Tremolo
The string group in an orchestra has a very important role, which is behind the main melody as a background. A large number of string tremolo (on the same note or fifth) appeared in the Franck symphony, and it was replaced by a sixteenth note in Calvin Hampton's transcription.
In this section, the right hand corresponds to the part of the violin group in the score, which retaining the melody course direction of the highest part, and the reason why the lower 16 notes alternately from d to a instead of a to d is the third beat. If from the bottom to high (d to f), then the d and g sharp will become an increase of four degrees, in order to avoid this situation, the editor will choose from d to f.
This piece of music is coming from some of the tune in the Chinese Yue opera, so the violin solo is also based on the use of folk instruments and the use of portamento, as the sub-melody of the cello part played with the organ, how to maintain this as much as possible, which make their cooperation more perfect.
Also, with the development of technology, more and more technology has joined and applied to the organ.
Solo
The sound of solo instrument does not appear in large numbers in orchestral works, but if it dose, it needs to be treated very seriously. "The Butterfly Lovers" Violin Concerto is a violin concerto, with several parts of the cello appearing in the form of a duet to show the theme.
The cello sound is perfectly matched to the violin, and the organ sound can use the more prominent solo sound stops to make the two instruments fit better.
Transcription is the adaptation of a musical work for a sounding medium different from that in which it was originally composed, was for centuries an uncontroversial practice.
In the age of recording, transcriptions were no longer a practical necessity for the dissemination of music, and ideas of the inviolability of the musical work, the obligation to respect composers’ intentions, tone color as an integral part of a composition, and the importance of authenticity in performance made it difficult to maintain the status of transcription as a serious artistic activity.
———— 《Transcription as the Performer’s Strategic Tool: The Case of Edwin Lemare and the Organ》 Sverker Jullander Lulleå University of Technology
“Simulate a symphony orchestra from the color of sound”
The organ is a musical instrument with its own unique tone. Because the sound is full and varied, it can express different musical colors. Its basic sounding principle is caused by the wind blowing into the sound tube. Therefore, most of the organ has flute, oboe, trumpet and other musical instrument stops and a small number of string tube stops such as gamba etc... based on those stops and adding the foundation stops, it is easy to achieve the effect of the orchestra sound. In addition to the stops using, the most important part is to integrate some adaptation methods and the articulation for the performers.
Speaking of transcription, I have to mention Edwin Lemare a British and American organist, a world-renowned performer and composer of the early 20th century. He is particularly well-known for his transcription and is an extremely productive adaptor. His solo concerts feature a wide range of repertoire, in addition to playing traditional organ music, as well as improvisation and transcription, especially transcription of orchestral music.
Next, I will use the three groups of instruments, string instruments, woodwind instruments, and brass commonly used in the Symphony Orchestra to combine the transcriptions of Edwin Lemare and the transcriptions of "The Butterfly Lovers" Violin Concerto as some examples to analysis.
Pizz.
In 2019, 09.08. Uhr, Michaeliskirche Leipzig had a concert by Henry Fairs (UK). He played Robert Schumann Vier Skizzen Fur den Pedalflugel Op.58. This music is written by Schumann for the piano and the pedal. After hearing Henry’s transcription, through the pedal's choice of sound, perfectly demonstrates how to play bass strings correctly on the organ. The low-frequency vibration makes me feel the infinite possibilities of the organ.
There are eighth notes in the score. According to the actual performance, string instruments playing pizz. sounds shorter than eighth notes. In order to ensure the effect of playing, so that the keyboard contact time should be the same with the orchestra score (eight notes length). For example by using detaches to play the note. Because according to the organ sound, the lower the sound zone, the retention time should be longer. We cannot ignore the reason that how to make the organ have sound.
Group
Long sentence ( Strings with flute)
Even if the same instrument appears in combination, the sound effect will be very different. Solo instrument emphasizes individuality and uniqueness. And the ensemble highlights the cooperation and the overall effect.
Some pipe organs have string pipe stops, such as Gamba and Voix Celeste, although there are string stops, I barely see other composers were using them to express the string part of the orchestra. Because their sounds are so unique, they don't work together. Normally, they were superimposing the foundation stops 8, 4 feet to achieve the fullness of the middle frequency, playing the role of the sound of the string music group feeling in the orchestra.
This part of the tremolo is composed of the tremolo on the viola and the cello. The simplest is to determine the direction of the tremolo based on the pitch
My transctiption steps
1. Get familiar with the music as much as possible.
Listen to different versions of the music and find inspiration to find the sound effect you want.
2. Read the score and observe the composition of the instrument, and imagine the effect.
3. Listen to the audio with the score and determine the main melody and accompaniment part. I will put the main part as far as possible in the right handed position. Doublebass, Tube and other low tone instruments are usually placed on the pedle.
4. Look at the score of the instrument to find the correct harmony, and adjust it according to the organ's playing habits.
5. Pay attention to the connection before and after (preferably adapted on a sentence basis)
Woodwind instruments sound, brass instruments sound and organs sound are all caused by airflow into the pipe, the Wood Instrument and Brass are the most convenient to switch to the organ. Flute, oboe, and clarinet often have some solo sentences, so the choice of stops in the organ needs to be highlighted in the selection of the tone. Also trying to do as more similar as possible with the playing articulation for the organ. Except that, during my transcription, I also need to pay attention to the strength of the voice in the entire song.
When its part is not prominent, and its intensity of the sound are lower than the accompaniment and harmony parts, then I will omit it (usually occurs in the wood part)
According to other composers’s transcription, in “The Butterfly Lovers” Violin Concerto. First I will checking the harmony for this section. Based on the recordings of other composers, first of all in the "Butterfly Lovers" violin concerto, I will check the harmony of this part. According to actual performance, the violin and viola parts are the accompaniment of the violin solo. I will use the solf flute to be the background, and make the sound of violin solo very clear.
The same instrument group can be merged, the same playing method can be combined, and the low-pitched instruments also can put it together.
Non-music professional listeners can hear 2 to 3 effective voices. If you have been trained as a skilled musician, maybe you can hear five or more, after that, you might feel confused. a symphony works. It is important to effectively integrate it to match the organ playing habits.
In this part, the French horn and the second violin are part of the accompaniment. The French horn emphasizes the chord-based rhythm. The violin is played with flowing sixteen notes in the harmony. Since the main melody and the sub-melody are also have some moving flow and volume are more prominent, I chose to discard the second violin part and retain the horn.
“spf”
Most of the organ has only one swell box to control the volume of the swell. Due to the mechanical linkage, it does not have the ability to quickly operate “sfp".
It can be found that the string only plays the role of the background in this part. Combined with the adaptation method of the upper tremolo, it can be changed to the figure like this Which shows that it has a short break between the last half-beat of the first bar and the first beat of the second bar. This short break can easily emphasize on the first sound of the violin in each bar. This is another way to express “spf
"The Butterfly Lovers" Concerto has been adapted by many Chinese folk instruments in China. Because the erhu is also string instrument, it has been played a lot.
