William Bolcom - The Garden of Eden (Myer)

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  • Опубликовано: 26 июл 2024
  • William Bolcom - The Garden of Eden: 4 Rags for Piano (1974)
    Pf : Spencer Myer (2017.01.20)
    • William Bolcom: Piano ...
    00:00 -- I. Old Adam
    02:54 -- II. The Eternal Feminine
    08:08 -- III. The Serpent's Kiss
    14:06 -- IV. Through Eden's Gates
    This video is for divulgation purposes only and isn't commercial.
  • ВидеоклипыВидеоклипы

Комментарии • 55

  • @jesemepardens9151
    @jesemepardens9151 Год назад +85

    The serpent's kiss really slaps ! Let it not be more popular so that way it still stays a secret underrated gem

    • @gabrielsyeda3422
      @gabrielsyeda3422 Год назад +4

      100% AGREE

    • @syroyid
      @syroyid Год назад +5

      it is really interesting the texture, the harmony, the rhythm. Sounds fresh!

    • @tapiorajala1599
      @tapiorajala1599 Год назад +2

      yes cool part. heel stomp and tongue sounds? how is that kind of sound made stomping heel :o

    • @supasayajinsongoku4464
      @supasayajinsongoku4464 Год назад +1

      Slightly unrelated but whats the most beautiful piece youve heard this month or even this year
      And then whats the most relentless, driving piece youve heard this month

    • @jesemepardens9151
      @jesemepardens9151 Год назад +1

      @@supasayajinsongoku4464 has to go to Medtner's 3rd piano concerto! Astoundingly profound and dramatic.

  • @TheElectricCheeseProductions22
    @TheElectricCheeseProductions22 Год назад +7

    I love how tremolos only appear in The Serpent's Kiss as it elicits the image of a rattlesnake rattling. Same with the clicking, it makes me think of how snakes stick their tongue out even if they dont make a clicking noise

  • @derby2510
    @derby2510 Год назад +10

    Pianist has a great control of the dynamics. Bolcom’ s publishers are protective of his work, so if you like this, I would DL it.

  • @Hagb3rd
    @Hagb3rd Год назад +12

    'No heel stomps', 'perhaps a little faster', Now! let go!'
    Fantastic!

    • @kazsolan
      @kazsolan 12 дней назад +1

      Chuckled at "loco (or stay up if you like)"!

  • @pantoleonantonio9653
    @pantoleonantonio9653 Год назад +6

    What an amazing set of pieces. I'm definitely going to learn it.

  • @hemiolaguy
    @hemiolaguy Год назад +2

    At 9:21, there's a quote from "Gee, Officer Krupke" (Bernstein's "West Side Story").

  • @elrichardo1337
    @elrichardo1337 Год назад +1

    i remember seeing "old adam" in one of the piano books i played out of in middle school
    fun times

  • @GeorgeZwierzchowskipianomusic
    @GeorgeZwierzchowskipianomusic Год назад +1

    cool pieces. well played!

  • @user-gx3id5sz5l
    @user-gx3id5sz5l Год назад +1

    What a nice song min seok!

  • @DoranSteven
    @DoranSteven 9 месяцев назад

    Well this is awesome

  • @MichaelConwayBaker
    @MichaelConwayBaker Год назад

    Happy and fun!!

  • @CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji
    @CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji Год назад +12

    Nice, the third one is probably my favourite.

  • @user-gv6jg5mn4w
    @user-gv6jg5mn4w Год назад +1

    good

  • @alcyonecrucis
    @alcyonecrucis Год назад

    What a novel idea

  • @mitchellwooldridge5118
    @mitchellwooldridge5118 Год назад +13

    Classical pianists are always too stiff when they swing - I get that it could've maybe been scored more accurately (given that it's for classical performance) but, still... Otherwise, very well played --- lovely dynamics and clarity!

    • @DavidArdittiComposer
      @DavidArdittiComposer Год назад +2

      Maybe it’s not meant to be a ‘swing’ piece? I though it was played beautifully.

    • @mitchellwooldridge5118
      @mitchellwooldridge5118 Год назад

      @@DavidArdittiComposer These are "rags" - essentially the earliest jazz stylings. The left-hand syncopation says it all: it was meant to be swung i.e. long/short 'oom-pa' rhythm.
      It's something even jazz pianists struggle to truly master, as there are different 'feels' associated. I was just saying that classical pianists tend to be too stiff and end up spoiling the swing, as is the case with this rendition.
      Other than that, I also think it was well played in every other respect.

