Beethoven, Große Fuge, opus 133
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- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
- Beethoven String Quartet project: www.musanim.com...
Ludwig van Beethoven's Große Fuge (Great Fugue), opus 133, performed by The Alexander String Quartet, accompanied by an animated graphical score.
FAQ
Q: Where can I learn more about this project?
A: Here:
www.musanim.com...
Q: Where can I learn more about the Alexander String Quartet?
A: Here:
www.asq4.com
Q: Where can I buy the album this is from?
A: Here:
www.amazon.com/...
Q: What the ____ does it mean?!?
A: To help you understand this animation, I've added a section to this document about it (for this version, start on page 3):
www.musanim.com...
Q: I appreciate the animated graphical scores you make; how can I support your work?
A: Thank you! The easiest way to support my work is by contributing via Patreon:
/ musanim
If you'd like to help in more specific way, consider this:
www.musanim.com...
Q: Could you please do a MAM video of _________?
A: Please read this:
www.musanim.com...
IVE FINALLY ENJOYED IT! I thought this piece was hideous for a while. I knew I had to crack it somehow. For whatever reason today on my way home, I thought of playing music in the car and decided on this. I usually get a thrill from music in the car... and oh boy... did I... I found myself even bobbing my head to this fugue. I know it’ll only get better from here
Yay! Welcome to Große Fuge Mind.
a große fuge a day keeps the doctor away
I'm going to say up front that the Grosse Fuge is one of the most emotionally gripping pieces of music I've ever heard (and a candidate for my favorite piece of chamber music)-- and I'd like to thank you very much, Smalin, since I don't think I ever would have come to love the Grosse Fuge without this animation. In the piece itself, there are just so many moments of brilliance: the accompanying triplets at 1:55, the thirds (?) at 2:33, the canon at 3:08, the offbeat 2nd (?) subject at 3:28 (from that point onward, the fugue begins to unravel as the 1st (?) subject desperately tries to realign it), the regathering at 4:24-4:55 with the fantastic change of rhythm for the 2nd (?) subject, the lilting theme with beautiful accompaniment at 5:10, the isolation of 5:35, the moment at 6:36 where the 2nd subject (?) from the opening fugue takes over as melody, the earned unison of 8:25, the fantastic counterpoint at 9:30-10:15, the mind-numbing complexity of 10:33-11:28, the stunning bassline which the cello takes up at 11:00, the trill at 11:20, the new motif at 11:40, the wonderful entrance of Subject 1 (?) at 12:10, the resolution of 15:05, the broken statements and proper silence at 15:45 and the brilliant unison which follows, and, finally, the perfect ending from 16:50 to the end (probably my favorite ending Beethoven ever wrote). The Alexander Quartet once again gives a stunning performance. The length of this comment goes to show how enamored I am of this video.
This ending... I can listen to it all day long. That's the beauty only music can express. So hopeful, brilliant and optimistic.
@@МатвейМещеряков-ц7ф at 11:00 the cello and violas play a canon with one of the notes being condensed into a grace note
No words to describe this masterpiece.A Roller coaster of emotions.
I remember the first time I heard this, before that I thought to myself there has to be something more about Beethoven, then when I encountered this I felt overly satisfied that at last finally Beethoven did it, all these years I thought I knew there had to be something else about him. Something that’s hidden! But while I continued to listen to the whole fugue, eventually I then thought, wait a minute, this sounds even more then what I thought I was looking for, this surpasses my imagination of what if someone can write a chaotic fugue? How can a work be so messy? For a second I thought Beethoven was slipping way too often & not balancing a chaotic fugue together. I knew my instincts told me otherwise, there is something about this fugue I MUST learn about. Decades later here I am once again listening to this fugue after being able to understanding every single aspect about it. I eventually found out that I was wrong, Beethoven wasn’t slipping. He knew what he was doing exactly & I eventually did catch up to it! Funny to say but this has always been my source of power! For years everytime I felt heart broken, depressed, & down on life! I knew I had to listen to this once again & it gave me strength to break down barriers for real life situations. And I did, the Grosse Fugue was not only music I would listen to on a merely daily basis, but it also an power aid to bypass real life situations. I found myself back again after being lost in life in certain multiple occasions all thanks to the Grosse Fugue!
In a lot of ways we're still trying to catch up to Beethoven.
I just love how the main subject sounds like a totally different theme when it's sped up at 9:00
16:52 it never fails to make me smile :)
I agree! masterful motivic development always leads to the most satisfactory of endings.
