Triebensee: The Art Of Arrangement

Amphion Wind Octet

Josef Triebensee (1772-1846)
Arrangements for Wind Instruments

Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842): Medea
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Sinfonie Nr. 92 ,Oxford', 5 Variations on ,,Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser"
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): Don Giovanni

The art of arranging opera, symphonies and chamber music for a Harmonie, "so that it is suitable for the wind instruments, and at the same time loses none of its effect", was dominated by hardly anyone so completely as it was by Joseph Triebensee (1772-1846).
In the arrangement of Cherubini's Medea and of Mozart's Don Giovanni, he proves to be a subtle arranger. He adheres closely to the original, always taking into consideration what "is suitable for the wind instruments". Original solo passages for wind, like the bassoon solo in the aria "Solo un pianto con te versare" of Medea's companion Neris, remain largely untouched, and Triebensee assigns the vocal parts to the instruments taking into account the musical point of view.
He entrusts both vocal parts, in the duet of Medea and her faithless lover Jason in the finale of the first act ("Nemici senza cor"), to the oboes. Thus he really goes without an element of dramatic design, but achieves a well-rounded musical line. Nevertheless, time and again effective opera scenes come to mind, for instance in Zerlina's aria "Batti, batti o bel Masetto" from Don Giovanni.
In extended movements Triebensee frequently makes cuts - as in Haydn's Symphony No. 92, the 'Oxford Symphony', from 1788. The instrumentation is extended here not only, as in the Medea arrangement, to a contrabassoon, but also to a trumpet. This has a similar appeal to the brilliant trumpets in this and other late Haydn symphonies.

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