Jesus makes life worth living! His love makes life great, and we know when we come to him, when we turn around to him with our heart, when we start experiencing his love!
@@MehdiD.Ardebili @cesteres Jesus makes life worth living! How greatly he loves us! When we come to him, turn around to him with our heart, we start to live in his love and his grace! No greater life than that!
To me, Beethoven saved the best for last. All of these fugues are brilliant and display such a mastery of the style, but the final double fugue in the 4th movement of the 9th Symphony is just otherworldly. Not only is it a mastery of fugue style and pushes forward the harmonic concepts of the era, it also captures the lyrics so perfectly. It gives me goosebumps each and every time I listen to it.
I hated it the first time I heard it. I was wondering why 151 of the world's best conductors voted it as the best symphony ever written. I was so wrong. Barring Beethoven's 6th, eroica is the best.
Before anyone else beats me to the punch, yes, I did notice the almost cartoonishly late entry of one of the bassoons at 9:19 (the beginning of the funeral march fugue). It was almost enough to make me choose a different recording, but the interpretation is so amazing I couldn't let a wayward bassoonist bother me.
Hey Richard. I`m a piano student planning on doing an analysis on Mozart`s and Beethoven`s Piano Concertos in Cm, the first movements of both, for my Bachelors degree. I would like to color in voices that I am talking about in the score like you are doing in your videos. Which program are you using to import the scores in? I am very inexperienced in music programs, so I have to ask.
@@marcfink5712 I just screenshot all the scores from IMSLP (yes it's labor intensive) and then draw on them with "Artboard" (intermediate-level drawing app for Mac that costs money) or "Paintbrush" (freeware basic drawing app for Mac). I record the sound and edit with "Audacity" (freeware). Then I create the actual video in "imovie."
That section triggers images in me of Joy moving as a spirit through all human beings. "Freude unleashed" I personally call it. It plants the seed that sparks the Chorus section to come. Beethoven‘s music always produces images in me as if I could direct a movie from all the information he gives. I wish I knew more about music terms. I really appreciate the effort in these videos. :)
i feel that way too. i wonder why this part is so underappreciated. i get goosebumps every time and feel transcended into heaven, especially with the prevision of the part that follows.
In Japan there is a habit of listening to the 9th at the end of the year. The Double Fugue at 33:33 is wonderful. If possible, please make a video with a more detailed explanation of just this part.
The most beautiful passage of all the symphonies for me is the fugue in the Ninth finale with the "Freude" and "Seid unschlungen" themes, the shimmering violins accompanying. Then the trumpet comes in at "der ganzen velt!" with the sopranos and stays on the note as the rest of the orchestra goes on, and with that all misery and doubt is lifted, the walls that enclose us broken down and good permanently reaffirmed. So absolutely beautiful, only Beethoven could give us this.
This kind of comment is super interesting to me. Someone else said that they get a lot out of my videos and they can barely read music. I wonder if it's the visualizations that help even people who can't read music well. I think this is certainly true for the amazing videos by my fellow RUclipsr "Smalin."
Thanks for sharing this, Richard. I fell in love with Beethoven many years ago as a boy, listening to the early string quartets Opus 18 and the most beautiful Sonata No. 15 in D-major, day for day. In these days I owned an inexpensive cassette tape recorder with low audio quality. First thing, what i did at home, when coming back from school was to listen to Beethoven. Together with a friend, we listend to the Symphonies conducted by Lenny Bernstein. It was in ca 1974/75, the kids got crazy with Suzi Quatro. Funny times!
Darn it, I knew you'd feature the two sections of the two symphonies (3rd & 9th) that are always guaranteed to make me cry 😥. Had to really fight that here at work.
I knew many of these, but I struggled to pick out many of these before I found this video. Over 1/2 of them I never realized were fugues. Also, thank you for confirming that what I thought was the Double Fugue of teh 4th Movement of Beethoven's 9th is in fact the Double Fugue.
What I love about the passage at 12:46 is the rhythmical shift produced by accenting the third beat in the woodwinds, and phrasing of the melody. It makes the ending of the passage seem like containing a measure in common time (13:36).
You know you've found a good piece when you wish you had written it. You know you've found a good music theory channel when you wish you could make videos like this. I came here for 9-4, but left with a lot more. Bravo.
I appreciate you choosing a recording with a quick tempo in the double fugue from Symphony 9. So often conductors approach it at a snail’s pace which I feel robs the fugue of its power and emotional rapture.
Yay! I guess I'll be watching this one a lot while I wait for "most badass passages". The funeral march fugue and the ode to joy fugues are my favorite.
Although Herr Bach was the original master of the fugue, Herr Beethoven's fugal work is much more emotional and human to me. Herr Bach's fugal writing, though full of genius, always seemed more mathamatical to me, while Herr Beethoven's fugal passages exhibited the melodies, harmonies, and movements of nature, life, and emotion in all their glory....Peace!
Buddy...Are you still alive? The moment the first Bach fanboi reads this, you'll repent for having posted such opinion. They would take it as supreme herecy, a blasphemy worth dying. They would blast you day and night...saying that you simply lack the cognitive capabilities to comprehend Bach. I know what I'm talking about 🙄 However, and even though I'm not fond of Beethoven... You are absolutely right about Bach's tilted mathematical approach.
@@ludwigvanbeethoven5176 You can be Dracula's fanboi if you will. Just refrain from dissing great Mozart. He is Bach's evolution, and Beethoven's inspiration.
