This is, of course, one of the most famous Bach pieces - the opening prelude to his Well-Tempered Clavier book I, BWV 846. It's been called an encapsulation of the entire WTC and is a favorite of music theorists; there are multiple contrafacts on it, most famous being Gounod's Ave Maria. It is a favorite of classical piano and guitar players for being a sequence of arpeggios and thus relatively easy to play. Of course, that's exactly what makes it *hard* to play on a trumpet. This would be my "some day" piece, along with Tempo di Minueto from Partita No.5 - that thing is hardcore...
I had to transpose it to E and also move the bass notes up in bars 32-33 to fit it to a trumpet range. Obviously, the bass notes cannot be sustained under the arpeggios, so it's all in sixteenths. Here it is on Scribd.
Showing posts with label Bach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bach. Show all posts
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Bach's Inventions for 2 voicess
My practice time is very limited, what with the work, the family, and the commute. I am always trying to squeeze the most out of my daily 40 minutes. The right balance is not easy to find. If I don't play something fun every day, I lose my motivation fast. If I don't work on technique (i.e. scales/arpeggios = boring shit), I don't get better, so I end up playing the same stuff over and over and lose my motivation slowly. Seems like Catch-22.
I did a few transcriptions this year. It started with Badinerie - I wanted to try it and could not find a trumpet adaptation. Then a few more Bach pieces. Then I read somewhere that Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz played Bach's Inventions for Two Voices as duets for alto/tenor saxes; in fact, No.13 in Am is on their London Concert LP, here is is below.
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So I tried the Inventions and got hooked. I never thought it possible to pack so much musical education into so few bars of music. Bach himself subtitled his work as follows:
"Honest method, by which the amateurs of the keyboard – especially, however, those desirous of learning – are shown a clear way not only (1) to learn to play cleanly in two parts, but also, after further progress, (2) to handle three obligate parts correctly and well; and along with this not only to obtain good inventions (ideas) but to develop the same well; above all, however, to achieve a cantabile style in playing and at the same time acquire a strong foretaste of composition."
Let me proceed in order:
- "to obtain good inventions [...] to develop the same well" These pieces are based on simple short phrases - bits of scales, arpeggios - that are stretched, compressed, inverted, and finally woven into rich tapestries. Each piece is a lesson on thematic development - something every jazz improviser aspires to learn but so few master. It is amazing how much mileage can Bach get out of an eight-note sequence - see, for instance No.1 in C.
- "acquire a strong foretaste of composition" I would recommend the Buzoni edition of Inventions, available for free at IMSLP. Each one concludes with a discussion of the form. There is also a book called "An Analytical Survey of the Fifteen Two-Part Inventions by J.S.Bach," I actually have it but have not read much of it.
- "to learn to play cleanly in two parts" Of course a monophonic instrument cannot play solo in two parts, but all horns have to be able to play with others - a skill that Arban and other brass instructors address with duets. Bach's Inventions can and should be played as duets. I typed them into Finale and generated audio files every which way - slow, medium, fast; both voices audible or top voice removed - and then used them as a play-along. They are quite challenging to play that way. A lot of Arban duets have voices play similar figures. Here the voices are complementary and opposite: one is fast, the other is slow; one is busy, the other lays out; contrary motion all over the place... I found canons to be the most difficult - when the other voice plays something you played two bars ago, it can really throw you off. These pieces are great for developing the ear and ability to hear counterpoint.
- The brass players may not have the technical challenges that the pianists have, but there are definitely a few of our own. These lines were not written with a horn in mind. Bach loves long, flowing phrases with three, four, five bars of consecutive sixteenths and for me, every time it feels like a drowning accident - by the third bar I would turn blue and dizzy and then gulp air like a fish, trying to steady my breath. It does get better with practice, though.
- There are also range considerations. Fortunately, Bach's keyboard did not go much beyond C above the staff, and most of the time right hand stays within two-and-a-half octaves. In some pieces, top line can be played right off the score; in others, I transposed it a step down. Even the transposed ones have a few high notes in them - A, always; Bb, often; B, sometimes; C, occasionally. Playing the inventions integrates the high-note practice in a very natural way and since last spring my register expanded and got much stronger at the top.