    • @DavidArdittiComposer
      @DavidArdittiComposer Год назад +6

      @@mitchellwooldridge5118 I am aware of what ragtime is and of what swing is in jazz. Ragtime (certainly the classic ragtime of the pre-1914 era) should not generally be swung, but played exactly as written (at least to judge from the evidence of recordings and piano rolls of the era). Is what you are criticising here the execution of the dotted semiquaver followed by demisemiquaver groups in no 1? This player has played them pretty 'sharp', whereas I agree others might have relaxed them into a long-short triplet pattern. This being quite 'modern' music, this may have been what the composer intended, but I am not sure. Did the composer ever record his pieces himself? Then we could know what he intended. There's no note on the score saying he does not intend the exact rhythms notated.

    • @mitchellwooldridge5118
      @mitchellwooldridge5118 Год назад

      @@DavidArdittiComposer Look, my opinion is subjective - so, there is a fair amount of bias and subjectivity to my statement. I think the question of whether or not ragtime should be played straight or swung is not as cut and dry as you'd suggest. Its origins derive from African influence into western classical music stylings - very much about the 'dancing'.
      It's difficult to quantify how the swing doesn't quite work (for me). I'm not sure if it is do with the rhythmic groupings - the way they're written - although certainly a more triplet-oriented approach would probably fix the problem. IMO, those 4-note octave pickups every few bars in No. 1 are supposed to create more of a fluid stride-like effect in the way the split and connect the syncopated parts but they end up breaking the rhythmic flow, the way he plays them.
      Anyway, I didn't mean to offend anyone's sensibilities. I like the discourse - especially where jazz meets classical music is concerned. On your point of it being a modern piece - Bolcom wrote some amazingly zany pieces. Marc-Andre Hamelin's interpretations swing beautifully with the right amount of restraint and grace - worth checking out!

    • @DavidArdittiComposer
      @DavidArdittiComposer Год назад +5

      @@mitchellwooldridge5118 I agree that there are fine graduations in this. There's a good video on Adam Neely's channel where he answers the question 'How, exactly, do musicians swing?', using the latest research on what actually happens.
      Listening to No. 1 here again I agree that the way the LH is played doesn't seen quite right, and I think this is because the main beat following the dotted figure is fractionally delayed by the very diligent attempt to play the dot exactly, where it would have been better to err the other way and bring the beat forward. I am reluctant to be critical though as I couldn't do so well.
      I haven't heard much Bolcom, so I am grateful for your recommendation to listen to Hamelin's recordings.

  • @user-kk4dd2bq3y
    @user-kk4dd2bq3y 8 месяцев назад

    Wow

  • @unnamed_boi
    @unnamed_boi Год назад +1

    banger

  • @bitchslappedme
    @bitchslappedme Год назад +30

    There's no way the rhythm and piano section on the 3rd rag is only performed by one person. You don't have enough time between the keys and percussion.
    NVM I just went to see a live performance of this pianist and he is super fast and fluid. Very impressive.
    Good pieces!

    • @joaomonteiro9619
      @joaomonteiro9619 Год назад +4

      I was actually thinking the 3rd rag looked very fun to try and play until that part. Absolute headache and I don't think I'd be able to make it sound as good...

    • @clairejin1704
      @clairejin1704 Год назад +1

      It actually is, this sheet music is a solo arrangement of the piece. I’m playing it now

    • @therealtruetwelfth798
      @therealtruetwelfth798 Год назад +1

      I’m friends with him and, as a pianist myself, I can tell you he’s as good as they come

    • @joaomonteiro9619
      @joaomonteiro9619 Год назад

      @@therealtruetwelfth798 He sure is as good as they come. His sound control and dynamics are superb. I actually thought this might be a concert pianist even though I've never heard of him... Must be fun having a friend that absolutely "destroys" the piano 😂

    • @supasayajinsongoku4464
      @supasayajinsongoku4464 Год назад

      Slightly unrelated but whats the most beautiful piece youve heard this month or even this year
      And then whats the most relentless, driving piece youve heard this month

  • @piano1500
    @piano1500 Месяц назад

    The third one sounds just like Prokofiev's Toccata.

