Liszt: Ballade No.2 in B minor, S.171 (Goerner)

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  • Опубликовано: 11 июн 2024
  • Written at around the same time as the Bm Sonata (and sharing some marked similarities with it - key, use of thematic transformation, a quiet ending), Liszt’s second Ballade is one of his most important and moving works. It’s built around violent contrasts - the first theme is a kind of black, formless void, while the second is intimate and the third, waywardly melodic. There are three main climaxes (5:34, 9:25, 13:22), the first and last of which feature the first theme, but in radically different forms. The structure of this piece is hard to parse, but it’s essentially in 4 sections which can be loosely analogised to sonata form (but then, any ternary structure can be loosely analogised to sonata form). Across these four sections, the first theme recurs 7 times, growing in intensity each time (until it drops into B maj), while the second is constantly given a new colour whenever it reappears. The use of pure texture here (the opening chromatic line) as a structural feature which is independently developed is remarkable, and when it recurs in split-octave form to accompany the harmonised first theme the effect is pretty amazing (8:45). Similarly too the use of harmony and colour - the opening growl, the Mixolydian colour that slips into the second theme, the magisterial breadth of the climaxes.
    Section 1 [“Exposition”]
    00:00 - Theme 1 in B Aeolian. A desolate chant over chromatic rumbling & darkly syncopated pulses of vague harmony, climaxing at m.17 (0:39) in a G13(#11) chord. Irregular phrase lengths (6+4+4+3). The chromatic accompaniment becomes its own distinct motif (Motif A) and will receive textural development over the course of the work.
    01:00 - Transition 1, with a mystic, Phrygian sound. The bass line uses the first four notes of the T1 melody (F#-G-A-B).
    01:22 - Theme 2 in F#. A sharp contrast to T1. Tender and a little yearning, comprised of chords in open voicings.
    02:07 - T1/transition 1/T2 repeated a semitone lower(!), almost like an exposition repeat.
    Section 2 [“Development”]
    04:12 - A march is introduced, integrating a scale and repeated chord motif (Motif B).
    04:42 - Transition 2, employing a grating C# pedal
    05:09 - Motif A is developed in the RH by being expanded into a split-octave line, while the LH plays (though it’s very hard to hear this) an inverted, chromaticised version of the T1 melody. At m.105 the hands switch roles
    05:34 - T1 returns in F# min, in epic form. The first climax of the work.
    06:07 - Transition 3, using a tritone substitution at m.134 (6:22) to get to
    06:27 - Theme 3, in D. This short, beautiful theme only recurs twice more, always functioning to destabilize whatever tonal centre came before it. It manages to deploy some really striking harmonies while sounding completely natural (the shift from Gmin to A9 from mm.140/1, with the melodic Bb turning into an appoggiatura resolving into B). The turns in this theme into a sort of aural echo of the turn in T2 (m.32, 1:52).
    07:01 - T2 in D/G (Mixolydian). Now with closed voicings, giving a more hushed sound, over a D/A ostinato. The use of the C natural gives T2 a bit of warm/dark Mixo sound. T2 moves into G, then abruptly into Eb (with b6 colour/Phrygian dominant sound), which sets up
    08:10 - T1 in G# min. Now mf, missing its syncopated chords, and with fuller harmony.
    08:37 - Short transition, employing Motif A.
    08:45 - T1 in C min, in full chords, now sweeping.
    09:09 - Motif A is developed texturally, morphing into a precipitous downward cascade of alternating octaves. This leads to
    09:25 - Climax 2. A macabre recollection of the march from 4:12, built around Motif B.
    09:42 - A return of Transition 3.
    10:17 - T3, in B. Remarkably, the downward run starting on m.230 (10:41) is an elaboration of the LH recitative line at m.18 (0:43).
    10:54 - T2, in B (Mixolydian). A new colour, with the chords lower down and alternating hands (the trick is to play these chords so that you can hear the hand-switching), while bells sound in the bass. Wanders into Eb and back to B.
    Section 3 ["Recapitulation"]
    12:01 - T1, in B. The emotional centre of the work. Not just because T1 is really transformed here for the first time, with full harmony and 4+4 phrases (as opposed to the previous variations, which only intensified it), but because this is the first time in the work any theme takes on a really different character. From this moment on, T1 will only be heard in this luminous variant (call it T1*).
    12:28 - T1*, Var.1
    12:51 - The final return of T3 in F#, now ecstatic and spanning a much wider range on the keyboard. The tail is lengthened with a long melodic descent that leads into a F# pentatonic octave storm (13:16).
    13:22 - T1*, Var.2. This variation and the next constitute the last, glorious climax of the work. The polar counterpart to 5:34.
    13:47 - T1*, Var. 3.
    Section 4 [Coda]
    14:15 - T.2, beginning a long decrescendo/diminuendo over an F# pedal.
    14:52 - A slow statement of T.2 (note the link with T.3) closes.
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Комментарии • 313

