Beethoven, String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, opus 131 (complete)
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- Опубликовано: 13 июл 2024
- Beethoven String Quartet project: www.musanim.com/BeethovenStrin...
Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, performed by The Alexander String Quartet, accompanied by an animated graphical score.
FAQ
Q: Where can I learn more about the quartet?
A: Here:
www.asq4.com
Q: What are the start times of the movements?
A: Here:
1 0:00
2 6:12
3 9:18
4 10:06
5 23:40
6 29:01
7 30:48
Q: Where can I buy this recording?
A: Here:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002...
Q: Could you please do a MAM video of _________?
A: Please read this:
www.musanim.com/requests/ 
Видеоклипы
I don't know how describe it, I am a person with very good control over my emotions, but listening to this, I felt like crying even though it doesn't necessarily make me feel sad.
Welcome to late Beethoven.
Nelson Escalante
@@J.F.R.1 what kind of pain? The overall absurdity, cruelty (via slaughtering all flora and fauna), the overall tragedy of being alive and losing everyone and everything or something else in particular?
I know this is a very leading question but I'd rather ask and get something rather than vagueness.
@@justdev8965 And This is exactly how Beethoven felt! I’m so glad you can understand him in this way.
29:02 is mindblowing.
that is my fav movement plus its in band of brothers great soundtrack
What is it about this that makes it so goddamn good? I know fuck all about classical music (music in general really, I'm a drummer), but 33:25 is the most rock n roll thing I've ever heard in my life. And the sixth movement is just so hauntingly beautiful it bursts the heart and makes you glad of it
This is why we say Beethoven is a great composer. If we knew how he did it, others would be doing it. Just count yourself lucky that you can appreciate it as much as you do.
Lemmy & Ozzy say the same
\m/
Last movement of op 111, Beethoven suddenly introduces a 'boogie-woogie' syncopated rhythm to a set of blissful variations. Check that out too when you have time!
These videos are among the most beautiful and fascinating things i've seen on the net. they give us music-loving non-musicians the impression of following the score. thanks so much for giving me a deeper understanding of the c-sharp minor quartet.
I like how everyone is talking about the 1,6&7th movement while the 4th alone is so colorful and charming.
4th movement is the best. Mvt 1 fugue is amazing and stirring in a subliminal way. The 2nd movement is light and heavenly. The 5th movement is the Presto... steroids required. The 7th movement is also wonderful. But the middle movement unites the whole quartet, its players, into a shared togetherness of being and commenting and accenting, a fully shared conversation where everyone understands every moment of what each voice says; such moments are rare, another example being the variation ends to Piano Sonatas op 109 and 111.
ruclips.net/video/QicnM5xJJ5g/видео.html
The sudden shift to C sharp major at the end is probably my favorite moment in any music ever.
Finally! The piece I was waiting for. I knew this would appear eventually. It just had to. Thank you.
I would have said the same thing. Thanks uploader!
I just love that every time you listen, you discover something you hadn't previously realized that adds so much more depth and appreciation for the composer.
This "Magnus Opus" transcend all kind of analysis. It is a perfect music that sends our minds in an infinity Journey. The performance of The Alexander String Quartet is superb, as the same level of the fantastic animated graphical score that show us the magical poliphony of this work. Beethoven is the Master of the Masters!!!
"Beethoven... That's not Mozart, it's Beethoven."
Most emotional episode of all
One of the Beethoven's most beautiful and complex works.
The tempo of the fugue here seems correct. It is notated in alla breve, and Beethoven wrote Adagio ma non troppo (slowly, but not too much). Formally, the fugue is like an immense expansion or magnification of the fugue subject. Schubert heard this work shortly before he died and exclaimed, "After this, what is there left for us to write?"