11:32 - classical cadence in this piece. Little bit unexpected
his knowledge was vast
I love that this piece is the main highlight at the front page of your channel ... I've been obsessed with the Great Fugue for years and have tried to show why I love it beyond any other fugue to my friends and family, but of course it's so difficult to understand the structure. This makes understanding that structure much more accessible.
Monumental Fugue. Not a traditional style of fugue, and thats why its so revolutionary
This is the best recording I’ve ever heard of the Fugue 😭
The fist time I heard this I was probably around 13 years old. I thought it was one of the ugliest pieces of music I had ever heard and I was disappointed with Beethoven. Then, a year later or so, I listened to it a second time, and without understanding how, I enjoyed it. I am still surprised with myself, because I didn't do anything to change my taste. I don't know how it happened. I am also surprised because I still see the ugliness in it, but I also see the beauty. I think it is the expression of all the pain a man has to endure in this life, but also of how this same painful life is, in the end, full of hope and meaning. We clearly see how this fugue ends on a very positive line. Beethoven was certainly a suffering and melancholic optimist, and I can understand him.
My theory is that the difference was not that your tastes changed, but that you understood the piece better the second time around. The phrase "my taste" usually means something like "what I like based on my nature." It's unlikely that your nature changed profoundly in a year or so, but it's very possible that you learned things (maybe even just by listening to this piece once). Does that seem possible? Do you feel that your ability to enjoy/appreciate the piece is a result of you understanding it better in some way (perhaps a way that you can't put into words)?
You are probably right. I think what happened is that what appeared me as ugly suddenly appeared me as having a meaning. I saw the beauty that was hidden under it. Also my taste certainly didn't fundamentaly change, but I think it got more refined.
What would you say to somebody who still sees it only as ugly?
Well, I would recommend to look at those dissonances in an analogous way to the one with which we look at dissonances in Mozart or Bach. Generally with do not consider dissonances in Bach's music as ugly. This is because it is easy to understand the meaning that those dissonances have in this music. Even if a dissonance is ugly if considered alone, it can allow to create very beautiful things if put in the right place and musical context, as we see with Bach but also with every great baroque or classical composer. And it is the same thing with the Great Fugue. But since it is a more complex music, it is more difficult to see the meaning in it. So, to those who want to learn to appreciate it, I woul recommend to study and listen carefully to those "ugly dissonances" and to look for their meaning in the whole context of the work. Where do they come from? Where do they go? Why? And hopefully, this will help.
What would you say to someone who doesn't think that music requires understanding, and that if something sounds ugly, it's just because it IS ugly?
This is one of your best. I am quite amazed how you have progressed since the time I was in your house what? 20 years ago now? I know you don't remember me but you showed me a few Bach fugues you had done at that time. I was thinking of fugues that would look good and you had already done them. You are quite the amazing guy. thanks for your art.
Two of my favourite composers (other than Beethoven) are Bach and Shostakovich- I love Bach’s ability to ‘fit’ melodic lines together in beautiful harmonic function and I love Shostakovich’s dissonant harmonies and relentless drive - this piece has elements of both.. its beautiful, especially the middle section.
After a while of enjoying it, I am so thankful for it! This is imho the best recording on the web, so good in every aspect. And the visuals! Too bad it only has 60k views, it's so sad that this piece, unbelivable, beatiful and emotional in the most divine way possible is so unpopular. This ending is especially brilliant, makes me cry every time I hear it after the whole piece, and it shows all these sad, yet so hopeful emotions Beethoven had to show. Again, thank you very much!
I think one reason this is overwhelming (as you put it) is that we seem to encounter the full unexpurgated personality of Beethoven sitting here in the room with us. It is like hearing all his grumpy, inspired, at times lyrical or ecstatic ideas throughout the course of an afternoon's visit to his house, during which time he pays practically no attention to us and simply goes on sporadically composing. Meanwhile, we get to transcribe everything, and take it with us before he has a chance to change anything.
Listening to this while playing nes tetris on the highest speed can be quite exhilarating.
I really appreciate your work very much. It was such a great help in understanding the counterpoint here. A little thought though: isn’t the viola playing double stops at around 16:54? I can only see one line. Indiscernible but I just thought I’d point it out if you intend on making a future version of it. Thank you as always for your work.
OMG, you're absolutely right. Thanks for letting me know. I will issue a correction post haste.
ruclips.net/video/LwhJdXj-GOQ/видео.html
Oh my goodness! You actually did it, and in such a short time frame! I honestly cannot thank you enough! What a truly fantastic musician you are!
@@SahilSinghSidhu For some pieces, I would've just let it slide, but this is one of the Important Pieces in my life, and I couldn't stand knowing that there were missing notes.
