Arranging Orchestral Music for the King of Instruments:

An Applied Analysis of Arrangements by Beethoven, Lemare and Liszt

Part I

Jens Korndoerfer
Arrangements for keyboard instruments played a signicant role in the musical life of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Based on an analysis of writings and arrangements by Ludwig van Beethoven (i.e., the composer arranging his own works), Edwin H. Lemare (i.e., a prolic arranger for the organ) and Franz Liszt (i.e., a prolic arranger for the piano), this paper discusses their respective reasons for arranging and their techniques of arrangement. Their reasons for arranging orchestral works for keyboard instruments range from the arrangement being benecial to the original work (i.e., Liszt) to the arrangement being benecial to the instrument for which the arrangement was written (i.e., Lemare). The discussion of technical aspects includes modications of the original by the arranger (i.e., Liszt), techniques specic to the organ such as double pedal and playing with one hand on two manuals (i.e., Lemare) and the transfer of writing specic to one family of instruments to another one, e.g., the adaption of string writing to the piano (i.e., Beethoven). The author has applied the results of his research in his own arrangement for organ of the Second Movement from Ludwig van Beethovens Fifth Symphony. Excerpts from this arrangement are presented after each analytical section, together with an explanation of the decision-making process during the making of the arrangement. This paper concludes with an evaluation of the benets of arrangements for the organ in todays music scene. then, the focus in both performance and research has been on the original composition, not its (sometimes numerous) arrangements for different instruments and/or ensembles. Given the questionable artistic standards of many arrangements (e.g., Julius Andrs arrangement of the Second Movement from Beethovens Fifth Symphony; included in Appendix 2),2 this was denitely an understandable and maybe even necessary development. As such, despite the signicant number of published arrangements in the nineteenth century, little research has been done on the subject. Almost one century later, it seems to be appropriate to re-evaluate primary sources of arrangements in their historical context. With this purpose in mind, I will focus on three key gures: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Franz Liszt and Edwin H. Lemare. The study of their transcriptions provides answers to the many questions about the process of arranging. Beethovens arrangements of his own compositions give the composers own perspective on arranging; Liszt was one of the most prolic and probably one of the most important arrangers for the piano; what Liszt accomplished on the piano in the realm of arrangements, Lemare did on the organ (as well as contributing frequently to scholarly journals). The analysis of the arrangements and writings of these three arrangers provides a window into the culture of arrangements in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In this paper, therefore, I will begin by describing the various

purposes and benets of arrangements according to Liszt and Lemare. I will also discuss Lemares philosophy of organ performance based on his own writings in as far as it affects the interpretation of arrangements. Secondly, I will analyze arrangements by Liszt, Lemare and most importantly by Beethoven. Each analytical section will be followed by examples of my own arrangement for organ of the Second Movement from Beethovens Fifth Symphony (referred to hereafter as Beethoven V/2), in which I have applied the results of my research (the entire version can be found in Appendix 1). Finally, I will conclude by commenting on the general function and purpose of arrangements in todays concert repertoire.

lines, so to speak.4 This quote contains several revealing facts: - Lemare was not the rst to perform (or make) arrangements, but he believed himself to be the rst to make the contemporary orchestral repertoire a staple of his recitals; - He believed organ programs to be old-fashioned and conservative, most likely unattractive for the general public; including arrangements would remedy this situation; - In his view, the organ did in 1903 not yet have its proper position among the solo instruments. Whereas there can be no doubt that Lemare believed the inclusion of arrangements of modern orchestral works into organ concert programs to be benecial for the status of the organ, he was not one of those who considered that the organ could replace the orchestra: I am not one of those who would ever say that the organ can imitate the orchestra. This it can never do, but I consider that a great amount of the most beautiful orchestral music can, when played on a good instrument, be made most effective.5 The key phrase is when played on a good instrument: the quality of the organ is intrinsically related to the success and even the feasibility of arrangements. Later, we will encounter a similar claim made by Liszt with regards to arrangements for the piano. We are faced, however, with the question of why Lemare advocated the performance of organ arrangements if in his own opinion - the organ cannot imitate the original version for orchestra. He provided the answer with the follow-

II. Arrangements from the View of Edwin H. Lemare and Franz Liszt
Arranging ones own or other composers music has been a common practice for hundreds of years, beginning with intabulations in the fourteenth century (e.g., Robertsbridge Codex, Codex Faenza, etc.). The reasons for this practice have been manifold: enlargement of repertoire, commercial benets, artistic apprenticeship (e.g., Bachs keyboard arrangements of Vivaldis concertos) or necessity. In this section, I will give two signicantly different views of arrangements in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, based on quotations by Lemare and Liszt. During their lifetime, both of them were widely renowned as performers, composers and prolic arrangers. Their writings explain the purpose of their arrangements and were fundamental in setting the guidelines for my own arrangement of Beethoven V/2 for the organ.

Edwin H. Lemare
Edwin H. Lemare was a British organist who immigrated to the United States in 1900, where he served as civic (or city) organist in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Portland and Chattanooga. Already in England, he had been well known for his arrangements (in particular of Richard Wagners operas, as we will see later in this paper), and they became a staple of his repertoire in his municipal positions in the States.3 The following quotations explain why he performed orchestral music on the organ and what he expected from it: My great aim for the last 10 years has been to raise the organ to its proper position as a solo instrument. I was one of the rst seriously to ght the cause of introducing modern orchestral works in the form of transcriptions for the organ, whereby I hoped to get organ programs out of the old ruts or

I. Introduction
Mon nouvel orgue? Cest un orchestre!1 Composer and organist Csar Franck (1822-1890) expressed the common view of the nineteenth century, comparing the organs kaleidoscope of colors to the variety of sounds in the orchestra. Transcribing orchestral music for, and performing it on the organ was, therefore, self-evident. Throughout the nineteenth and in the early twentieth centuries, arrangements played an important role in the popularization of music. Organ arrange-

ments of orchestral compositions - such as Richard Wagners Opera Overtures arranged by Edwin H. Lemare (18651934), and Franz Liszts (1811- 1886) piano versions of Ludwig van Beethovens Symphonies - were renowned, and more than 50% of compilations like Alexander Wilhelm Gottschalgs (1827-1908) Repertorium fr Orgel, Harmonium oder Pedalgel unter Revision und mit Beitrgen von Franz Liszt consisted of arrangements. This situation changed in the early twentieth century with the birth of the historical performance movement. Since

3 For further information, please refer to Lemares autobiography: Edwin H. Lemare, Organs I have met (Los Angeles: The Schoolcraft Company, 1956). 1 Csar Franck, quoted from Vindent dIndy, Csar Franck (Paris: F. Alcan, 1906), 33. 2 Ludwig van Beethoven, Andante con moto, from the Fifth Symphony, arr. for the organ by Julius Andr (Offenbach: Johann Andr, n.d.). http://erato.uvt. nl/les/imglnks/usimg/a/af/IMSLP90497-PMLP01586-8_Book3Book_3.pdf (Accessed Oct. 26, 2012). 4 Edwin H. Lemare, Adelaide Advertiser (September 3, 1903), quoted from Edwin H. Lemare, The Organ Music of Edwin H. Lemare. Series II (Transcriptions), Vol. IV (Boston: Wayne Leupold, 1992), 4. 5 Ibid, 4.

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SPRING 2013 | THE ORGAN | No 363

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