Bach, J.S - Italian Concerto for Cello and Piano arr. Mats Lidström

Mats Lidström writes…

Bach’s wonderful idea for his Italian Concerto is that one person takes on both the role of soloist and orchestra. Apparently, I could not resist the obvious and divide them between two. Bach clearly indicates the entrances of the ‘soloist’ and where the orchestra plays the leading role, why transcribing the Concerto therefore was a fairly uncomplicated task. The problems occurred, of course, with a cello part furnished with half of Bach’s material: the bass line needed to remain in the piano left hand for obvious reasons – but then there was nothing left for the right hand! I have filled those gaps with my own pen, by composing sections in the baroque idiom hopefully undetectable by the naked ear, thus joining the list of illustrious musicians who had similar ambitions: Liszt, Godowsky, Busoni, Kodaly, Grainger and Stokowsky, to mention a few. The transcription is dedicated to my dear friend and colleague, the distinguished teacher and pedagogue Valter Despalj.