Another aspect is that there are plenty of runs from one extreme to the other and sudden jumps of an octave or even more. These things are avoided in the beginner's studies because they are difficult - not a consideration for Bach, obviously. Here they are naturally integrated into a bigger piece, which makes them easier to practice - at least the point of doing it is obvious; the jumps are there because of the inner logic of the line.
- Another challenge for me is the aural training. I am trying to memorize them and sing them along with the bass line. Of course, this is not specific to Bach. I find the Inventions to be very different in difficulty - some get imprinted in my mind very quickly, others I keep struggling with. Interestingly, the ones I find more attractive - and easier - are the minor inventions: Em, Cm, Am are the ones I learned already. Many of the major ones seem like a jumble of notes; I am now wrestling with No.3 in D.
- Not a challenge, but a side benefit for someone learning the inventions is that, unlike the trumpet etudes etc., these can be heard. There is a multitude of recordings out there that can be played over and over for fine details of interpretation and articulation. I heard several and my favorites are Gould and Peter Serkin.
This all sounds rather difficult, and it is. When I first looked at No.1 in C, or, worse yet, a beautiful but very hard No.13 in Am, I was really intimidated. However, the challenges are varied enough to stay interesting: once I get tired of trying to hit that high C at tempo, I can focus on breathing, or try to sing along with the bass line, or simply listen to Gould ripping through them. And the lines themselves are really beautiful.
A great essay on the Inventions.
I did a few transcriptions this year. It started with Badinerie - I wanted to try it and could not find a trumpet adaptation. Then a few more Bach pieces. Then I read somewhere that Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz played Bach's Inventions for Two Voices as duets for alto/tenor saxes; in fact, No.13 in Am is on their London Concert LP, here is is below.
So I tried the Inventions and got hooked. I never thought it possible to pack so much musical education into so few bars of music. Bach himself subtitled his work as follows:
"Honest method, by which the amateurs of the keyboard – especially, however, those desirous of learning – are shown a clear way not only (1) to learn to play cleanly in two parts, but also, after further progress, (2) to handle three obligate parts correctly and well; and along with this not only to obtain good inventions (ideas) but to develop the same well; above all, however, to achieve a cantabile style in playing and at the same time acquire a strong foretaste of composition."
Let me proceed in order:
- "to obtain good inventions [...] to develop the same well" These pieces are based on simple short phrases - bits of scales, arpeggios - that are stretched, compressed, inverted, and finally woven into rich tapestries. Each piece is a lesson on thematic development - something every jazz improviser aspires to learn but so few master. It is amazing how much mileage can Bach get out of an eight-note sequence - see, for instance No.1 in C.
- "acquire a strong foretaste of composition" I would recommend the Buzoni edition of Inventions, available for free at IMSLP. Each one concludes with a discussion of the form. There is also a book called "An Analytical Survey of the Fifteen Two-Part Inventions by J.S.Bach," I actually have it but have not read much of it.
- "to learn to play cleanly in two parts" Of course a monophonic instrument cannot play solo in two parts, but all horns have to be able to play with others - a skill that Arban and other brass instructors address with duets. Bach's Inventions can and should be played as duets. I typed them into Finale and generated audio files every which way - slow, medium, fast; both voices audible or top voice removed - and then used them as a play-along. They are quite challenging to play that way. A lot of Arban duets have voices play similar figures. Here the voices are complementary and opposite: one is fast, the other is slow; one is busy, the other lays out; contrary motion all over the place... I found canons to be the most difficult - when the other voice plays something you played two bars ago, it can really throw you off. These pieces are great for developing the ear and ability to hear counterpoint.
- The brass players may not have the technical challenges that the pianists have, but there are definitely a few of our own. These lines were not written with a horn in mind. Bach loves long, flowing phrases with three, four, five bars of consecutive sixteenths and for me, every time it feels like a drowning accident - by the third bar I would turn blue and dizzy and then gulp air like a fish, trying to steady my breath. It does get better with practice, though.
- There are also range considerations. Fortunately, Bach's keyboard did not go much beyond C above the staff, and most of the time right hand stays within two-and-a-half octaves. In some pieces, top line can be played right off the score; in others, I transposed it a step down. Even the transposed ones have a few high notes in them - A, always; Bb, often; B, sometimes; C, occasionally. Playing the inventions integrates the high-note practice in a very natural way and since last spring my register expanded and got much stronger at the top.