The last two movements floor me every time. After five movements of wholly changing mood, we as the listeners have finally made it to the decisive moment. A dark chorale offers a lament, yet hope breaks through at 29:40, 29:58, and 30:10. What will the finale offer us? What message is this quartet trying to send? Suddenly, at 30:40, the music intensifies, leading to the chilling response. The opening motif already sets a stage of gravitas at 30:50, followed by a gallop of terrifying intensity. A quixiotic passage of relative calm takes over at 31:05, before the intensity again starts to build at 31:10, culminating in the screams of the lower voices at 31:25. After another statement of the gallop, we get another reflective passage, but the gruff motif and theme at 32:10 put an end to that period of calm. Suddenly, at 32:25, a stunning fugato breaks out. The self-assuredness of the dark Theme A is thrown into doubt. The unison motif at 32:50 tries to put the theme back on track, but a rapid rememberance of the quixiotic passage ensures that doesn't occur. Yet they can't put it off forever. The trills at 33:14 ramp the tension back up until we get the motif and theme. However, the drawn-out notes recall the anxiety of the fugato. Resistance to the darkness remains, especially once another quiet section interrupts at 33:50. Another takes over at 34:24. Perhaps the gallop can be held off. The motif says otherwise, starting at 34:46 but is rebuffed. Tension builds again starting at 35:20, but the gallop is staved off at 35:38. Tension builds and the strings get louder, and an appearance of the motive at 36:05 signals something is about to happen. The gallop breaks through at 36:10, but it is weakened, shortened, and no longer poses the same menace with even more drawn-out notes accompanying. It gets frustrated at 36:30, speeding up and trying one last time. It throws a tantrum at 36:35, but now no longer seems to pose any chance of a recovery. A period of quiet contemplation returns with plenty of references to the opening motive. The gallop makes an appearance at 37:04, but it is a ghost of its final self, in major mode, no longer a terrifying presence. Perhaps the quartet can end in peace. One last blasting appearance is in store, but it is in major, leading to the happy resolution in major chords. So what, in the end, is the message? Take from this analysis what you will -- the riddle posed here is one I am yet to solve.
The riddle can only be solved with the third movement of Op. 135, a set of variations in Db major which is originally intended as the poslude of this finale, with its contemplative and religious mood which resolve the tension and drama of this finale as well as the whole op. 131. The fourth movement of 135 containing the famous "Es miss Sein" motif provides the final solution of all five great late quartets by providing the grave motif concerning human existence as well as its transcendental solution.😊😊
Thank you ...thank you for that... making me not have to think about what I was going to say before I thought about saying it ...it seems like somebody else too is only thinking about reality (music) other than me
Hope at 29:40/58, 30:10? All I hear is sadness. Sadness at a great loss, something never be re-obtained.
Like the way you have tried to set out how it feels to listen to this music. Words fail I think, although yours are worth it. The music is constantly changing and while there is an overall 'mood' for each movement, within that there are sections which change the the tone completely, and the moments of greatest genius are reduced to a few notes which change the dynamic.
Since I was a little kid I've been a huge admirer of Beethoven, but I've barely begun to study his quartets. I must say this is a masterpiece filled with such sorrow, longing, playfulness, and subtle beauty. Thank you so much for what you do
His late quartets are widely considered to be among the greatest music of all time, but they are also considered relatively "difficult" to get into (compared to, for example, his earlier quartets or those of Mozart and Haydn), so I hope my animated graphical scores will help people understand them.
Someone who, like me, has very little musical education and wants inspiration to enter the world (or universe) of the late quartets may benefit from a wonderful little book by JWN Sullivan called "Beethoven, his spiritual development". It is not technical and is available as a pdf: archive.org/details/beethovenhisspir002615mbp
Yes, I avoided the late quartets for quite a while because of their reputation for being "difficult." Wish I'd never heard that. Now that I'm listening to them, I wonder what's wrong with people who find them "difficult." I suppose they aren't as "catchy" as some of his more famous melodies, but really, there's nothing off-putting about them. They just take a while to "sink in."
'I'll tell you what, them Krauts sure do clean up good."
"Just give them a little Mozart."
"Beethoven."
"What's that, sir?"
"It's not Mozart. It's Beethoven. Hitler's dead."
TheDublin24 What??
It's a scene from Band of Brothers. Nazi Germany has crumbled, German civilians are cleaning up the rubble in their town, and an American company of paratroopers have been stationed there to keep watch. In the midst of the destruction there's a string quartet playing the 6th movement from this piece. As the soliders are looking at the civilians work, their captain brings them the news that Hitler has killed himself.
"Should've killed himself three years ago. Saved us alot of trouble."
"Yeah, he should've.
But he didn't."
BoB Episode 09
BeginningScene
29:06
"I'll tell ya one thing about the Krauts.. they sure do clean up good."
"Yeah, all they need is a little Mozart."
"Beethoven..."
