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Orchestral Transcriptions / Orchestrations

37K views 107 replies 30 participants last post by  Enthalpy 
#1 ·
Greetings my fellow forum members.

I would like to created a thread in which we can talk about anything that has to do with orchestrations, symphonic transcriptions and orchestral arrangements.
It's hard and painful to track down albums that have symphonic transcrisptions, thus a thread where people post their precious knownledge will be helpful to all of us.

We can talk about rarities and curiosities, about orchestrations that you have heard and suprised you, about orchestral transcriptions that turn out to be satisfying, about rare CDs that feature majestic symphonic transcriptions, et cetera...

Allow me to start with a rare, an "unprocurable" gem.
http://www.lyrita.co.uk/cgi-bin/lyrita_build.pl?filename=SRCD0216.txt
 
#95 ·

In Tchaikovsky's "The Seasons," twelve character pieces for solo piano, 'July' is sub-titled "Song of the Reaper." Neeme Järvi and the Detroit Symphony play it in the orchestral version by Alexander Gauk.

'Suo Gân' - Traditional Welsh Lullaby - George Weldon arranger / conducor

This beautiful Welsh lullaby was arranged by conductor George Weldon who here conducts the Philharmonia on a 1960s LP called 'A Holiday in Britain.'


When Eugene Ormandy began taking over the reigns of the Philadelphia Orchestra from Leopold Stokowski, he followed in the former Maestro's footsteps by conducting many orchestral transcriptions. These he commissioned from the orchestra's 'house arranger' and principal clarinet, Lucien Cailliet. Here is Cailliet's splendid orchestration of the Preludio in Bach's Solo Violin Partita No. 3 (BWV 1006). It was recorded in 1937 and can be heard, along with other Cailliet transcriptions, on Pristine Audio PASC 444.

'Drink to me only' - Fairhaven Singers

This well-known Traditional English Song is sung here by the leading UK chamber choir, the Fairhaven Singers, in a beautiful arrangement by their conductor Ralph Woodward. It comes from a 'Guild' CD that features a wide variety of commissioned choral works under the title "Into the Star"


Stokowski's string orchestra arrangement of the Prelude No. 24 from Book 1 of the Well-Tempered Clavier is one of his simplest Bach transcriptions. It is played here by the Bournemouth Symphony strings under Jose Serebrier's direction

Mendelssohn 'Songs Without Words' - Sir Henry Wood conducts

With the annual Proms underway, it is time to take a moment to remember Sir Henry Wood, their conductor for nearly half a century until his death in 1944. Here are two of Mendelssohn's 'Songs Without Words' arranged for orchestra: "Spring Song" and "The Bees' Wedding." Wood recorded them in 1929 with the New Queens Hall Orchestra.

'The Anniversary Song' ('Waves of the Danube') - Paul Weston and his Orchestra

'Waves of the Danube' is a popular Romanian waltz composed by Ion Ivanovici in 1880. Al Jolson made it famous in 1946 as 'The Anniversary Song' when he and Saul Chaplin adapted it for the movie 'The Jolson Story' where Jolson provided the songs on the soundtrack and was impersonated on screen by Larry Parks. Paul Weston was one of the foremost American composer / conductor arrangers from the 1930s to the 1970s and his orchestral version of 'The Anniversary Song' heard here was a big hit in 1961. (From Guild Light Music GLCD 5230.)

Tchaikovsky 'September' ('The Seasons') - Morton Gould arranger / conductor

Tchaikovsky's 'The Seasons' (or 'The Months') is a sequence of short character pieces for piano that have received several orchestrations. Here is 'September' (sub-titled "Hunter's Song") from Morton Gould's orchestration in a 1951 'public domain' recording reissued by Pristine Audio on PASC191.


Leopold Stokowski's orchestration of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" for solo piano has been taken up by several conductors in preference to Ravel's. Here is Stokowski's version, as played by the National Youth Orchestra of Spain under José Serebrier, Stokowski's one-time Associate Conductor at the American Symphony Orchestra. It was recorded in Chester Cathedral in 2007 and comes from a splendid Naxos DVD (Catalogue No.: 2.110230).
To emphasis the 'Slavic' aspect of the music, Stokowski omitted the two French scenes ('Tuileries' and 'Limoges'). We therefore hear: Promenade; Gnomus; Promenade; The Old Castle; Bydlo; Promenade; Ballet of the Chickens; Goldenberg and Schmuyle; Catacombs; Com mortuis; Hut on Fowl's Legs; Great Gate of Kiev.

Schubert orch. Liszt: 'Erlkönig' - Hermann Prey / Munich Philharmonic

Many songs for voice-and-piano sound so much better when the monochrome piano accompaniment has been arranged for orchestra. Here is a classic example. Schubert's famous song 'The Erl King' ('Der Erlkönig') was orchestrated by both Berlioz and Liszt and it is the latter's version which is heard here. Hermann Prey, baritone, is accompanied by the Munich Philharmonic under Gary Bertini on this 1977 LP.

Bach 'Come, Sweet Death' - Ormandy arranger / conductor

'Komm, süsser Tod' - Eugene Ormandy conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra in his own transcription of this poignant sacred song by Bach. It comes from a 1954 LP (now 'public domain') reissued on CD by Pristine Audio (PASC211).

Tchaikovsky 'Andante Cantabile' - Stokowski arranger / conductor

In 1942, to mark the 80th birthday of the distinguished German-born American conductor and composer Walter Damrosch, Leopold Stokowski and the NBC Orchestra of Hollywood played Stokowski's own string orchestra arrangement of the 'Andante Cantabile' from Tchaikovsky's String Quartet No. 1 in D.

Shostakovich: Prelude in Eb minor - Stokowski arranger / conductor

Stokowski was one of Shostakovich's foremost champions in the USA and as well as conducting several of his symphonies he also arranged for orchestra this brief Piano Prelude, Opus 34, No. 14. This performance comes from an all-Russian concert given in London's Royal Albert Hall in 1969 by the Royal Philharmonic. (Legends BBCL 4069-2).

Grainger 'Londonderry Air' - George Weldon conducts

Percy Grainger's arrangement of the traditional 'Irish Tune from County Derry' (otherwise known as the 'Londonderry Air' or 'Danny Boy') is here played by the Philharmonia Orchestra under George Weldon's baton on an early 1960s LP.

"La Marseillaise" - Carmen Dragon arranger / conductor

This is just a small tribute to Paris with Carmen Dragon's arrangement of the French National Anthem. On this 1957 recording he conducts the Capitol Symphony Orchestra. It comes from a selection of French pieces and has been issued on CD by 'Pristine Audio' (PASC 185).

Bach-Stokowski 'Siciliano' - Matthias Bamert conducts

Many of Stokowski's Bach arrangements were simplicity itself. Here is one example, a transcription for strings of the lilting 'Siciliano' in Bach's Violin Sonata No. 4. The BBCPO is conducted by Matthias Bamert on this 1993 Chandos CD (CHAN 9259).

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New releases


http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2015/Sep/Cailliet_arrangements_PASC444.htm
http://www.audaud.com/lucien-caillet-studio-recordings-1936-1946-works-of-bach-purcell-turina-caillet-mussorgsky-ormandyreinerstokowskifiedler-pristine-audio/


http://www.mdt.co.uk/leibowitz-rene-the-art-of-italiana-leibowitz-scribendum-13cds.html
http://www.scribendumrecordings.com/our-shop/4583959841/sc510-13cd---the-art-of-leibowitz/10114478

The Bach-Leibowitz Passacaglia and Fugue BWV 582 has been issued on a CD by Urania Records. But I don't hear that the transfers are good. They might have taken them from a Vinyl and not from the original tape masters.
http://www.uraniarecords.com/wordpress/?p=1377
The same for Scribendum. They didn't manage to get The Passacaglia and Fugue on disc. I would like to hear his orchestration for Toccata and Fugue one day, but the chances are slim of it to receive a recording....

