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Sample translations submitted: 4
French to English: How to Read Paintings by Nadeije Laneyrie-Dagen (pub. Larousse/Chambers Harrap) Detailed field: Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting
Source text - French Vision da sotto in sù et illusions baroques
Bien avant la XIXe siècle, cependant, les peintres ont expérimenté des points de vue audacieux. À la suite d’Andrea Mantegna dans la chambre des Époux au palais ducal de Mantoue, des artistes come le Corrège, à Parme au début du XVIe siècle, ou Jules Romain (Giulio Romano) un peu plus tard, ont peint à la voûte de monuments des personnages et des architectures tels que les verrait un observateur levant les yeux depuis le centre de la salle, c’est à dire « par en dessous »: d’où le nom de ce type de perspective, dite Da sotto in sù (« de dessous en dessus »).
C’est à l’époque baroque que ces vues dynamiques, qui semblent percer les murs et mener le regard jusque dans les nuées, connaissent leur apogée. Entre 1597 et 1604, sur la voûte de la galerie Farnèse à Rome, les Carrache emploient pour la première fois une quadratura, architecture en trompe-l’œil, sous la forme, en l’occurrence, d’un portique qui fait oublier la courbure du mur. Mais ils placent entre les lignes architecturales feintes des fresques encadrées qui imitent les tableaux (quadri riportati), lesquels ont chacun sa perspective propre (autrement dit frontale). [...]
Nadeije Laneyrie-Dagen
Translation - English Da sotto in sù and Baroque illusionism
However, painters had been experimenting with audacious viewpoints since well before the nineteenth century. Following on from Andrea Mantegna’s work in the Bridal Chamber of the Ducal Palace in Mantua, artists such as Correggio in Parma at the beginning of the sixteenth century and Giulio Romano a little later decorated ceiling vaults with figures and architectural scenes designed to be appreciated by viewers looking up from the middle of the room, in other words ‘from below’, hence the name for this type of perspective: da sotto in sù (‘from below upwards’).
These dynamic scenes that seem to pierce through the walls and lead the eye up into the clouds reached their peak during the Baroque era. Between 1597 and 1604, Annibale and Agostino Carracci used the quadratura technique (trompe l’oeil mural with an architectural subject) for the first time on the ceiling vault of the Farnese Gallery in Rome, where it took the form of a portico that disguised the curvature of the wall. Between the simulated architectural lines, however, they painted framed frescoes designed to imitate canvases (quadri riportati), each of which features its own individual (frontal) perspective. [...]
Nadeije Laneyrie-Dagen; transl. Richard George Elliott
German to English: Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor Opus 25 (Edition Peters) Detailed field: Music
Source text - German Vorwort
In London – Mendelssohn weilte bis zum 22. Juni 1832 dort – spielte er zweimal sein Klavierkonzert und übergab die Stimmen dem Verlag Mori & Lavenu zum Druck. Schon lange vorher, noch in Paris, hatte Mendelssohn mit dem Gedanken gespielt, einige neuere Werke auch von einem deutschen Verlag drucken zu lassen. Wie schwierig sich diese Angelegenheit bezüglich des Klavierkonzerts gestalten sollte, war nicht abzusehen. Im Januar 1832 jedenfalls versuchte er, mit Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig einen älter bestehenden Kontakt wieder aufzufrischen, „um Sie zu fragen, ob Sie gesonnen sein möchten, die Sachen, die ich bis zum Frühjahr hier und in London herausgeben will, für Deutschland zu acquiriren.“ Dabei erwähnte er jedoch das Klavierkonzert noch nicht. Doch am 21. März gestand Mendelssohn dem Leipziger Verlag, dass er die Trios, die er noch im Januar angeboten habe, nicht liefern könne. Stattdessen biete er an, „ein concertantes Stück für Piano mit Begleitung des Orchesters, welches ich hier und in England zu publiciren denke, oder ein großes Rondo brillant für Piano mit Begleitung herauszugeben?“ Am 19. April – in einem Brief noch aus Paris –, ergänzte er, dass er in London beide besprochenen Klavierstücke öffentlich spielen würde und er, „dasjenige, welches den meisten Eindruck zu machen scheint“ , dem Verlag zuschicken werde. Aber erst am 8. Juni nahm Mendelssohn die Korrespondenz mit dem Leipziger Verleger wieder auf, benannte das Klavierkonzert aber nicht mehr, sondern kündigte die „Übersendung der Probebogen“ , also der Korrekturabzüge des englischen Verlages Mori & Lavenu vom „Rondo brillant“ an. Die Frage, wer das Klavierkonzert in Deutschland veröffentlichen würde, war damit immer noch nicht geklärt. [...]