Dear friend, you need to excuse me that I only write into english this brief frase, but I need to express my self into my native language, spanish, so I hope you excuse me for that. Acompañar tu exposición de los pasajes fugados de las sinfonías de Beethoven es uno de mis sueños vueltos realidad. Tu lucidez e inteligencia, tu atención al detalle es deslumbrante, y no puedo sino expresarte mi profundo agradecimiento por todo el tiempo que dedicas a hacer estos videos. Eres uno de mis héroes, y tu amistad y las palabras que sueles dedicar a mis comentarios muestran tu calidad y calidez humana. Cada video que haces me deja temblando, desde aquel de que llamaste Brahms Badass passages, al que vuelvo una y otra vez, y comparto con mis amigos cada vez que puedo. Tu amistad, aunque sea por estos rumbos virtuales, es una de las joyas que atesoro con mayor agradecimiento, y sólo puedo decirte desde lo más hondo del alma: ¡MIL GRACIAS! Te mando un fuerte abrazo y mi sincera amistad desde la Ciudad de México.
@@Richard.Atkinson great to hear this Richard, myself being a confirmed Brahmsian. I'd love to see your analysis of his 4th Symphony (last move) & the final movement of his German Requiem "Death where is thy sting" - the frugal passage which I think begins with the Altos. Your channel is a joy to view & inspirational to all music lovers I'm sure!
OK @Richard Atkinson, you are talented, gifted, and a totally amazing musician!!! I loved this video!!! It reminded me of why I do what I do, that is, a student who’s working on his Bachelor in Music Education. It also brought to my head so many memories of when as a young child, I used to listen to cassette recordings of Beethoven, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky. I’m definitely sharing this, your brilliantly crafted video, with my professor of my Form and Analysis of Tonal Music class. Keep up your amazing work!!! God bless you.
I love Beethoven's 5th. It is my favorite of Beethoven's works and that says a lot because Beethoven is my favorite composer. I had no idea that the third movement of his fifth symphony had a fugato, even after listening to it a ton of times, both the original orchestral version composed by Beethoven and the piano solo transcription by Franz Liszt. However I will say this. I view the beginning of Beethoven's 5th as a period within a sentence that itself is within a theme. Let me explain. The period part is the initial 2 statements of the Fate Motif, which outlines a clear tonic -> Dominant relationship. The sentence, I consider to be the section before the fortissimo with the emphasis on G because it is still outlining Tonic -> Dominant and all with the Fate motif being repeated over and over. The theme includes the F emphasis and ends right before the second theme that starts with its Bb emphasis. After the sentence is over but while the first theme still occurs, there is more subdominant function going on starting with an F minor harmony. This eventually leads to the second theme starting by emphasizing Bb as the dominant of Eb before the real chaos of the first movement ensues with C minor, Eb major, F minor, C major, and Bb major harmonies all being there in the development section.
Thank you for this. I do think the big fugal passage of the Funeral March is the most expressive while being brilliant on all counts. It helps me examine myself. Keep up the good work!
28:19 The red subject is *also* derived from the ode to joy theme. There are canons at the beginning of the coda that cements this, this is rather hard to notice in such a fast rendition (this is my favorite recording though)
I LOVE your analyses of these pieces. I am only an amateur musician and did not study music in college, so your videos really pique my interest!! Could you please analyze Beethoven's 5th piano concerto Emporer?? I hear so many patterns in it but just can't figure it out
A fantastic analysis as always. You used some really interesting recordings for these ones. I had to double check on multiple occasions to make sure I wasn't accidentally playing back the video at 1.5x times. It's a lot faster than I'm used to hearing Beethoven's symphonies. Were these versions using Beethoven's own metronome markings, perhaps? (The ones that cause some people to think Beethoven's metronome may have been broken?) They're offputting at first, but I may have to try and track down full recordings so I can listen to them some more and get a fuller opinion.
I love this. Would you consider the development of the Eroica 1st movement starting around measure 190 fugal? This is where the galloping theme, as you referred to it, is played by the violins while the cellos, basses, and violas play the opening theme.
I would not call this section fugal. I don't even think I'd consider it "imitative." But, it is a great example of the contrapuntal combination of 2 (or you could argue 3) of the main ideas from the movement.
i dont find that bassoon entry late, it's starting soft and leaning into the hairpin cresc/dim. having said that, gimmee klemp and karajan for this fugue, no others need apply. Also, I believe Mr. Atkinson deserves a lot of admiration for these videos, they are on par with Lenny's Harvard lectures... really. As enjoyable as they are informative.
Of course Lenny would have been a RUclipsr! I said this before, I am not a music major, but played in orchestra in highschool. I love your videos! Because they are a bit above my knowledge level but I understand them. This pulls me up to the next level, to try to learn and grow. Thank you so much for doing this!!!!!
I had that exact reaction to that note multiple times while creating this video, although I didn't know the exact reason for it (the resonance, not the reaction).
Thanks for pointing that out! I seem to have completely overlooked that for years even though it's pretty obvious... Of course, that would have created a problem for this video because I'd have to make both of them blue (since I was using blue for the Ode to Joy theme).
12:32 This kind of theme called 'Mannheim theme' or 'rocket them' . Lots of famous pieces use this kind of theme......like Beethoven's first piano sonata in f minor, the first movement's theme.
Finally you did it. I'm very happy with this video meanwhile I make the final revision on my future book on Vienna cultural and musical life. Thanks a lot for your effort and dedication. It's interesting to find some sharing thoughts on this subject, so I have to write about it in the near future, just to enlight this dialogue and to honour and acknowledge your effort and what we can call this virtual intellectual friendship.
Thank you for all your great musical videos. Is there a reason why the recordings you use are not identified? I am particularly interested in these Beethoven symphonies, love the tempi! Thanks again!
@@Richard.Atkinson I would think the Et Vitam Venturi fugue and perhaps the passage preceding it with the recapitulation of the opening credo would merit a look too.
This is great! I always find the fugal passages in symphonies to be some of the most memorable moments in them. Do you plan to make videos for other Fugatos in classical music in the future?
Western music is a castle. Bach figured out the math, drew the blueprints, and quarried the stones. Mozart and Beethoven fleshed out the blueprints and completed construction. Everything since then is basically landscaping and interior design. Behind the modern drywall is a structure of ancient stones.