As far as I am concerned, Leibowitz has the following orchestral transcriptions.
-Franck / Rene Leibowitz : Panis Angelicus
-Mussorgsky / Rene Leibowitz : Night on Bald Mountain
-Traditional / Rene Leibowitz : Greensleeves & Londonderry Air

-Mozart / Rene Leibowitz : Fantasia for Mechanical Organ KV 594, for double string orchestra [Boelke-Bomart Inc.]
http://www.schott-france.com/shop/9/show,303112.html

-Schoenberg / Rene Leibowitz : Three Songs Op. 48 (for Low Voice and Orchestra) [Boelke-Bomart Inc.]
Instrumentation : 1,1, 2+1, 1, - 1,1,1,0 - hp - pf.

-Schubert / Rene Leibowitz : Fantasia in C Major (originally for violin and piano D.943) [Boelke-Bomart Inc.]
Instrumentation : 2,2,2,2 - 2,2,3,1 - pf - str
http://www.schott-france.com/shop/9/show,308325.html

-Schubert / Rene Leibowitz : Fantasia in F Minor (originally for piano 4-hands Op.103) [Boelke-Bomart Inc.]
Instrumentation : 2,2,2,2 - 2,2,3,1 - timp - str
http://www.schott-france.com/shop/9/show,319689.html

- J.S. Bach / Rene Leibowitz: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor BWV 565
Instrumentation : pic.2(2.pic).2(2.ca).Ebcl.1.bcl.2.cbsn-4.2.2.btbn.1-timp.perc(tri, cym, tam-t, tamb, b.d)-hp.pno(cel)-str
http://www.schott-france.com/shop/Sheet_Music/orchestra/2682321/2263327/show,303087.html

Leibowitz was also known as an orchestrator. His arrangement and recording of Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor for double orchestra is just one of the unique achievements of his in this area. His most famous orchestration is his re-orchestration and recording of Mussorgsky's Night on Bare Mountain. Apparently the maestro had reservations regarding several aspects the famous Rimsky-Korsakov version. He even made a special trip to Russia to study all the available manuscripts before creating his own rendition. Leibowitz completely eliminated the fanfares, as well as implemented many other orchestral and musical changes. Leibowitz's version ends with a huge crescendo, and is quite powerful.

http://www.angelfire.com/music2/reneleibowitz/rl.html
 
#96 ·
Rachmaninoff-Stokowski: Prelude in C# minor - Oramo conducts


Stokowski's spectacular orchestration of Rachmaninoff's C# Minor Prelude for Piano was given a splendid performance by Sakari Oramo and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 2003. It was the opening item on a programme devoted to Rachmaninoff and Charles Ives, two composers much championed by Leopold Stokowski himself.

Purcell 'Suite' arr. Sir Henry Wood - David Robertson conducts


Sir Henry Wood arranged several short pieces from Purcell's stage works and sonatas into a "Suite" which he introduced to the Proms in 1910. It was performed (as "New Suite") at the Last Night of the 2009 Proms by the BBCSO, David Robertson conducting.

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I was interested in buying the Rene Leibowitz boxset issued by Urania Records (Since the Scribendum boxset omitted the Bach-Leibowitz Passacaglia and Fugue BWV 582 ), but the JP reviewer says the following (while awarding it with one star only)
It is a point of interest that the Reader's Digest Recordings were available as mail-orders in the past . Some of them were re-issued by Chesky and RCA. However, by comparing those with the present Urania boxset I am surprised at how bad the audio quality is. I can go as far as doubting that the people at Urania Records had a listen to their CDs when they completed the mastering-manufacturing of them. It is a boxset that I would advise people to steer clear of.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/RENE-LEIBOW...qid=1456905864&sr=1-6&keywords=rene+leibowitz
Amazon uk reviewer says
I admire this conductor so much after hearing his Beethoven symphonies and immediately ordered this set. Unfortunately the production of this set is terrible: all the pieces are with loud (and exciting) echoes, and the music which should have been so beautiful and wonderful is simply destroyed! The echoes are not just annoying and irritating; they are horrifying. Can I ask for a refund from the manufacturer, or may I call them criminal?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Various-Con...TF8&qid=1459385992&sr=1-10&keywords=Leibowitz
http://www.uraniarecords.com/prodotto/leibowitz-conducts/



So, we stay with the Scribendum Rene Leibowitz boxset.
http://www.norpete.com/c0032.html




This is a timely release.
Polish-born but naturalized Frenchman René Leibowitz is almost forgotten today.
In the 1930s and '40s, he was better known as a composer - a disciple of Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern,
Teacher of Pierre Boulez.
You'd never guess this from his recorded repertoire (the Reader's Digest wasn't interested in atonal music).
In addition to Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann and Stravinsky, there is a lot of light music in this collection
- not just Offenbach overtures, but even Gilbert and Sullivan (overture to H.M.S. Pinafore).

PACKAGING AND SOUND
Thirteen CDs in cardboard jackets with timings and recording information printed on the back.
Disappointing cover art - the black and white cover photo is re-used on each jacket.
Couldn't they at least find a color photo of Leibowitz?
Unfortunately no booklet is included. A major omission - Leibowitz is not a household name.
There is an excellent Leibowitz website - see the first comment following my review.

About three-quarters of this material was released on the audiophile CD label Chesky back in the '90s.
The rest is new to CD.
The Beethoven Symphonies were issued ten years ago by Scribendum in excellent sound (I don't have the earlier Chesky CDs for comparison).
I do own the Chesky CD of "An Evening of Opera" and did an A-B comparison with CD 6 in the Scribendum set.
My ears aren't perfect (I'm 66 years old) but I couldn't hear any difference.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice is spectacularly engineered.

HOW READER'S DIGEST SAVED THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC:
The Reader's Digest recording program began in 1960 with recordings by London orchestras recording under pseudonyms:
The London Philharmonic recorded as the "International Symphony Orchestra".
The London Symphony recorded as "The London Festival Orchestra".
Not sure if this was due to contractual obligations or because the musicians were embarrassed to be associated with the Reader's Digest.
The "New Symphony Orchestra of London" had a long career in the recording studios (RCA recorded concerti with Heifetz and Rubinstein) but I don't think it gave public concerts (rumored to be the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House).

Sir Thomas Beecham, founder of the Royal Philharmonic, died in March 1961.
There was concern for the orchestra's survival.
Not too much of an exaggeration to say that Reader's Digest saved the Royal Philharmonic.
The orchestra's first project after the death of Beecham was a complete set of Beethoven Symphonies conducted by Leibowitz (in this box)
1962 was a busy year:
In addition to Leibowitz, the Royal Philharmonic made records with Barbirolli (Sibelius), Horenstein (Rachmaninov), Kempe (Respighi), Munch (Bizet, Tchaikovsky), Reiner (Brahms), Sargent (Handel's Messiah), and many more.
+ Piano Concerti with Earl Wild
+ Gilbert & Sullivan with The D'Oyly Carte Opera
All sponsored by the Reader's Digest.

