New CD release, J.S. Bach, Goldberg BWV988 (arranged for solo marimba) by Pius Cheung is now availabe at the following music stores:
i am very curious... has anyone heard this? this was music was considered unplayable for the most part for a long time, even by talented harpsichordists... until glenn gould kicked it out in the fifties... on a piano.
when he says "arranged", what exactly has been done? is it played in a simplified watered down form, or did he really mean transcribed... though in itself is a misnomer, considering that jsb himself did not concern himself too much with which particular keyboard instrument was being used at the time. with js bach and marimba... it is never "really" a transcription, considering the common practice at the time of playing the music on whatever keyboard instrument was most readily available at the time. has anyone that truly knows the music, heard this? what are your opinions?
jsb
You can check out sound clips of each track on Pius's website: www.piuscheung.com.
I don't know the piece well enough to comment on any adaptive changes, but I don't think he changes very much. Some of the faster variations are a bit slower, but overall, the CD is within a minute or so of Gould's 1981 recording. I'm sure you can email Pius to get a more detailed response.
SM
Hi,
This is Pius. A friend of mine saw your message. Thank you for your interest.
Well, my version isn't much different from the original music. I just took some notes that are out of range up an octave. And since most of the variations are really clear-cut 4 voices or less, I didn't have to cut any voices. Some of the traditionally faster variations on keyboard is a little slower in my interpretation. Also add/eliminated/changed some ornaments.
You are right. Its not really an 'arrangement' or 'transcription'. Its more like an adaptation, since I didn't do much changes to it. Ideally, I wouldn't even call it arrangement, adaptation, etc... but for clarity purposes that its on solo marimba, I just named it 'arranged for solo marimba'.
Also, I didn't do any repeats. I felt it does the music more justice to either do ALL repeats or not repeat at all, since the piece itself is already perfectly architected.
I had been worried if I am offending pianists and harpsichordists by playing the Goldberg on marimba, but luckily all the keyboardists I know, for example Gary Graffman, Martin Pearlman (conductor of Boston Baroque) liked it.
Please check out some samples on my website, www.piuscheung.com, or on the itunes music store. Also, I wrote an essay on the CD booklet, which is also on my website, about Bach on marimba.
I'd love to hear your feedbacks. Thank you again for your interest.
Pius
Great cd, who would of thought it could be pulled off?
