Renato Vinicius wrote:

>During all the years of CM listening I have noted that some musics have
>the ability to keep it's core characteristics when diferent instruments
>are used to play them, and others are not.
>
>For exemple, a two part invention of J.S.Bach, writen for haspichard can be
>played with violins, guitars, on the piano or with a choir without loosing
>it's identity, beauty etc.  But a Prelude of Chopin, or a Beethoven Quartet
>can not - or it will sound 'nonsense' or akward?

Bach's music is, no doubt, the most transcribable and the most transcribed
of all composers.  This says something about Bach's music -- although I'm
not exactly certain what.  Something positive, I'm sure.

Of course, Bach often transcribed himself.  There are numerous examples of
this.  His six so-called "Schubler" choral preludes for organ, for example,
are almost literal, not-for-note transcriptions of movements from earlier
cantatas.  (Herr Schubler was the publisher, incidentally, thus the
sobriquet.) There are many other, more well-known, examples.

I've heard Bach played on the most amazing array of "instruments".
Of course one can transcribe any music for performance on any device
which produces a diatonic scale.  The "trick" is to have the "new" music
sound good.  Music made-up mainly of musical "lines" lends itself to
transcription.  And Bach was certainly a "line" composer without equal.

Of course there is also the argument that Bach would sound good played on
a picket fence!!  (assuming the pickets were diatonically tuned!) Any this
is literally true.  Why is this? Well, again, because Bach was a master at
composing an interesting (pleasant) running line of melody.  The LINE in
Bach is all-important.  (Set aside the fact that several running lines
together produce contrapuntal music.) In other words, much of Bach's music
is (Hold on, now!) --- monophonic.  Or, more correctly, several monophonic
lines running together in time.

Other music -- say the music of Mahler -- is not predominantly "line" but
relies heavily on harmony and (in Mahler's case) instrumentation (i.e.
orchestration).  Transcribe Mahler for marimba??? I don't think so.
Transcribe Bach for marimba -- sounds great!

My two cents...

Dave Pitzer