Another aspect is that there are plenty of runs from one extreme to the other and sudden jumps of an octave or even more. These things are avoided in the beginner's studies because they are difficult - not a consideration for Bach, obviously. Here they are naturally integrated into a bigger piece, which makes them easier to practice - at least the point of doing it is obvious; the jumps are there because of the inner logic of the line.
- Another challenge for me is the aural training. I am trying to memorize them and sing them along with the bass line. Of course, this is not specific to Bach. I find the Inventions to be very different in difficulty - some get imprinted in my mind very quickly, others I keep struggling with. Interestingly, the ones I find more attractive - and easier - are the minor inventions: Em, Cm, Am are the ones I learned already. Many of the major ones seem like a jumble of notes; I am now wrestling with No.3 in D.
- Not a challenge, but a side benefit for someone learning the inventions is that, unlike the trumpet etudes etc., these can be heard. There is a multitude of recordings out there that can be played over and over for fine details of interpretation and articulation. I heard several and my favorites are Gould and Peter Serkin.
This all sounds rather difficult, and it is. When I first looked at No.1 in C, or, worse yet, a beautiful but very hard No.13 in Am, I was really intimidated. However, the challenges are varied enough to stay interesting: once I get tired of trying to hit that high C at tempo, I can focus on breathing, or try to sing along with the bass line, or simply listen to Gould ripping through them. And the lines themselves are really beautiful.
A great essay on the Inventions.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Canon 1 à 2 from J. S. Bach's Musical Offering (1747) being turned into a Moebius strip, then played in two directions at the same time.
By the way, I looked through Russo's Composing - A New Approach; many of the exercises deal with resource limitation - i.e. a cell, a row (using only certain notes of the scale and/or in a certain order), composing with only a certain rhythm etc. I was playing Bach's Bourrée in E minor the other day and realized the whole thing is written with a single simple rhythm throughout (quarter-eighth-eighth-quarter-eighth-eighth). He probably wasn't doing a "resource limitation exercise", just writing a tune with the bourree dance rhythm, but it came out as a perfect example of how much you can accomplish with extremely limited means.
By the way, I looked through Russo's Composing - A New Approach; many of the exercises deal with resource limitation - i.e. a cell, a row (using only certain notes of the scale and/or in a certain order), composing with only a certain rhythm etc. I was playing Bach's Bourrée in E minor the other day and realized the whole thing is written with a single simple rhythm throughout (quarter-eighth-eighth-quarter-eighth-eighth). He probably wasn't doing a "resource limitation exercise", just writing a tune with the bourree dance rhythm, but it came out as a perfect example of how much you can accomplish with extremely limited means.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Invention No.2 in C minor from 15 Two Part Inventions by JS Bach
Here's a second invention from Bach's 15 Two-Part Inventions. For trumpet and baritone, i.e. left hand written in treble clef an octave up. Transposed to B minor - it defeats Bach's instructional purpose of a musical piece for every key, but since I am not doing all of them, it does not matter.
Voices together or separate. The last five bars of left hand (the baritone part) are also transposed an octave up, as they were out of range.
Voices together or separate. The last five bars of left hand (the baritone part) are also transposed an octave up, as they were out of range.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Durch Adam's Fall ist ganz verderbt - JS Bach
Here's a brass quartet arrangement of Bach's Durch Adam's Fall ist ganz verderbt for two trumpets, Eb mellophone (sheet music says "horn in F", but it's an artifact of Finale), and baritone, separate parts. Horn and baritone parts are written in treble clef an octave up. TTC's lectures on Bach specifically mentioned this chorale, a dissonant, chromatic work. According to the lectures, "the sinuous, winding tenor line represents the serpent" etc.
A piano transcription, played by Markus Becker and also a string quartet arrangement by Quartetto Italiano di Viole da Gamba:
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A piano transcription, played by Markus Becker and also a string quartet arrangement by Quartetto Italiano di Viole da Gamba:
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Invention No.1 in C major, from 15 Two Part Inventions - JS Bach
I was reading about Lennie Tristano the other day. His students/bandmembers Warne March and Lee Konitz sometimes opened the gigs by playing Bach's two-part inventions arranged for two saxes.