Klaus Burmeister
Translation - English Preface
In London, where he remained until 22 June 1832, Mendelssohn played his piano concerto twice and submitted the parts to publisher Mori & Lavenu for printing. Somewhat earlier than this, while still in Paris, Mendelssohn had toyed with the idea of having a number of newer works published by a German publisher. He could not have foreseen how difficult this would prove in the case of the piano concerto. In January 1832 he attempted to revive an existing contact with Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig “in order to ask whether they might be disposed to acquire for Germany the things I am planning to publish here and in England between now and the spring.” He does not, however, mention the piano concerto. Yet on 21 March Mendelssohn admits to the Leipzig publisher that he is unable to deliver the trios he offered them in January. In their stead he offers “a concertante piece for piano and orchestra which I am thinking to publish here and in England, or a big rondo brillant for piano and accompaniment?” On 19 April – in a letter sent before leaving Paris – he adds that he would be playing both the previously discussed piano pieces in public and would send the publisher “whichever seems to make the biggest impression”. However, Mendelssohn does not resume his correspondence with the Leipzig publisher until 8 June, when he makes no further mention of the piano concerto but announces the “posting of the proofs” – those, in other words, of the English publisher Mori & Lavenu – of the “Rondo brillant”. The question of who would publish the piano concerto in Germany was therefore yet to be settled. [...]
Klaus Burmeister; transl. Richard George Elliott
German to English: Florence. The Paintings & Frescoes 1250–1743 (pub. Black Dog & Leventhal) Detailed field: Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting
Source text - German Andrea del Sarto (Andrea d'Agnolo di Francesco, 1486–1530)
Die Bestrafung der Spieler
um 1510
Fresko
Santissima Annunziata, Atrium (Chiostro dei Voti)
Die Servitenklosterkirche Santissima Annunziata gehört wegen eines wundertätigen Madonnenbildes zu den beliebtesten Kirchen der Florentiner. Vor dem eigentlichen Kirchenbau befindet sich ein Atrium, dessen Wände zu Beginn des 16. Jahrhunderts von Andrea del Sarto und Künstlern aus seinem Umkreis mit zwei umfangreichen Freskenzyklen zu Ehren der Jungfrau Maria und des Ordensheiligen Filippo Benizzi geschmückt wurden. Zu letzteren gehört die Szene mit der wundersamen Bestrafung einer Gruppe von Spielern. Andrea del Sarto hat das Ereignis vor einem stimmungsvollen Landschaftshintergrund dargestellt, der einen wirkungsvollen Kontrast zu dem dramatischen Geschehen im Vordergrund bildet. Während einer Reise traf Filippo auf eine Gruppe von Spielern, die gotteslästerliche Aussprüche taten. Als Filippo sie deswegen tadelte, beschimpften sie den Heiligen. Darauf fuhr ein Blitz vom Himmel in den Baum, in dessen Schatten die Spieler lagerten und erschlug zwei von ihnen, während die anderen entsetzt flüchteten. Del Sarto hat den tumultartigen Aufbruch der Gotteslästerer, die buchstäblich wie vom Blitz getroffen in alle Richtungen davonstieben, so anschaulich wiedergegeben, dass man fast die Schreckensschreie der Bestraften zu vernehmen scheint.