  • @AshishXiangyiKumar
    @AshishXiangyiKumar  4 года назад +275

    So as I’ve learnt from my previous attempts to upload this Ballade, *something* about it just seems to resist effective interpretation. Nearly all recordings have one of the following problems:
    - The opening chromatic scale is too literal & arid;
    - The climaxes are underpowered or superficial (seriously though, the number of recordings where they just come across as virtuoso fluff);
    - The repetitions/variations of T2 are insufficiently differentiated;
    - The broken octaves, which have to sound like an expansion of the opening texture, are uneven/limp;
    - T1* is aggressive & harsh, rather than glowing.
    And it turns out the solution to all these problems - as Goerner demonstrates - is basically to give the work a couple of more minutes to breathe. Everything about this performance is wonderful - the opening texture is absolutely nailed, the climaxes are as terrifying or warm as needed and actually sound _structural_ and _organic_ in a way no other recording really carries off. And the colour and touch on display here is astonishing; listen to how T2 is handled, for instance. At 7:02 (and especially in the higher register at 7:10) it’s given the softest rendition I’ve heard, as if coming from far away, and is beautifully voiced - the top note of each chord is the only one with bite, so that the other notes form a kind of haze scaffolding it. And in the variant at 10:54 Goerner does something unique too - he lets the notes of each chord slip barely out of sync, and _very_ gently nudges the bottom notes to the fore, conjuring up some wonderful counterpoint (listen carefully from 11:02). One other thing worth mentioning is the passage at 8:45, which really looks on the page like it ought to be a truly special moment in the work (T1 gets its first real harmony, with a developed chromatic texture), but almost always sounds awkward and unbalanced when performed - the broken octaves somehow either sound clumsy and technical, or suffocate the theme entirely. But Goerner gets it just right - the chromaticism creates this lush valley of sound, and the theme sings out of it.

    • @renan1033zinho
      @renan1033zinho 4 года назад +3

      Thank you friend, have a Good Day or night!

    • @diegoponce5423
      @diegoponce5423 4 года назад +3

      Thank you, i thought exactly the same, every perfomance i have heard until now had one thing that i didn´t like, but Goerner nails it, so thank you. I would recommend you to listen to Jean Dubé rendition but im pretty sure you already have.

    • @benjammin6692
      @benjammin6692 4 года назад +2

      You've clearly thought a lot about this piece!

    • @mkeating52
      @mkeating52 4 года назад +1

      Ashish, have you by chance heard Sergei Babayan’s recording of this piece?

    • @mahbtiu
      @mahbtiu 4 года назад +1

      Thank you so much my friend for all these wonderful and well-crafted insights! They render the listening experience even more enjoyable!

  • @yes-fq6jd
    @yes-fq6jd 4 года назад +201

    My favorite Liszt piece, an underrated Masterpiece, even for Liszt.

    • @GUILLOM
      @GUILLOM 3 года назад +34

      @@ludwiggalaxy4277 RUclips suggests you the videos you have liked and viewed the most, instead of the most famous ones. If when you search Liszt this video appears, that's because it's your most viewed Liszt video

    • @hadrieneverard8121
      @hadrieneverard8121 3 года назад +14

      Honestly pretty much Evert Liszt's piece ever is underrated (except Hungarian Rhapsody no 2)

    • @danielzaytsev820
      @danielzaytsev820 3 года назад +4

      @Hadrien Everard , pretty much diss agree with you, there are plenty wonderful Liszt pieces that aren’t underrated, HR2 is by far one of the most famous though.

    • @zoltankelemen4999
      @zoltankelemen4999 3 года назад +4

      I'm just learning this, every friend of mine knows and adores this marvelous piece🥂😋🤠

    • @ceciliabertolini2827
      @ceciliabertolini2827 3 года назад +2

      listen to alkan morceaux op 15 no 2

  • @zenmaster16
    @zenmaster16 7 месяцев назад +19

    I used to think of Liszt as being overly virtuosic and lacking any real substance. But as I’ve dug deeper into his works I can tell that he was an absolute genius who had a great passion for the greats before him and used his talents to do things that had never been attempted before in composition. Truly underrated from that perspective.

    • @Zdrange03
      @Zdrange03 2 месяца назад

      I do find this piece lacks substance as well 🙄

    • @zenmaster16
      @zenmaster16 Месяц назад +1

      @@Zdrange03I can understand that. I do find it very intriguing and I keep coming back to it. It’s extremely progressive and experimental in the opening. It reminds me of something from the 20th century atonal composers. Then it gives way to something more conventional.

  • @chester6343
    @chester6343 2 года назад +54

    1:00 I can't even put into words how this little progression makes me feel

    • @jsh31425
      @jsh31425 2 года назад +18

      I have the same feeling! Classical music is my main thing, and I can't find anything there that quite reminds me of this passage. What *does* remind me of it, a little bit, is a song by Radiohead called *Pyramid Song*.

    • @tomowenpianochannel
      @tomowenpianochannel Год назад +6

      OMG I totally agree... it's one of the greatest and most magical moments in music.
      It feels like Arvo Part, but a hundred years before. A precursor of minimalism - with the added interest that Hungarian and Finnish languages are related in a distant way.
      And yet - it's over in a flash. Which is why it's so indescribable.