POINTS OF INTEREST:
-- When released in 1962, Leibowitz's Beethoven Symphony set was completely overshadowed by Herbert von Karajan's first (of three) Berlin Philharmonic sets on Deutsche Grammophon.
Too bad.
Leibowitz's Beethoven is not "better" than Karajan's, but it is more interesting.
Fast and Brutal performances.
Not philosophical or spiritual, but tremendously exciting nonetheless.
A common enough approach to the Fifth Symphony, but unexpected in the Ninth.
The finale of Beethoven's Ninth is supposed to be an Ode to Joy, and the Brotherhood of Man.
This performance will have none of that.
This is an Angry Ninth - clear from the snarling phrasing of the double basses in their recitative.
When the singer comes in, he's not lyrical and comforting (like Walter Berry for Karajan).
Instead the legendary German bass Ludwig Weber (born 1899) is dark and menacing.
At Bayreuth his roles were Hunding and Hagen - Wagner's blackest villains - and there is no disguising that voice.
A scary "Ode to Joy".
This is one of the great performances of Beethoven's Ninth, but I'm not sure that I even like it.

-- The Mozart and Schubert Symphonies receive swift but not lightweight performances.
Despite the tempo, Leibowitz (and the engineers) do an excellent job of clarifying the counterpoint in the finale of Mozart's Jupiter Symphony.
In Schubert's Great C Major Symphony, the performance tradition at the time was to slow down for the codas of the first and fourth movements (contrary to the printed score).
Leibowitz maintains the same swift tempo right to the end.
This is one case where I prefer tradition to the composer's score. .
[Scandalous]
I miss the dramatic sense of arrival when the tempo broadens.

-- Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is played in the familiar Ravel orchestration,
but Night on Bare Mountain is neither the Rimsky-Korsakov version, nor Mussorgsky's original (which in 1962 was known only to musicologists).
The Leibowitz orchestration starts out conventionally, but becomes progressively more wacky.
He even uses a wind machine - actually two wind machines (one for each channel).

-- Schumann's Rhenish Symphony:
It used to be commonplace for conductors to tinker with Schumann's orchestration.
[Mahler re-orchestrated all the symphonies.]
Leibowitz's version is pretty extreme, with a particularly annoying trumpet in the first movement.
Hard to recommend, although the finale is certainly rousing.

-- Leibowitz provides tasteful orchestrations for "Greensleeves" and "Londonderry Air" (aka "London Derriere" or "Danny Boy").
Uncredited orchestrations of Bach-Gounod, Bizet, Chopin, Dinicu, Dvorak and Franck.
Most are tastefully done, but Chopin's Op.53 Polonaise is grotesquely over-orchestrated.

-- The "Gade" on CD 7 is not classical composer Niels Gade (1817-1890) but bandleader Otto Gade (1879-1963).
His popular song "Jalousie" (1925) became an international hit when Arthur Fiedler recorded it with the Boston Pops.

Reader's Digest recordings not in this box:
---- Bach: Passacaglia & Fugue in C Minor BWV 582 (orch. Leibowitz) - Royal Philharmonic (1962)
---- Debussy: Clair de lune - RCA Italiana Symphony Orchestra (early 1960s)
---- Gershwin: Suite from Porgy and Bess - New Symphony Orchestra of London (1961)
---- Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night's Dream Overture - Royal Philharmonic (1962)
---- Mendelssohn: Scherzo from Octet for Strings - Royal Philharmonic (1962)
---- Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto, with Hyman Bress - Royal Philharmonic (1962)
---- Ravel: Rapsodie Espagnole - Orchestra Filarmonica di Roma (early 1960s)
---- Rossini: Dances from William Tell - RCA Italiana Symphony Orchestra (early 1960s)
---- Weber: Freischutz Overture - Royal Philharmonic (1962)
---- Weber: Oberon overture - Royal Philharmonic (1962)
[two to three CDs worth of material.]

This box set issued by Scribendum contains 13 compact discs but no notes. I have enjoyed discovering the performances on every single single disc enormously. The range of music included is very wide indeed (the individual items are listed in other reviews here on Amazon). Most of the recordings were made around 1960, a little before and a little later, and the recording quality is excellent throughout. The complete set of Beethoven symphonies were recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra less than a year after the death of Sir Thomas Beecham and the orchestra sounds in terrific form despite what must have seemed an uncertain time for its players. I recommend this box very strongly because the performances are full of vitality, rhythmic precision and forward momentum. The Beethoven symphonies, in particular, are taken swiftly without ever sounding hurried. There are no intrusive mannerisms in any of the pieces played, which means that the set as a whole can stand repeated playings - at the same time Leibowitz's readings are characterful and certainly not lacking in individual personality. I've already said the recording quality is excellent - rich and full without any apparent 'tinkering' at the remastering stage.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Art-Lei...p_p_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0MHS93P6VKKCT2BY8P36
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Not exactly new content, but still something new from Chandos (my favorite label)




http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stokowski-Transcriptions-Addinall-Philharmonic-Matthias/dp/B01D3LC1IG/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1459314287&sr=1-2&keywords=Stokowski
 
#98 ·
This Leibowitz Boxset is a very fine indeed

Forehead Coat Font Tie Adaptation

http://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2017/10/24/the-art-of-leibowitz

Purcell 'Suite' - Sir Henry Wood arranger / conductor

To mark the start of the 2016 Proms Season in London, here's a Suite of pieces by Purcell, arranged and conducted by Sir Henry Wood. He conducted the Proms almost single-handedly for nearly half a century until his death in 1944. These Decca 78s were recorded in 1937 and played by the Queens Hall Orchestra.

Rachmaninoff Prelude in C# minor - Andre Kostelanetz arranger / conductor

This comes from an LP entitled "The Romantic Music of Rachmaninoff" in which Andre Kostelanetz and his Orchestra play his own arrangements of assorted piano pieces. (Columbia CL 1001, recorded 1957).
 
#99 ·
After a period of slumber, here we go!

Purcell / Dimitri Mitropoulos : Dido and Aeneas - Prelude and Final Air (arranged for string orchestra)


Charpentier 'Passecaille' from "Médée" - Stokowski's arrangement

Leopold Stokowski made around 200 transcriptions during his long conducting career, some very well known, others seldom played. Here is one of the lesser-known ones, a charming 'Passecaille' from Marc-Antoine Charpentier's opera "Médée" of 1693. It is played by the BBC Philharmonic under Stokowski's one-time associate conductor, Matthias Bamert, and comes from a radio broadcast of several years ago.

Balakirev "Islamey" - Oriental Fantasy orch. Lyapunov - Sascha Goetzel conducts

Balakirev's Islamey is a virtuosic piano piece inspired by a trip that the composer made to the Caucasus where he was much impressed by the dance tunes and folk melodies of the region. He composed the work in 1869 and it has been taken up by many great pianists. It has also twice been orchestrated, by Alfredo Casella and - in the performance heard here - by Sergei Lyapunov. This version was played as the opening item in the UK debut concert of the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic, under its conductor Sascha Goetzel, during the 2014 BBC Proms Season in London's Royal Albert Hall.

Percy Grainger 'Handel in the Strand' arr. Sir Henry Wood - Bramwell Tovey conducts

Sir Henry Wood, founder of the celebrated Proms Concerts in London, celebrated his 150th Anniversary in 2019. A special "Tribute" concert to mark the occasion was given by the BBC Concert Orchestra under Bramwell Tovey's baton. It included Wood's own orchestration of Percy Grainger's "Handel in the Strand," a splendidly over-the-top arrangement first played at the Proms in 1916.

