comparison, a relatively modest step.