    • @kuba4285
      @kuba4285 Год назад

      Raidohead

    • @undisclosedmusic4969
      @undisclosedmusic4969 Год назад +4

      I feel reminded of Ravel Le Gibet from Gaspard

    • @tarikeld11
      @tarikeld11 9 месяцев назад

      ​@@jsh31425reminds me of Schubert's late Sonata in A major, the first movement has a similar chord progression

  • @giorgosg4032
    @giorgosg4032 4 года назад +212

    My god, the decrescendo at 9:40 is the most mind blowing i've ever heard. This passage always sounded a little awkward, Volodos just dodges it, but Goerner nailed it. Also the thoughtful pedalling throughout the piece kept it moving. Great upload as always

    • @mahbtiu
      @mahbtiu 4 года назад +7

      I agree. Goerner magically transformed this intimidating part into something majestically impressionistic!

    • @salemismael4994
      @salemismael4994 4 года назад +12

      You should hear Valentina Lisitsa interpretation, she played it on an imperial 97 keys, the piano roared.

    • @ciararespect4296
      @ciararespect4296 2 года назад +2

      I think overall volodos has a far more convincing interpretation than this guy. More power and impetuosity but yes I agree with the decrescendo

    • @ciararespect4296
      @ciararespect4296 2 года назад +6

      @@salemismael4994 roared at the decrescendo? It should be quiet. Lisitsa interpretation isn't good. Too much pedal throughout and mistakes

    • @Ala13ManOWar
      @Ala13ManOWar 2 года назад +2

      If only you weren't coming from FFF part with a Rinforzando molto right there going to Mf after that, and if there were an actual diminuendo… Yeah, it would be nice… XD

  •  4 года назад +69

    I never connected very well with this piece until I heard this recording. MY GOD, it's like I've never heard it before, a completely different work, and now I absolutely love it! The scales at climax, played like a real apotheosis, not flushed and as-fast-as-you-can, with the right amount of time to breathe and feel that powerful lift up.
    Plus, now I understand the structure of the piece, which makes much more sense and even feels like the little son of the great Sonata in B minor. A real masterpiece indeed!

    • @treesny
      @treesny 3 года назад +2

      His recording of the Sonata is similarly a revelation, something one would have thought impossible after so many versions have been issued. But it actually comes up fresh and amazing, like this performance of the Ballade.

  • @mahbtiu
    @mahbtiu 4 года назад +39

    The connection between the downward run at 10:41 and the LH recitative line at 0:43 is justc majectic, something out of this world!

    • @segmentsAndCurves
      @segmentsAndCurves 2 года назад +6

      The fact that Liszt manages this ballade to be economically and emotionally beautiful is, indeed, out of this world!

  • @greggi331
    @greggi331 2 года назад +32

    There is so much things in common with Transcendental Etude Harmonies du Soir like 5:22, 9:21 and 11:00. Such beautiful music Liszt wrote!

    • @mmilrl5768
      @mmilrl5768 2 года назад +5

      Do you mean such beautiful music you wrote?? lol

    • @greggi331
      @greggi331 2 года назад +2

      Yes lol

    • @nandovancreij
      @nandovancreij Год назад

      eh, broken chromatic octaves and i dont think i understand the third timestamp's relation w harmonies du soir

  • @christianvennemann9008
    @christianvennemann9008 4 года назад +14

    That B6 at the end is simply wonderful.

  • @AndrewWuMusic
    @AndrewWuMusic 4 года назад +26

    this is amazing - it feels so **warm** in the places where it ought to be

  • @ferru4003
    @ferru4003 4 года назад +8

    So beautiful that at the end, the pedal does not change and you can still hear a reminiscence of that G# in the very last seconds of the recording.

  • @tegarlagajoebhaar8936
    @tegarlagajoebhaar8936 4 года назад +13

    Piano solos are definitely one of my favorite classical pieces. Liszt is definitely one name I like to listen to. Since I also play the piano, during my spare time this can be a good reference for me.

  • @TheNinindi
    @TheNinindi 9 месяцев назад +5

    Basically impressionism before impressionism was a thing. So cool that Liszt had such a long life and we get to see how much his style developed.

    • @Zdrange03
      @Zdrange03 2 месяца назад

      I can't hear an ounce of impressionism there 🤔

  • @alexs1504
    @alexs1504 2 года назад +13

    Liszt was possessed by music, a genius

  • @sgwinenoob2115
    @sgwinenoob2115 4 года назад +76

    These analyses themselves are works of art. I must ask, do you use a particular reference? Or do you just listen to the music and write whatever comes to mind?

    • @AshishXiangyiKumar
      @AshishXiangyiKumar  4 года назад +117

      If it's Bach or Beethoven I usually have some reference works lying about the house which I consult, but almost always I just listen to the piece several times through with the score to figure out what to write (+ do the usual research about dates/origins/versions, although I rarely include this stuff in what I write -- I'm much more interested in music than music history per se.)
      Sometimes a quick consult of academic databases will turn up useful analysis (often buried in theses for performance studies), but that kind of music-focused research is becoming a lot less popular these days -- the trend leans toward cultural studies or broadly historiographical/conceptual writing (which is fine, just not what I'm after). Plus musicology today tends to discourage expressing aesthetic judgment on quality of work, which is kind of understandable, but not helpful for me.
      Reasonably often I just find myself in a situation where there's no good reference material at all, so everything is done from scratch. This was the case for both Rachmaninoff sonatas, for instance -- both of them are brilliantly conceived and structured, but no-one appears to pay _that_ much notice.