@@crispusattucks4007 I wouldn't neccessarily say that's a bad thing. Post-modern composer only followed the logical conclusion of western music, away from harmony and into dissonance
Because composers before these like Monteverdi and Palestrina and composers during these such as Handel, Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Corelli to Haydn, Weber, Hummel, Field, Rossini do not exist or matter. Reductionist approach praising select few as "masters" and pretending that all else are "lesser music" is not just laughable but a core problem of western music narrative.
Superb! Excellent, really impressive video! Only one minor observation: in the version you use of the 9th symphony the Turkish March is, in my opinion, way too fast. Thanks a lot, I learned a bunch.
Excellent video, mr Atkinson, as usual. I would just like to comment about Thomas Mann's novel "Doctor Faustus". Have you ever read it? It has much to do with music and there is in it a chapter in which a music teacher provides lectures about many subjects (about Beethoven, most of all - for a narrative reason, of course), and among them, there is the discussion of an allegation that Beethoven could not do fugues. That discussion in the book should come together with a link to this video of yours.
You mentioned the revolutionary introduction to the first movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. I would love to read your thoughts about it since it has always fascinated me as it consists of 17 consecutive bars of undefined tonality... right at the beginning of a symphony!! Since only the notes D and A are played during those 17 bars the listener isleft wondering whether the movement is written in D minor or D major (though you can't rule out that this might be the dominant of G major or G minor either). When the note F contained in the principal theme is finally played after that long delay the solution to the harmonic ambiguity makes the entrance of that theme all the more effective. A true stroke of genius!
The military music of the 9th symphony is a veritable miracle of orchestration; the sound of the ensemble approaching from a distance is not only present dynamically but is imitated by the irregularly thickening orchestration itself, demonstrating the long-range dynamic control unique to Beethoven, and almost unprecedented. This effect would later be used by Berlioz, Mahler, Debussy, and Stravinsky. Of course, this particular effect harkens back to a no less masterful example from Mozart - the “Ecco la marcia” from Figaro. A similar effect occurs in Idomeneo (composed six years before), with an approaching march beneath a monologue, though here, the effect is less inventive as the crescendo is made by the entire orchestra. However, in Figaro he actually renders the crescendo with the orchestration, though unlike Beethoven his orchestration thickens by regular increments. He also enhances the element of distance by beginning the march in the middle. Mozart’s references to outside music (the march and the ensuing fandango) are at odds with the troubled monologues they support (unlike Beethoven, where it unequivocally expresses the words), yet ingeniously enough, Mozart still manages to subtly express the text by incorporating eccentric details under the innocuous surface. In any case, despite Beethoven’s apparent misgivings about Mozart’s operas, he was surely indebted to them.
It reminds me of the offstage trumpet fanfares in Mahler's 1st Symphony, and especially reminds me of the 4th movement when the triumphant theme (the one that eventually ends the symphony) enters first quietly, as if in the distance.
Hello! I picked up the book Gradus Ad Parnassum which i believe Beethoven had made a condensed version of for easy access if he needed refresh on some specifics of counterpoint. I don't have any teachers in my life who study classical music the way I do so I don't know who to go to and thought you might be able to help me. I'm not understanding the concept of hexachords that is quite instrumental to understanding the book, so I was wondering if you could explain it or redirect me to a source you know that could. Also do you have any recommendations for books I should get (despite of course Fux's because I already have it). If you could answer these I'd be so thankful because I have no one to go to! Thanks and keep up the great videos✌
Thank you for your explanation and attention to these great works. Although, I found unproper to use the common musicologists' term "false entry" in Beethoven's context. I'd look for a better expression...
Awesome video, fugal passages are some of my favorites in all of the Western canon. I wonder if this could be done with 20th century symphonists like Shostakovich, Sibelius and Prokofiev? Or would we run into copyright/fair use issues with showing the scores? I'm a composer/theorist and have wanted to do these types of videos too...thank you for the awesome content!
I have already done videos about Shostakovich and Nielsen, and the copyright owners have not come after me yet. If they do, I have a pretty good argument for fair use.
I just listened very carefully for the first time to Beethoven’s ‘Consecration of the House’ Overture and you REALLY have to make a video analyzing it, especially it’s fugal (?) allegro. (It’s among the first pieces he wrote after reviving studying the works of Bach and Handel). Please. I will be waiting.
Well sometimes we don't actually need to put too much emphasis on strick regulations, Beethoven wrote music for common people not just for the professor in institution.
Great video as always! I would really like to see a video about Schumann, Berlioz or Franck from you. Like Schumann's Fugues about the name BACH for organ op. 60 or the finale or the Piano Quintet in E flat major.
Wonderful to hear you’ll be posting your Grosse Fuge analysis soon. I’m taking advantage of the current Covid-19 lockdown to thoroughly study the 5 late Beethoven quartets and the Grosse Fuge, the latter of which is, of course, a particularly complex work to comprehend. I know you will shed considerable light on this masterpiece, and I greatly look forward to your insight and wisdom! Thanks very much for everything you do, and keep safe and healthy.
Thank you for this video, I was pretty well brought up on Beethoven, being the son of a leading expert after all. Could you talk about Beethoven's unfinished 10th symphony at some point please?
Thanks for the vid, very educational. I might disagree on some terms but this wouldnt change the great value of this explanation of Beethoven music. Please go on.
Richard Atkinson well for the instance some parts of sym no2 that you mentioned will not well fit into fugato, in fact its just a counterpoint idea or even less, a symphonic buildup ideas. But as I said this wont scratch the whole video value.