Listening to Beethoven is like riding something wild down a steep mountain on a moon-bright night, something that loves you with all its' heart & only wants you to feel the boundlessness it feels. This piece contains the icy rapids you fjord on the way down. The 'ugliness' or dissonance or whatever you wish to call it is the rage of the river when you're in it.
Thank you for your work. It is truly wonderful.
Just a thought : current theories of the nature of time indicate that only the present exists - accompanied by memory and anticipation. Your animation illustrates this beautifully.
This is a totally different side of Beethoven, but in the best way possible. I can see why someone would have a hard time understanding this... But wow! Thank you for sharing this.
I don't understand the dislike from some people, I don't hear anything wrong with it.
Robert P. mayve the slow part of the music that's whay
Weirdly, it's fascinating to watch it without the sound on...
Yep. I sometimes do that.
So does Ludwig.
This version is a lot clearer; all the subjects are very distinguished. Also, have you seen Richard Atkinson's recent analysis video for this piece? It definitely helped me appreciate it better.
This is awful in the most beautyful way
Hauntingly beautiful.
The ending is such a tremendously joyous payoff to one of the most tumultuous masterpieces in the canon of Western art music!
I wonder if anyone actually liked this piece the first time they heard it? very few I bet
It would depend a lot on what they'd heard before. I can't say I remember how I felt the very first time I heard it, but I know that it quickly became my favorite track (on the album of late Beethoven quartets, played by the Amadeus Quartet). I was in my late teens at the time.
@@smalin I definitely did not. I want to say I first heard it from your other video on it, but can't remember. Then after some time some parts just stuck in my head, notably 8:40 as the sound goes to almost inaudible before exploding into the next movement. This whetted my curiosity and other parts began to peak my interest
@@smalin I think I listen to this piece almost everyday now. Hope one day I will play it!
I prefer other Beethoven quartets to this one by far.
i was exposed to shostakovich string quartet no. 8 years before i heard this, so this felt tame by comparison
After watching the whole piece, my screen, my cellphone and my whole desk keep moving to the right :p
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_aftereffect
@@smalin I bet myself 20 bucks you'd have responded with a link to the explanation. I guess I won
@@kunstderfugue he always does when asked this question
yo this slaps
What baffles me is how he was writing the first 3 late quartets (op. 127, 132, and 130) practically simultaneously, yet they are very different from one another.
While I prefer the performance of the other version, I prefer this animated score, because it makes the piece so much easier to understand. I've probably listened to this piece a hundred times, and I never noticed that 11:37 was the theme.
I feel like the countersubject is more the star in the first section of this piece, rather than the subject
Much improved from the 2010 version on this channel. It's a shame the earlier one has vastly more views than this one.
None of my videos get the attention they did in 2010. It's due to changes in the the way RUclips/Google works.
Also, this version has a few more tweaks: ruclips.net/video/pxdPuS7HAHg/видео.html
Is this a better performance because this is immediately enjoyable rather than the first version
I'm a layman so this sounds stupid but The way you interpreted the differing passages of time for the different parts is amazing
Strange to say the visual representation is its own music.
@@squaker500 That doesn't sound stupid at all. When you listen to music, there's something that's like a "field of view" for notes --- how far into the past and future you're noticing relationships between notes. In general, when music is moving slowly, this field of view is longer than when it's moving quickly. So, if a piece of music has elements that move at different rates, it makes sense to have different time scales for them.
@@smalin Yeah and the visuals you chose made observing those relationships much more intuitive than on regular sheet music... Your work is very much appreciated and I will be watching a lot from now on
If you want to review the highlights of what I've been doing recently, this page might be useful: www.musanim.com/RUclipsHighlights/
How Beethoven manages to use the same rhythm and yet still sound contrapuntal is beyond me.
Is this your favorite piece of music? If I'm not mistaken, it's the piece you've produced the most animations for.
I don't think in terms of "favorite." I think this is a very good piece, but there are other pieces I've listened to more often, and ones that I've played myself much, much more often. And I didn't make updated versions of the animation because I liked it, but because it deserved it.
busy piece
I can't say this version is better or this version is worse, i just can say, it's another way to ear it. Truly i can say, the power, the rage, the emotions i can feel each time i ear it, make me feel alive.
Beautiful!
and horrifying
Whether a piece is “ugly” or “nice”, tonal or dissonant, “difficult” or “easy” to listen to I think is largely irrelevant. The question should be “is it beautiful?”.
Beautiful is not in off for a word to describe this masterpiece ! This piece is both incredibly deep and technically perfect and so ahead of its time ! The way Beethoven develops this fugue is amazing, I would say that this one of the most beautiful and moving piece of music he ever wrote nothing less than that ..
