Klarinet Archive - Posting 000685.txt from 1995/05

From: Tom Izzo <tji@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: weird keys
Date: Wed, 24 May 1995 17:35:28 -0400

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On Wed, 24 May 1995, Edwin V. Lacy wrote:

> 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.
>
UNFORTUNATELY arrangers always want to change them for wind groups ie:
Band, Wind Ensemble, Clarinet Choirs, Brass Quintet, etc. How
unfortunate.

Tom
tji@-----.edu