No substitutions
Over at Mystic Chords, John Salmon links to a YouTube video of Alison Balsom performing Paganini’s Caprice No. 24.
Balsom plays trumpet, not violin, so Salmon offers this caveat:
[F]or those who are pissed off when pieces are transcribed for instruments different from the ones they were originally written for, you needn’t listen.
I’m sure such people exist, but I am not one of them. In fact, I’ve heard this Caprice on piano and guitar — here’s a guitar version — and I assume I’d enjoy hearing it on any instrument with comparable range.
Then again, range (I’m guessing) may be the issue for some people, since transcriptions are often in a key different from the original. If you generally dislike transcriptions, I’d like to hear why.
Joel »
11 December 2006 · 1:51 pm
I participated in a solo competition in high school – I played a Mozart piece transcribed for my particular instrument, the tenor saxophone.
One of the judges took points off, saying that Mozart wasn’t really made for saxophones (the other judge said I did a fine job capturing Mozart’s style).
I couldn’t disagree, but I had a hard time discerning how that reflected negatively on me; not only did I not to the transcribing, but I chose this particular solo with great help from my band director, a situation I’m sure was similar for most of the soloists competing.
I thought maybe he was that person of which you speak. He did later admit that there are some successful recordings of Mozart on saxophone – he gave me an 800-number from which I could order those recordings. My guess is he was just a shill.
John Salmon »
11 December 2006 · 4:47 pm
Thanks for the link.
Adapting violin pieces for trumpet often wouldn’t work, simply because brass instruments can’t be played with the same kind of speed and flexibility as a violin, guitar, piano, or saxophone. But I think Balsom does a fine job with the Paganini.
No, Mozart wasn’t written for saxophone; and Bach wasn’t written for piano, either. Not a problem, if you can nail the style.
I think the problem with classical music on saxophone tends to be the sound-most of the classical people who play sax sound more Guy Lombardo than Sonny Rollins.
I think that a light, silky sound, like Paul Desmond’s on alto, or maybe Stan Getz’s on tenor, would work nicely for a lot of the classical repertoire.
Joel »
11 December 2006 · 5:14 pm
Our jazz band practices were at 7 AM, wind ensemble at 8 AM; the switch in styles was always pretty strange, particularly that early in the morning (night person, sorry).
Mozart is particularly tough on a intermediate sax player like I was because of the light, jaunty nature of many of his compositions. Light tonguing was something I always struggled with (we’re still just talking about the saxophone, right?), something essential in playing Mozart.
The most idiot-proof way to fix your sound on a saxophone is with mouthpieces – metal gives you the brighter, brassier sound for jazz, plastic the smoother, mellower sound for classical.
There are plenty of subtle things you can do as well, though I’m sure I was successful at very few of them. Since then I decided to take up a much less nuanced instrument – the drum set.
CGHill »
11 December 2006 · 5:30 pm
I did send the link to a trumpet player of my acquaintance; she was impressed.
The Anger of Compassion »
12 December 2006 · 12:20 am
Taking a Pag Out of Another Book
My son has moved from the guitar to the violin, and has discovered Nicolo Paganini, who was also a guitarist. So: here’s a nice performance of a Paganini caprice on the guitar, and the same piece performed on the trumpet….