    • @IanGentry
      @IanGentry 3 года назад +60

      @@AshishXiangyiKumar Even that answer was a work of art :)

    • @alanleoneldavid1787
      @alanleoneldavid1787 2 года назад +7

      My teacher told me that the best Beethoven analytic source is Charles Rosen's Book, the Beethoven Piano Sonatas. But is not free you must to bought it

    • @manbat1011
      @manbat1011 Год назад +2

      @@AshishXiangyiKumar can you recommend books similar to what you referenced?

  • @Iamcwinge1234
    @Iamcwinge1234 2 года назад +21

    Liszt surpassed all his contemporaries in the consistent creativity and daringness of his textures

  • @michaelrobinson9023
    @michaelrobinson9023 4 года назад +11

    Oh my god. I seriously thought no one could top Jorge Bolet, but I stand corrected; this is outstanding. Indeed, you nail it perfectly: They "give the work a couple more minutes to breathe." Thank you for introducing me to this interpretation.

  • @rilesbronson7990
    @rilesbronson7990 Год назад +5

    Best performance of all time is Valentina Lisitsa’s on a Bosendorfer with additional low bass notes. She’s able to convey the drowning of the hero at the 2nd climax by letting the low bass notes linger with lots of pedal.

  • @redvine1105
    @redvine1105 4 года назад +119

    1:01 is totally Radiohead “pyramid song”

    • @turtlellamacow
      @turtlellamacow 4 года назад +16

      i heard it too lol. also the beginning of everything in it's right place

    • @ronnyp6934
      @ronnyp6934 4 года назад +11

      Thom needs to take that liszt's guy to court , nicking bits of Radioheads
      songs it's not on .. ;-)

    • @flyingpenandpaper6119
      @flyingpenandpaper6119 4 года назад +6

      I watched this video, put Pyramid Song in my Watch Later. Forgot why it was there, listened to it yesterday. Now seeing this comment, I've come full circle 😱

    • @Prometeur
      @Prometeur 3 года назад +21

      Always knew Liszt was unoriginal.

    • @azureNotsure
      @azureNotsure 3 года назад +1

      @@Prometeur Right? smh

  • @marco119w7
    @marco119w7 2 года назад +24

    At 7:00 for some reason I always expect the second (D major) theme from the B minor sonata to start lol

  • @singlespies
    @singlespies 4 года назад +32

    Thanks for uploading this. Beautiful music is what we need right now.

  • @StephenGottPianist
    @StephenGottPianist 3 года назад +3

    What a work. Love the harmony in this. Very dramatic.

  • @brucerose4383
    @brucerose4383 4 года назад +12

    Very fine playing .. the sound is similar to his debut recording of Chopin that was so wonderful .. he's got the right piano and engineer to show off his skills .. his Chopin Sonata #3 could be right up there with Kissin .. don't know this piece well .. thank you so much Ashish for these excellent read-alongs and analyses ..

  • @korosilorinc6058
    @korosilorinc6058 4 года назад +3

    It's a very unique piece of Liszt's works. Beautiful!

  • @alexthed1182
    @alexthed1182 2 года назад +8

    1:05 is the same progression as seen in Pyramid Song. Nice 😌

  • @johnphillips5993
    @johnphillips5993 3 года назад +15

    I *really* hate that most people know Liszt only for his Hungarian Rhapsodies. Honestly, I see Liszt as a truly intricate and musical composer, even when the technical challenges of his music. This, the Years of Pilgrimage, the Transcendental, Concert, and Paganini Études, and the Harmonies Poétiques et Réligieuses are all masterworks. The Hungarian Rhapsodies too, but they are *way too* eaten up by everyone.

    • @456death654
      @456death654 3 года назад +2

      I agree but you can say that about any composer really for their most famous pieces and Hungarian rhapsody #2 is though without a doubt an amazing piece or la Campanella

    • @johnphillips5993
      @johnphillips5993 3 года назад

      @@456death654 i know i just wish they aren’t eaten up by everyone

    • @treesny
      @treesny 3 года назад +5

      I agree completely. And I would add that the implicit idea of Liszt as a "bits-and-pieces" composer completely overlooks one of his greatest feats in his music for solo piano: organizing the great cycles (four of which you listed) as whole entities. Even a tiny sequence like the Consolations gains so much from being heard complete! This extends even to cycles based on music of other composers, notably Schubert in Liszt's (re-)ordering of the Schwanengesang songs, in which he creates a cycle where none existed before.

    • @vespid8960
      @vespid8960 18 дней назад

      @@456death654Hungarian rhapsody 6 is better to me.

  • @Odin_Limaye
    @Odin_Limaye 2 года назад +8

    This piece is so amazing and just stunningly beautiful!

  • @stoppelhopser1848
    @stoppelhopser1848 Год назад +3

    Probably my favorite Liszt piece

  • @cadmoendimione
    @cadmoendimione 4 года назад +3

    I love this music piece, one of my favourite. I'm a big fan of Giuseppe Andaloro's version for the Busoni competition. It's a little bit slower but so much powerful! Thank you for this upload

  • @Dylonely42
    @Dylonely42 2 года назад +64

    Marvelous. Franz Liszt was a musical genius…

  • @kpokpojiji
    @kpokpojiji 3 года назад +2

    Truly marvelous, expansive and meditative performance! Thank you for sharing this. This performance makes me realise how closely this piece relates to Obermann's Valley in painting a vast, complex Romantic panorama.