Brilliant! Thanks for further clarifying this music for me. Even better than your previous version. I love the way that you bring in different elements at different speeds. This helps to open up the complex texture of this piece.
You have been hit with a lot of information in your head. Take a moment.
Joking apart I find really cool(my english vocabulary isn't very develop, I sometimes lack words to use) that you took all that time to study this masterpiece, such an animation makes it very easy to understand how this piece goes(lack of words again). Thanks!
I'm glad you found it useful.
These visual representation are amazing and such an amazing teaching tool, thank you soo much!
Excellent job on this fabulous fugue !
Thanks!
5:07 - 8:59 is pretty damn good!
Agreed, it's my favourite segment of this "indecipherable, uncorrected horror".
The visual patterns for this piece are very interesting, too.
Tear-jerking.
I love beethoven and smalin
This is addictive but also fatiguing. Everything is in it.
A wonderful video. I particularly liked your use of varying speeds of motion (as opposed to varying widths of symbols) to bring out the complex overlay of themes that are often playing at strikingly different speeds. I didn't quite understand the occasional use of background colors and patterns in some sections of the piece (such as in the slower second section), but I enjoyed that as well. This has always been one of my favorite pieces of music, and the challenge of making an effective visual representation of such a complex work seems overwhelming, but you've really done a great job.
MapRecord You might want to read the Viewer's Guide (see the link in the FAQ) for a discussion of the meanings of the graphical elements.
Maybe I misunderstood what I was seeing. For example, at around 13:35 there are what I thought were background colors, not directly reflecting any notes being played (just the trilled notes, in the foreground, represented the only actual played sounds, I thought). I should look at the score at that point to see what those large colored symbols reflect.
At 13:35, the background shapes are the background notes; their exact onset time is shown by the dot in each one (these are the "seeds" of the Voronoi calculation). They light up when they're being played (but fade out). Everything you see is a note (or, in the case of a trill, a group of notes).
Thanks for the explanation. I understand it better now.
A work of genius ! One of the greatest of Beethoven !
Thank you Stephen. While the music is what got me to you, I truly appreciate starting today with the epiphany that others See music too! Learning only today, I find your model(s) most akin to my sights. I'd love to discuss further...
I don't dislike it at all, but it is easy to get lost here! I'll give it a few listens.
Yeah, it's not an easy piece to hear. The main thing (at first, until you get your footing) is to follow the main subject at all of its various speeds and fragmentations. Once you can do that, the rest will probably fall into place.
Something you might want to try is also knowing exactly where the first beat is at all times. Helped a lot for me.
Whether you follow a score, or just keep in mind that the first three notes of the violin when we reach the fast section are an upbeat (i.e. viola comes in on the second beat) and count it from there, even just that helps.
Also, spending time to make an arrangement of it helps, but you probably don't have the time for that! :P
klop422 Yes, I agree: to make sense of this piece, you need to know where the beat is. I’ve made versions of the animation that show where the barlines are, and it seems to help.
I think both of your videos are really useful for understanding this piece (as well as the first having my favourite performance I know of). The first is great for following in the same way as one would a score, and this is great for understanding the use of motifs in the piece. If you can read music (and are willing to do so), olla-vogala's video is also really good too.
I feel grateful for this video
The one and only really funky fugue. I love it so much.
maybe you'll like this one :D ruclips.net/video/PhRa3REdozw/видео.html
Vl4rt Oh thanks, yes I also like Bach, but my faves are these guys You can see left !
This is amazing. Thank you for your efforts. One of the best things on RUclips.
how did I miss this one? oh, I was busy, I can see by the date. owell, they're posted forever so I can see them any time I want and as Many Times as I want. Every Time!!
www.musanim.com/GrosseFuge/GrosseFugeViewersGuide.pdf
this sounds so much like the 9th fourth movement, i wonder if it was written before or after 'o'
It doesnt sound anything like that and it was written much after.
@@marcossidoruk8033, two years aren't much after
@@stuf159 for me, two years is much after
@Raden Laksmana made on prupose what? It doesnt sound anything like the ninth, op lacks braincells.
what are you talking about?
2 years is nothing. 100 years is more
When I click on the article link, it gives a dire warning that smalin's site might be harmful. I am very glad I read the article in spite of the warning. I do keep in mind the old saying that a little knowledge is dangerous...
My site might be harmful? Oh ... I think I know why that might be: the link is to a PDF, and PDFs can have bad stuff hidden in them. (It might be dangerous for you to learn more about the Große Fuge, but probably not in the way that the people who gave you that warning intended.)
In 11:20, the 2nd violin part is pinkish-orange? maybe? instead of pink.
The colors look correct to me ... ?