"Sorry sir?"
"That's not Mozart...that's Beethoven."
*looks off into the distance with disgust* “Hitler’s dead... shot himself in Berlin in the bunker...” “Is the war over sir?” “No.... we have orders to berkdesgarden..” “but why the mans not home?!”
I thought the reason he was corrected was to show that Germans were different from each other. Anybody else get that message?
But of course Mozart was Austrian not German, and I imagine that is the surface sense of the confab.
"Yeah, he should've... but he didn't."
I don't know how to put it into words, but that line fits the sixth movement so perfectly in my mind
@@jungastein3952 Hitler was also Austrian...
This is my first video on this place. It was beautiful and I was so in to it. That I never seen anything like this. This what got me into the classical word. I thank you Smilan
Smalin
The fugue at the beginning simply tears me apart
+Igor Penido It's so ingenious that it's hard to notice it, that's how Beethoven used to write his fugues - the voices blend so well that the fugue isn't that obvious anymore.
New to this, but movement 6 hit me very hard. Short yet tragic, wow
The quartet in C# minor is one of the most absolute masterworks of our music. Everything is here: the art of the introduction, the art of the exposition, the art of developement, the art of the veriation, the art of conclusion.
Gérard Begni Hello! Could you please show me the specific parts from which you conclude that this work is so complete? Thank you!
I think that id is ttrue of all parts, especialliy the introdutction, the variations, and even the finale. This "virtue" can be retrieved within all movements, it is not the virtue of a movement in itself.
Gérard Begni I see what you mean. However, I have a strong impression that even the best composers -except for Bach whom I admire- choose arbitrarily their path of development and it is not so clear with a hearing unless you follow the score. But I am not really sure so I may need a guidance because it seems that everything is a matter of different perception. And thanks for answering!
As a amtter of genius, listen to the variation in chords at the violins and alto, when a small pp cell occurs in cello, then becomes bigger and bigger and catches all the attention in spite of the chords of the upper part.
Gérard Begni at which minute?
Great graphic! It brings out the "counterpoint in contrary motion" that Miles Davis talked about. (Yes, he did say that!). Notice how often the different colored dots go away and towards each other in the opening.
This is the coolest thing I've ever seen! I used to visuallize the notes falling asleep on the foot of my parent's bed when I snuck in to sleep in their room. (they always left the classical station on the radio when they went to sleep, it was the 80's and I was 5 or 6)
I fell asleep sort of seeing stuff like this.
I am dead sick, in a daze I plugged this into my headphones and it's the only thing I could hear drifting in and out of consciousness.
Yay, my favorite string quartet. Random trivia: At 18:40 in the long variations movement the piece goes into 9/4 time for a while.
My love for this music increases exponentially every time I listen to it. And I learned so much today by looking at this video, which is very helpful for proper appreciation.
I don't really know much about classical music, so I don't understand this piece well, but... damn, those last 3 movements are awesome. The allegro sounds like a freaking symphony for 4 instruments, it's awesome. Amazing animation, btw.
You may not know much about classical music, but the people who know a lot agree with you. The late Beethoven string quartets are among the highest high points in the repertoire.
smalin this is a question because i am truly curious. how does knowing a lot about music effect how beautiful it sounds? If it really does I need to hit the books because I want to soak up as much as I can.
It just takes time. Lots of time. I started with Bach 50+ years ago and these Quartets when in college. Just listen. That's all you need. If there is love in you for what these composers are saying, it will find you soon enough. And then your life will be so enriched. It just takes time. Listening.
Sometimes a piece sounds beautiful when you hear once or twice, but the more you hear it, the more boring it becomes... Other pieces may sound a bit upsetting, or unnerving, or banal at a first hearing, but the more you hear them, the more you discover... and there are pieces which sound pretty and superficial at first, but the more you dig into them, the more profound they turn out to be... This doesn't have much to do with books, more with attention and time, and at one point maybe you'll feel like reading books because you want to understand a little bit of how this beauty came about, how such mental constructions could possibly emerge in a human mind...
I think this is the best string quartet ever made. At least it should be among the top 5.
#1 in my book!
It's the most genius exposition of a fugue ever since Bach's C# minor from WTC I, and probably one of the most successful innovative uses of fugue ever as well.
@@lerippletoe6893 It even quotes a motif from a Bach fugue (B minor from WTC I) in the middle of the movement.
