Piano Transcriptions by Frédéric Meinders
Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Dichterliebe Op.48 (1840) [24:26]
Three Romances Op.94 (1849) [12:48]
From Kinderszenen, Von fremben Landerns und Menschen for the left hand
(1838) [2:27]
From Liederkreis Op.39, Wehmut (1840) [1:56]
Frédéric CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Nocturne Op.9 for left hand (1833) [3:03]
Etude Op.10 No.3 (1832) [3:37]
Etude Op.25 No.7 (1836) [4:52]
Waltz Op.64 No.2 (1846) [3:38]
Waltz Op.69 No.1 (1835) [3:24]
Waltz Op.70 No.3 (1855 posth.) [2:48]
Etude Op.25 No.8 combined with Op.25 No.3 & No.4 (1832-36) [1:07]
Impromptu Op.51 No.3 (1843) [4:51]
Lithuanian Song Op.74 No.16 (1831) [3:09]
Etude Op.25 No.1 for the left hand (1836) [3:21]
Waltz Op.64 No.1 (1846) [1:58]
Frédéric Meinders (piano)
rec. Arnhem, The Netherlands, 13-15 July 2010
Note: all work dates are for the original composition
DANACORD DACOCD687 [77:40]
Let me immediately make clear that this is a beautifully played CD which skilfully
combines superb technique with an imaginative ‘recreation’ of a number of
well-known works by Robert Schumann and Frédéric Chopin. Both the realisation
and the playing reveal new depths for many of these pieces that are both entertaining
and quite often moving. From this point of view alone, this release is well
worth the investment.
From a personal point of view I always have a wee bit of difficulty with ‘transcription’.
I guess that my main problem is: ‘Why transcribe a perfectly good piece of
music, when there are so many excellent works in the catalogues that rarely
gain a hearing?’ In this present recording, for example, why produce a transcription
of some of Chopin’s Etudes when the original work by the composer is near
perfect? Or why take a song-cycle and ‘create’ a version for piano solo? With
the Dichterliebe, is the poetry of Heine not an integral part of the
entire piece? Are we not in danger of losing the balance of tenderness, despair,
fervour and anger that characterises the ‘original’ work? This song-cycle
by Schumann was the earliest example of the genre that I heard and I treasure
it as a masterpiece: I am not sure that I want it tampered with – no matter
how effectively.
On the other hand, the history of transcription is full of masterpieces. I
think of the many pieces transcribed by Franz Liszt – the Soirées de Vienne
based on Schubert’s waltzes and also some fifty of that composer’s songs.
Gounod, Wagner, Bellini and Rossini were all subject to reworking from his
pen. So there is a great precedent for what Meinders has achieved on this
CD
Frédéric Meinders partly addresses my concerns in the liner-notes. There appear
to be three main elements to his programme of transcription. Firstly, the
Dichterliebe is largely a concatenation of the vocal line and the piano
part with very little creative additions. This piece has not been ‘souped
up’. It seems that there are only a few changes of register allocated to the
melody to make it playable. I must confess that it does work well. The resulting
piano pieces (or is it a suite?) are effective and retain much of the emotional
content of the original. This transcription does highlight some of the melody
and harmony that may be obscured by concentration on the singer and the song.
The second tranche of transcriptions recorded here are for the left-hand.
There has long been a school of piano composition that caters for this particular
sub-genre: the sleeve-notes point out that there is a vast amount of music
for this medium. Apparently some 450 composers have written some 4000-plus
titles: this compares to a handful, some 75 only, of works for the right-hand
alone.
I can easily understand the need for someone like Paul Wittgenstein (1887-1961)
who lost his right arm during the Great War, to have piano concertos and other
pieces dedicated to him by Ravel, Prokofiev and Korngold. However, I do wonder
what is the added value of Chopin’s Etude Op.25, No.1 being dished up for
left-hand.
Thirdly, there is the process of‘re-creation’ applied to the Chopin pieces.
Perhaps the inspiration for these came from the massive cycle of Leopold Godowsky’s
53 Studies in Chopin’s Etudes? Meinders has written that a ‘transcriber is
transcribing the work as an homage to the original composer.’ He adds rather
interestingly, but perhaps not humbly, that the transcriber ‘knows the work
better than the composer, who may have written the piece in half an hour;
the transcriber thinks weeks about making another work on it, based on the
idea of the original.’ The basic concept appears to be that Meinders’ work
‘may be seen as an exploration of the possibilities of the piano, as well
as a modernization or harmonies (when the piece can accept it) and as a contrapuntal
exercise.’
In spite of my misgivings - perhaps deriving from a mis-guided musical snobbery
- I thoroughly enjoyed this CD. The pianism is excellent: the technical wizardry
is obvious but not overstated. Nothing here sounds simple, but Frédéric Meinders
has managed to create a genre that seems natural and not overly-pretentious.
However, one word of warning: do not listen to this CD at a sitting. Take
it a composer and a work at a time. There is a danger of being sated by this
complex and bravura style of musical composition.
One last thought. Whatever a transcriber does to a piece of music by Schumann
or Chopin or anyone else, the original is still there! So perhaps we should
just sit back and enjoy the ‘new creation’ without worrying too much about
the ethics of the process?
John France
I thoroughly enjoyed this CD.