Transcriptions for Cello: Why and How?

To extend and diversify our repertoire we have several possible options:

• compose new music ourselves
• commission other people to compose new music
• dig deeper into the catalogues of lesser-known composers to find more pieces originally written for cello
• make adaptations (transcriptions) for the cello of masterworks that were not originally written for this instrument

By far the easiest and most satisfying solution is the last option, which is the source of almost all of the music in the cellofun.eu repertoire catalogue/library.

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Of all the beautiful music that exists in the world, only a tiny fraction was conceived originally for the cello. Although music usually sounds better – and is almost always easier to play – on the instrument for which it was conceived, this doesn’t necessarily mean that all this wonderful repertoire can’t  – or shouldn’t – be played on the cello (or on any other “non-original” instrument). After a little transcription and adaptation work, we can make playable on the cello most of the greatest pieces not only from the entire classical repertoire but also from the repertoire of jazz, rock, pop, bossa nova, folk etc.

A great masterpiece, “borrowed” from the repertoire of another instrument (including the voice) is quite possibly more satisfying, both for players and listeners, than a less-inspired composition conceived for the original instrument. This concept is especially applicable to the quite limited (reduced) cello repertoire because cello technique has evolved so much, that we can now play beautifully, music that would have been considered unplayable (too difficult) for the average cellist not so long ago.

If Mozart could have heard modern cellists, we might, like violinists, have five magnificent Mozart cello concertos and 36 Mozart cello sonatas in our repertoire. However, because he didn’t, the best we can do now is just to quietly borrow and adapt for cello, the masterpieces that he did write for the violin (and other instruments). I like to think that Mozart (and all other composers) would be pleased that their music was so loved. And violinists can’t really complain as we have taken nothing away from them: we use the word “stolen” as a joke but, in fact, even the word “borrowed” is too strong to describe this process of transcription as it also implies, inaccurately, that if we have it, then they can’t use it.

It’s fun and instructive to compare the cello to other instruments  – and to imitate their characteristics by playing their music. If we consider the saxophone, clarinet, flute and violin as being like flying birds, and the double bass like a dancing elephant, then the cello would be the equivalent perhaps of  …….. a flying cow? And the french horn could be perhaps that same cow dancing on a tightrope! The cello is very well suited to playing vocal music but, like the horn, is not really suited to virtuosic music or fast jazz improvisations as it’s just too big and slow. But if we want to develop a fast, light-footed virtuoso technique it’s great to at least try to play fast pieces, written originally for those flying instruments, on the cello.

Let’s look now in more detail at the transposition process, first in general and then specifically for each different original instrument

TRANSCRIBING MUSIC FOR THE CELLO: REGISTER, KEYS AND COMFORT

There is no point playing a piece if it is going to sound bad. Often, the process of adaptation to the cello is greatly benefitted by transposing the original music into a different key, in which the music lies (and therefore sounds) the best on the cello. Unfortunately for the transcriber, this means that the accompaniment will also have to be rewritten in the new key. This painful task only needs to be done once, however, whereas publishing a transcription in its original (uncomfortable) key or register condemns all players to eternal suffering.

To find the right key we need to take into account two main factors: register and comfort.

REGISTER, COLOUR AND RPM

Normally, the first step to finding the right key is to find the range of the piece to be transposed. This is because it is usually the lowest and highest passages that will determine where on the cello (if at all) the music will sound the best. Therefore our choice of key for any transcription is normally narrowed down to exclude those that take us too low (below the open C-string) or keep us up too high. After finding a suitable register, the next step is to find the most comfortable key in that approximate register. For shorter pieces (most commonly songs) we may be able to find a key which allows us to play the piece in both a lower and higher octave. This is a wonderful effect and mimics an alternation between female and male voices.

Register is a curious phenomenon because it is determined more by the instrument than by the absolute pitch of the notes. We can hear when an instrument is being played at its lowest and/or highest pitch ranges because the timbre communicates the level of strain and effort that is required when the instruments are getting out of their comfort range. In this way, the high notes of a bass instrument (doublebass, tuba, cello, bass trombone) are low-register (or mid-register) notes for a “soprano” instrument (violin, flute, trumpet).