  • @meszian
    @meszian 4 года назад +44

    I always wonder whether Johnny Greenwood accidentally or intentionally lifted the chords from 1.05 for radioheads everything in it's right place.

    • @96typhoon96
      @96typhoon96 4 года назад +3

      I was wondering why these voicings sound so familiar, thanks :D

    • @brendoncasarez6777
      @brendoncasarez6777 4 года назад +10

      Reminds me a bit of Pyramid Song !

    • @bettycrocker3397
      @bettycrocker3397 4 года назад

      Michael Peacock 01.05

    • @MaestroTJS
      @MaestroTJS 4 года назад

      Yes, I've never heard this ballade before and that was the first thing that jumped to my mind also! I can see Pyramid Song also being possible, depending on which came first I suppose.

    • @96typhoon96
      @96typhoon96 4 года назад

      @@MaestroTJS I've just discovered Hania Rani's F major. It's new age music with a similar chord progression.

  • @BenTothHU
    @BenTothHU 2 года назад +8

    for myself
    1:05
    1:22
    3:07
    5:12
    6:44
    10:40

  • @terranbricklin
    @terranbricklin 5 месяцев назад +1

    I would really recommend listening to Lisista's interpretation of this piece, it's my personal favorite. She pedals the chromatic decrescendo at 9:40 and then KEEPS THAT PEDAL for like five seconds, and it's incredible. It sounds like black smoke seeps into the piece, and the melody becomes a sword cutting through the putrid air. She truly nails the atmosphere of this piece

  • @TyronTention
    @TyronTention Год назад +1

    Liszt has always had a way with codas. There is no exception here. It is one of his most stunning.

  • @manuelbes
    @manuelbes 4 года назад +5

    A really good Liszt piece, love it

  • @ChadX
    @ChadX 4 года назад +3

    never heard this before, absolutely refreshing

  • @hagailevhacohen4777
    @hagailevhacohen4777 4 года назад +17

    This recording is super interesting. Although Goerner takes it slow here, you can clearly hear all the details. And his control over the pedal is simply astounding!

  • @lizzybach4254
    @lizzybach4254 2 года назад +12

    This is so beautiful. The ending with return of the "Love" theme is amazing.

  • @christianvennemann9008
    @christianvennemann9008 2 года назад +7

    1:01 I wonder if Radiohead got their inspiration for Pyramid Song from this section.

  • @parthoroy9141
    @parthoroy9141 3 года назад +4

    This piece calls for the substitution of rolling pins for the left hand in some measures

  • @yicantong2299
    @yicantong2299 3 года назад +3

    He really made something new to classic music. To me,T2 has a taste of modern harmony ,unique in all the times

    • @alexs1504
      @alexs1504 3 года назад +2

      He was innovative, without him no Ravel, Debussy, Scriabin...

    • @segmentsAndCurves
      @segmentsAndCurves 2 года назад +2

      @@alexs1504 No. But there won't be Liszt, an innovator of harmony, a genius et al.

  • @nyktoslight7707
    @nyktoslight7707 11 месяцев назад +1

    He had a vision, meaning a glimspe of the future. So ahead of his time. These chords😢😊

  • @ColinChang
    @ColinChang 4 года назад +2

    Thanks so much for the lovely interpretation! Keep up the good work!

  • @imlafonz8047
    @imlafonz8047 2 года назад +2

    This composition is elite

  • @BradCherwin
    @BradCherwin 3 года назад +3

    This is the best of Liszt, imho.

  • @andre.vaz.pereira
    @andre.vaz.pereira 3 года назад +8

    This analysis has to come along with "Hero and Leander" geek Myth. You can ear the four days that Laeder swims toward his beloved Hero, but in the 4th day he drowns in the storm. Then she threw herself from the tower and at the end they are burried together by the shore in a lover's tomb. That is what 2nd Liszt's Ballade in all about. Claudio Arrau used to refer to this myth also.
    " is the Greek myth relating the story of (Ancient Greek: Ἡρώ, ; [hɛː.rɔ̌ː]), a priestess of Aphrodite (Venus in Roman mythology) who dwelt in a tower in Sestos on the European side of the Hellespont, and (Ancient Greek: Λέανδρος, ), a young man from Abydos on the opposite side of the strait. Leander fell in love with Hero and would swim every night across the Hellespont to spend time with her. Hero would light a lamp at the top of her tower to guide his way.
    Succumbing to Leander's soft words and to his argument that Aphrodite, as the goddess of love and sex, would scorn the worship of a virgin, Hero succumbed to his charms and they made love. Their secret love affair lasted through a warm summer. They had agreed to part during winter and resume in the spring due to the nature of the waters. One stormy winter night, Leander saw the torch at the top of Hero's tower. The strong winter wind blew out Hero's light and Leander lost his way and drowned. When Hero saw his dead body, she threw herself over the edge of the tower to her death to be with him.
    Their bodies washed up on shore together in an embrace and they were buried in a lover's tomb on the shore".
    00:00 Day one: Leander Swimming to pass the strait to meet Hero
    01:00 First encounter betwen Leandro and Hero. Leandro says "Ich liebe dich" and Hero responds "ich liebe dich". Hero Succumbed and they made love...
    02:07 Day two: Leander Swimming towards Hero
    03:07 Second encounter betwen Leander and Hero
    04:12 Day Three: Leander Swimming in the winter storm but is still able to pass the strait towards Hero
    06:06 Third encounter betwen Leander and Hero.
    09:10 Day Four: The day Leander drowns
    09:09 to 09:42 Leander's drowning (The strong winter wind blew out Hero's light and Leander lost his way and drowned)
    09:42 Hero waits for Leander but he didn't manage to pass the strait. She reminds their love affairs...
    13:07 to 13:21 Hero threw herself over the edge of the tower to her death to be with Leander
    13:22 The lovers are embraiced and buried together by the shore
    14:07 Hero reaching Heaven
    14:16 Leander and Hero meet together in Heaven for eternity.