David II. Teniers (1610–1690)
Der Alchimist
Um 1650–1670
Öl auf Leinwand
Galleria Palatina, Inv. 1067
Das kleine Gemälde mit der Darstellung eines Alchimisten ist eines der wenigen niederländischen Genrebilder in der Galleria Palatina. Nach seinem Ankauf 1778 zunächst lange dem Antwerpener Maler David Teniers d. Ä. zugeschrieben, sprechen Stil und Motiv eher für ein Werk seines Sohnes David Teniers d. J. Als Leiter einer großen Werkstatt war Teniers d. J. vor allem auf Genreszenen spezialisiert, wobei er die Motive während seines langen Schaffens immer wieder variierte, was eine exakte Datierung des Florentiner Gemäldes erschwert. Zu sehen ist ein Blick in die spärlich beleuchtete Studierstube eines Alchimisten. Umgeben von wild durcheinander geschichteten Büchern, Töpfen, Schüsseln und Gläsern sitzt der Gelehrte an seinem Tisch und probiert eine Rezeptur aus dem vor ihm liegenden Folianten aus. Prüfend betrachtet er das emporgehaltene Mischglas, auf dem sich, ebenso wie auf vielen anderen im Raum versammelten Gefäßen, kunstvoll das Licht spiegelt. Erst nach und nach erkennt man im Hintergrund des Raumes weitere Personen an einem Tisch, vielleicht die Assistenten des Gelehrten. Die Alchimie galt im 17. Jahrhundert als ebenso bewunderte wie belächelte Geheimwissenschaft, was sich auch in der karikaturhaften Anmutung von Teniers Gemälde zeigt.
Anja Grebe
Translation - English Andrea del Sarto (Andrea d'Agnolo di Francesco, 1486–1530)
The Castigation of the Gamblers
Ca. 1510
Fresco
Santissima Annunziata, atrium (Chiostro dei Voti)
Thanks to its miracle-working painting of the Virgin Mary, the Servite monastery church of Santissima Annunziata is one of the churches most beloved of the people of Florence. Positioned in front of the church proper is an atrium whose walls were decorated at the beginning of the sixteenth century with two extensive series of frescoes by Andrea del Sarto and artists of his circle. These works are devoted to the Virgin Mary and St. Philip Benizi of the Servite order. To the second series belongs this scene of the miraculous punishment of a group of card-players. Andrea del Sarto sets the episode against an atmospheric background landscape that provides a strong contrast with the dramatic events unfolding in the foreground. While traveling, St. Philip encounters a group of card-players making blasphemous remarks. When he rebukes them, they start to swear at him. A bolt of lightning from heaven then strikes the tree in whose shade the gamblers have settled, killing two of them and causing the others to flee. So vividly has del Sarto has depicted the tumultuous scattering in all directions of the—literally thunderstruck— blasphemers that the viewer can almost hear their cries of terror.
David Teniers II (1610–1690)
The Alchemist
Ca. 1650–1670
Oil on canvas
Galleria Palatina, inv. 1067
This small painting of an alchemist is one of the few Netherlandish genre pictures in the Galleria Palatina. Following its acquisition in 1778 it was long attributed to the Antwerp painter David Teniers I, although the style and motif of the work point to his son David Teniers II. As the head of a large workshop, Teniers the younger specialized mainly in genre scenes, whereby he constantly switched motifs throughout his long creative career, making it difficult to date the Florence painting with any degree of precision. The picture presents a view of an alchemist’s dimly lit study. Surrounded by stacks of books, pots, bowls, and glassware in a state of utmost confusion, the learned man sits at his desk testing a formula from the folio that lies open before him. He holds up and scrutinizes a retort on which, as with the many other vessels in the room, the reflected light has been rendered with great skill. Only gradually is the viewer able to discern two other figures seated at a table at the back of the room, possibly the alchemist’s assistants. In the seventeenth century the occult science of alchemy was marveled at and derided in equal measure, as is evident from the caricatural style of Teniers’ painting.
