I have played the "Vier letzte Lieder" quite often over the years with many famous sopranos, but never transposed. I dont think there were any transposed parts available. Simply, the old vinyl (well, I have to dig it out from my archives) might have a defective transmission from the original recording to the vinyl, as happen for Norbert Hauptmann with two of his four Mozart concerti, which came out in E, as they did a mistake with the tempo during the transfer.
In the opera, well, it is common, to transpose half step or full step for tenors, never for sopranos. If it happen in Verdi operas, no problem at all. Strings & woods get transposed "alias". ============================================================ ============================================================ ============================= -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ray & Sonja Crenshaw Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 8:11 PM To: horn@music.memphis.edu Subject: [Hornlist] Horn and High Voice pieces (as well as the not-so-high) > By time that was recorded in 1987, Sutherland wasn't her old self > vocally and I'm sure that her tessitura dropped sufficiently to sing a > part for mezzo Which brings up an interesting thing I recently noticed. For years I've listened to the old Philharmonia recording of Strauss's "Four Last Songs," with soprano Elizabeth Swarzkopf and you-know-who (Dennis Brain) playing the beautiful horn solo near the close of the "September" movement. Pardon me, but I get a bit weak in the knees just typing about it. Anyway, I've never performed the "Four Last..." so I know the music only from listening to my old vinyl LP. I've memorized sections of the horn part and have played along with the record simply because that's as close as I've gotten to playing the piece. Then I heard the Philadelphia orchestra was doing a television broadcast of an all-Strauss concert, and that it would include, "Four Last Songs." I was happy as a puppy with a stinky old shoe. So, having only rabbit ears on my TV, I called a friend and arranged for him to tape it for me. He did this, and I picked up the tape and headed home, ready to play along with "September" again. And then; problems... I just always ASSUMED (my emphasis) that "September" was in the key of D-flat, putting the horns in A-flat. Not so, or at least not always. I don't have perfect pitch, no matter WHAT my wife claims, but when "September started it sounded awfully bright to my ears. So I picked up my horn and... ZOWIE! They're in D-major! Apparently Swarzkopf wasn't comfortable in the higher key. QUESTION #1: How common is it to move the key around on famous works to accommodate famous artists? QUESTION #2: Can one order parts in the different key, or is someone paid to transcribe the parts into the new, or (heaven forbid) does the music director just announce, "Okay orchestra, let's take "September," once more from the beginning, and down a half-step if you please! Okay, ready...???" Well, the horns and trumpets would be, but there might be some audible groaning. Just wondering aloud, jrc in SC _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/hans%40pizka.d e _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