Beethoven "Moonlight" Sonata - 'Adagio' orch. Stokowski - Bamert conducts

Leopold Stokowski made dozens of orchestral arrangements by various composers and he often played these as encores at his concerts. Here is the first movement of Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata in Stokowski's atmospheric and evocative transcription. It is played by the BBC Philharmonic under Stokowski's former Associate Conductor, Matthias Bamert. (Chandos CHAN 9349).

Jeremiah Clarke "Trumpet Prelude" - Leopold Stokowski arranger / conductor

This piece used to be known as Purcell's "Trumpet Voluntary" but musicological research eventually ascribed it to Jeremiah Clarke, a contemporary of Henry Purcell. Composed for the keyboard, its original title was "The Prince of Denmark's March" but it became known as the "Trumpet Voluntary" in Sir Henry Wood's full-blooded orchestral arrangement. Stokowski's transcription is for smaller forces and he gave it the title "Trumpet Prelude." The performance heard here was recorded 'live' in the Royal Albert Hall by the London Symphony Orchestra in a concert marking Stokowski's 90th birthday in 1972. The trumpet soloist was Howard Snell and the issued Decca 'Phase-4 Stereo' recording reverted to the better-known title "Trumpet Voluntary."

Debussy 'The Engulfed Cathedral' - Stokowski arranger / conductor - NBC Symphony (1944)

Leopold Stokowski was a great admirer of Claude Debussy and arranged several of his piano pieces for orchestra. Here is "La cathédrale engloutie" in Stokowski's atmospheric transcription from a 1944 broadcast with the NBC Symphony. It has been excellently transferred by 'Pristine Audio' alongside other music by Debussy, together with works by Milhaud and Ravel. (PASC 583.)

Rule, Britannia!" - Carmen Dragon arranger / conductor

This patriotic British song, set to music by Thomas Arne, dates from 1740. It became instantly popular and has been much quoted by many other composers in their works. It has also been traditionally sung over the years at the Last Night of the Proms in London's Royal Albert Hall. This splendid arrangement is conducted by Carmen Dragon on a 60-year-old 'Capitol' LP, so I apologize for the clicks! Incidentally, the orchestra was in fact the Royal Philharmonic, with 'Over the Waves' being the title of one of several LPs that Dragon made on a visit to London in September 1959. It should also be noted that the title of the song often omits the comma and the exclamation mark, as is seen in the video!

Tchaikovsky-Stokowski "Solitude" - Jose Serebrier conducts

Leopold Stokowski was an inveterate transcriber of many composers' works and his immense catalogue of transcriptions includes several orchestrations of short pieces by Tchaikovsky. This arrangement is of a song for voice and piano entitled "Again, as before, alone"' (Opus 73, No. 6) to a poem by D. M. Rathaus. Stokowski gave his version the title "Solitude" and it is played here by the Bournemouth Symphony under Jose Serebrier, a former Associate Conductor of the great maestro. It is part of a splendid collection of Stokowski arrangements issued on 'Naxos' 8.578305.


Rachmaninoff: Prelude in G minor - Camarata arranger / conductor


Salvador "Tutti" Camarata (1913-2005) was an American composer, arranger, trumpeter and record producer. With the advent of the Decca /London "Phase-4 Stereo" label in the 1960s, Camarata arranged and conducted a series of LPs devoted to themes and excerpts from works by Puccini, Verdi, Bach, Bizet, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. The orchestra for the sessions was described as the Kingsway Symphony and from the Rachmaninoff LP we hear Camarata's dazzling orchestration of the well-known G minor Piano Prelude, Op.23, No. 5.

Buxtehude-Stokowski 'Sarabande & Courante' - Cynthia Millar, Ondes Martenot soloist

Maurice Martenot is best known for inventing his 'electrical instrument,' the Ondes Martenot. He introduced it to America in 1930 in a Philadelphia Orchestra concert conducted by Leopold Stokowski. For this concert, the Maestro made a special arrangement of two pieces from a keyboard suite by Buxtehude: 'Auf meinen lieben Gott' (BuxWV 179).
It received its first recording and only recording, so far, in the year 2000, with Cynthia Millar as the 'ondist' soloist and the BBC Philharmonic under Matthias Bamert, in a CD entitled "Stokowski's Symphonic Baroque' (Chandos CHAN 9930). It was later re-released in a compendium of Stokowski arrangements entitled "The Art of Orchestral Transcription." These ranged from the Maestro's famous arrangements of Bach organ works through to spectacular versions of music by Mussorgsky and Shostakovich by way of piano pieces by Mozart and Chopin, all in colourful orchestral garb. An essential CD for any Stokowski collection! (Chandos CHAN 10900) ...

Debussy "Clair de lune" (arr. Lucien Cailliet) - Ormandy conducts

Debussy's most popular piano piece has been orchestrated by quite a few musicians, including Andre Caplet, Henri Mouton, Leopold Stokowski, Andre Kostelanetz, Morton Gould, Carmen Dragon, and several others, including the French-American composer, conductor, arranger and clarinetist Lucien Cailliet (1891-1985). Here is his arrangement, as first recorded in 1954 by the Philadelphia Orchestra under its Hungarian-American conductor, Eugene Ormandy. It comes from a 'Pristine Audio' release that features other arrangements by Cailliet of works by Bach, Buxtehude, Vivaldi, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky in transfers by Mark Obert-Thorn. (PASC 532). Incidentally, it was Cailliet's arrangement of 'Clair de lune' that was played during the final scene of "Ocean's Eleven" (2001) starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Elliott Gould.

Bach-Stokowski: Toccata and Fugue in D minor - Slatkin conducts

This is the best-known orchestral arrangement of any of Bach's organ works, having been featured in Walt Disney's "Fantasia." It has also been recorded many times, both by Stokowski himself and by quite a few other conductors. This splendid performance was given by Leonard Slatkin, who had made two first-rate CDs of Bach arrangements for the Chandos label. It comes from an all-Bach second half of a concert given by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2017. The complete selection can be seen by clicking the link below. The Toccata and Fugue serves as an excellent appetizer and is uploaded here with all due acknowledgements to the performers! ...

Dvorak 'Humoreske' - Sir Henry Wood arranger / conductor

This week saw Sir Henry Wood's 150th Birthday - he was born on 3 March 1869. His name is kept alive these days due to his long association with the summer season of BBC Promenade Concerts held each year in London's Royal Albert Hall. On this 78rpm disc, he conducts his own arrangement of a popular piano piece by Dvorak, recorded in 1935 with the Queen's Hall Orchestra. NB: Very historic sound but a delightful arrangement nonetheless!

Bach "Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ" (arr. Vittorio Gui) - Slatkin conducts

Many musicians besides Leopold Stokowski have made orchestral versions of Bach's music. Here for example is a beautiful Chorale Prelude ("I call to you, Lord Jesus Christ") arranged by Vittorio Gui, a distinguished Italian conductor who founded the Florence May Music Festival in 1933 and after the war began an association with the Glyndebourne Festival Opera Company. His Bach transcription is played by the BBC Symphony under Leonard Slatkin on Chandos CHSA 5030.


Mussorgsky-Stokowski 'The Old Castle' - Oliver Knussen conducts


Oliver Knussen, who died recently at the age of 66, was a great admirer of Leopold Stokowski. As a young man, he attended many of the maestro's concerts and rehearsals and when he became a conductor himself he occasionally programmed Stokowski's orchestration of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." As a kind of mini-tribute, here is a brief excerpt from Oliver's 1995 recording of the work in which he conducted the Cleveland Orchestra on the 'DG' label ... NOTE: The CD volume level is rather recessed and distant, so please turn your speakers up!