@Joonatan Rinne Yes, that is a mistake.
@@smalin At the same time when 1st violin returns from low to high when trilling, 2nd violin triplet looks like 1st and 2nd violin are combined.
11/19/17, I finally started to understand this song, although it is very little (0:00 until 1:56). Let's see from now on, if I really like her.
When was the first time you heard the piece, and what did you think about it at the time?
The first time was right here on your channel (2010 version). At first I did not really like it because it made no sense to me. It looked like a lot of mixed notes and played randomly. After that I decided to give it one more chance, because it is considered one of his great works. Again I could not understand it, until on 11/19/17 she started to play in my head and began to make sense. I came back on your channel and found the 2017 version. Now I understand a lot of this wonderful work. Beethoven is a true genius !!
The floating ovals confused me for a minute until I realized what they were. Then it was amazing to see the different places that the motif showed up other than the 'obvious'.
Was your idea of visualization inspired by the 'light organ' of Alexander Scriabin?
No. I only learned about his light organ after I’d been doing this for fifteen or twenty years. I was especially pleased to find that I'd also independently invented his pitch/hue mapping (www.musanim.com/HarmonicColoring/)
This is contrapuntal of the deepest part of the soul, not contrapuntal on the outer part of it. Bach is the outer most, Beethoven is the inner most. Bach fights with strict force, Beethoven fights with his brute force. Two very different animals. But Beethoven has a deeper level of the soul than Bach does. The inner depth of brutality is far more ferocious than all the outer depths combined. It’s like suddenly being squeezed into a supernova explosion rather than being hit with a sledge hammer on the head a thousand times. It’s the definition for the Art of the Fugue VS The Grosse Fugue. I think Beethoven always wanted to challenge Bach, & up to this point, he knew he had finally done it in his own way.
Extremely well out.
Nope, Bach is simple perfection, not only intelectually but emotionally. He was writting music for no one else than God himself. You wouldn't dedicate something to God if it had the slightest imperfection, but Bach is perfect. Each note Bach wrote is the bible for musicians, Beethoven included. Beethoven mustn't have tried to challange the art of fugue, but to do something different and of his own.
No. Beethovens music is both unimaginative and crude, nothing he created compares to the genius of Bachs counterpoint. Bachs music contains the very structures of the universe, man and existence. While beethovens deals with petty emotions, only valuable through the shock factor of the notes
@@Notna-e5s That’s a very subjective topic. I understand you’re devaluing Beethoven by saying his emotions are petty & perhaps you don’t like his music I’m guessing? But each composer shines in their own ways, however it’s impossible to compare different genres of music, when I said counterpoint, I didn’t mean strict counterpoint. I just meant counterpoint in general, which composers after Bach have incorporated their own versions of it no doubt, but this is in fact what I meant by counterpoint. In terms of counterpoint, I agree no composer is even close to Bach. But in terms of expressing music for emotions alone, this is where I compare Bach with Beethoven. When I say by comparing them by counterpoint I mean to each their own with their own versions of it, although Bach is far superior by counterpoint alone. But Beethoven’s counterpoint doesn’t focus on perfection & this is rather done on purpose because that genre of music is not perfect, it’s a different genre than Baroque. That’s why I said it’s very hard to compare the two. So I used words like counterpoint, but as an example, not as a rational meaning between the two. I use that phrase to describe both combinations of counterpoint & emotion in conjunction to their music. Of which to me, yes Beethoven is a supernova explosion. His emotions are not petty, but rather deeper than Bach’s emotions. Although they’re both pretty close, but Beethoven takes the edge when it comes to emotions. On the other hand, Bach’s specialty is counterpoint while Beethoven’s is as you said the shock factor of the notes. The shock factor that he’s able to execute so well in his music is also the reason why the emotions of the music are that much more elevated. Generally Beethoven’s music can sound boring & petty to some people, because the music of Beethoven is difficult to interpret correctly, there are so many contrast differences between the shock factor, & loud & softness of the notes, besides all that the very inner layers of all of those are to be played so tenderly to describe the true character of Beethoven himself. So many people undervalue Beethoven if they don’t understand his musical depth to that degree. That’s why I also said Beethoven’s counterpoint is the deepest part of the soul, not on the surface of it. When every person listen to music their soul only listens to the simplest tunes of the music naturally first, hence what I call surface level music, no music has as deeper levels to it as Beethoven, which makes it in fact harder for souls to reach, cause its quite a distance of depth there & if a person who doesn’t know how to listen for Beethoven’s music taking into consideration to the amount of depth involved correctly, then that person makes a preconceived judgement towards the music of Beethoven. This is the only reason why every person who dislikes Beethoven, it’s simply because they are not capable to understand it, not because Beethoven was not good enough as a composer! These are the misconceptions being implemented for Beethoven’s music, that is why he is greatly undervalued as a composer, he only has a name for himself, but the people can’t recall why & how has he made this name for himself if they don’t understand what Beethoven was meant to be. But in every aspects of his music, I consider Beethoven to be the master of depth. Sure it’s not accurate to say it’s counterpoint, but I use that to describe whatever counterpoint he shows on the surface level, just like showing all of the facts in your face with Bach’s music. Beethoven’s is rather hidden most of the time, you gotta search for it in order to find something you haven’t before. This is the difference between Bach & Beethoven. But whenever you have found all of those hidden clues & ideas and brought them all up to the surface of your mind, then you see a different picture & different Beethoven experience, you begin to actually understand who Beethoven was & all of what I had said earlier will suddenly make sense to you. That Beethoven’s Grosse fugue is like getting sucked into a supernova explosion & Bach’s art of the fugue is like getting hit on the head a thousand times with a sledge hammer. Surface level counterpoint vs deeper level (somewhat counterpoint, but not perfection). It’s the emotions of the music that matter more than counterpoint. And I think even Bach would agree, if there was no emotions attached to counterpoint, then that counterpoint would pretty much be useless & lacking credible material, which is what all true musical art stands for, and that’s having true emotions in it.