Anja Grebe; transl. Richard George Elliott
German to English: J. S. Bach 15 Two-part Inventions BWV 772–786 (pub. Edition Peters) Detailed field: Music
Source text - German Vorwort
Johann Sebastian Bachs zweistimmige Inventionen (BWV 772–786) sind zusammen mit den dreistimmigen Sinfonien (BWV 787–801) in einer autographen Reinschrift aus dem Jahr 1723 überliefert. Beide Werkgruppen zählen zur Gattung der für den Unterricht geschriebenen Übungsliteratur. Insbesondere die vorliegenden Inventionen sind in ihren spieltechnischen Anforderungen durchweg moderat, sodass sie als Studien- und Lehrstücke sehr schnell breite Aufnahme gefunden haben; bis heute sind sie elementarer Bestand des Klavierunterrichts.
Wie schon bei vorangegangenen Werkzyklen didaktischen Charakters – etwa dem Orgelbüchlein (BWV 599–644) oder dem 1. Teil des Wohltemperierten Klaviers (BWV 846–869) – stellt der Komponist dem Notenteil eine „Anleitung“ voran, in der er seine Absichten darlegt: Er übergibt der interessierten Öffentlichkeit eine mit Bedacht zusammengestellte, von Abwechslung und Einheitlichkeit gleichermaßen charakterisierte Sammlung von Übungsstücken, mit der die Technik ebenso geschult werden soll wie der musikalische Geschmack. […]
Revisionsbericht
Das obere System ist im Sopranschlüssel notiert, das untere im Bassschlüssel; Abweichungen davon sind untenstehend verzeichnet. Da die originale Balkensetzung möglicherweise etwas über die vom Komponisten beabsichtigte Vortragsweise verrät, wird sie in der vorliegenden Ausgabe auch dort beibehalten, wo sie von moderner Stichregel abweicht. Die Ornamente werden einheitlich abgedruckt, d. h. es wird nicht typographisch unterschieden zwischen Direkteintrag und späterer Hinzufügung; von Bach erst nachträglich eingetragene Verzierungen sind in den folgenden Anmerkungen verzeichnet. Punktierungen über die Taktgrenze hinweg wurden stillschweigend durch Überbindungen ersetzt. Die Schlussfermaten wurden quellengetreu übernommen, ebenso die Fermaten über und unter dem Schlussstrich – so in Nr. 6, 8, 10, 11 und 12 –, die ein abschließendes Allargando verhindern sollen. [...]
Ulrich Bartels
Translation - English Preface
Johann Sebastian Bach’s two-part Inventions (BWV 772–786) and three-part Sinfonias (BWV 787–801) have come down to us in an autograph fair copy dated 1723. Both groups of works belong to the genre of practice pieces written for instructional purposes. In terms of their technical demands, the Inventions in particular are of no more than moderate difficulty, as a result of which they found rapid and widespread popularity and occupy an important place in piano teaching to this day.
As with earlier cycles of works that are pedagogical in nature – such as the Orgelbüchlein (BWV 599–644) or the first part of the Wohltemperiertes Klavier (BWV 846–869) – the composer prefaced the musical text with a note on “method” in which he sets out his intentions, offering an interested public a carefully compiled album of exercises characterized in equal measure by variety and uniformity with which not only technique but also musical taste can be trained. […]
Editorial Report
The upper system is notated in the soprano clef, the lower system in the bass clef; deviations are noted below. Because the original beaming may cast light on the style of performance intended by the composer, it has been retained in the present edition even where it deviates from modern notational conventions. The ornamentation has been consistently presented, in other words no typographical distinction has been made between the ornaments entered initially and those added later. The ornaments subsequently added by Bach are recorded below. Dots above the barlines have been replaced by a tie. The concluding fermate have been adopted in keeping with the source, as have the fermate above and below the double bar line – in numbers 6, 8, 10, 11 and 12 – intended to prevent a final allargando. [...]
Ulrich Bartels; transl. Richard George Elliott
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Translation education
Bachelor's degree - (Modern Languages: Fr & Ger), The Queen's College, Oxford University; CIOL postgrad. diploma in translation following course of study at City University, London; MA in History of Art (Birkbeck, University of London).
Experience
Years of experience: 25. Registered at ProZ.com: Aug 2002.