Dvorak - 'A Fountain of Melody' - Suite for Orchestra (arr. Stott / Morley)


This is an orchestral sequence based on some of the best-known themes and melodies written by the great Czech composer Antonin Dvorak. The arranger / conductor of this suite was Wally (or Walter) Stott who, in the 1950s, became a household name to BBC radio listeners for supplying the music for such programmes as "The Goon Show" and "Hancock's Half Hour."
However, in 1972 Stott underwent what his Wiki entry describes as "sex reassignment surgery" and became Angela Morley. As an openly transgender person, she won many awards and nominations for her work as arranger and composer and re-located to America where she died in 2009 aged 84. This Dvorak "Suite" is played by the Royal Philharmonic, with Patricia Clark in the 'Song to the Moon', and comes from a "Collector's Choice" LP issued in 1965 by "Reader's Digest."

Tchaikovsky 'None but the Lonely Heart' - Arthur Fiedler conducts Lucien Cailliet's arrangement

Tchaikovsky's most popular song was orchestrated by Lucien Cailliet and is played here by the Boston Pops under its long-time conductor Arthur Fiedler. The English words are added for those who wish to sing along. The recording comes from an old LP, so apologies for the clicks!

Borodin (arr. Malcolm Sargent) "Nocturne" - Sir Arthur Bliss conducts

Sir Arthur Bliss paid a handsome tribute to another musical knight when he made a splendid LP of items closely associated with Sir Malcolm Sargent. One of the tracks was Sargent's full string orchestra arrangement of the "Nocturne" from Borodin's String Quartet No. 2. It is played here by the strings of the New Philharmonia Orchestra and the entire LP, recorded in 1967, has been issued by 'CRQ Editions' on CRQ CD283.

Vivaldi: Concerto Grosso in D minor - Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra strings (arr. Sam Franko)

Leopold Stokowski made his own full-blooded orchestration of Vivaldi's Concerto Grosso Opus 3, No. 11, in his early Philadelphia days but he also recorded the original scoring for a chamber group. In addition, he occasionally conducted a version arranged for strings only by Sam Franko. This performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra took place on 4 February 1964.

Sousa-Stokowski 'The Stars and Stripes Forever' - Slatkin conducts

Leonard Slatkin played an all-American concert back in 1994 with the Philharmonia at London's Royal Festival Hall. As an encore, he brought the house down with Leopold Stokowski's rip-roaring orchestration of Sousa's 'The Stars and Stripes Forever.' I hope it has the same effect here as it did there!

Tchaikovsky 'July' ('The Seasons') - Morton Gould arranger / pianist / conductor

This is to mark July 1st! ...In 1875, Tchaikovsky was commissioned to write 12 piano pieces to be published monthly the following year in a St. Petersburg music magazine. The collection was entitled "The Seasons" (it's also known as "The Months") and the shortest of them is 'July,' subtitled "Song of the Reaper." The versatile American composer / arranger / pianist / conductor Morton Gould prepared an orchestral version which often retained the piano part concertante-style. He recorded it himself in 1951, conducting from the piano, and that performance has been reissued in an excellent transfer by 'Pristine Audio' on PASC 191.

Rozhdestvensky conducts 'The Great Gate of Kiev' in Stokowski's transcription

One great conductor pays tribute to another! In 1983, Gennady Rozhdestvensky recorded Leopold Stokowski's orchestration of Mussorgsky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition,' originally written for solo piano. Ravel's is the most famous of the many arrangements of this work but Stokowski's is the principal runner-up. Here is the final 'picture' as played by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra on a Russian 'Revelation' CD (Catalogue Number RV10073).

Rozhdestvensky conducts 'Melody in F' by Rubinstein (arr. Vincent d'Indy)

Gennady Rozhdestvensky died on 16 June 2018 at the age of 87. As a small tribute to a great Russian conductor, here he is conducting Vincent d'Indy's arrangement of a popular piano piece by Anton Rubinstein, the founder of the St. Petersburg Conservatory and Tchaikovsky's composition teacher. On this 1987 Melodya LP, with apologies for the clicks, Rozhdestvensky conducts the USSR Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra. The cello solo is played by Alexander Ivashkin.

Bach-Walton 'Ah! How Ephemeral' ("The Wise Virgins") - Robert Irving conducts

Frederick Ashton's ballet "The Wise Virgins" was produced for Sadlers Wells in 1940 and featured Margot Fonteyn and Michael Somes. The music was arranged principally from various numbers in Bach's cantatas by William Walton. There are six movements in the Concert Suite and this one, entitled "Ah! How Ephemeral," comes from the Cantata No. 26 (see note below). In this performance, Robert Irving conducts the Concert Arts Orchestra in a recording made in New York and dating from 1961.
Bach's Cantata No. 26 opens with the movement heard here in which the chorus sings "Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig" ("Ah how fleeting, ah how insubstantial"). Where they come in on the brass in Walton's orchestration, I've added an English translation.

Purcell 'When I Am Laid In Earth' - Stokowski arranger / conductor

This is being published on 18 April, the day that Leopold Stokowski was born in 1882. His arrangement for strings of this well-known mezzo aria from "Dido and Aeneas" was included in a Purcell Suite which he first performed in 1949. In this TV transmission from 1954, he conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra.


Byrd 'Pavane and Gigue' - Stokowski arranger / conductor


All the 'Phase-4 Stereo' recordings that Stokowski made between 1964 and 1973 have been reissued in a 23-CD boxed set by Decca. The extensive repertoire ranges from Bach, Vivaldi and Handel to Elgar, Messiaen and Ives by way of Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Debussy and Ravel. A disc of 'Encores' features several of the Maestro's orchestral transcriptions, including the arrangements of William Byrd's keyboard music heard here. This was recorded in the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 16 June 1972, one of several encores played by the London Symphony Orchestra in a repeat of the programme marking Stokowski's 90th birthday, as well as the 60th Anniversary of his debut with the LSO in 1912.

Bach-Stokowski "Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ" - George Cleve conducts

This sublime Organ Chorale Prelude, transcribed by Stokowski and first recorded by him in 1927 as 'I Call Upon Thee,' is here performed by the San Francisco Orchestra under George Cleve. He was born in Austria in 1936 and brought to America while still a young boy. He studied music in New York and eventually became a US citizen. However, he is little known as a conductor these days, largely because he could be tyrannical and over-demanding, something which doubtless held back a conducting career that was spent entirely in America. In addition, he wasn't a recording artist, so his name hasn't been familiar to record collectors. Still, as this brief item from a 1986 radio broadcast shows, he was able to achieve beautiful playing from the San Francisco band. In 2015, Cleve died at the age of 79 in California.


Debussy 'Bruyères' ('Heather') arr. Percy Grainger - Geoffrey Simon conducts


When Debussy wrote his wistful little Piano Prelude "Bruyères" he had in mind a vision of the Scottish heathlands. Percy Grainger's arrangement is primarily for woodwinds, so it thus evokes the sound of bagpipes. This performance comes from an all-Debussy CD that features "La Mer," the "Children's Corner" Suite and Stokowski's stunning orchestration of "The Engulfed Cathedral." Geoffrey Simon conducts the Philharmonia on Cala CACD1024.
 