You shouldn't state your opinion like it's a fact. Your definition of "deeper level of soul" is completely subjective and seems fixated on brutality/intensity. That doesn't mean it's necessarily deeper. Simple bombast or surface-level ferocity doesn't equate to soulfulness.
Depth of emotion can also be achieved through tranquility, introspection, or other dimensions as well.
Depth of soul can be found in different elements of both Beethoven and Bach. Just because one appeals to you more personally doesn't mean the other is more shallow.
Obviously analytical and theatrical illustration, with characters. Each elements you give to watch should be a enlightened neurone in the head of the genuine listener to form the whole music in the memory. To understand Beethoven, you should be Beethoven yourself.
Stephen, you disappear behind Beethoven in this video. When I say "video" I think to an archetype of video, therefore something vulgar, a film. Is it really a video or the hologram that is introduced in Star Wars?
The first version is important too, they deliver a different message. This one is more faithful. What the greatest musicians say about your last videos and the others? Maybe they have already commented it in this page but I haven't recognized them. It's not an object for only standard youtubists...
The main theme is like in another Time. Some films questioned time, like *Memento* by Nolan. The illustration looks a bit funny, with very precise circles like bubbles in a drawing when the character thinks about something without saying it. It has a form, 3x2, chromatic like the "BACH". Maybe the short famous works by Ives could be revealed by a crossing, but what for, all is already here.
The trill is an element indeed. You're so right in the very beginning for your work, it is the same trill, thank you to have showed it!
I don't really care me or your admirers, and I don't really care Beethoven indeed. If I had met him, he would not even have remarked my presence... I mostly think you spend a great time inventing the video. There is a strange thread among the fabric between Beethoven, the score, the culturel, the performance, you, the video; it's not a world wide wed but particular. You're very lucky to have discovered this way of expression. The work itself is just a testimony for the young one in the future who will understand you and get something important about human being.
I feel so alone and tired, my books are such a waste of time. Future is now, future was in videos not literature. Today I died.
Sorry for my English (I have said that for ten years, I have a problem with this language).
Nicolas Messina Can you clarify what you said in your other comment, "Unpleasant... Or unbearable to the point of ugliness" like some 20th century music? I am sure you did not mean you disliked this piece? I appreciated it intellectually, because of the counterpoint, but with this latest version, I am also feeling the emotional power of it, which takes one by surprise. Considering I was here to study a score, I think this was 17:28 that was very well spent... I only wish I could get my children to feel the same way and be really hooked, if that's the right word. In english there is an expression, "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink." But at least thanks to Smalin, they are listening, so that's the first step. My little one will click on the last movement of the 9th symphony, or the Mozart Requiem, and sing all the soprano parts, a real treat around Christmastime. We invited friends to watch them and sing with us last year around this time, and hope to do it again. Also my kids invited their friends to a recital of Christmas hymns, and plan this year to organize a group to sing for a nursing home, so I think Smalin's visual scores are helping them stay involved in music. I think my kids are getting a good sense of the scores, so if they decide to continue with music as they get older it won't be as difficult for them as it was for me. Plus, two other elementary students for whom I played the scores from time to time are continuing this year with their singing. We live in a poor, rural area, where normally the children would hear very little classical music at all. Except in the old traditions of shape-note hymns singing, etc, or maybe secondhand bits and pieces from soundtracks? I am trying to encourage fellow homeschool mothers in our area to use the videos in their music education programs. To respond to your above comment about the relavance of literature, there are lots of kids nowadays who write fan fiction just for fun, and then, like my oldest daughter, go on to write their own novels and stories. They love to read, and are creating quite a challenge for the authors who write for them, who have to contend with a knowlegeable, savvy readership of fellow writers. Just the kind of environment that Glenn Gould thought would be so good for music composition, if we could return to the 18th century model of composers writing for fellow composers.