What if you took more modern methods of altering sound, namely phase shift (called phaser in guitar world) and “capping” the ends of the sounds waves (distortion if the ends are tipped; fuzz if the ends are completely cut off), delay, etc. creating a symphonic concept based on sounds that have never been used in classical music would be interesting. How come blues/rock/metal compositional style has never been really brought into classical? I suspect there is some parts which are too difficult as in Jazz/Blues music, and with genres like metal or rock which use such elementary aspects of classical that often the potential is ignored.
@@DanielFahimi it's likely he was a jackass. but when I'm listening to him conduct Sibelius 7 I'm hardly thinking "christ what an asshole. who does he think he is?"
I recall a documentary that said that Beethoven composed the 5th Symphony, 6th Symphony & 4th Piano Concerto at around tbe same time.....& that you can hear that fate motif running through all 3 pieces. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this 🙂.
@@Richard.Atkinson try & stop me from tuning in 1 ;). As someone who studied Musical Analysis back in High School (the only subject where I was top of my class) I *love* these videos!!!
I adore the fugal passages in all of his works - did you know that already in 1794 he wrote an awesome fugue for 2 violins and cello in e-minor? I love that so much that I orchestrated it. You may listen to it starting at 3:39 of: ruclips.net/video/dpdmIuj9Iho/видео.html
The fugue in the 2nd movement of Symphony 3 is one of the most earth-shattering moments in all of music
Agree.
This is the second movement of op. 21, Symphony no. 1!
Beethoven is one of those few reasons life on planet earth is worthwhile.
A bit extreme, but more or less a correct statement 👍😂
Jesus makes life worth living! His love makes life great, and we know when we come to him, when we turn around to him with our heart, when we start experiencing his love!
@@MehdiD.Ardebili @cesteres Jesus makes life worth living! How greatly he loves us! When we come to him, turn around to him with our heart, we start to live in his love and his grace! No greater life than that!
@@jacktorrance1237 I'll take Beethoven over Jesus any day of the week.
@@Richard.Atkinson same
The fugue in Eroica 2nd mvmt is one of the supreme human achievements imo
To me, Beethoven saved the best for last. All of these fugues are brilliant and display such a mastery of the style, but the final double fugue in the 4th movement of the 9th Symphony is just otherworldly. Not only is it a mastery of fugue style and pushes forward the harmonic concepts of the era, it also captures the lyrics so perfectly. It gives me goosebumps each and every time I listen to it.
Agree, the Et Vitam Venturi Seculi double fugue in the Missa Solemnis tops it for me though.
I forget how good the Eroica is.
It's one of the very best there ever was
I don't 😉
I hated it the first time I heard it. I was wondering why 151 of the world's best conductors voted it as the best symphony ever written. I was so wrong. Barring Beethoven's 6th, eroica is the best.
@@2905sid Where did you get the information of those conductors voting?
@Sithartt
Norrington? London Classical Players ?
The fact that videos like this exist only serves to further my belief that Beethoven is the be-all, end-all composer when it comes to classical music.
Beethoven really is the best. I say this because the more I listen and learn and dissect his work the more awesome it becomes, and the MORE I love it
To my mind there is Beethoven, then there are all the rest.
Before anyone else beats me to the punch, yes, I did notice the almost cartoonishly late entry of one of the bassoons at 9:19 (the beginning of the funeral march fugue). It was almost enough to make me choose a different recording, but the interpretation is so amazing I couldn't let a wayward bassoonist bother me.
Hey Richard. I`m a piano student planning on doing an analysis on Mozart`s and Beethoven`s Piano Concertos in Cm, the first movements of both, for my Bachelors degree.
I would like to color in voices that I am talking about in the score like you are doing in your videos. Which program are you using to import the scores in? I am very inexperienced in music programs, so I have to ask.
@@marcfink5712 I just screenshot all the scores from IMSLP (yes it's labor intensive) and then draw on them with "Artboard" (intermediate-level drawing app for Mac that costs money) or "Paintbrush" (freeware basic drawing app for Mac). I record the sound and edit with "Audacity" (freeware). Then I create the actual video in "imovie."
@@marcfink5712 if you don't have a mac you can get pretty similar results with the free Adobe Acrobat in pc, with it's "comment" feature.
Richard Atkinson thanks a lot for your reply, i will try that process out for sure.
Diego Parra i have a windows desktop aswell as an iPad that I‘m currently trying to get familiar with, so I can use both!
29:06 - 30:35 My favourite passage from any piece of music I've heard... Simply amazing.
Sadly most people only recognize the Ode to Joy, totally ignoring that amazing passage just before it (or any part of the symphony).
That section triggers images in me of Joy moving as a spirit through all human beings. "Freude unleashed" I personally call it. It plants the seed that sparks the Chorus section to come. Beethoven‘s music always produces images in me as if I could direct a movie from all the information he gives. I wish I knew more about music terms. I really appreciate the effort in these videos. :)
Mine as well.
Absolutely. The tenor told us to run. So we run from minor into the triumphant major
i feel that way too. i wonder why this part is so underappreciated. i get goosebumps every time and feel transcended into heaven, especially with the prevision of the part that follows.
Now I know why the odd #’d symphonies are my favorite
The passage from the second movement of Eroica is unspeakably epic
In Japan there is a habit of listening to the 9th at the end of the year.
The Double Fugue at 33:33 is wonderful.
If possible, please make a video with a more detailed explanation of just this part.
The figure at 12:30 is known as Mannheimer Rakete, Beethoven himself used it for example in the first movement of his first piano sonata
The most beautiful passage of all the symphonies for me is the fugue in the Ninth finale with the "Freude" and "Seid unschlungen" themes, the shimmering violins accompanying. Then the trumpet comes in at "der ganzen velt!" with the sopranos and stays on the note as the rest of the orchestra goes on, and with that all misery and doubt is lifted, the walls that enclose us broken down and good permanently reaffirmed. So absolutely beautiful, only Beethoven could give us this.
