Rimsky-Korsakov 8va

[AtomicClock]

When I was in high school learning the Rimsky-Korsakov, my teacher mentioned that it was somewhat common to take this bit up an octave. Or maybe that some famous trombonist recorded it that way.

rimsky.PNG

Is that actually true? Is it ever performed 8va? At the time, I was too busy learning the piece, and too inhibited to diverge from the ink. Alas, it is too late now to ask my teacher exactly what he said.

[EriKon]

Feels awkward to me and I don't know any recordings with that being done. But seems like a lot of jumping around in range to me. But I'm sure it can be done nicely.

[HowardW]

When I was in high school learning the Rimsky-Korsakov, my teacher mentioned that it was somewhat common to take this bit up an octave. Or maybe that some famous trombonist recorded it that way.

Is that actually true? Is it ever performed 8va? At the time, I was too busy learning the piece, and too inhibited to diverge from the ink. Alas, it is too late now to ask my teacher exactly what he said.

Davis Shuman obtained a copy of the manuscript in the early 1950s. He arranged it for his own use, recording and publishing it shortly thereafter. He indeed transposed a number of passages up an octave. As far as I know, his edition is still available and still widely used at least in the US.

Howard

[timothy42b]

My copy has those up an octave, maybe marked optional, can't remember. I think the Batishov (sic) recording had them up.

I've been told the purists would never do that. Dunno.

[cmcslide]

Carasten Svanberg has a recording with several of these types of passages up the octave. He even comes in at the very beginning up the octave! Definitely not a traditional recording, but he plays the heck out of it that way. Check it out:

[CalgaryTbone]

There's an Alessi performance (recorded several years ago - pre-covid?) where he does some of those upper octaves too. You can find that version on YouTube.

When I learned the piece (in high school), I learned it from the Davis Shuman edition, and I think I played at least some of the upper octaves. When I came back to the piece and played it with a University band as a guest, I went back to the original, mostly. I kept some of the upper octaves in the 2nd mvt., because they seemed to make more sense in the voice leading, and I did a version of Shuman's cadenza.

That Shuman edition has been out there fro a long time, and is often confused as being the original with the lower octaves being a "student option". Either way, I don't think it hurts the piece.

Jim Scott

[BGuttman]

I liked some of Shuman's interpolations and not others. When I did it with my Community Band I picked and chose the octave interpolations that felt good and left the ones I didn't like as is.

Remember, nobody in your audience knows how it was written (unless you are doing it for a recital). You will be judged on the overall effect of the performance. Find something you like and play it.

[Mikebmiller]

I remember playing that for a college recital. I was not a music major, but took lessons for credit a few times. The edition I had went to a high F in the cadenza. Being an idiot, I tried to play the high F on the recital, despite never having played it correctly in practice. Let's just say it didn't go well.