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Originally Posted by ADziuk Besides, I don't think you guys know your music history very well if you are that much of a purist. Bach, Handel, Beethoven, etc. all took many of their own works and rearranged them later. Also, often they took each other's works and rearranged them later. |
You're right, BUT the genius of Bach lies in his PERFECT balance and proportion. Bach would have no problem arranging the ripieno parts because there would still be a balance between the ripieno and concertino. As long as all the voices within the ripieno are treated equally in the reduction, the balance stays intact. Similarly, the four concertino voices could be reduced to a keyboard part, to be played with the original or reduced ripieno parts. However, when you take a single voice of the concertino and incorporate the remaining three voices into the ripieno, you turn a concerto grosso into a standard concerto. This simply doesn't work. The counterpoint between the soloists is destroyed when the voices are prioritized. Bach would have never re-arranged a work in this way. It seems odd, but in theory (and practice), BWV 1047 works better for 4 kazoos and orchestra than solo trumpet and organ. Sorry
Jimi Michiel
BM, trumpet and musicology
MM, musicology (in progress)
PS Check out the analysis of Bach's transcriptions of his own works in Christoph Wolff's recent monograph Bach: The Learned Musician if you don't believe me