How much poorer would our lives be without these treasures of music. Thanks for this video, great work.
Oh Beethoven, your sky-storming spirit, he knows no bounds and leads us into eternity today.
I find free counterpoint to be much more immersive and impressive than explicitly fugal designs with successive entries.
I agree with you, AlyZa
OK, I'll watch the rest of the video in an upcoming video
'Here's something that we can all learn from! ..." ~ Mozart on J.S. Bach
also many fugue in op123 are fantastic especially the last fugue part in credo,oh god that sound definitely comes from haven!
I love how you keep it intelligent and deep while still making it accessible to music theory ignorami like me. Looking forward to the next.
This kind of comment is super interesting to me. Someone else said that they get a lot out of my videos and they can barely read music. I wonder if it's the visualizations that help even people who can't read music well. I think this is certainly true for the amazing videos by my fellow RUclipsr "Smalin."
upvoted for correct 2nd declension pluralization of ignoramus
Thanks for sharing this, Richard. I fell in love with Beethoven many years ago as a boy, listening to the early string quartets Opus 18 and the most beautiful Sonata No. 15 in D-major, day for day. In these days I owned an inexpensive cassette tape recorder with low audio quality. First thing, what i did at home, when coming back from school was to listen to Beethoven. Together with a friend, we listend to the Symphonies conducted by Lenny Bernstein. It was in ca 1974/75, the kids got crazy with Suzi Quatro. Funny times!
I have a similar story, although for me it was in the '80s.
I love the pastoral sonata!
Never heard a story such as this one, NICE!
I always loved the fugatos from the Eroica finale the most! They are otherworldly 😮
Darn it, I knew you'd feature the two sections of the two symphonies (3rd & 9th) that are always guaranteed to make me cry 😥. Had to really fight that here at work.
I knew many of these, but I struggled to pick out many of these before I found this video. Over 1/2 of them I never realized were fugues.
Also, thank you for confirming that what I thought was the Double Fugue of teh 4th Movement of Beethoven's 9th is in fact the Double Fugue.
What I love about the passage at 12:46 is the rhythmical shift produced by accenting the third beat in the woodwinds, and phrasing of the melody. It makes the ending of the passage seem like containing a measure in common time (13:36).
I've been dying to see an analysis of the fugue in ode to joy! Happy birthday to me! thank you thank you!!
!!! it is still so surprising to my brain how different his music is from bach !!!
Happy Birthday!
You know you've found a good piece when you wish you had written it. You know you've found a good music theory channel when you wish you could make videos like this. I came here for 9-4, but left with a lot more. Bravo.
Thank you for the great review of fugal passages in Beethoven's symphonies. I am particularly fond of the second movement of the 7th.
I appreciate you choosing a recording with a quick tempo in the double fugue from Symphony 9. So often conductors approach it at a snail’s pace which I feel robs the fugue of its power and emotional rapture.
Yay! I guess I'll be watching this one a lot while I wait for "most badass passages".
The funeral march fugue and the ode to joy fugues are my favorite.
Although Herr Bach was the original master of the fugue, Herr Beethoven's fugal work is much more emotional and human to me. Herr Bach's fugal writing, though full of genius, always seemed more mathamatical to me, while Herr Beethoven's fugal passages exhibited the melodies, harmonies, and movements of nature, life, and emotion in all their glory....Peace!
Wait... is your profile pic the Jimmy Fallon meme
Buddy...Are you still alive? The moment the first Bach fanboi reads this, you'll repent for having posted such opinion. They would take it as supreme herecy, a blasphemy worth dying. They would blast you day and night...saying that you simply lack the cognitive capabilities to comprehend Bach. I know what I'm talking about 🙄 However, and even though I'm not fond of Beethoven... You are absolutely right about Bach's tilted mathematical approach.
Im confused I'm a Bach and Beethoven fan boi.;-;
@@ludwigvanbeethoven5176 You can be Dracula's fanboi if you will. Just refrain from dissing great Mozart. He is Bach's evolution, and Beethoven's inspiration.
I don't know maybe,it always depends on performance,but the most fantastic,for me, fugal parts are in Missa Solemnis.
Dear friend, you need to excuse me that I only write into english this brief frase, but I need to express my self into my native language, spanish, so I hope you excuse me for that.
Acompañar tu exposición de los pasajes fugados de las sinfonías de Beethoven es uno de mis sueños vueltos realidad. Tu lucidez e inteligencia, tu atención al detalle es deslumbrante, y no puedo sino expresarte mi profundo agradecimiento por todo el tiempo que dedicas a hacer estos videos. Eres uno de mis héroes, y tu amistad y las palabras que sueles dedicar a mis comentarios muestran tu calidad y calidez humana. Cada video que haces me deja temblando, desde aquel de que llamaste Brahms Badass passages, al que vuelvo una y otra vez, y comparto con mis amigos cada vez que puedo. Tu amistad, aunque sea por estos rumbos virtuales, es una de las joyas que atesoro con mayor agradecimiento, y sólo puedo decirte desde lo más hondo del alma: ¡MIL GRACIAS! Te mando un fuerte abrazo y mi sincera amistad desde la Ciudad de México.
Concordo contigo José
These vidoes are truly a gift for music appreciation and analysis, Thank you so much.
Man, I wish that he had expanded on the fugue in the 7th. It's way too short.
Coincidences: The 1st symphony and op 18 no.4 string quartet have 2nd movements starting with something played by the 2nd violins.
Jeez, the march and double fugue from Beethoven 9 are so fast in that recording
I saw the Eroica live once. I was completely bowled over by it’s greatness.
Can you cover Brahms music too, I heard some affecionatos of his music still find hidden melodies in his work.
One of my next videos (and maybe more than one) will discuss the Brahms symphonies. Stay tuned!