De parte de un poco de todo ;v
great job!
Dont you ever feel like giving opus 132 mvt. 3 a fresh treatment? Sure there might not be nearly as much to uncover as in the great fugue, but the vid from 2010 just looks so primitive next to this one.
Nice
I absolutely love this piece! Thanks for uploading!
After listening to this piece for a while, I can’t tell if I like this or I’m just use to it.
Get unused to it, then you'll come to hear it and love it!
The next time you come across this piece by accident, ask yourself: does this raise my blood pressure? If the answer is "no," then you're just used to it.
Wow! This is the best performance of this piece I have heard! Bravo, asq!
This one is even better than the 2010 version that I saw and listened first. Such a good work!
Great interpretation. And now it's easier to understand.
For me, this is one of your best works. Thank you again smalin
pretty sure I heard part of this in an anime befgore
I think you studied the score to decide the time effects but I don't see the whole score like in Nancarrow.
Thanks for giving me the link to this from the older version, I don't know which animation I prefer, I guess I'll have to give them both further viewings ;)
Give the new one some time; I've had people tell me they preferred the old one initially but eventually preferred the new one. It's kind of like the music itself: it takes some getting used to.
I like the way the ovals illustrated the duration.
Thank you for the Animated Graphic! Really helped seeing perfectly each instance of the motifs along the way.
Next time, I'll dive again inside the original score to see If I can spot all the little changes. Truly one of his best works!
Beautiful!! Love the sound
Did you not like the previous version?
Ryan Truong I just made a few small adjustments and improvements, and I care too much about the piece to just keep them to myself. I don't usually do remakes, but this was a special case.
smalin By the way, did you appreciate this piece after listening to it once or multiple times?
I can't actually remember the first time I heard it. But I do remember that after a small number of hearings, I was nuts about it (forcing friends to listen to it, etc.). I might have loved it on first hearing, but I don't remember one way or the other. Of course, I didn't completely understand it then, and I probably still don't understand it completely. I learned a lot about the piece in the process of making this video.
Hermoso
De parte de un poco de todo
Welcome.
Music to my ears :)
There's something about this piece that still baffles me. I have listened to this piece dozens of times, but I still can't figure out what Beethoven was trying to achieve. This piece is too unique to be just a fugue.
Ryan Truong You are infinite. :)
Remember, 'fugue' is just a term for a particular formal musical structure. Which can be more or less well realized. Her, brilliantly. Maybe 'A very unusual piece of music, in the form of a fugue'?
unfortunately i'm too stupid to appreciate this
Can you hear that each of the different graphical elements has a different sound (way of moving)?
Please produce Boccherini’s Street Music of Madrid?
See "Could you please ..." in the FAQ.
I've never really been able to understand this one. The relentless galloping rhythm and dry, staccato playing make it very hard to hear the layers. The impression I get is of a talented composer composing in a style he doesn't understand... that's obviously false, but I've had a hard time figuring out the truth of this piece.
Sprite Guard Well put
I feel like there's still something crucial missing, but this does help a lot. My problem is that even watching the video, it's incredibly hard to trace any voice other than the loudest. The top-heavy playing with loud, harsh attacks makes things considerably more difficult; is there a reason they play that way? Whenever the galloping comes in, I can't hear anything else, and during the more polyrhythmic sections all I hear is noisy attacks of uncertain pitch. It reminds me of Nancarrow's middle period, after he abandoned melody but before he'd found something to replace it, something to guide the ear.
First, make sure you can hear the main theme (the ellipses that are are the same size). Then, the two parts that trace their motion. Then the strong by-themselves notes (the shaded rectangles). The trills should be easy, and the background notes (the Voronoi shapes) ... are background (and you don't have to pay attention to them, just hear that there's something in the background).
If you want to invest more time in this piece, you might want to listen to some of the recordings of Beethoven's transcription of this piece for 4-hand piano (e.g. ruclips.net/video/pAw1JBhD-B0/видео.html). I'm not saying that they're easier to understand, but different parts come out. I'd listened to string quartets for decades before I ever heard the piano version, and I found it quite illuminating.
