This is María and this is Hester. Together we are the CONSORT COUNSELLORS!
A while ago we presented a guide to transcribe vocal music for recorder consort.
Today we would like to give you a few tips to transcribe polyphonic instrumental music,
which, in general, works very well on recorders.
By "polyphonic" music we mean that the pieces are written for a fixed set of voices
which you can clearly follow in the score - and also, of course, while listening.
You may find this type of writing in compositions for keyboards, plucked strings
or any other instruments able to produce several notes simultaneously - like the marimba!
Here follow a few tricks and tips to transcribe this repertoire for recorders.
We hope you will enjoy this challenge!
When you are arranging for a specific setting, for example, a quartet,
you look for pieces written for four voices...
In some editions, the amount of parts is notated on top of the piece, like this.
In this case we can see that the piece is written for 4 voices.
Or, perhaps, there will be as many layers of rests as there are voices,
like in this example where we clearly see: 1, 2, 3, 4 voices.
When it is not immediately clear from the score how many parts the piece is written for,
we suggest that you start looking from the beginning.
In many cases all voices will start together and you can clearly follow them, like in this example:
In other pieces the different voices will enter in turns, either one by one, or in "blocks" with different functions.
In this example by Robert Frenzel we see three different 'teams': first we hear the bass alone, then the top voice alone
and then a block of three accompanying lines joining.
So, in total we have five voices.
Once you've looked at the beginning, scan through the piece to check if the amount of voices you found is correct.
Sometimes there might be voices entering later on, and then you are in trouble.
Sometimes you may find single chords, or even short passages in which suddenly there are "extra notes".
The composer may be doing this to achieve a fuller texture.
For example, in this four-part choral by Pachelbel, the end of the second phrase has five notes.
The second voice seems to "split in two".
If you have more than one player per part, you can divide these two notes among the players.
When you play with just one player on a part, you will have to make a choice.
Which of the two notes are you going to play?
There are two criteria that may be helpful for this:
You may go for the most natural melodic movement for the voice that is splitting...
...or you may choose to play as many different pitches as possible in the final chord, for a 'fuller' harmony.
If you try both options and play a bit around with these choices, you will develop a sense of what works best.
When several voices, up to five or six, are "squeezed" into a keyboard reduction,
it can be very tricky to tell them apart, especially the middle voices.
To save you some thinking, try to find editions in which the voice leading is marked on the score
on moments which may otherwise be unclear. This is usually done in two ways:
One way is that the stems of the same voice are always going in the same direction.
Here, all the stems up correspond to the top voice, and the stems down to the second voice.
A second way is to draw a line between the notes that belong to a certain voice,
so that you can easily follow it.
Once you have studied carefully the amount of voices and the voice leading,
we suggest that you copy the music into your music notation programme,
and you assign each voice to a separate staff.
Keep the original clefs, as you find them in the score, so that you also keep the original relation between the voices.
When you are ready, check the range of each voice and write it down.
On which recorders would these ranges fit?
If you need help with the range of the recorders in relation to the different clefs,
you can use the table we leave in the video description!
If you want to try different settings, or if you don't have these specific sizes of recorder at your disposal,
you can think of different transpositions.
The easiest is an octave transposition: we replace each recorder for one that sounds an octave higher and keep the original tonality.
Other transpositions may be possible too!
For example, if you don't have a contrabass but you do have a great bass,
you may want this instrument to play the bass line.
The great bass sounds a fourth higher than the contrabass,
so the first thing we can try is to transpose the piece a fourth up.
Now we can play the piece with a consort consisting of
alto, tenor, basset and great bass!
Another possibility is to transpose the piece a fifth higher, so that the range is not so low.
This range fits comfortably as well, but the fingerings are very different.
It is probably worth trying both options, to see what works best!
The great news is: nowadays we work with music notation programmes and they TRANSPOSE for YOU!
Sometimes, you may find that the range of some of the parts is not suiting the recorders very well.