@@KrisKeyes Yeah that was pretty cool. I thought "wait a second that was from the last fugue of WTC I" when I heard that. It was a fun call-back.
Schubert asked to listen to this 5 days before his death.
The visual representation is brilliant
This piece brings me to tears without fail.
This is the best musical piece ever
2:50 hey that is Bach's fugue in B minor right there
The 1st movement is definitely a nod to Bach and his fugal achievements.
True Beauty comes from within.
This is a perfect example.
This is incredible. no commercial announcements, music, modalities, and a graphic burst.
Beautiful music. For one who can't read music; amazing to SEE it as it plays. Thank you!
I really like the graphic representation of the music. It helps me to understand what is going on on different levels. Thanks. Well done.
30:48 Perfect.
this is just how Him can work even in a decaying human body. nothing compares. we're blessed!
It would be good to enjoy a reflective cup of tea with this ~
To the modern informed mind, no doubt to a musical/mathematical one, the animated graphical score is an engaging visual revelation - realisation- of what the mind tracks in its own intuitive way without being able to render it easily in physical diagramatic form; for those of us who do not have such a kind or level of intelligence it is an enchanting- even mesmorising- pantomime, in the most literal sense, a dance, of steps, in time.
+Ralph Berney I think my brain seems to understand it, it is like "seeing the music" in your minds eye but a lot easier
Well, Daniel, you are a fortunate fellow, the the kind from which musicians spring, and thank heavens for that:so ,please, let's hear you perform, if you would care to. Ralph
Idk, I don't think I'd be able to track the stuff Beethoven does here without the video
+Lucas Peterson If you watch the video a few times and then listen without the video can you track it?
+smalin I could try that. Thanks for the videos man
I confess I'd never heard of the Alexander String Q until now. About ten minutes in I thought to notice who was playing, because I realized they were really rather good.! I like the graphics for this too. B Quartets are hard. Your and the Quartet are impressive. And when it comes to these quartets I am very hard to impress. I've enjoyed your wonderful work for a long time. This has to be one of the notable ones.
Wow...the 7th Movement...superb!
Everyone gets a wonderful melody to play in this piece. Very beautiful. Thanks for posting. I am still drawn to wondering how an actual animation would look, leaves, shadows, dancing. Thanks for helping inspire such thought. If indeed it is thought at all. ta
Este cuarteto es el compañero inseparable de mi vida desde hace ya muchos años. He perdido la cuenta de las innumerables veces que lo he escuchado. Yo creía que ya nada podía sorprenderme en él. Pero estaba equivocado. Ahora que lo he 'visto' con mis ojos mientras lo escuchaba con mis oídos, he descubierto nuevas maravillas que me inundan de emoción y recogimiento. Gracias, amigo Smalin!
You're welcome. I'm so glad my score has helped you appreciate this piece.
I find this to be more useful for music analysis and appreciating it than initially obvious, especially for fugues, symphonies, quartets, impressionistic music, etc. The coloration and shape thing is really pretty and fun to watch of course but if you watch the video of, say, Beethoven's ninth fourth movement you put together, it's so easy to spot the genius in the way he uses the themes and rhythms that makes it such a landmark of a piece and quite simply on another level, and it's useful so that way you don't miss any voices, etc. Thanks for putting these up. I really enjoy using them to appreciate the music.
Thank you for this piece Smalin. I'll write in french now, because my english isn't fluently. But the most important Words are in english. :)
J'attendais avec espoir que tu publies un jour ce quatuor. C'est mon favori parmi tout les quatuors que je connais pour quatre raisons.
1-C'est un quatuor et c'est ma formation préférée de musique dite classique.
2- c'est un quatuor de Beethoven et c'est le compositeur que j'admire au dessus de tout les autres.
3- c'est le plus beau des 16 quatuors que Ludwig composa
4- Au delà de l'avis que j'en ai et qui est guidé par mon goût et mon émotion c'est un Himalaya du genre tant d'un point de vue technique qu'artistique. Et Le voir jouer en concert et une jouissance auditive ultime ! Il restera sans doute toujours moderne et actuel et en composant cela, Beethoven, je pense, savait très bien ce qu'il laissait aux générations futures. Un MONUMENT !