Very interesting presentation! I really like the idea of "factoring out" certain transformations in that main theme by having it scroll at a different rate, or just ignoring slight intervalic or rhythmic alterations, in order to highlight its identity. I feel you're always getting closer to presenting fugal counterpoint like how I try to analyze it as I listen - a constant back-and-forth between following the details of a particular voice and following the big-picture of how themes are layered and transformed and interact with each other. And the great thing about seeing it this way, particularly for this piece, is that I get to see the many times the theme appears but I didn't notice due to the chaotic harmonies and not reading from a score. I'm able to appreciate the subtlety of the counterpoint a lot more when it's fed to me this way, especially toward the end when the theme is layered in such a way that result in unexpectedly pleasant harmonies! It was mind blowing to me actually. It's as though Beethoven set himself up a challenge to mold chaos into order. Given how harmony-focused most musicians are these days, I feel lucky that you're a fellow polyphony enthusiast! Your videos are very educational.
I learned a lot from making this video, too.
Erkthejerk understands music better than I do, and I will have to watch this version more time since my initial reaction to this version was that it was visually "prettier it did not separate the four voices as helpfully. Here you, smalin, seem a graphic artist having fun. The earlier version appealed to my puritanical desire to deepen my perception of the forms Beethoven has woven together with such profound aesthetic and "spiritual" beauty. Thank you for you work. Nothing is more important than helping non-professionals enjoy music, poetry, and fine art.
You're absolutely right that this version of the score does not separate out the four voices as much; instead, it separates the material that the piece is constructed from. In my view, the instruments, though they are independent, are functionally interchangeable --- they all play the same material at various times. What's important to recognize is how a small amount of "melodic DNA" manifests itself in very different forms. My primary goal was not to make the video prettier (though a less important consideration might have been to prevent it from being ugly), but to show how unified it is --- how a small amount of material (introduced in the "Overture" at the beginning) is used to build something with a huge amount of apparent variety.
Wait, a reupload?
Yes, this piece is special.
Fugue is my favorite genre, but I seem to be unable to enjoy this. I'll just probably stick to Bach :D
Many people who found this piece incomprehensible, unpleasant, and exhausting on first hearing came to love it after they became more familiar with it.
smalin That's sorta happening to me. At first I had no idea how someone could enjoy this ( as someone who adored the rest of his quartet work) Recently Ive been listening to it a bit and watching your visuals trying to understand it, and truly enough the pieces seem to be coming together finally :D
Dániel Szabó looks fun to play.
I can normally tell if I like a piece of music on first hearing, but some of Beethoven's late string quartets and late piano sonatas are exceptions for me and took several listens to get to grips with and really appreciate.
Unpleasant... or unbearable up to uglyness like in the 20thC.
Thanks; a fascinating piece made more clearer structurally by the animation. I've always thought the Op 133 sounded closer to late 19th -early 20th century Vienna, than 80 or so years earlier. Damn, if only he'd lived longer! 57 at death? Easily another 20 years there!
When people reflect on the lives of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, etc., they often focus on "what if he'd lived longer?" But they seldom reflect (for these or composers who lived longer) on "how deprived would we be if he'd died sooner?" Not to mention composers who died before writing anything worth listening to. There are many alternative universes we could consider; why do we tend to focus on wonderful things that could be better (instead of, say, terrible things that could be better)?
Maybe you should check out Mozart's age when he died
I hate that people often say that this fuge is a masterpiece or a complete beauty just to feel (idk smart or something) but in reality they dont understand shit of this
and you do?
@@smalin Im the first one Who doesnt know about fugue structure. But i hate when people want to brag about a topic which they dont have any idea of and i think Beethoven is subject to this type of treatment
@@smalin btw i didnt know you check out comments that often XD
Are you saying you hate it when you're more aware than other people? Do you think it's bragging to say that you can tell when other people know less about Beethoven than they think they do?
@@smalin No,i just said (and sorry for the poor english) that i hate this fart sniffing attitude towards beethoven, that people treat his works as something divine without even trying to comprehend the complexity it has. I love Beethoven , and i want to know more and more of the mysteries it has, but i dont think that i can judge if a piece is good or not if i dont know for sure what exactly has
you smalin created ten years ago my obssesion with this. Ive heard every video on youtube. Even piano versions for two pianists. its awesome the animation here shadows create 3d illusion . I would say that this animation style is as contemporary as beethoven's fugue to stravinsky. Love the two animations. I still remember one time you had to write that you were not taking submissions for a time and that your mail was full. I hope you keep making great pieces still. Love your animation style.
Thanks for the encouragement. You might want to read this if you're interested in background on my work (including recent): www.musanim.com/Background/