Klarinet Archive - Posting 000683.txt from 1995/05

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: weird keys
Date: Wed, 24 May 1995 16:37:25 -0400

On Wed, 24 May 1995, Tom Ascher wrote:

> Another tangent on key subject: Is anyone familiar with examples where
> works have been transposed to alternate keys when shifted from a piano
> work to an orchestral work; or from a concerto for one instrument (say
> a violin) to a concerto for another instrument (say a flute)?

Mozart transposed his Concerto in C Major for Oboe to D Major, and it is
now known as the Concerto in D Major for Flute. Also, he wrote a
Concerto in G Major for Flute. I have heard it performed in F Major on
the Oboe. It works well, and the justification is just as supportable as
in the former case.

But, piano to orchestra? I think Pictures at an Exhibition has always
been transcribed (by a dozen or so composers/arrangers) in the key in
which Ravel wrote it. And, the Brahms Variations on a Theme of Haydn is
in the same key in the 2-piano and orchestral versions. Off the top of
my head, I can't think of any instances in well-known works where the key
has been changed for orchestra.

Ed Lacy
el2=evansville