@@Richard.Atkinson great to hear this Richard, myself being a confirmed Brahmsian. I'd love to see your analysis of his 4th Symphony (last move) & the final movement of his German Requiem "Death where is thy sting" - the frugal passage which I think begins with the Altos. Your channel is a joy to view & inspirational to all music lovers I'm sure!
Great analysis as always, Richard. I'm also anxious to see your analysis of Brahms' 4th symphony, specially the stunning passacaglia in the Finale
Anxiously awaiting your video on Brahms then! One of my favorite composers
OK @Richard Atkinson, you are talented, gifted, and a totally amazing musician!!! I loved this video!!! It reminded me of why I do what I do, that is, a student who’s working on his Bachelor in Music Education. It also brought to my head so many memories of when as a young child, I used to listen to cassette recordings of Beethoven, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky.
I’m definitely sharing this, your brilliantly crafted video, with my professor of my Form and Analysis of Tonal Music class.
Keep up your amazing work!!! God bless you.
A suggestion: most badass passages of each mahler symphony
That has been on my to do list for many months!
Chostakovitch would be awesome too !
Of course also Shostakovich when I get around to it. But before I do another video about his symphonies, I have to make one about his quartets!
I love Beethoven's 5th. It is my favorite of Beethoven's works and that says a lot because Beethoven is my favorite composer. I had no idea that the third movement of his fifth symphony had a fugato, even after listening to it a ton of times, both the original orchestral version composed by Beethoven and the piano solo transcription by Franz Liszt. However I will say this. I view the beginning of Beethoven's 5th as a period within a sentence that itself is within a theme. Let me explain. The period part is the initial 2 statements of the Fate Motif, which outlines a clear tonic -> Dominant relationship. The sentence, I consider to be the section before the fortissimo with the emphasis on G because it is still outlining Tonic -> Dominant and all with the Fate motif being repeated over and over. The theme includes the F emphasis and ends right before the second theme that starts with its Bb emphasis. After the sentence is over but while the first theme still occurs, there is more subdominant function going on starting with an F minor harmony. This eventually leads to the second theme starting by emphasizing Bb as the dominant of Eb before the real chaos of the first movement ensues with C minor, Eb major, F minor, C major, and Bb major harmonies all being there in the development section.
Thank you for this. I do think the big fugal passage of the Funeral March is the most expressive while being brilliant on all counts. It helps me examine myself. Keep up the good work!
You’re awesome . Thank you 🙏🏻
28:19 The red subject is *also* derived from the ode to joy theme. There are canons at the beginning of the coda that cements this, this is rather hard to notice in such a fast rendition (this is my favorite recording though)
Excellent as always. You're now my favorite RUclipsr. Hope to watch the most beautiful passages of the Bruckner symphonies in the future!
Yes, it's coming! I have so many important videos on the docket...
29:06 is the part I was looking for. Thanks a lot for the analysis !
Please, do “Best moments from each piece of Bach’s WTC I & II”
I LOVE your analyses of these pieces. I am only an amateur musician and did not study music in college, so your videos really pique my interest!! Could you please analyze Beethoven's 5th piano concerto Emporer?? I hear so many patterns in it but just can't figure it out
A fantastic analysis as always. You used some really interesting recordings for these ones. I had to double check on multiple occasions to make sure I wasn't accidentally playing back the video at 1.5x times. It's a lot faster than I'm used to hearing Beethoven's symphonies. Were these versions using Beethoven's own metronome markings, perhaps? (The ones that cause some people to think Beethoven's metronome may have been broken?)
They're offputting at first, but I may have to try and track down full recordings so I can listen to them some more and get a fuller opinion.
I love this. Would you consider the development of the Eroica 1st movement starting around measure 190 fugal? This is where the galloping theme, as you referred to it, is played by the violins while the cellos, basses, and violas play the opening theme.
I would not call this section fugal. I don't even think I'd consider it "imitative." But, it is a great example of the contrapuntal combination of 2 (or you could argue 3) of the main ideas from the movement.
i dont find that bassoon entry late, it's starting soft and leaning into the hairpin cresc/dim. having said that, gimmee klemp and karajan for this fugue, no others need apply. Also, I believe Mr. Atkinson deserves a lot of admiration for these videos, they are on par with Lenny's Harvard lectures... really. As enjoyable as they are informative.
I thank you for the compliment! I wonder if Lenny would have been a RUclipsr?
Of course Lenny would have been a RUclipsr! I said this before, I am not a music major, but played in orchestra in highschool. I love your videos! Because they are a bit above my knowledge level but I understand them. This pulls me up to the next level, to try to learn and grow. Thank you so much for doing this!!!!!
Oh, that acoustic low D at 10:57 is so nice! Because of the interfaces with both sinuses there will be created a subcontra D :)
I had that exact reaction to that note multiple times while creating this video, although I didn't know the exact reason for it (the resonance, not the reaction).
I always hear the running 8th note subject in Ode to Joy fugato (28:18) as another variation on the Ode to Joy motif (at first).
Thanks for pointing that out! I seem to have completely overlooked that for years even though it's pretty obvious... Of course, that would have created a problem for this video because I'd have to make both of them blue (since I was using blue for the Ode to Joy theme).
12:32 This kind of theme called 'Mannheim theme' or 'rocket them' . Lots of famous pieces use this kind of theme......like Beethoven's first piano sonata in f minor, the first movement's theme.
9:45 just to replay whenever I feel like listening to it (anyways, I especially love 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9)
As always this is brilliantly documented work. Your channel is the best musicology course ever.
Thank you sooo much. Your visual presentation is so helpful to someone like me - a neophyte in the world of classical music.
You should really upload more videos. I jump up with excitement whenever you upload! Great content!
Once again, thank you for doing this. I will be sharing this with my students.