    • @AshishXiangyiKumar
      @AshishXiangyiKumar  3 года назад +3

      Well, I pretty strongly dislike narrative analyses of music, especially if the narrative in question means nothing to me. Greek myth is boring, boring, boring.
      I also don't know what you mean when you say the piece is "all about" Hero/Leander. Do you mean this is what Liszt had in mind? That's highly contested, since the evidence points to this being based on Gottfried Bürger’s Lenore. But that's beside the point - even if Liszt had Hero/Leander in mind, why should that be relevant for how we listen to this music? I for one deeply love this work without needing to associate it with second-rate Hellenic melodrama.
      Music is "all about" what the listener perceives in it, full stop. And each generation of listeners should feel free to construct its own narrative associations with music (if it wants to - and I so no particular reason for this, to be honest).

    • @andre.vaz.pereira
      @andre.vaz.pereira 3 года назад

      @@AshishXiangyiKumar I see your point but this is not me saying it, it was what Martin Krause (student of Liszt) who said it to Claudio Arrau... So who you will you trust? Your ear or a student of Liszt himself? There is a poem of Leigh Hunt published in 1819 who could also inspire the work. For me Liszt succedes imensly in telling the night swimming of Leander towards Hero, after that you can analise structure, Harmony and so on. In this case you can't analise structure without knowing the tale (it's just pointless)... Arrau is pretty clear about that too and points out all the nights were he swimms, when he drown's etc... Every analysis is important but in this cases the Greek Myth has to come first. Just like in Chopin's ballades you should read Adam Mickiewitz's Conrad Wallenrod, The Pirlgrim, Ondine and The three brothers.

    • @AshishXiangyiKumar
      @AshishXiangyiKumar  3 года назад +6

      @@andre.vaz.pereira I will trust my ear over everything else, every time. And I include composer intent in "everything else". Perhaps it's different from others, who prefer that their musical reactions are received from the outside. But that's just the way it is for me.
      I think you like extramusical references, and are just going about insisting other people listen to music the way you do. I don't see why you have to do that.

    • @andre.vaz.pereira
      @andre.vaz.pereira 3 года назад

      @@AshishXiangyiKumar I repect that, i aslo like analisis and music as music "itself" or the so called "absolute music". i belive that the concept of "absolute music" is being missplaced in a lot of XIX century composers or works. It's a riddle that seems to be more difficult to solve than the analyses because the references are very dificult to find (or even inexistent). Analysis as a subject came after most of these works and it was in constant mutation. I belive that is what you are trying to look for or just contemplate and there is nothing wrong about it. I just feel this is far from being "absolute music" and the extramusical references from the composer should be considered, thats all. Analasing a greek myth and its influence on the ballade is also content analyses, i don't dissociate the tasks. They should blend, not dissociate.

    • @segmentsAndCurves
      @segmentsAndCurves 2 года назад +2

      @@andre.vaz.pereira I can see only two arguments comes from you:
      1) "Arrau said that." Ridiculous.
      2) "We have to understand the context to understand the piece. Any attempt of ignoring context would lead to a struggle to analyse" Not quite true.

  • @p-y8210
    @p-y8210 3 года назад +3

    Liszt is something else

  • @ryanem969
    @ryanem969 3 года назад +1

    I love how the music is on the video like I know what to do with it.

  • @nataliemagness9872
    @nataliemagness9872 4 года назад +3

    This is such a beautifully sublime piece; exactly what we need right now!!

  • @mathisabbing7566
    @mathisabbing7566 4 года назад +18

    [1:15] - [1:25]
    Arvo Pärt?
    Fratres?

  • @bilbol20
    @bilbol20 2 года назад +2

    I almost never leave comments, but I have to thank you for the interesting explanation!

  • @GonzaBuckRP
    @GonzaBuckRP 4 года назад +2

    lol i just was thinking about giving another try to this piece. Now i know which version i have to hear

  • @douglasanderson3573
    @douglasanderson3573 2 года назад +2

    First time hearing this tonight. WOW

  • @wesmlr
    @wesmlr Год назад +1

    What a recording!!

  •  4 года назад +8

    cool

  • @foxiszt
    @foxiszt 4 года назад +7

    Theme 3 always melt my heart.