The contrabassoon and bass clarinet have a register one octave lower than a normal bassoon or clarinet, the flute is one octave lower than a piccolo, and the cor anglais is a fifth lower than a normal oboe. For bowed string instruments, however, each string is like a different instrument of the same family with its unique register (range) a perfect fifth (or fourth for the bass) different from each neighbouring string. Therefore, for all notes apart from the lowest C-string notes, we have a choice as to which “instrument” (string) we will use to play our notes. We can play them as high-register notes on our lower strings or as low-register (or mid-register) notes on the higher strings.

The relationship between register and pitch is in many ways equivalent to the relationship between rpm (revolutions per minute) and speed. In this metaphor, each string is like a different gear on a bicycle, motorbike, or manual transmission car. According to what gear we are in, the same rpm will give us a different velocity in the same way that the same hand position on the fingerboard gives us a different pitch according to which string we are playing on.

COMFORT

Being able to use our open strings and harmonics helps us greatly to mimic the fluidity and freedom of the voice, piano, violin, saxophone etc and the “right key” will usually be one in which we can use a maximum of harmonics and open strings, especially in faster, more difficult music. Until somebody invents a “capo” (as used on the guitar) for the cello, finding the right key can make all the difference between the very same piece being horribly difficult (and thus sounding awful) or being a lot easier (and thus sounding great).

And we really need this help. The cello is a big instrument, and passages that may be very easy (“lie under the hand”) for the original instrument can be very uncomfortable (or impossible) when played on the cello. For us cellists, even playing simple scales across strings in keys without open strings is clumsy and awkward (see the article “Hand Size/Cello Size“).

In contrast to saxophones and many other wind/brass instruments which “like” flat keys, the cello really prefers naturals or sharps. In the sharp keys, the gradual loss of the open strings starts with the bottom string and works its way up whereas in the flat keys it is exactly the inverse. A similar comparison can be made with respect to extensions: the sharp keys require extensions in the cello’s “first position” starting from the lower strings and working up to the higher strings as we add sharps, while the flat keys do the exact opposite. As our principal singing register is on the top strings, our comfort here is more important than on the bottom strings. This is a definite advantage of playing transcriptions: we can now take the liberty of choosing our key, and thus avoiding (where possible)  these “nasty” flat keys.

Schumann’s magnificent “Adagio and Allegro” was originally written for french horn, for which the four flats of the original key (Ab major) are not a problem (flats being like open strings for the horn). Unfortunately, in Schumann’s adaptation for cello or viola, he kept the original key which greatly complicates this piece for us. With its lowest note of D, one tone above the open C-string, the possibility exists (and there is a definite case for) of lowering the entire piece by a semitone into G major, which would suddenly and miraculously make it much easier for us. We would not, however, want to benefit from the pleasure of the open C-sting on the lowest note because that would require lowering the key by one tone, taking us into the cellistic nightmare of Gb/F# major.

Often, people talk about how each different key has its particular colour but this cannot have anything to do with the actual pitches because our reference pitch (A = 440Hz) has gone up by at least a semitone over the last 300 years. C major, played with the Baroque tuning of A = 415Hz sounds to the modern ear as the key of B major, and if played with the French Baroque tuning of A = 380Hz it sounds as Bb major. For the cello, any considerations of key colour are usually outweighed by questions of key comfort !

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The modifications necessary in order to adapt “stolen repertoire” to the cello are often partly determined by the different instrumental origins. Let’s look in detail at the specific problems associated with transcribing from the different instruments and instrument groups:

Transcribing Vocal Music For Cello

Transcribing Violin And Viola Music For Cello

Transcribing Gamba, 5-String-Cello And Arpeggione Music For Cello

Transcribing Keyboard Music For Cello

Transcribing Wind and Brass Music For Cello