The convention of a composer transcribing and even embroidering on the work of another composer is one of the oldest in western music. Parody masses, beginning at least as early as the fourteenth century, employed a popular melody, or the melody of another composer, as one of the lines in its polyphonic structure. Bach made arrangements of Vivaldi concerti and transcriptions of operatic selections were a staple of the repertoire of nineteenth century piano virtuosi. The practice has fallen somewhat out of favor in the ...
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The convention of a composer transcribing and even embroidering on the work of another composer is one of the oldest in western music. Parody masses, beginning at least as early as the fourteenth century, employed a popular melody, or the melody of another composer, as one of the lines in its polyphonic structure. Bach made arrangements of Vivaldi concerti and transcriptions of operatic selections were a staple of the repertoire of nineteenth century piano virtuosi. The practice has fallen somewhat out of favor in the twentieth century, however, with its emphasis on purity and period authenticity. Folk song arrangements are still considered acceptable, but a project of the scale and audacity of Aribert Reimann's arrangements of masterpieces of German Romantic lieder is unusual.Reimann is not a household name on the U.S. music scene, but in Germany he is one of the most successful and best-known composers of opera and vocal music. He is also a skilled accompanist intimately familiar with the lieder...
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