Reduction (music)
In music, a reduction is an arrangement or transcription of an existing score or composition in which complexity is lessened to make analysis, performance, or practice easier or clearer; the number of parts may be reduced or rhythm may be simplified, such as through the use of block chords.
An orchestral reduction is a sheet music arrangement of a work originally for full symphony orchestra (such as a symphony, overture, or opera), rearranged for a single instrument (typically piano or organ), a smaller orchestra, or a chamber ensemble with or without a keyboard (e.g. a string quartet).
A reduction for a smaller orchestra or chamber ensemble may be used when not enough players are available, when a venue is too small to accommodate the full orchestra, to accompany less powerful voices, or to save money by hiring fewer players.
The most notable example is Franz Liszt's transcriptions for solo piano of Ludwig van Beethoven's symphonies.
[1] According to Arnold Schoenberg, a piano reduction should "only be like the view of a sculpture from one viewpoint", and he advises that timbre and thickness should largely be ignored, since "the attempt to make a useful object equally usable for a variety of purposes is usually the way to spoil it completely".
