Edvard Grieg's Three Violin Concertos?

[TerraEpon]

Of course, Debussy orchestrated some of his piano music himself - La Plus Que Lente, Berceuse Heroique and Marche Ecossaise Sur un Theme Populaire (and supposedly the Intermezzo for Two Pianos, but it's lost if he did). It's pretty silly to talk about 'purists' when the composers often did it themselves -- may be not sonatas, but single movement works have a long history of later orchestrations - sticking with Debussy, his Premiere Rhapsodie, for instance.
Actually that WOULD make an interesting point -- are there any sonata form type pieces a composer later orchestrated (skipping of course ones that they intended to in the first place, just happened to do the piano version first), be it accompanied or not?
And hell, how it is much different than going the other way (which is VERY common), perhaps outside the fact that this was usually done for practical purposes...



(And I for one absolutely love all three of the orchestrated Debussy Preludes sets..abnd everything else I can get my hands on, for that matter)

[eschiss1]

far as I know off-top-of-head, the Bartok sonata for 2 pianos and percussion wasn't at first intended to be a concerto, but was orchestrated by the composer only some years later- outside our remit but an example.

[JimL]

Ravel also orchestrated several piano works, and usually disowned the solo version afterwards.  One could point to Alfred Hill, if he's not beyond our remit, many of whose symphonies are orchestrations of earlier string quartets, and still exist in both versions.

[eschiss1]

I don't recall hearing he disowned the piano versions afterwards, and people have recorded - e.g. and especially - the solo and orchestral versions of Menuet antique and the full piano and briefer orchestral (and sometimes an augmented-by-others with orchestrations of the other movements, including by David Leo Diamond) Le tombeau de Couperin (my favorite Ravel work) ... etc. ... - so often after all that they must feel part of the family again. I should hope.

[JimL]

Not so much disowned as never publicly performed again, perhaps.  Ravel wasn't the most talented pianist (he composed his G Major Piano Concerto beyond his own ability to perform), but he was still pretty formidable at the keyboard.  But once he orchestrated one of his piano works, he would conduct it, but not play the earlier version. 

[chill319]

Though it's beyond the remit of this forum, may I mention in passing that Bax's first symphony started its life as a piano sonata, and is brilliantly recorded as such by the German pianist Michael Endres, for one.

[eschiss1]

Well, 2/3rds of it did

[JollyRoger]

Of course, Debussy orchestrated some of his piano music himself - La Plus Que Lente, Berceuse Heroique and Marche Ecossaise Sur un Theme Populaire (and supposedly the Intermezzo for Two Pianos, but it's lost if he did). It's pretty silly to talk about 'purists' when the composers often did it themselves -- may be not sonatas, but single movement works have a long history of later orchestrations - sticking with Debussy, his Premiere Rhapsodie, for instance.
Actually that WOULD make an interesting point -- are there any sonata form type pieces a composer later orchestrated (skipping of course ones that they intended to in the first place, just happened to do the piano version first), be it accompanied or not?
And hell, how it is much different than going the other way (which is VERY common), perhaps outside the fact that this was usually done for practical purposes...



(And I for one absolutely love all three of the orchestrated Debussy Preludes sets..abnd everything else I can get my hands on, for that matter)

I'm surmising that you took offense to the use of the word "purists" and took my comments completely out of context. I was referring to other posters as purists and obviously not composers.
More importantly, I did not intend to evoke a Slonimisky-style response which used the abrasive term "silly".
To be sure, I fully understand the sentiments of musicians who have played a solo or small ensemble piece who wish to keep a piece of music just as they performed it or first heard it, regardless of who revised it or why it was revised.
To repeat in simplest terms, I prefer to listen to larger ensembles - if that is musical blasphemy, I am both guilty and silly.
"Live a life of love, honestly, appreciate kindness and strength. Sprinkled with a little silliness".

[Gauk]

On reflection, maybe the arrangers should have called them "Three Concertinos" - that would have been much nearer the mark.

Or better still, "sonatas for violin and orchestra", which effectively what they are. According to Naxos, "In these arrangements the solo violin is set against a string orchestra augmented by wind instruments in order to retain the feel of chamber music." One can retain the feel of chamber music even more by playing these pieces as Grieg scored them.

[Mark Thomas]

Quite.

[mjkFendrich]

While I wouldn't want to miss the best recordings of Grieg's sonatas in their original violin & piano version, I have to admit - after listening to  it now - that this new recording contains immensely enjoyable and rewarding chamber music at the highest level. Unlike the orchestrated version of Grieg's cello sonata on Chandos,this is a great disc!