Bref j'étais impatient et je suis désormais heureux de pouvoir regarder ton superbe travail sur cette œuvre grandiose car je sais qu'il va me permettre de découvrir, à travers l'image que tu sais si bien poser sur tant d'opus, un nouvel angle à la musique de ce quatuor que je connais si bien même si je ne le connaîtrais sans doute jamais totalement.
Alors encore MERCI et continue à faire des vidéos si jolies, intéressantes et instructives. Et puis si tu veux nous faire tout les quatuors de Beethoven te gêne surtout pas. :)
Je vous en prie.
33:12 Shit gets real
Beautiful job, like always! I particularly like the transition from the 6th to the 7th movement.
This is a beutiful peace of hard work put into music !!
Impressionante !! Lindíssimo video! Representação gráfica fascinante!!
Alexander Q are rather good! This is the second Beethoven I've seen of yours featuring their playing. I think they are based out of San Francisco, or close by. Lovely when your graphics meet a good artist. And a true master composer...Bliss
29:01 Band of Brothers Ep 9.
Scott Frasier I wish each part had quick links or each part had it's own vid.
Same here
Why We Fight.
@@erinbruch ruclips.net/video/5YD-PcQ-jJM/видео.html
@@Andy_Chau ruclips.net/video/5YD-PcQ-jJM/видео.html
Many thanks for your animated graphical score - it has been very helpful indeed, especially during the first movement when I hadn't previously been able to follow the melodic line. Very best wishes, Allan
Mind blown...
wonderful...
How perfectly stunning to the soul. Music of heavenly bodies.
Stephen, thank you so much for all the quartets!
always a treat to listen/watch. Thank you!
Nice, the visuals make it much easier for a layman to follow the complexity of the music. Thanks!
Happy to hear it's working for you. In case you hadn't found it, here's an index to the entire set: www.musanim.com/BeethovenStringQuartets/
Love it especially the "tails" that carry us through the melody. :)
Really ironic and wierd that this was uploaded today, because I was looking for it in your videos and couldn't find it yesterday, It magically appears today
Squirrelterritory You must have picked up vibes from yesterdays performance ... www.musanim.com/live/
Adorei. Fantástico.
Stunning!!
Beautiful! Thank you so much!
You're welcome.
29:05 Band of Brothers brought me here
I remember that Scene
Me to
Me too
I like the graphic presentation a lot, thank you.
29:05
This comment
I wish the third movement was longer
thanks for the upload
I have never heard this piece by Beethoven, thank you for showing it in a beautiful way. +smalin
So beautiful
perfect piece
just wonderful.
Thank you for your work :)
25:11 rogue viola note from the first movement ;)
+Fisherdec Indeed ... I don't know how that got in there ...
Incredible
thank you smalin
This is very good, thank you for posting it ~
***** rubbing alconol, makes me think of ~refreshing though.
It seems there is a trill missing at 15:05. Other than that, I absolutely adore this animation. This is my favorite string quartet out of all, and this animation brings out its best qualities. Truly wonderful.
Love this piece and the way you illustrated it was perfect!
Actually, it's not perfect ... I missed the trills at 15:04 ... it's never perfect ...
sigh ...
I didn't say it was perfect >smile
Diane Woodward
Thank YOU --- children are my primary intended audience, so I'm delighted you're helping me share my work with them.
simplemente hermoso.
Gracias.
Who do you regard as the greatest composer smalin? Do you think it's subjective? A three-way tie between Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart?
The merit of music is based on how it affects human beings, which is of course subjective, but it's possible to be objective about what effects music has and which compositions produce those effects (and to what degree). This is something I'm interested in, but it doesn't lead me to think in terms of "greatest composer." It would be like asking what the greatest color is. What would life be without red, green, or blue? What would life be without Bach, Beethoven, or Mozart? Or any other colors or composers? I'm not going to say that the question is meaningless, but I don't think it has a simple answer, and I think there are much more productive questions to ask.
It is a really subjectic question, although it's obviously Bach, because I say so
I think it's Bach. But I love many others.
smalin Congratulations, you are smart
It's a good question to ask and smalin's response is on target. So, for you, Leonhard, whose music moves you the most and why? That will give you the only really reliable answer to your question. For me, the 6th movement of this piece is the greatest music ever written, followed closely by the Kyrie of Mozart's Requiem, then, distantly, Puccini's aria Recondita armonia from Tosca. All move me with simultaneous subtlety and power. Your answers will probably be quite different.
