The fact that a number of pianists of the past two centuries adapted, embellished, and rearranged piano works for performance, be these original works or transcriptions, has been well documented throughout history. This thought, in addition to the fact that Stradal’s scores needed revision, encouraged me to make alterations to Stradal’s transcriptions and served as a strong incentive to write the current study. In it, I will comment on the alterations performed to segments of Stradal’s piano transcriptions of Wagner’s Schluβ der letzten Aufzuges (End of the last Act) from Siegfried and Trauermusik aus dem letzten Aufzug (Siegfried’s Funeral March) from Götterdämmerung. These changes have the purpose of reflecting in the piano as closely as possible the sonorous reality of the transcriptions’ operatic sources and, by doing so, making Stradal’s arrangements more effective for performance.

The term nationalism in music usually refers to a movement from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and is most often employed to describe the various European national schools that included folk elements in their music and consciously tried to separate themselves from the standards set in the Classical period by the French, Italian and especially the German traditionalists. In Latin America there was also a development of nationalism in music in the twentieth century. Countries from this continent, once politically independent, became interested in solidifying and glorifying their national identities. This essay will discuss the history and tradition of Venezuelan folk and academic music through the guitar compositions of Antonio Lauro, who was best known for his nationalistic trend to rescue and to celebrate the Venezuelan nation's musical traditions. I have also chosen eight waltzes and the Suite Venezolana for guitar by the same composer, which are both representative works of Venezuelan academic and folklore music, and I have created a piano transcription. Aiming a new inclusion and expansion of the stagnant Venezuelan piano repertoire, with my hope they become useful compositions for the pianists' personal study and aid.

An understanding of the piano transcription is basic to any proper comprehension of nineteenth-century piano music and performance practice. In this study, the transcription for solo piano is examined in relation to several musical milestones in the mid-nineteenth century, including far-reaching technical developments in the piano, the beginning and growth of the public concert, the birth of the solo piano recital, and the influence of virtuosity as a Romantic ideal. In addition, as Liszt was undoubtedly the greatest transcriber of the nineteenth century, several representative transcriptions of Liszt are analyzed and compared to their original models, including Schubert's Gretchen am Spinnrade and Auf dem Wasser zu singen, Chopin's Moja pieszczotka ("My Joys"), Wagner's Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, and the quartet from the final act of Verdi's Rigoletto.

Busoni's contribution to the art of the piano transcription is formidable. His chorale prelude transcriptions make him responsible for giving over to the piano repertoire a small portion of sacred literature. His special admiration of J. S. Bach, evidenced throughout his life, make Busoni's transcriptional practices all the more significant. Bach himself was a prolific transcriber of his own works and the works of others. This paper presents a brief history of keyboard transcriptional practices, emphasizing Busoni's methods by comparing the original works for organ with the transcriptions for piano. Four chorale preludes form the basis for this study: Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ (BWV 639), Komm, Gott, Schopfer, Heiliger Geist (BWV 667), Nun komm' der Heiden Heiland (BWV 659), and In dir ist Freude (BWV 615).

In the case of Concerto for Orchestra, Béla Bartók transcribed one of his most emblematic orchestral compositions to his own solo instrument, the piano. This transcription's primary function was to suffice for ballet rehearsal accompaniment for the choreography to be introduced alongside a performance of the orchestral work. György Sándor, Bartók's pupil and pianist, prepared the original manuscript for publication. Logan Skelton, pianist-composer, used this published edition as a point of departure for his own piano arrangement of the same work. György Sándor took an editorial approach to the score and followed the manuscript as literally as possible. On the other hand, Logan Skelton treated the same musical material daringly, striving for technical simplicity and a richer orchestral sound. The purpose of this study is to examine and identify the contrasting treatments pertaining to playability, text, and texture in the Bartók-Sándor edition and Skelton arrangement of the two movements, Elegia and Finale, of the Concerto for Orchestra piano arrangement.György Sándor took an editorial approach to the score and followed the manuscript as literally as possible. On the other hand, Logan Skelton treated the same musical material daringly, striving for technical simplicity and a richer orchestral sound. The purpose of this study is to examine and identify the contrasting treatments pertaining to playability, text, and texture in the Bartók-Sándor edition and Skelton arrangement of the two movements, Elegia and Finale, of the Concerto for Orchestra piano arrangement.