Romanticized Scarlatti Sonatas as Transcribed by Granados
J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 08/28/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Enrique Granados (1867-1916) transcribed twenty-six of Domenico Scarlatti's sonatas for piano. In the early years of the twentieth century, when these transcriptions were made, Scarlatti's keyboard music was not performed nearly as much as it later became and certainly these works were not performed on the harpsichord which was an almost unknown instrument then. Further, much of Scarlatti's music was not even in print; Granados's transcriptions were actually made from Scarlatti manuscripts that had only recently been discovered. It was thus as a service to the memory of Scarlatti that Granados made these transcriptions. It must be noted, however, that he followed the musical practices of that time by making transcriptions that were not scrupulously faithful to the originals. And thus these 26 pieces have some, to our modern ears, shocking transgressions such as use of bass octaves and passages in thirds and sixths, as well as modifications of the original harmonies. There is also a tendency in his editing to suggest Romantic phrasing and dynamics, e.g. con sentimento un poco appassionatamente e suplicante, or molto ad libitum e con tenerezza.
Those modern-day listeners with close familiarity with Scarlatti's original must thus keep an open mind about these transcriptions. They are however, for what they are, expert, musical and pleasing. One interesting observation though is that if anything Granados has toned down Scarlatti's typical Spanish flavor, an oddity considering how Spanish much of Granados's own original music sounds. One also notices that much of this music is played more slowly than we've come to expect at least partly because the textures of these piano transcriptions are fuller than those of the harpsichord originals.
El Paso, Texas native Douglas Riva is a musicologist and pianist long resident in Spain where he has been for several years making, with Alicia de Larrocha, a complete edition of Granados's piano works. His performances are excellent overall but there are a few places where his playing seems a bit careful.
Scott Morrison"
