The pianist Hamish Milne writes:
Perhaps, in our information-besotted age, we know too much. It is universally accepted that knowledge of itself brings neither wisdom nor understanding. Rules quickly beget formulas — ‘traditions’ likewise — and nothing spells more certain death to a truly living, recreative performance. Artur Schnabel once said: ‘All the information is in the score.’ This, rather than any fearful sense of propriety, was certainly what governed the approach of the composers of these transcriptions. If we too can put aside contentious opinions about style and substance, medium and message, we can enjoy a privileged glimpse not only of the indestructible majesty of J. S. Bach’s music but equally of the personal responses of these fine musicians who fell under its spell and succumbed to the temptation to express it in their own voice.
“Russian Bach Piano Transcriptions.” Notes to Hyperion CDA67506, “Bach Piano Transcriptions — 5 — Goedicke, Kabalevsky, Catoire, Siloti”. London: Hyperion Records Ltd., 2005.