  • @KenWangpiano
    @KenWangpiano 9 месяцев назад +1

    Twisted and gnarled in a good way

  • @strm4392
    @strm4392 3 года назад +8

    5:34 is incredible

  • @claudiapomponio9165
    @claudiapomponio9165 11 месяцев назад +1

    Excelente versión de esta hermosa obra!!!

  • @markito3311
    @markito3311 4 года назад +2

    Thank you as always.
    I'd like to listen to your choices of piano concerti of the standard repertoire.
    Gl.

  • @elsabasaldua7730
    @elsabasaldua7730 2 года назад +1

    Es mi favorita esta pieza, me lleva a una sensación de plenitud .

  • @atxvictorr
    @atxvictorr 2 года назад +1

    This is amazing

  • @wellingtonsoaresdacosta5635
    @wellingtonsoaresdacosta5635 7 месяцев назад +1

    A música é tão agradável que suspiro...

  • @konstantin1943
    @konstantin1943 2 года назад +1

    very powerful

  • @fredericchopin7538
    @fredericchopin7538 2 года назад +3

    Marvelous!

  • @alexyang1561
    @alexyang1561 4 года назад +1

    What happened to the previous uploads of Ballade No. 1 and Ballade No. 2? (I believe they were uploaded to this channel previously). Who are the pianists that played in those previous versions? Thanks for the upload! I'm currently learning this piece thanks to your previous version.

  • @sergosergi8432
    @sergosergi8432 7 месяцев назад +1

    My favorite liszt's piece❤❤❤❤

  • @marcoleung5078
    @marcoleung5078 4 года назад +3

    How does he have so much contrast at the start? That's insane especially since its pretty fast

  • @chris93703
    @chris93703 4 года назад +6

    6:11 Do I hear "When you wish upon a star?" It seems to happen several times in the music.

    • @benancona3242
      @benancona3242 3 года назад +2

      I always hear that in Mahler's Adagietto

  • @Iamcwinge1234
    @Iamcwinge1234 2 года назад

    There's a fantastic but little-known orchestration of this on RUclips.

  • @radbradmusicartist
    @radbradmusicartist 2 месяца назад

    Liszt is my favorite pianist! 🥰

  • @eliplayer2122
    @eliplayer2122 6 месяцев назад +1

    the 12:00 theme is so nice

    • @thaivudang
      @thaivudang 5 месяцев назад

      I agree. It is so romantic and make us feel nostalgia about something…

  • @jahman514
    @jahman514 4 года назад +4

    Is it just me, or is the passage at 13:22 in a different place than normal? I could be mistaken, but I remember another recording where the ascending runs took place before that passage.

    • @foxiszt
      @foxiszt 4 года назад +1

      Yeah, I've been exploring some recordings, some of them start at 13:47. Probably an alternative passage to play before bigger climax?

    • @jonathanDstrand
      @jonathanDstrand 4 года назад +1

      Horowitz adds his own cadenza somewhere around there, if I’m not mistaken

  • @lieberos
    @lieberos Год назад +2

    1.01 that's where Radiohead drew inspiration for Pyramid song

  • @limesquared
    @limesquared 4 года назад

    I love the way the notes are played so fast.

  • @Hist_da_Musica
    @Hist_da_Musica 3 года назад +2

    The second theme sounds very familiar... is it a reference to another piece?

  • @davitchkuaseli234
    @davitchkuaseli234 14 дней назад

    Genius

  • @user-wg5xi3jo2f
    @user-wg5xi3jo2f 3 года назад +2

    綺麗

  • @evifnoskcaj
    @evifnoskcaj Год назад +1

    Thank you for uploading this and for your edits. You should use your knowledge to update and refine the wikipedia pages on Transmutation and Transfiguration that Liszt pioneered.

  • @valdoberetti5829
    @valdoberetti5829 4 года назад +7

    The pattern and progression starting around 04:15 , with the right hand playing four-notes chords and descending octaves in the left hand, both in triplets, seems inspired from the first Brahms' Ballade in d minor. Except Brahms composed his ballades in 1854 (source: Wikipedia), i.e., just a year after Liszt composed this Ballade! I don't think that's a coincidence.
    But maybe those chords are reminiscent of the chords in the last page of the first movement of Beethoven's Appassionata, especially the first, startling chords re-introducing the main theme. I don't think that's absurd, because at 04:42 the left hand plays the same kind of bass from another passage of the Appassionata's first movement: check it out, it's there, bars 134 ff. And it's the same low C repeated in triplets, with occasional longer notes!
    Now I'm going through the rest of the piece, maybe I will notice something else.
    Anyway, I don't like this piece, it conveys nothing to me.
    (sorry for my bad English)

  • @Lillars
    @Lillars 4 года назад +1

    Quelle merveille !

  • @andresbolivar6959
    @andresbolivar6959 4 года назад +1

    What do you think about Lisitsa’s rendition? I mean is great but then it starts getting too fast

    • @marialorenagiudice791
      @marialorenagiudice791 2 года назад +3

      I don't actually love Lisitsa's interpretations, at most she plays way too fast for me, and I can't feel so much the emotions with her playing... She could be technically good but in my opinion she can't handle it, because sometimes she misses some notes or plays them wrong.

  • @Nooneknows2503
    @Nooneknows2503 2 года назад +3

    How long do you guys think did it take him to learn this piece?