Congratulations Smalin...you are a Mastermind just one or two steps below the composers you deal with ( which is certainly not at all bad !) :-)
I don't know why your videos help me explore music so well. Maybe, there's no need for imagery that might accompany the melody or harmony, so I can focus more on the notes themselves? Maybe I can literally see more clearly what the composer is trying to do. In any case I think watching your videos is less distracting to the overall comprehension of the piece. Thank you, Smalin, because I do love them and I don't know if I would have gotten there without you.
You're quite welcome. Tell your friends.
you can hear bits from the Great fugue
12:31
Nice Thumbnail-choice.
If you keep watching for a long period time you will see things moving around. lol
+jimihd1 See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_aftereffect
smalin yes, the old ''lsd video''. Kids, don't do drugs...
except hallucinogens and weed, do those drugs. they're great and great for you.
Special greetings from Venezuela.
One of the most wonderful pieces in music. The quartet is centered around the middle - the 4th movement - a set of variations on a theme - blissful and euphonic throughout, a definition of contentment. The outer movements are more troubled but the centre holds despite the drama surrounding it. ruclips.net/video/QicnM5xJJ5g/видео.html
Great music by Beethoven of course.And great video by Smalin as always.I love this because is very useful to me, help me to understand and respect music much more.Thanks Smalin.
Have you consider to do some string quartets of D.Shostakovich, 8th or 15th maybe , or some other work? Thanks and sorry for my bad english
"Have you considered ... ?" A clever way of defusing Sephen's invariable retort "See the FAQ 'Could you please ...?'" Well done! ;-)
29:05 sounds a lot like Introitus from Mozart's Requiem
+Mertcan Ekiz www.readperiodicals.com/201407/3454881571.html
+smalin I've always wondered what Beethoven's Requiem would sound like, especially the Dies Irae. But I guess it was the Dies Irae that possibly prevented him from writing one and instead going for the Missa Solemnis. Interesting read.
+Mertcan Ekiz yep
This is awesome stuff, and one of my favorite pieces. Do you have a video on how you do this?
No, but there's a diagram (with some explanation) ... www.musanim.com/ProductionNotes/synchronization.html ... and some production notes for various pieces ... www.musanim.com/ProductionNotes/
I particularly like your animation for the first movement, since the "moving gels" give such a sense of fluidity. One conclusion that I've come to is that, as lovely as the Smalin body of work is, it has perhaps come not at the best time for music. That is to say, the trend (to give a simplification) in the past few decades has already been towards a highly polished, clean, perfected and "academic" style of practice. This is in contrast to the great warmth and variety of individual expression that characterized great playing of the last century, inherited and refined even from the conventions of the 19th. While your animations are brilliant and insightful, their focus on timing and rhythm confirms some of these prejudices rather than giving us the "antidote" we need. Perhaps a way to put it is that it keeps our understanding of music within the score, rather than liberating us from it. Sorry, this is a delicate thing to try to say here, and I hope I haven't been misunderstood; I enjoy and watch your animations and I think you do a fine thing in making them public. I would keep such a thing in my own head if it weren't for the fact that you are so keen and intelligent in your comments, and I thought you might (at the least) be interested to read it. Many thanks and cheers
Albatrosspro1 I'm surprised that you describe the focus of my animation as being on timing and rhythm. It seems to me that timing and rhythm are what my scores are LEAST good at (not nearly as good as a conventional score).
I'm not sure I understand what sort of thing you'd prefer, though, when you say that we need to be "liberated" from the score ...
My graphical scores grew out of my enjoyment in reading scores while listening to music. The aspects of music that are easy to appreciate (rhythm, timbre, expression, harmony, etc.) don't need help from my scores; instead, my scores help with the aspects that are not so easy (following multiple melodic lines at once, recognizing when things repeat, etc.).
When I listen to music, much of my appreciation derives from what the performers do with what's in the score. If I have trouble following the music, the score helps, and thus helps me appreciate the aspect of the performance that are not in the score.
A few days ago, I played my girlfriend a recording of a particular piece of music. She wasn't especially appreciative of it --- I think it was because she was familiar with a different version of it that she preferred (the original version; I was playing her a transcription for a different instrument). But then, I made an animated graphical score of it; when she saw that this morning, she liked the piece a lot more. And, similarly, many viewers on RUclips say "I didn't like classical music, but I watched some of your videos, and now I do." So I see my videos as being an antidote to prejudices.