  • @benharmonics
    @benharmonics Год назад +2

    Great video! Now, if you could find a good recording of the two piano version and make a score video of that, it would be even better…

  • @benharmonics
    @benharmonics Год назад +3

    Old Adam
    Section 1, D-flat major
    0:00 strain 1 (ends in B-flat minor), first repeat
    0:15 strain 1, second repeat
    0:29 strain 2 (ends in D-flat major)
    0:48 strain 1, modified
    1:02 strain 2
    Section 2 (trio), G-flat major
    1:20 strain 3
    1:36 strain 3, modified
    Section 3, G-flat major
    1:51 strains 4 and 5, first repeat
    2:21 strains 4 and 5, second repeat
    The Eternal Feminine
    Section 1, A-flat major
    2:55 strain 1, first repeat
    3:31 strain 1, second repeat
    4:08 strain 2, first repeat
    Section 2, D-flat major
    5:57 introduction
    6:06 strain 3, first repeat
    6:25 foreshadowing of The Serpent’s Kiss
    6:38 strain 3, second repeat
    Section 3, D-flat major
    7:12 introduction - uses tune from strain 3
    7:18 strain 2, modified and extended
    The Serpent’s Kiss
    Section 1, D minor - exposition
    8:08 strain 1, first repeat
    8:17 strain 1, second repeat
    8:26 strains 2 and 1, first repeat
    8:44 strains 2 and 1, second repeat
    9:03 strain 3
    9:12 strain 3, upgraded
    9:21 strain 4 - uses tune from strain 3 of The Eternal Feminine
    9:35 ending of section 1/introduction of section 2
    Section 2 - development
    9:39 part 1, D minor - uses material from strains 1 and 3
    10:06 part 2 - modulating bridge
    10:40 part 3, B minor - uses tune from strain 4 (originally from strain 3 of The Eternal Feminine)
    11:09 callback to Old Adam
    11:23 part 4 (stoptime), D major, first repeat - piano tapping
    11:45 part 4 (stoptime), D major, second repeat and ending of section 2 - tongue clicking
    Section 3, D minor - recapitulation
    12:20 strain 1
    12:29 strain 2, downgraded
    12:37 strain 1
    Section 4, D minor - coda
    12:49 part 1
    13:19 part 2, first repeat - uses material from strains 3 and 1
    13:28 part 2, second repeat
    13:37 part 3 - uses tune from strain 4 (originally from strain 3 of The Eternal Feminine)
    13:48 scary chord, followed by callback to strain 1 of The Eternal Feminine
    14:00 final outburst
    Through Eden’s Gates
    Section 1, C major
    14:07 introduction
    14:14 strain 1
    14:52 strain 2, first repeat
    15:27 strain 2, second repeat
    16:03 strain 1
    Section 2 (trio), F major
    16:43 strain 3
    16:56 subtle callback to that tune from strain 3 of The Eternal Feminine and strain 4 of The Serpent’s Kiss
    17:17 strain 4
    Section 3, C major
    17:53 introduction, modified
    18:00 strain 1, modified

    • @turnernorman704
      @turnernorman704 Год назад

      This comment gave me a different outlook on this piece. I already loved it, don't get me wrong. -- but I didn't realize that themes from Old Adam and The Eternal Feminine were used in Serpents Kiss. Its so obvious now, but had failed to pick up on it before. So.. Thank you!! I feel like I have a more in depth view of this piece.

    • @TheElectricCheeseProductions22
      @TheElectricCheeseProductions22 Год назад

      Is there a difference between a strain and a phrase? Or a section?

  • @isaacvandermerwe744
    @isaacvandermerwe744 10 месяцев назад +1

    4:02 pianist chooses to omit RH F natural. interesting...wonder if Bolcom made a typo!

  • @alschnittke
    @alschnittke Год назад +2

    heads up, this sheet music and recording have been copyright striked a good number of times in the past.

  • @georgemusic701
    @georgemusic701 Год назад +2

    Is this real?

  • @xnotz1930
    @xnotz1930 Год назад +5

    Starting 12:48 is the best

    • @stacia6678
      @stacia6678 Год назад

      It's like a little fughetta haha

  • @stacia6678
    @stacia6678 Год назад +2

    le

  • @thePsykomanteum
    @thePsykomanteum 3 месяца назад

    notabl

  • @Xyriak
    @Xyriak Год назад +1

    good