#100 · (Edited)

Bach-Stokowski - Passacaglia & Fugue in C minor - Matthias Bamert conducts


Matthias Bamert was for several years Stokowski's Assistant Conductor at the American Symphony Orchestra. In tribute to the great maestro, he recorded half-a-dozen CDs of Stokowski Transcriptions and also performed many of them in concert. Here is his splendid account of a great Bach arrangement, recorded during the 1996 Proms with the BBC Symphony at London's Royal Albert Hall. His CDs of Stokowski Transcriptions can be found on the 'Chandos' label. The Bach CD referred to by the announcer at the start also features the Passacaglia and Fugue, played by the BBC Philharmonic, on CHAN 9259.


Ippolitov-Ivanov "In a Manger" - Leopold Stokowski arranger / conductor


This music derives from a traditional Russian carol that was arranged for unaccompanied voices by Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov under the title "In a Manger." Leopold Stokowski transcribed and published it for brass and strings as "Traditional Slavic Christmas Music." He recorded it twice and here is his second recording, dating from 1947 and played by a specially selected band of New York musicians. This track is one of several colourful encores on a 'Pristine Audio' release in which the main work is Stokowski's splendid 1953 recording of Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony. (PASC188).

Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor - Stanislaw Skrowaczewski arranger / conductor

This is a belated tribute to Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, who died earlier this year (21 February 2017) at the age of 93. The most famous orchestration of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor for organ was made by Leopold Stokowski but a number of other musicians have also made orchestral transcriptions. Skrowaczewski's is among the most lavish and colourful and dates from the early 1960s. The performance heard here comes from a 1974 broadcast with the Minnesota Orchestra, of which he was then Music Director, and a splendid performance it is too!

Bach-Stokowski: Toccata & Fugue in D minor - Comissiona / Asian Youth Orchestra

Published on 13 September 2017 to mark the 40th Anniversary of Stokowski's death on 13 September 1977. This famous orchestral transcription of a celebrated Bach organ piece was played in a concert that marked the 10th Anniversary in 1999 of the Asian Youth Orchestra. Its players are made up of young musicians from many Asian countries and are heard here under their conductor laureate Sergiu Comissiona.

Bach-Stokowski 'Komm Süsser Tod' - Andrew Davis conducts

Leopold Stokowski made his first appearance with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London's newly-built Royal Festival Hall in 1951. Fifty years later, Sir Andrew Davis and the BBCSO paid a special tribute to the great Maestro with a concert that featured several of Stokowski's own transcriptions. From that concert, given on 12 May 2001 in the same hall, we hear his sublime arrangement of Bach's sacred song "Komm Süsser Tod."

Novácek 'Perpetuum mobile' - Douglas Gamley arranger / conductor

Ottokar Novácek's "Moto Perpetuo" (or "Perpetuum Mobile") for Violin and Piano is his most famous piece. It is heard here in an orchestration by Douglas Gamley who conducts the Sinfonia of London on this Vocalion CD.

Bach "Ein' feste Burg" - Leopold Stokowski transcriber / conductor

Leopold Stokowski celebrated his 92nd birthday in April 1974 by making an LP of eight of his famous Bach Transcriptions with the London Symphony Orchestra. Not long ago, this LP was reissued as a 'Super Audio CD' on the 'Dutton Epoch' label. As a 'filler,' Stokowski's orchestral version of the "Immolation Scene" from "Gotterdammerung" was included, also played by the LSO and taken from a Wagner LP that Stokowski recorded later that same year. Here from the 'Dutton' CD is Stokowski's thrilling orchestration of "A Mighty Fortress" ("Ein' feste Burg") in Bach's harmonisation of a Lutheran melody originally taken from a Gregorian chorale (Dutton CDLX 7337).

Boccherini arr. Berio 'Ritirata Notturna di Madrid' (Madrid Night Retreat) - Andrew Davis conducts

Luciano Berio's evocative transcription of a guitar piece by Luigi Boccherini (Quattro versioni originali della Ritirata Notturna di Madrid) was played for a delighted audience at the Last Night of the 1995 Proms in London's Royal Albert Hall. The BBC Symphony was performing under its then chief conductor, Andrew Davis.

Beethoven & Mozart 'Turkish Marches'- Stokowski conducts

These 'Turkish Marches' were respectively composed by Beethoven, for his Incidental Music to "The Ruins of Athens," and Mozart as the "Alla turca" movement that concludes his Piano Sonata No. 11 in A. In these recordings from 1955, Leopold Stokowski conducts the NBC Symphony, the Mozart piece being in his own highly colourful orchestral transcription (from 'Cala' Records CACD0543).

Gabrieli 'Sonata Pian e Forte' - Stokowskl conductor / arranger at his first Prom

In 1963, Leopold Stokowski became the first great international maestro to conduct at the annual Proms Concerts in London's Royal Albert Hall. Previously the Proms were usually in the hands of British conductors, such as Sir Henry Wood and Sir Malcolm Sargent. The orchestra for Stokowski's first Prom was the BBC Symphony and the programme opened with his own sonorous wind-and-brass arrangement of the Gabrieli piece heard here.

Stokowski 'Rêverie for Strings' - The Conductor composes

On 1 March 1972, Leopold Stokowski, then aged 89, gave a concert with the American Symphony Orchestra da Camera at New York's Town Hall. For an encore, he turned to the audience and told them that when he was a student he had composed something and would they like to hear it, providing they weren't in a critical mood. Someone called out "Play it!" so Stokowski delighted the audience with this little piece for strings, which he entitled 'Rêverie', and thanked the audience at the end for their politeness!

Fritz Reiner conducts J.S. Bach Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue in C Major BWV 564, orchestrated by Leo Weiner

Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 1954.


Mussorgsky Great Gate of Kiev - Sir Henry Wood's orchestration


To mark the 150th Birthday (3 March 1869) of Sir Henry Wood, the founder of the annual Promenade Concerts in London, here is the finale from his own 1915 orchestration of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." It is played by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conductor Francois-Xavier Roth, and comes from the complete performance given in London's Royal Albert Hall during the 2010 Proms season.

Bach (arr. Frederick Stock): Prelude and Fugue BWV 552 in E flat (St. Anne's)

Frederick Stock, Conductor Dec. 22, 1941

Carl Stix "Playful Game" (arr. Eugene Ormandy) - André Kostelanetz conducts

The notes to the 1970 Kostelanetz 'Music for Strings' Columbia LP state: "Carl Stix is one of the mystery men of music. He appears in no extant music encyclopedias in any accessible language. He was probably German. The rest is silence - except for a few delightful works such as the 'Spielerei' recorded here in all its pizzicato charm, as arranged by Eugene Ormandy." However, up-to-date googling reveals that Carl (Karl) Stix (1860-1909) was born in Vienna and pursued a career in 'light music' as conductor, composer and oboist. Few pieces by Stix seem to have been published though another composition, the Intermezzo from his 'Dream Visions', was recorded twice on old 78rpm discs by the Florentine Quartet. His 'Spielerei' (also known as 'Child's Play') here makes its You Tube debut!
 