First of all, any success at getting new listeners to classical music is a victory, and should be treated as such. I would never diminish the importance of that, and I heartily applaud your efforts.
I do disagree that these other aspects of music are easy to appreciate. Or rather, it's complicated. Let me try to explain what I mean. There are those with no musical training whatsoever who adore a Beethoven quartet, who listen to classical music daily and attend concerts, and who have grown to have a keen taste. There are also those who have gone through conservatory and make their living on music, who nonetheless treat playing as a routine mechanical act. It seems likely that some change has happened over time; as these great works and their tradition have disappeared from the main culture, many of the expressive impulses and even ideas behind them have ceased to be natural, and require a whole education just to understand what they mean. I'm not sure many people see the point anymore of this crescendo or that sudden change in tone. And I mean on a basic, human level.
Perhaps I might contrast what you do with a different method. Take Disney's Fantasia: really at the opposite end of the spectrum, a fanciful, image-based rendering of musical works. Now, Fantasia (old or the new version) has many drawbacks, and surely lulls its viewers into a certain kind of passivity. But one advantage is that it manages to connect musical impulses to artistic or human feeling. You might say that it gives back some of the mental picture or expressive understanding that has been lost by a flashy, anesthetizing pop culture. Do I think this method is preferable to yours? Of course not; they are very different. But, if I had to characterize, your animations represent a detail-oriented, mechanical, "under the hood" approach to illustrate the inner workings of great music. My comment on note values, for instance, is simply to point out that the building blocks for your videos are the notes themselves: when they start, when they stop, what pitch they take. This is fabulous as a gateway to understanding what are really counterpoint, voicing, and orchestration. However, they are not everything. Even within music itself, there is a small crisis today to define exactly what should happen when the other elements start and the technical learning stops. Working against us is a tendency to overvalue academic rigor and competition, as well as the loss of the arts as part of the general social fabric. That is what I meant by our particular prejudice.
Cheers again and thanks for your response.
Albatrosspro1 You feel that my videos fail to "connect musical impulses to artistic or human feeling." They may fail in that regard for you, but they succeed for some people. Let me quote at length a response from a friend who showed my Music Animation Machine (MAM) videos to his step-daughter:
R ... is an interesting case (and not isolated, by any means). Though she is getting a master's degree in music, her relationship to music is determined by her understanding of a certain type of music, i.e. vocal music (even though she plays the violin and viola, and has played them in orchestras for years), and vocal music primarily as related to opera. This is what she enjoys the most, and she enjoys it because of a drama and emotion that is clearly spelled out in terms of a text and a narrative situation.
What is R to make of a Bach fugue or a Bach choral prelude (though the last is tenuously related to a text)? Where are the words (first of all)? Where is the drama? Who is weeping? Who has been betrayed? She can clearly feel the emotional content of music if she knows in what context it occurs, but it is much harder for her to feel the emotion of music which is just music, partly because she doesn't listen to it much (self-perpetuating debility).
When she saw your MAM tape ... she was able to see the drama of a kind of music that she had "suffered" in various music history classes. Those dull choral preludes (which had to be analyzed) took on life; the various parts were different characters in a drama. She had some inkling (which could have been developed had she access to the MAM of how music ALREADY HAS properties that are merely correlated to words and actors in a drama, that it was the music which enhanced drama with its own drama. Why should Dido's lament not be declaimed accompanied by a buzz saw? Because the buzz saw doesn't have any lamentable properties, whereas the melody does. Thus music without words (or a narrative story) must have such properties already to set a text in an opera. It is not that Rachel is a child, it is that she had a certain relationship to music limited by her tastes and "ignorance" (which often derives from taste).
Fortunately, she does have a feeling for music (without having that feeling abstracted from a dramatic context) and she has some feeling for visual things---both combining to produce her delight at your machine and in music she hadn't understood on her own terms before ... On MAM the various parts of a contrapuntal piece become characters in a spacial drama.
Maybe you should write a.book
Band of Brothers brought me here.
Grande Beto!
*Ludwig
25:13 whats that viola note doing there?
i love this channel so much ! half of the views are probably me !
Everything is now moving to the right!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_aftereffect