Great Mr. Atkinson
Finally you did it. I'm very happy with this video meanwhile I make the final revision on my future book on Vienna cultural and musical life. Thanks a lot for your effort and dedication. It's interesting to find some sharing thoughts on this subject, so I have to write about it in the near future, just to enlight this dialogue and to honour and acknowledge your effort and what we can call this virtual intellectual friendship.
I wish you had been my counterpoint teacher! Keep up the good work!
Thank you very much! This is the best video on RUclips, congratulations!
I thank you for the amazing compliment but I disagree... my video about the fugal finale of Bruckner's 5th Symphony is the best video on RUclips! :)
Thank you for all your great musical videos. Is there a reason why the recordings you use are not identified? I am particularly interested in these Beethoven symphonies, love the tempi! Thanks again!
All the recordings are listed in the description!
Thanks for this (again) amazing video! Would you consider an analysis of the fugues of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis?
I wanted to write the same, but than I saw your comment.
I asked him this some time ago, he replied that he wanted to do it at some point.
Yes, I definitely want to do it. Especially the ones in the Gloria...
@@Richard.Atkinson I would think the Et Vitam Venturi fugue and perhaps the passage preceding it with the recapitulation of the opening credo would merit a look too.
This is great! I always find the fugal passages in symphonies to be some of the most memorable moments in them. Do you plan to make videos for other Fugatos in classical music in the future?
Of course more in the future, but also in the past! "Fugatos in classical music" is one of the main themes of this channel.
Great work
Amazing, thank you !
Sometimes your channel and your knowledge about music amazes me!
OMG I KNOW WHAT PART YOU ARE REFERI>NG ON THE EROICA! ITS ALSO ONE OF MY FAVOURITE MOMENTS OF MUSIC
Then stay tuned for the next video!
Western music is a castle. Bach figured out the math, drew the blueprints, and quarried the stones. Mozart and Beethoven fleshed out the blueprints and completed construction. Everything since then is basically landscaping and interior design. Behind the modern drywall is a structure of ancient stones.
This is an amazing analogy. May I use it myself from now on?
And more recently, new occupants have been hanging weird paintings on the walls and putting ugly statues in the corners
@@crispusattucks4007 I wouldn't neccessarily say that's a bad thing. Post-modern composer only followed the logical conclusion of western music, away from harmony and into dissonance
@@orb3796 I think he was talking about popular music
Because composers before these like Monteverdi and Palestrina and composers during these such as Handel, Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Corelli to Haydn, Weber, Hummel, Field, Rossini do not exist or matter. Reductionist approach praising select few as "masters" and pretending that all else are "lesser music" is not just laughable but a core problem of western music narrative.
Mr. Atkinson, you should analyze Schubert's Fantasie Impromptu at some point in the future
Superb! Excellent, really impressive video! Only one minor observation: in the version you use of the 9th symphony the Turkish March is, in my opinion, way too fast. Thanks a lot, I learned a bunch.
That final fugue from the 9th is the “let me take you to the streets of London I’ll show you something that’ll change your mind.”
Excellent video, mr Atkinson, as usual. I would just like to comment about Thomas Mann's novel "Doctor Faustus". Have you ever read it? It has much to do with music and there is in it a chapter in which a music teacher provides lectures about many subjects (about Beethoven, most of all - for a narrative reason, of course), and among them, there is the discussion of an allegation that Beethoven could not do fugues. That discussion in the book should come together with a link to this video of yours.
You mentioned the revolutionary introduction to the first movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. I would love to read your thoughts about it since it has always fascinated me as it consists of 17 consecutive bars of undefined tonality... right at the beginning of a symphony!! Since only the notes D and A are played during those 17 bars the listener isleft wondering whether the movement is written in D minor or D major (though you can't rule out that this might be the dominant of G major or G minor either). When the note F contained in the principal theme is finally played after that long delay the solution to the harmonic ambiguity makes the entrance of that theme all the more effective. A true stroke of genius!
Yes! My very next video discusses this moment, as promised!
The military music of the 9th symphony is a veritable miracle of orchestration; the sound of the ensemble approaching from a distance is not only present dynamically but is imitated by the irregularly thickening orchestration itself, demonstrating the long-range dynamic control unique to Beethoven, and almost unprecedented. This effect would later be used by Berlioz, Mahler, Debussy, and Stravinsky.
Of course, this particular effect harkens back to a no less masterful example from Mozart - the “Ecco la marcia” from Figaro. A similar effect occurs in Idomeneo (composed six years before), with an approaching march beneath a monologue, though here, the effect is less inventive as the crescendo is made by the entire orchestra. However, in Figaro he actually renders the crescendo with the orchestration, though unlike Beethoven his orchestration thickens by regular increments. He also enhances the element of distance by beginning the march in the middle. Mozart’s references to outside music (the march and the ensuing fandango) are at odds with the troubled monologues they support (unlike Beethoven, where it unequivocally expresses the words), yet ingeniously enough, Mozart still manages to subtly express the text by incorporating eccentric details under the innocuous surface.
In any case, despite Beethoven’s apparent misgivings about Mozart’s operas, he was surely indebted to them.
It reminds me of the offstage trumpet fanfares in Mahler's 1st Symphony, and especially reminds me of the 4th movement when the triumphant theme (the one that eventually ends the symphony) enters first quietly, as if in the distance.
Thanks, Richard! Would you like to make video about fugal passages in Missa Solemnis?
Yes, I definitely want to do it. Especially the ones in the Gloria...
Hello! I picked up the book Gradus Ad Parnassum which i believe Beethoven had made a condensed version of for easy access if he needed refresh on some specifics of counterpoint.
I don't have any teachers in my life who study classical music the way I do so I don't know who to go to and thought you might be able to help me.