**Having been a CIOL member for a number of years, Richard George Elliott attained Chartered Linguist (CL) status on 4 August 2020. The Institute defines Chartership as "a badge of quality and competence. [...] As a Chartered Linguist, a practitioner is committed to maintaining high professional standards, continually developing professional language skills and specialist knowledge." **
London-based translator specialising in art and music texts, including illustrated books, exhibition catalogues, scholarly articles, classical music prefaces and notes and popular music biographies. Translations from German and French into English published by Taylor & Francis, Larousse Chambers Harrap (five titles in the Chambers Arts Library), Black Dog & Leventhal (Hachette Group), Ben Brown Fine Arts, Thames & Hudson, Haus der Architektur Graz, Edition Peters, Apollo Magazine and Tate Etc. Commissions also undertaken across a range of other subject areas.
Richard is an experienced user of Microsoft Office (especially Microsoft Word) and Trados, currently using Office 2019 and Studio 2019 versions respectively.
Languages: English (mother tongue); French and German (source)
Qualifications and accreditation: MA (Oxford) Modern Languages (French and German); MA (London) History of Art; DipTransIoLET Diploma in Translation of the Chartered Institute of Linguists; member of the Translators Association of the Society of Authors; member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists; member of the Association of Art Historians
Currently working on: art-historical articles for a scholarly journal
Translations include:
Anna Magdalena Bach Notebooks, translation of Preface and Critical Commentary (for a German music publisher, June 2019). This new bilingual critical edition was the recipient of a German Music Publishers' "Best Edition 2020" award.
Translation of wall texts for an exhibition of Dutch painting at a museum in Paris (May 2019)
Florence: The Paintings and Frescoes 1250–1743 (Hachette / Black Dog & Leventhal), a New York Times bestseller
The Vatican: All the Paintings (Hachette / Black Dog & Leventhal)
Bach Two-part Inventions, preface and notes for a new edition (German music publisher)
Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, preface and critical commentary (German music publisher)
Du meine Seele, preface and notes for an album of classical songs (German music publisher)
"Hilma af Klint: the First Abstract Artist?" in Tate Etc.
Alighiero e Boetti catalogue for Ben Brown Fine Arts, Mayfair, London
Led Zeppelin. All the Songs. The Story Behind Every Track by Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon (co-translation with Jackie Smith; Hachette / Black Dog & Leventhal). Amazon rating as of 25/03/2021: 4.8/5 from 319 reviews.
"A great book on the descriptions of each song Led Zeppelin wrote, and why. Brilliantly written. Wonderful book."
Pink Floyd. All the Songs. The Story Behind Every Track by Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon (co-translation with Jackie Smith; Hachette / Black Dog & Leventhal). Amazon rating as of 25/03/2021: 4.8/5 from 696 reviews.
The Rolling Stones. All the Songs. The Story Behind Every Track by Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon (Hachette / Black Dog & Leventhal). Amazon rating as of 25/03/2021: 4.8/5 from 303 reviews.
The Louvre: All the Paintings (Hachette / Black Dog & Leventhal)
How to Read Paintings (Larousse / Chambers Harrap)
How to Read Paintings 2: The Secrets of the Artist's Studio (Larousse / Chambers Harrap)
Digital and Video Art (Larousse / Chambers Harrap)
Churches, Cathedrals and Monasteries (Feierabend Verlag)
Modern Art 1905–1945 (Larousse / Chambers Harrap)
Jazz (Larousse / Chambers Harrap)
An der Klippe, Herwig Illmaier, Architekt (HDA, Graz, bilingual monograph)
Könemann Art and Architecture Series: Egypt; Louvre; Islam (co-translations)
Culture in Focus – Islam (Könemann)
Mon Valet et Moi, a novella by Hervé Guibert, judges’ commendation in BCLA/BCLT literary translation competition run by the University of East Anglia.
Articles by Franz West, Thomas Demand, Alex Leykhaus and others for Tate Etc.
"A Modern Dialogue", article on Klee and Picasso in Apollo Magazine.
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