[tbpt60] – A. Vivaldi – Violin Concerto in E major Op 8 No 1 / RV 269 ‘La Primavera’ (Quattro Stagioni) (‘Spring’, of the “Four Seasons” cycle) – piano transcription

original piano transcription of Antonio Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in E major Op 8 No 1 / RV 269 ‘La Primavera’ (Quattro Stagioni) (‘Spring’, of the “Four Seasons” cycle)

composition date: 1723

transcription date: 2011 (April 29, 30)

complete piano transcription (piano solo arrangement) of all 3 movements:

1. Allegro
2. Largo
3. Allegro

Score

IMSLP.org composition page (download mp3 / pdf score)

Recordings

IMSLP.org composition page (download mp3 / pdf score)

YouTube channel (embedded links below)

Comment

In Spring 2011 I decided to embark a most ambitious project: the complete piano solo transcription of Vivaldi’s Quattro Stagioni (Four Seasons). At the very beginning I was mostly spurred by the “Estate”, and actually that’s the first concert of the four that I started transcribing, but I soon switched to Primavera, and (I still can’t believe it) completed it in a couple of days.

I went all out in this project, pouring in all my techniques, all my musical art. I couldn’t/didn’t devote all my time, though. Every time I completed a concerto the significance I perceived in the accomplished feat made the next target seem bigger and tougher, making me hesitant to approach it. Not to mention that the closer I grew to complete a concerto the more a stickler for details I became. Over time my perception of the project’s significance in my transcribing endeavours became bigger and bigger, up to the point where it became the lifetime’s work, so I wanted to make it as best as I could.

The idea was to transcribe each Concerto during its own Season and complete the whole project within a year. I manage to complete it within the assigned year, but not always following the seasons. “Spring” (this one) was indeed transcribed during Spring, but I started “Summer” in Spring and completed it in Autumn. I transcribed “Winter” during the coldest period of Winter, but I had skipped “Autumn”, that I later started and finished before next Spring came.

Project codes were assigned in advance as multiples of 10: tbpt60 – Spring; tbpt70 – Summer; tbpt80 – Autumn; tbpt90 – Winter, so that I later found myself, inevitably, with plenty of “open slots” to fill between them.

The YouTube video features all movements in one video. On IMSLP you can stream and download individual mp3 files.

See also

Vivaldi piano transcriptions

[tbpt125] – L. Boccherini – String Quartet in E major Op 2 No 5 / G 163 – piano transcription

original piano transcription of Luigi Boccherini’s String Quartet Op 2 No 5 in E major G 163

composition date: 1761

transcription date:

• 3rd movement: 2013 (13 October)
• 2nd movement: 2013 (13  October – 8 November)
• 1st movement: 2013 (25 October – 3 November (except two (!) notes, changed on 8 November))

complete piano transcription (piano solo arrangement) of all 3 movements:

1. Allegro moderato
2. Adagio
3. Allegro assai

Score

IMSLP.org work page (download mp3 / pdf score)

Recordings

IMSLP.org work page (download mp3 / pdf score)

YouTube channel (embedded links below)

Comment

(for a general comment see String Quartet Op 2 No 3 / G 161)

Here again I transcribed the slow movement at the digital piano (“mostly”, not “entirely”), to sequence it later.

The “two(!)” changed notes mentioned above refer to an F# octave at the left hand in the first half of the first movement, that I had originally written at a certain pitch, then transposed one octave below and thought to be final on 3 November, then changed back again last minute on 8 November while producing the youtube videos. Looking at the score the correct way would be “lower” (3 November version) but listening / comparing to the original it doesn’t feel quite right as the “higher” version.

Later in the first movement there is a cool cello passage in tercets played at it highest pitch. In order to render on the piano the significance of the instrument playing near the highest limit of its pitch, I transcribed it even higher for the piano, just where it feels you are playing really high on the piano. I did this trick only in the first half: in the recapitulation, I transcribed at the same pitch the cello actually plays.

In the last movement I had a dilemma with the passage starting at [16]. At first I transposed the repeated F# s an octave higher, but then I couldn’t play the two bass notes F# – B, so I turned them back. Shows how much a sucker I am for bass notes.

See also

Boccherini piano transcriptions