Melvyn Tan: 19th-Century Conceptions of Self and Narrative

B    etween 1837 and 1840 Liszt made no fewer than 44 transcriptions of Schubert lieder.”
  —  Derek Watson, p. 45.

T    oday it is less necessary to defend the art of transcription, and arrangements are again part of the accepted repertoire. In the 20th Century the prevailing tendency to condemn them was a symptom of the age of radio, of recording, and of anti-Romanticism.”
  —  Derek Watson, p. 195.

T his was a concert of the choicest winter food, perfect for a cold, dark November London night—the sort of music that beautifully follows a meal of roasted autumn root vegetables, music that you can live off of, music to eat with a fork—the kind of savoury dish that even the most impassive of souls eye with envy when a waiter carries it by. Melvyn Tan gave us lots to contemplate, which we did with gratitude, ensconced in the warmest of red velvet Wigmore Hall seats.

T his program emphasized ‘autobiographical’ and ‘biographical’ narrative qualities, aspects that are a particular strength of Tan’s playing.

• Schubert – 3 Klavierstücke, D.946
  
• Liszt – transcriptions of Schubert: Sei mir gegrüsst, S. 558 No. 1; Auf dem Wasser zu singen, S. 558 No. 2; Du bist die Ruh, S. 558 No. 3; Liebesbotschaft, S. 560 No. 10; Ständchen (Horch, horch! die Lerch), S. 558 No. 9
  
• Chopin – Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58

T he Klavierstücke came in at under 10-min, 11-min, and 5-min durations, the total of them about 1 minute faster than most recent recorded versions. The 4-min, 4-min, 5-min, 3-min, and 3-min durations of the Liszt transcriptions were closer to, say, conventional tempi (of, say, Murray Perahia), but the beauty of Tan’s speed here was the sense of ‘confession’ that it conferred. The overall effect was one of an inspired storyteller, telling sagas of tremendous import with great urgency and pressure-of-speech befitting the excitement and twists and turns of the plot.

T an’s ‘matter-of-fact’ pedaling technique, especially with the prompt releases in the ‘Du bist die Ruh’, added to the strong confessional, diaristic impression of his interpretation.

P laying this entire program from memory lends even more authority to the first-person, omniscient-narratorly effects that Tan conjures up.

I   nevitably, that close and prolonged contact with another composer’s music [leaves] its mark on [one’s] own development—not least on his own Lieder.”
  —  Gerald Larner, program notes, 2010, remarking on the consequences for Liszt of years’ immersion in transcribing/arranging Schubert [consequences that have their parallel, I believe, on immersive performers like Tan].

T he seriousness and tenderness of the Chopin nocturne that Tan played as an encore touched every member of the audience… a wonderful reprise and a fine ending to a truly memorable evening!

• Melvyn Tan website
  
• Cumming N. The Sonic Self: Musical Subjectivity and Signification. Indiana Univ, 2001.
  
• Kramer R. Distant Cycles: Schubert and the Conceiving of Song. Univ Chicago, 1994.
  
• Newbould B. Schubert the Progressive: History, Performance Practice, Analysis. Ashgate, 2003.
  
• Parsons J, ed. The Cambridge Companion to the Lied. Cambridge Univ, 2004.
  
• Reul B, Bodly L, eds. The Unknown Schubert. Ashgate, 2008.
  
• Sobaskie J, Youens S, eds. Schubert Familiar and Unfamiliar: New Perspectives. Nineteenth-Century Music Review, Vol. 5(2). Ashgate, 2008.
  
• Walker A. Reflections on Liszt. Cornell Univ, 2005. [esp. Ch. 3 on transcriptions]
  
• Watson D. Liszt. Oxford Univ, 2001.
  
• Youens S. Schubert's Late Lieder: Beyond the Song-Cycles. Cambridge Univ, 2006.
  
• Centre for Nineteenth-Century Music, Durham Univ
  
• American Friends of Wigmore Hall [501(c)(3) charity]