Der Rosenkavalier
(The Knight of the Rose) op. 59 - Transcription for middle-sized orchestra (1909-10, orch. 2019)4S,A,5T,Bar,2B(main roles); choir ad lib.;
2(II=picc,afl).2(II=corA).3(II=Dcl,III=bcl,Ebcl,Dcl).2(II=dbn)-3.1.1(=cimb).0-timp,perc(2):glsp/xyl-harp,pft(=cel,harm)-strings(6.6.6.4.2);
Incidental music (3rd act, in two versions): 7 players or pre-recorded version with small orchestra
Abbreviations (PDF)
Boosey & Hawkes
To open up new possibilities for important compositions, including Beethoven’s piano sonatas, romantic song cycles, and little-known works by Mussorgsky – that is the ambitious goal of the experienced conductor and arranger Eberhard Kloke. An extensive publication of his transcriptions and paraphrases is thus an appeal, so to speak, to break through the often rigid boundaries of the cultural sector, and to set out upon new paths in the selection of repertoire. For the arranger and with that also the interpreter Kloke, the desire to explore new intellectual and physical spaces has always developed out of the DNA of the musical material itself.
In the new balancing of R. Strauss’s works, both within the orchestra as well as between the stage and solists, the transparency and clarity of all the elements is the first priority. Also the forgoing of musical doublings plays a decisive role here; the opulent blended sound yields to a nuanced dialogue of the instruments. The revitalization – through the new balance as well as the colors of the rather seldom used, mostly lower-reaching members of the instrument families, such as alto flute, contrabass clarinet, Wagner tuba, xylorimba – goes hand in hand with a musical consolidation in spite of the smaller scoring.
The central goal for the present new transcription for soli (including double roles), ad lib chorus, and small orchestra was to produce a practical performance alternative for the piece. That could only mean finding a tonal solution for a conversation piece. The basic idea was thus to transcribe the “Rosenkavalier orchestra” in the scoring of the “Ariadne orchestra.”
In the transcription undertaken, it is an issue of an alteration of the tonal picture and thus of the tonal structure within the orchestra as well as in the balance between the stage and the orchestra. Of primary importance are advantages in the scoring through variable casting alternatives with regard to leaner voices, which in turn benefit text comprehension and transparency. This also makes it possible to correspond to the music-theatrical structure of the work as a conversation piece.
Eberhard Kloke
Please click here for a detailed description of the version by Eberhard Kloke