In a nutshell, we can speak of four types of problems:
Problem 1: The range is way too wide for the recorder and this goes on for a large portion of the piece.
Then I'm afraid this piece is off the table!
Unless you are willing to split each part over two players using different instruments...
In general, we are not fond of 'jumping' down or up the octave
when the range of the instrument is "over" and the music does not fit anymore.
The reason why is that composers usually thought very carefully about the intervals between the voices.
If we play around with that, we may make the music sound less good than in the original version.
The second type of problem: the piece is in a tonality that may make things VERY hard...
You may be able to solve this problem by transposing the piece into a different tonality.
The third type of problem can be that the range is just a little bit "wrong".
A little bit too high or too low for one or more voices, for a limited amount of time.
You may be able to solve this problem by transposing as well.
Perhaps, when you change the tonality all the ranges will suit some of your recorders.
If there is a short fragment that is out of range for one of the players,
consider that there may be another player,
playing on a different size of recorder that does have those notes.
If this person has rests, he or she may take them over.
Or, if this is possible,
you can exchange parts for a short period of time.
Since we play in a homogeneous ensemble - we all play recorders - this won't be very obvious. So, keep your secrets!
Finally, some pieces may seem to be out of range
because the bass plays a descending fifth in a final cadence
and goes into a particularly low note
to add sonority to the harmony.
Those are easy to solve, since it's standard to go either down a fifth or up a fourth in a final cadence.
You can easily put the final note up the octave, like in this example, and everybody will be happy.
Although it may seem contradictory, it is usually harder to transcribe music - especially keyboard repertoire -
written for two or three voices than for more.
With less voices in the composition, the hands have more freedom to go up and down the keyboard.
Therefore the range becomes much larger.
So, if you decide to make your own arrangements after watching today's episode,
we suggest that you start with music for four or even five voices.
To make thing easier, look for a piece without a pedal part, if it's originally for organ.
A little word about organ scores, which can be tricky...!
Sometimes, in organ scores you will find three staves:
the upper two are connected as a group and correspond to the manual - the keyboard.
The lowest staff is for the pedal.
In this example, it looks as if the first pitch of the left hand and the first pitch of the pedal is the same...
But this is not the case!
The 4' indication below the pedal note means that it's played on a four-foot register,
which sounds an octave higher than notated.
So, the pedal part is not the lowest voice of the piece, since it sounds an octave higher than it's written! Exciting!
The pedal may also have a 16-foot stop, which means it will sound an octave below the left hand of the keyboard.
However, in practice, when a pedal part has no register marking, or when it's marked 16'
organists usually combine both the 16' and the 8' registers. So, they play in octaves!
You can compare this to the cello and the contrabass playing together in the orchestra.
Therefore, we advice that you transcribe unmarked pedal parts and parts marked for 16' as they are written.
If you have enough players and instruments, you can consider doubling the pedal part an octave lower.
Or, if the register of the pedal line is very close to the left hand of the manual,
you can consider bringing the pedal an octave down. With your good judgement you can tell which option is best!
Even though the Internet is filled with Bach transcriptions...
... by making your own transcriptions you learn a lot about the composition you are arranging.
After the process, you can easily judge if you have done a good job, if it works, yes or no...
Think "out of the box": try unknown composers and pieces from different styles and periods.
In this way you can provide your ensemble with new, unique repertoire all the time!
If you are enthusiastic about our tips, and you like to give it a try,
please do so, and send us your arrangements! We will give you a shoutout in one of our next episodes.
Since today we have been speaking so much about organ music,
we would like to recommend you the YouTube channel of a WONDERFUL organist.
His name is Matthias Havinga. He is one of the organ professors at the Amsterdam Conservatoire.
He is also Hester's husband, but that's not the reason why we recommend him,
we do so because he is fantastic!
If you like our videos and you enjoy our work...
... please subscribe to our channel and you will never miss any video of the Consort Counsellors.
See you next week, bye bye!
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