Product Description
2 pages; for solo classical guitar; published by Maggie Creek Music
Richard Strauss (1864
-1949)
Strauss's music amounts
to a huge body of symphonic and operatic work written over 60 years.
Full of vitality, endlessly melodic, brilliantly orchestrated, it
begins and ends in the romantic tradition, but for the most part
expresses something more modern and individualistic, not without
controversy in its time. Variation of style and structure is drawn
from the descriptive (literary) nature of compositions, and an
extraordinary inventiveness enlivens the scenes, moods and
situations. Strauss said once that he produced music the way cows
give milk, and indeed his music rarely seems contrived.
The opera
Strauss wrote 15 operas
on a variety of subjects and across the whole spectrum of drama. He
acknowledged being enchanted by the soprano voice, and his writing
for it highlights many of the works, including Adriane auf Naxos
(composed in 1912). The opera has been described as 'sparkling',
which sums it up well, and passages influenced by Bach, Mozart,
Puccini, and Wagner add to the interest. The storyline is a play
within a play, the second part being the mythological 'Opera'
staged in the story. The three pieces transcribed* are from this
Opera.
The guitar arrangements
All classical guitar
pieces are compromises. The instrument has only six strings, the left
hand four fingers able to be used, and with the right hand its rare
to use more than three fingers and the thumb. So, despite the amount
of noise possible, it's inevitable that passages occur where either
harmony, bass or fragments of counterpoint that would be beneficial
are left out. In particular, the higher up the neck music is played
the simpler it tends to be, if harder to play, and unless the low
bass is an open string there wont be any.
So I think the main
part of attaining a fair transcription (better to be called an
arrangement if the original musical structure is not strictly
followed, as in this case) is determining how a good compromise can
be reached. Melody, counterpoint, bass and main harmonies demand
inclusion, and register is important. One may generally assume the
original score can't be improved on. However, if the music may sound
well on guitar, and the above elements can be incorporated without
the playing becoming very difficult, something enjoyable to play and
worthwhile listening to should be able to be achieved.
Overture; 'A golden
time '
Here the Mozart
influence, better, inspiration, is wonderfully evident. A gentle
waltz time (only the first section of the overture is transcribed)
carries the colourful harmonies, strong melodic threads and
connecting flourishes that stamp both pieces. The aria is alluded to
in the Overture several times, which as you would expect, is
intricately woven with the hints themes later to be established in
the Opera. It has a kind of 'jazzy' freedom, and it's always
miraculous to me that composition so involved can retain its musical
line, here done in Strauss's inimitable way. The aria, sung not far
into the Opera, has the perfect inevitability of Mozart, but
again it is Strauss. As explained, keys have been changed to suit the
guitar.
Chorus and Aria
This selection from the
finale has features well worth trying to translate. The device of
having a strong chorus, in the style of a Bach chorale, stated and
then counterpointed by a solo voice in a restatement, is potent, and
that in the opera the chorus (of the three nymphs) isn't immediately
followed by the accompanying aria (of Ariadne) means the latter comes
as a moment of surprising beauty. Neither parts are complicated, and
lovely arpeggios, a feature Strauss's music, often impart the assured
progressions.
A problem was to
capture the distinct register of the so
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