Céline Carenco, «Orchestra on the piano»: Liszt and the piano transcription of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique

Liszt completed his transcription of Berlioz’s first symphony in September 1833. The present article aims at comparing the orchestra and piano scores, in order to show how the virtuoso managed to transcribe for the piano the most characteristic passages of the orchestra.
A brief analysis of some musical examples points out the difficulty of this enterprise: Liszt has to deal with instrumental gesture, rhythmical parameters and the great complexity of the melodic discourse. Finally, the article illustrates the way he further explores Berlioz’s musical conceptions, and the consequences for such method of transcription.

Share