I'm not understanding the concept of hexachords that is quite instrumental to understanding the book, so I was wondering if you could explain it or redirect me to a source you know that could. Also do you have any recommendations for books I should get (despite of course Fux's because I already have it). If you could answer these I'd be so thankful because I have no one to go to! Thanks and keep up the great videos✌
Thank you for your explanation and attention to these great works. Although, I found unproper to use the common musicologists' term "false entry" in Beethoven's context. I'd look for a better expression...
33:34 breathtaking fugue in 2 subjects
Awesome video, fugal passages are some of my favorites in all of the Western canon. I wonder if this could be done with 20th century symphonists like Shostakovich, Sibelius and Prokofiev? Or would we run into copyright/fair use issues with showing the scores? I'm a composer/theorist and have wanted to do these types of videos too...thank you for the awesome content!
I have already done videos about Shostakovich and Nielsen, and the copyright owners have not come after me yet. If they do, I have a pretty good argument for fair use.
don't know if you're taking suggestions, but I'd love to see your analysis of Bernstein's Prelude, Fugue and Riffs!
25:06: You should've started at the beginning when the low strings begin and more and more instruments join the theme.
Massive work, thanks a lot !!
If you try to do all the fugato passages in Mozart's Symphonys.. Good luck Sir (and I hope it will be !) ! :D
Yes, although I've already done a video on the most important example (the Jupiter finale).
I just listened very carefully for the first time to Beethoven’s ‘Consecration of the House’ Overture and you REALLY have to make a video analyzing it, especially it’s fugal (?) allegro. (It’s among the first pieces he wrote after reviving studying the works of Bach and Handel). Please. I will be waiting.
hmmm be carerul. fugual and imitional are two seperate things. you have mentioned wonderful imitional ideas.... wonderful videos!!!
Yes, I was very careful only to include passages that are obviously fugal (according to almost any definition).
Well sometimes we don't actually need to put too much emphasis on strick regulations, Beethoven wrote music for common people not just for the professor in institution.
The contrabassoon part in the final fugue is probably one of the most ridiculous parts I have ever played.
I never realized until I was making this video that the contrabassoon had to play that decorated version. It's hard enough for the cellos/basses!
Great video as always! I would really like to see a video about Schumann, Berlioz or Franck from you. Like Schumann's Fugues about the name BACH for organ op. 60 or the finale or the Piano Quintet in E flat major.
Wonderful! I know this repertoire extremely well, and I learned so much by your approach. Thank you! Have you tackled the Grosse Fuge??
Funny you ask! That is going to be my next video, and I'm more than halfway done!
Wonderful to hear you’ll be posting your Grosse Fuge analysis soon. I’m taking advantage of the current Covid-19 lockdown to thoroughly study the 5 late Beethoven quartets and the Grosse Fuge, the latter of which is, of course, a particularly complex work to comprehend. I know you will shed considerable light on this masterpiece, and I greatly look forward to your insight and wisdom! Thanks very much for everything you do, and keep safe and healthy.
Thank you so much for the video. Just one question, are you still finding time to compose? Would love to hear more of your music.
Not so much lately. 2019 might be the year I start up again!
Great video. Not the most fugal, but I thought there's moments in the first movement of the 8th to deserve a mention (mostly the development)
Those are some of the wonderful moments of non-fugal counterpoint that I mentioned at the beginning.
Thank you for this video, I was pretty well brought up on Beethoven, being the son of a leading expert after all. Could you talk about Beethoven's unfinished 10th symphony at some point please?
I don't know how I missed this comment... I have read "The Beethoven Compendium," assuming that's who you are talking about!
Thanks for the vid, very educational. I might disagree on some terms but this wouldnt change the great value of this explanation of Beethoven music. Please go on.
I like to have discussions in the comments section, so feel free to tell me what you disagree with!
Richard Atkinson well for the instance some parts of sym no2 that you mentioned will not well fit into fugato, in fact its just a counterpoint idea or even less, a symphonic buildup ideas. But as I said this wont scratch the whole video value.
@@NozarMortazavi I didn't discuss Symphony No. 2 in this video.
@@Richard.Atkinson ouch, really😬😬😬?
What if you took more modern methods of altering sound, namely phase shift (called phaser in guitar world) and “capping” the ends of the sounds waves (distortion if the ends are tipped; fuzz if the ends are completely cut off), delay, etc. creating a symphonic concept based on sounds that have never been used in classical music would be interesting.
How come blues/rock/metal compositional style has never been really brought into classical? I suspect there is some parts which are too difficult as in Jazz/Blues music, and with genres like metal or rock which use such elementary aspects of classical that often the potential is ignored.
People say Beethoven bad at fugue writing.
Me: DiD YoU KnOw.................?\
who says that? lemme at em
@@tomswiftyphilo2504 Bernstein!
@@DanielFahimi yikes. I mean. we all have our likes and dislikes. It's certainly not that he was unfamiliar with Beethoven's fugal writing.
@@tomswiftyphilo2504 Either
A) Bernstein was advocating.
B) Bernstein was a jackass.
@@DanielFahimi it's likely he was a jackass. but when I'm listening to him conduct Sibelius 7 I'm hardly thinking "christ what an asshole. who does he think he is?"
I recall a documentary that said that Beethoven composed the 5th Symphony, 6th Symphony & 4th Piano Concerto at around tbe same time.....& that you can hear that fate motif running through all 3 pieces. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this 🙂.
You will if you stay tuned for the next video!
@@Richard.Atkinson try & stop me from tuning in 1 ;). As someone who studied Musical Analysis back in High School (the only subject where I was top of my class) I *love* these videos!!!
28:19 the beginning of the blue subject, if you include the first note in the bar, resembles the dotted octave motif from the scherzo.
I adore the fugal passages in all of his works - did you know that already in 1794 he wrote an awesome fugue for 2 violins and cello in e-minor? I love that so much that I orchestrated it. You may listen to it starting at 3:39 of: ruclips.net/video/dpdmIuj9Iho/видео.html
Those videos make me feel dumb. Thanks for that