LDV100

So, in practice, how to render the effect of the cowbells in the Andante moderato of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony? By incorporating harmonies typical of a carillon: the timbre is different, but the sound of the bell is suggested. How to render the intimacy of the string scoring in Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht ? That is impossible to achieve, which is why I chose to distance myself from the original work for string sextet, conceiving this paraphrase as a ‘mirror’ of the Liszt Sonata: a single- movement work for piano that invokes the symbolism of metamorphosis and explores the depths of the human psyche. In my version of Mahler’s Adagietto, I pay humble tribute to the Klavierstücke of Brahms, adding a piano accompaniment to underpin the long string sostenutos, which are almost impossible to play on the piano. Since this compositional process gave me the opportunity to delve deeply into the biographies of Mahler and Schoenberg, I imagined two short stories, inspired by real events, which I hope will allow listeners to immerse themselves in the context of the creation of these works. Is transcription betrayal? I think not. To transcribe is to pay homage to the genius of a music whose essence does not change along with its form, and to reconnect with the universality of nineteenth-century thought. Music must continue to live, for as Mahler is supposed to have said: ‘Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire’! BEATRICE BERRUT 19