#101 · (Edited)
Préludes, L. 125: X. La cathédrale engloutie (arr. Stokowski)

Préludes, L. 125: X. La cathédrale engloutie (arr. Leopold Stokowski) · Philharmonia Orchestra · Claude Debussy · Geoffrey Simon

Stokowski Transcriptions [Debussy & J.S.Bach] / Sawallisch Philadelphia Orchestra (1999 Live)

1. Debussy: Clair de Lune
2. Debussy: La Cathédrale Engloutie
3. J.S.Bach: Toccata and Fugue BWV.565
Wolfgang Sawallisch Philadelphia Orchestra, 1999.5.14 Kanagawa. Japan Live


Pictures at an Exhibition (arr. by Leopold Stokowski), Wakasugi / Southwest German Radio Symphony


MUSSORGSKY. Pictures at an Exhibition (arr. by Stokowski)
Hiroshi Wakasugi / Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra.
30 April 1975 Landau

Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain, Leibowitz & RPO (1962) (arr. Rene Leibowitz)

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881) (arr. by N. Rimsky-Korsakov & Rene Leibowitz) Night on Bald Mountain
René Leibowitz (1913-1972), Conductor, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Rec. 6 February 1962

Prelude in G minor, Op. 23, No. 5 (arr. for orchestra by Lucien Cailliet)

Prelude in G minor, Op. 23, No. 5 (arr. for orchestra by Lucien Cailliet) · Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Arranger: Lucien Cailliet
Composer: Sergei Rachmaninov
Conductor: Sergiu Comissiona
Orchestra: Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Prelude in C sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 2 (arr. for orchestra by Lucien Cailliet)

Prelude in C sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 2 (arr. for orchestra by Lucien Cailliet) · Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Arranger: Lucien Cailliet
Composer: Sergei Rachmaninov
Conductor: Sergiu Comissiona
Orchestra: Vancouver Symphony Orchestra


Prelude in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 3 No. 2 (arranged for Orchestra. Chorus and Piano)


Prelude in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 3 No. 2 (arranged for Orchestra. Chorus and Piano) · London Promenade Orchestra and Chorus · Eric Hammerstein · John Wingell

Anton Bruckner - Adagio from Quintet, (orchestral transcription by Fritz Oeser) Ashkenazy

String Quintet in F major, WAB 112: III. Adagio
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/OD 0920

String Quintet in F Major, WAB 112: Adagio (arr. S. Skrowaczewski for string orchestra)

String Quintet in F Major, WAB 112: Adagio (arr. Stanislaw Skrowaczewski for string orchestra) · Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken
Conductor: Stanislaw Skrowaczewski
Orchestra: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken
Arranger : Stanislaw Skrowaczewski
Composer: Anton Bruckner

Bruckner: String Quintet in F Major (Orchestrated by Hans Stadlmair) - 3. Adagio in G-Flat Major

Bruckner: String Quintet in F Major - Orchestrated by Hans Stadlmair (1929-) - 3. Adagio in G-Flat Major · Gewandhausorchester Leipzig · Herbert Blomstedt


Bach-Stravinsky Four Preludes and Fugues from "Das Wohltemperierte Klavier"


Arranged by Igor Stravinsky for chamber orchestra.
Book 1 No.24 in B minor, BWV 869
Book 2 No.11 in F major, BWV 880
Book 1 No.4 in C# minor, BWV 849
Book 1 No.10 in E minor, BWV 855
https://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Four-Preludes-and-Fugues-from-Das-Wohltemperierte-Klavier-edited-by-Christopher-Hogwood/47466


Bach - 3 chorales, P. 167: No. 1. Lento assai (after J.S. Bach's Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland,BWV 689 (Arr. by Ottorino Respighi)


Bach - 3 chorales, P. 167: No. 1. Lento assai (after J.S. Bach's Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659) · Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Gerard Schwarz
Orchestra: Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Arranger: Ottorino Respighi

Bach - 3 chorales, P. 167: No. 2. Andante con moto e scherzando (after J.S. Bach's Meine Seele erhebt den Herrn, BWV 648) (Arr. by Ottorino Respighi)

Conductor: Gerard Schwarz
Orchestra: Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Arranger: Ottorino Respighi

Bach - 3 chorales, P. 167: No. 3. Andante (after J.S. Bach's Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme (Arr. by Ottorino Respighi)

Bach - 3 chorales, P. 167: No. 3. Andante (after J.S. Bach's Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645)
Conductor: Gerard Schwarz
Orchestra: Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Arranger: Ottorino Respighi

Bach-Stokowski "Komm süsser Tod" - George Cleve conducts

From a concert given by the San Francisco Symphony under George Cleve in 1984, here is one of Leopold Stokowski's famous Bach Transcriptions, a sublime orchestral arrangement of a well-known song from Schemelli's Song Book of 1736.

Mussorgsky-Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition, Rene Leibowitz & RPO (1962)

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881)
Pictures at an Exhibition (arr. by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937))
René Leibowitz (1913-1972), Conductor, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Rec. 17 January 1962

Rubinstein Melody in F (Victor Concert Orchestra, 1929), (arranged by Rosario Bourdon)

Rubinstein: Melody in F, Op. 3, No. 1 , arr. Rosario Bourdon
Victor Concert Orchestra
Rosario Bourdon, conductor
Recorded September 4, 1929, in Liederkranz Hall, New York City, on Victor 78-rpm matrix BVE-53477-6. Issued in October, 1930, as Victor 22508-A, coupled with Rubinstein's Romance (which has been uploaded separately); the record was deleted by 1940. In the UK, this coupling, credited to the "New Light Symphony Orchestra", was issued as HMV B 3783; this was scheduled for deletion in January, 1951.
The orchestra consisted of 4 first violins, 2 seconds, 2 violas, 2 cellos, bass, 2 flutes, oboe, bassoon, 2 clarinets, 2 French horns, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, piano, harp and traps, although nothing is audible in the recording that might qualify as "traps". Rosario Bourdon was the arranger of this piece, originally for piano solo. Three earlier takes had been made of the piece on July 1, 1929.


Debussy L'Isle Joyeuse, L. 109 (arr. Bernardino Molinari)


L'Isle Joyeuse, L. 109 · Philharmonia Orchestra · Claude Debussy · Geoffrey Simon
(orchestrated by Bernardino Molinari)
Debussy wrote this exuberant piano rhapsody in 1904 while on Jersey, one of the Channel Islands off the coast of France. Its principal source of inspiration was a painting by Watteau entitled Embarquement pour Cythère (Embarkation for the Island of Cythera). The sparkling sensuality of the music, especially as orchestrated by Debussy's friend Bernardino Molinari to the composer's indications, brings it into the same sound world as La mer, in which it could almost occupy a place as an extra movement.

Claude Debussy orchestrated by André Caplet : Children's Corner L. 113 (arr. for orchestra 1906-08 orch. 1910)

Performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Geoffrey Simon.
Children's Corner (orchestrated by André Caplet)
This charming suite for piano was dedicated by Debussy to 'my dear little Chouchou, with her father's affectionate apologies for what follows'. Apologies for his English rather than the music perhaps; 'Jimbo' and 'Golliwogg' were affectionately retained by his publishers for posterity.
Debussy's daughter was nearly four years old when Children's Corner was published in 1908, and two years later André Caplet, a close friend of Debussy's, conducted his own orchestral arrangement of the suite in New York. Debussy praised the orchestration as 'gorgeously apparelled' but asked Caplet in some concern for a report on the performance: 'I should be sorry if it looked pretentious.'
The first piece suggests a small child struggling at the piano keyboard with fingering exercises. Then come depictions of two of Chouchou's dolls, the first her favourite stuffed elephant being lullabyed to sleep. The snow is dancing finds Chouchou sitting at her nursery window, while the plaintive piping tones in the number which follows shows Debussy at his most pastoral.
Golliwogg's cake-walk-the best-known item in the set-mixes jazz and Wagner, whose Prelude to Tristan and Isolde is briefly satirised. Debussy's former reverence towards the German master had by now turned into something akin to total opposition.


