{"id":9615,"date":"2018-04-11T14:20:50","date_gmt":"2018-04-11T21:20:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=9615"},"modified":"2018-04-11T14:20:50","modified_gmt":"2018-04-11T21:20:50","slug":"expanding-guitar-repertoire-through-arrangements-and-transcriptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/expanding-guitar-repertoire-through-arrangements-and-transcriptions\/","title":{"rendered":"Expanding Guitar Repertoire Through Arrangements and Transcriptions"},"content":{"rendered":"
BY GRAHAM WADE | FROM THE SPRING 2018 ISSUE OF CLASSICAL GUITAR<\/a><\/h6>\n

T<\/span>here is often a kind of hidden conflict between original compositions and arrangements.<\/p>\n

Original compositions represent the natural singing voice of the guitar; arrangements are defined as adaptations of compositions for performance with instruments or voices other than those originally specified. Fortunately, it is not a conflict that cannot be resolved. Many artists achieve a sense of balance and proportion in recitals by combining both genres with superb aesthetic effect.<\/p>\n

In the 16th century, Luys de Narv\u00e1ez, vihuela maestro at the court of Emperor Charles V, made a beautiful transcription for that instrument of Josquin des Prez\u2019s Mille regretz, <\/i>giving it the title of Canci\u00f3n del Emperador <\/i>(Song of the Emperor). Presumably it was one of Charles V\u2019s favorite pieces. But because of the inconvenience of packing an entire choir into the monarch\u2019s bedchamber, Narv\u00e1ez compressed the work onto the plaintive plucked strings of the vihuela, to be played at any time according to Charles\u2019 whim or command.<\/p>\n

The strongest stimulant for making an arrangement is admiration of a particular composition even though that work was not originally intended for the guitar. A further motivating factor for artists to play arrangements is to beef up the available repertoire, expanding the possibilities of musical variety and substance beyond the standard original stockpile.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most spectacularly ambitious arranger in the 20th century was the Japanese virtuoso Kazuhito Yamashita. In his Yamashita Editions <\/i>(1981), <\/i>he set out his approach: \u201cI have always sought, from childhood, possibilities of more large-scale expression than that which exists. I employed the manner of dynamic and symphonic expressions, and tried many other ways in order to give a performance filled with modern sense and to play longer pieces on the guitar, this most expressive solo instrument.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yamashita amazed (and outraged) critics in the 1980s with his transcription of Mussorgsky\u2019s Pictures at an Exhibition, <\/i>originally for pianoforte. (I heard him play this at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, and it was indeed an astounding performance.) Yamashita was also the first guitarist to play J.S. Bach\u2019s Partita No. 2 in D minor<\/i> (the suite that includes the famous Chaconne) <\/i>in its entirety. He went on to arrange solo versions of Dvor\u00e1k\u2019s Largo <\/i>from The New World Symphony, <\/i>Stravinsky\u2019s The Firebird, <\/i>Debussy\u2019s Petite Suite, <\/i>Liszt\u2019s Hungarian Rhapsody\u00a0 <\/span>No. 2,<\/i> Saint-Sa\u00ebns\u2019 The Swan,<\/i> Paganini\u2019s Caprice No. 24, <\/i>and Gim\u00e9nez\u2019s La Boda de Luis Alonso, <\/i>as well as Sibelius\u2019 Finlandia <\/i>(for two guitars).<\/p>\n