I tried to do a brass arrangement; unfortunately, it's impossible to do for two trumpets, as the pieces span a range over an octave greater than trumpet's range. However, the first one works nicely for trumpet and baritone/euphonium (I choose from the instruments I have and can play). Only the last D of bar 6 is out of range; I transposed the whole phrase (last two beats of bar 6, b-c-d-D) as I wanted to preserve that octave leap.
I guess it can also work for trumpet/trombone or various saxophone combinations.
Here it is: both voices together or separate voices.
Note they are written in C, so if played by a Bb trumpet, they would sound in concert Bb.
I tried to do a brass arrangement; unfortunately, it's impossible to do for two trumpets, as the pieces span a range over an octave greater than trumpet's range. However, the first one works nicely for trumpet and baritone/euphonium (I choose from the instruments I have and can play). Only the last D of bar 6 is out of range; I transposed the whole phrase (last two beats of bar 6, b-c-d-D) as I wanted to preserve that octave leap.
I guess it can also work for trumpet/trombone or various saxophone combinations.
Here it is: both voices together or separate voices.
Note they are written in C, so if played by a Bb trumpet, they would sound in concert Bb.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
JS Bach - Badinerie from Orchestral Suite no.2 in B minor
A stock show-off piece for flautists. It's catchy, fast, and high, and so is also a favorite for trumpet players. I have versions by Alison Balsom, Ole Edvard Antonsen, and Maurice André, who all seem to compete as to who can play it the fastest and the highest. I transcribed it for trumpet from the full score, moving it down from Bmin to Gmin.
Transcription
I will include an Alison Balsom version, which I really like, and also a version by Altamiro Carrilho, who plays it as a choro, dramatically slower and groovier; an approach opposite from everyone else, but I think it works great.
*+*
Transcription
I will include an Alison Balsom version, which I really like, and also a version by Altamiro Carrilho, who plays it as a choro, dramatically slower and groovier; an approach opposite from everyone else, but I think it works great.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Bach's Cello Suites
Jay Lichtmann's most excelent site with a wealth of sheet music for trumpet, trombone, and brass ensembles, including trumpet transcriptions of Bach's first three Unaccompanied Cello Suites @. There's also a full transcription for trombone with a very thorough commentary article at Doug Yeo's site.
I am not nearly advanced enough to play the Cello Suite transcriptions, so instead I am listening to as many versions as I can. So far the interpretation I like the most are Edgar Meyer's double bass transcriptions. He treats the dances as dances, with a steady pulse underneath. Most of the trad cellists play them rubato, one phrase at a time, which makes it difficult for me to follow. Pablo Casals, the presumably greatest-of-them-all godfather of Bach's Cello Suites, really goes overboard with this approach, so it sounds more like a free jazz solo than anything else - try dancing a menuet or allemande to Casals and you'll break your legs.
I also got a pile of other cello versions as well as a transcription for guitar and another one for flute (only the first three, though). Alison Balsom does Sarabande and Gigue from the second suite on her Bach For Trumpet album, and they are OK - she arpeggiates the chords, which must be crazy difficult to play and doesn't sound so good, IMHO.
Now I want to hear the suites on marimba!
I am not nearly advanced enough to play the Cello Suite transcriptions, so instead I am listening to as many versions as I can. So far the interpretation I like the most are Edgar Meyer's double bass transcriptions. He treats the dances as dances, with a steady pulse underneath. Most of the trad cellists play them rubato, one phrase at a time, which makes it difficult for me to follow. Pablo Casals, the presumably greatest-of-them-all godfather of Bach's Cello Suites, really goes overboard with this approach, so it sounds more like a free jazz solo than anything else - try dancing a menuet or allemande to Casals and you'll break your legs.
I also got a pile of other cello versions as well as a transcription for guitar and another one for flute (only the first three, though). Alison Balsom does Sarabande and Gigue from the second suite on her Bach For Trumpet album, and they are OK - she arpeggiates the chords, which must be crazy difficult to play and doesn't sound so good, IMHO.
Now I want to hear the suites on marimba!
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