Claude Debussy orchestrated by Henri Mouton : Deux arabesques L. 66 (1888-1891 orch. 1937)


Performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Geoffrey Simon.
Deux Arabesques (orchestrated by Hubert Mouton)
These two early piano pieces, published in 1891, are the musical equivalents of designs in Arabian art of interlacing patterns in graceful curves. Charming and rhapsodic, their 'delicate tracery' and 'twining counterpoints', to quote Debussy's own words, find extra colourings and subtleties in the orchestral forms presented here.

Maurice Ravel orchestrated by Eugene Goossens : Le gibet, from Gaspard de la nuit (1908 orch. 1942)

Performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Geoffrey Simon.
Taking the nod from Ravel's somewhat ironic assertion that Gaspard de la nuit is really an orchestral transcription for piano, the great conductor Eugene Goossens offers us this most evocative arrangement of Le gibet, suitably dressing Ravel's haunting phrases in dark, sombre orchestral colours. Goossens enters the spirit of the piece completely, even taking time to sketch a line-drawing of the body dangling by moonlight, on the cover of his score! He imaginatively recreates Ravels endlessly repeated B-flat bell by scoring it for two harps, celeste and stopped horns - adding the sound of a real bell towards the ned, to great effect.
Eugene Goossens orchestrated Gaspard in 1942, while Marius Constant orchestrated the piece in 1990.

https://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Maurice-Ravel-Gaspard-de-la-Nuit/5600

Claude Debussy orchestrated by William Gleichmann : La fille aux cheveux de lin L. 117 (1910 arr. for orch)

Performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Geoffrey Simon.
La fille aux cheveux de lin (orchestrated by William Gleichmann)
The girl with the flaxen hair is another short piece from Debussy's 'First Book of Twelve Preludes for Piano' (the same volume which contains The engulfed cathedral). This 'portrait of a maiden in diaphanous lines' was originally inspired by a poem of Leconte de Lisle which commenced: 'Who, seated on the flowering lucerne, sings in the fresh morning air? It is the girl with the flaxen hair, the beautiful girl with cherry lips …' In orchestral form, the simplicity of this music takes on a particularly touching quality, and is again in Debussy's 'pastoral' mood.

Debussy Estampes, L. 108: II. La soirée dans Grenade (arr. Leopold Stokowski)

Estampes, L. 108: II. La soirée dans Grenade (arr. Stokowski) Claude Debussy · Philharmonia Orchestra · Geoffrey Simon
La soirée dans Grenade (orchestrated by Leopold Stokowski)
La soirée dans Grenade (Evening in Granada)-the second of the tripartite piano set Estampes (meaning 'Prints' or 'Engravings')-was published in 1903. Like other French composers, such as Chabrier with España, Ravel with Rapsodie espagnole and Boléro and Lalo with his Symphonie espagnole, Debussy had more than a passing feeling for the romance of Spain despite visiting the country only once, to see a bullfight in San Sebastian. His superb evocation of a sensuous, half-lit twilight in Granada is a languid serenade, pulsing with the veiled rhythm of a slow habañera. Conductor Leopold Stokowski introduced his colourful orchestration of La soirée dans Grenade (Debussy's original title) with the Philadelphia Orchestra on 27 November 1940 in a 'Concert for Youth' which began with the maestro's own transcription of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor and concluded with Boléro.

Debussy Préludes, L. 131: V. Bruyères (arr. Percy Grainger)

Préludes, L. 131: V. Bruyères (arr. Grainger) · Philharmonia Orchestra · Claude Debussy · Geoffrey Simon
Bruyères (orchestrated by Percy Grainger)
Upon seeing the score of Pelléas et Mélisande in 1902, the Australian-born piano virtuoso and composer Percy Grainger was inspired to become an early exponent of Debussy's solo piano music. Bruyères comes from the 'Second Book of Twelve Preludes' (published in 1913) where it is the fifth of the set. The music's inspiration lay in what seems to have been Debussy's purely imaginary vision of the Scottish heathlands. In this arrangement, the composer's subtle evocation of bagpipes is delicately captured by Grainger's inventive instrumental combination of woodwinds, horn, alto saxophone and harmonium.

Stravinsky: Pastorale (Arranged by Leopold Stokowski) / Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Philadelphia Orchestra

Stravinsky: Pastorale - Arranged By Leopold Stokowski · The Philadelphia Orchestra · Yannick Nézet-Séguin
 
#102 ·
Would someone know a good orchestration of Bach's Chaconne?

The least bad I've found is from Hideo Saito
followed by Pavel Rivilis
the other I found are just dull, of bad taste, or completely inadequate to the piece, sorry:

To my surprise, I regularly dislike orchestrations written by conductors. They are often collections of clichés, heavy-handed, and lacking imagination. Harpists say about some scores for they instrument
"it's not music, it's harp"​
and I want to say the same about such orchestrations.
 
#103 ·
This orchestration by Eduard Schmieder for bowed strings of Bach's Chaconne makes sense
it introduces no alien elements, nor does it reproduce all the mistakes by Busoni's transcription for the piano.

That orchestration would deserve a better interpretation. First orchestra that plays at a meaningful tempo, fine. But the expression is very dry, possibly resulting from myths about baroque music. Some choices ruin the music, like staccato at 8:30 where heavy détaché fits. The balance between the voices is often wrong.

Insofar a transcription for organ counts as an orchestration, all are better than what I heard from symphonic orchestras.
 
#104 · (Edited)
One of the challenges of this excellent thread, is that it is too time consuming to click on every external link to discover which album is actually being recommended.

(A big thank you to all those who attached photos or provided titles...)

At the risk of possibly doubling-up on a previous recommendation buried somewhere in the above - I heartily recommend this album.

Persuasively transcribed and arranged for for guitar and orchestra by Gerald Garcia (Guitar), sumptuously recorded at low volumes - to retain maximum dynamic range - and comprising many of the best-loved jewels from the French classical repertoire, this album has been in heavy rotation around our way for decades!

If ONLY Klaus Heymann would release it on a quality vinyl LP pressing... :cry:

Musical instrument String instrument String instrument Musician Guitar


1 Claude Debussy - La Fille Aux Cheveux De Lin 2:14
2 Claude Debussy - Arabesque No. 1 5:12
3 Claude Debussy - Clair De Lune 4:02
4 Claude Debussy - Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum 3:08
5 Claude Debussy - The Little Shepherd 2:22
6 Claude Debussy - Golliwog's Cake Walk 2:49
7 Gabriel Fauré - Pavane 7:13
8 Gabriel Fauré - Sicilienne 3:52
9 Claude Debussy - Soirée Dans Grenade 5:01
10 Claude Debussy - Reverie 4:13
11 Claude Debussy - En Bateau 3:55
12 Claude Debussy - Ballet 3:52
13 Erik Satie - Gymnopédie No.I 2:59
14 Erik Satie - Gymnopédie No.III 2:15
15 Erik Satie - Je Te Veux 5:08
 
#105 · (Edited)
#108 ·
I just like Sarabande et cortège, written originally for bassoon an piano by Henri Dutilleux, record here by Sophie Dervaux and Sélim Mazari as part of their lovely CD:


Revelation today: Pierre-Yves Langlois arranged the piano notes for a small orchestra

and, wow! The instruments bring a lot. Kudos! The arrangement deserves being played preferentially to the original score.

Notice the unusual role for the baritone saxophone. Pierre-Yves Langlois is himself a saxophonist.
 
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