transcription
A written-out version of a performance, or an adaptation of a piece for a different instrument.
In Depth
Transcription has two meanings: writing down music that was previously unwritten (such as a jazz solo or folk melody), and adapting a piece for a different instrument or ensemble. Both require deep musical understanding and careful decision-making.
Concert transcriptions — arrangements of orchestral works for solo piano, or piano works for orchestra — were hugely popular in the 19th century. Liszt transcribed Beethoven's symphonies for piano, making orchestral music accessible to home performers. Today, transcription of recorded jazz solos is a standard educational practice — students learn the language of improvisation by writing down and studying what great soloists played.
Liszt's piano transcriptions of Beethoven's nine symphonies were so faithful that conductors have used them as study scores — every orchestral detail is captured in just two hands on a keyboard.