  • @EliasAxelPettersson
    @EliasAxelPettersson 4 года назад +6

    Can we assume this is Nelson Goerner? It is quite a good recording, and takes a more expansive approach that I also prefer. He still rushes the rhythm at 2:47, but it sounds so organic that I don't mind. On a side note, though, I have never heard of this Ballade being analyzed in Sonata Form. Is that your idea or did you find it in a theory article? If so, could you send me the full analysis? Thank you for uploading!

    • @davidp6913
      @davidp6913 3 года назад +1

      Imagine being pretentious enough to dedicate your life to to being pretentious. Enjoy the music, your dialogue is and will always be uneccesary

    • @segmentsAndCurves
      @segmentsAndCurves 2 года назад

      @@davidp6913 Some thoughts are better keep in mind than to be say out loud

  • @augieresendiz5745
    @augieresendiz5745 7 месяцев назад +1

    Is there published sheet music with the original ending? I love it!

    • @dd8436
      @dd8436 7 месяцев назад +1

      Yes, try Goran Filipec's recording with original ending

  • @huailiulin
    @huailiulin 11 месяцев назад +1

    5:20

  • @r0mmm
    @r0mmm 3 года назад +4

    How is 13:47 even possible? Dont you need both hands to play the chords ?

    • @AshishXiangyiKumar
      @AshishXiangyiKumar  3 года назад +4

      The LH cuts out halfway through the run, but Goerner does a really good job making sure it's not too noticeable.

    • @r0mmm
      @r0mmm 3 года назад +2

      Ohhhh, thank you.
      He does it very good. What a stunning performance!

  • @songforthemute8087
    @songforthemute8087 2 года назад +1

    what happened to your original ballade no 2 upload? just want to know the first pianist from that video.

  • @crcpek9979
    @crcpek9979 4 года назад +2

    Plz apload a good version of Liszt's Grand Concert Solo ( S. 176 )

    • @chicken_eater1007
      @chicken_eater1007 4 года назад +2

      You should check out andrei cristian anghel. It has a lot of obscure Liszt pieces including the concert solo.

    • @chicken_eater1007
      @chicken_eater1007 4 года назад

      ruclips.net/video/CCAz5zSgdGw/видео.html

  • @tura4105
    @tura4105 4 года назад +2

    Does someone know the other perfomances that he posted before?

    • @AndreiAnghelLiszt
      @AndreiAnghelLiszt 4 года назад +3

      One of them was by Nelson Freire. A stellar recording.

    • @AshishXiangyiKumar
      @AshishXiangyiKumar  4 года назад +5

      Andrei Cristian Anghel With messy broken octaves, though. The other performances were by Zilberstein and Horowitz.

  • @user-ns6os2ym6n
    @user-ns6os2ym6n 3 года назад +4

    14:09 did he have four hands? 😳

  • @saxy1player
    @saxy1player 2 года назад +3

    Wow, tragically beautiful story told by Liszt. Henrik Kilhamn gives a very nice explanation on "Sonata Secrets" channel - apparently this is the story of Hero and Leander and with that in mind this speaks so much deeper

    • @atmadeepmukherjee5550
      @atmadeepmukherjee5550 2 года назад +1

      Wow! I watched the same video! Yes, the story is very tragic and Henrik Kilhamn explains it very nicely.

  • @marcosPRATA918
    @marcosPRATA918 2 года назад +1

    Lúgubre, contemplação sombria.

  • @felixwidmoser
    @felixwidmoser 5 месяцев назад +2

    Chopin would have loved the melodic theme

  • @davisatdavis1
    @davisatdavis1 4 года назад +7

    9:41 is the spot where Valentina Lisitsa paused to produce an epic echo on the imperial piano.

  • @Larsykfz303
    @Larsykfz303 4 месяца назад +1

    Does anyone know any good performances of this piece? I am looking for something that tries to keep it clean and precise.

    • @yoshino_piano
      @yoshino_piano 4 месяца назад

      I appreciate Horowitz's version but I doubt that if you want precision and similarity to the score you will like it

  • @davisatdavis1
    @davisatdavis1 4 года назад +12

    In order to write something like this, you must need like half the piece already in your head for this math to come to be. How on Earth did Liszt do it

    • @infinitekeys1603
      @infinitekeys1603 4 года назад

      The way all the great composers did it: thinking through music in their heads

    • @lordgothajix527
      @lordgothajix527 4 года назад +5

      This is what I wonder in all Liszt pieces, even though the patterns are usually same, the melodies and variations are always mindblowing.

    • @flyingpenandpaper6119
      @flyingpenandpaper6119 4 года назад +2

      Sincere question: why would he have needed to know half of this before he wrote it on paper? Why do you say that he couldn't have developed it all from a small fragment?

    • @segmentsAndCurves
      @segmentsAndCurves 2 года назад +2

      @@flyingpenandpaper6119 Great question!
      By the way...

    • @thenotsookayguy
      @thenotsookayguy Год назад

      @@flyingpenandpaper6119 He prolly did. It was the same thing he did with his 1st Ballade, most of that work is based on an 18 bar, 1 minute Album leaf.

  • @innuendo8289
    @innuendo8289 2 года назад

    from 10:15 to the end, this piece made me a person who cry after coitus

  • @dryades1
    @dryades1 11 месяцев назад

    13:47