Bernstein on Debussy pt 1
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- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
- Bernstein delineates the architecture of misdirection as expressed in Debussey's Afternoon of a Faun . "The Last ditch effort to diatonically contain the ever increassing chromatic density of the last decade of the 19th Century". Excerpt from lecture 4 "The Delights and Dangers of Ambiguity" from the 1973 Harvard Lectures. "The Unanswered Question"
"Cubism is around the corner" ... now that was a smart one !
Jean-Marc Knight damn, didn’t even notice that
What a poet
would have thought that pretty obvious. rite of spring
oh wow I missed that one!
I assume he is referring to Picasso ?
the second bark at 7:52 is definitely a tritone away from the bark at 8:06, G# and D. your dog is getting this.
sizesmall is the dog in G or D major ?
Hi. When I heard the dogs barking a tritone away, and Mr. Bernstein doing his best to keep up with them, I thought I'd share this: ruclips.net/video/V-6sDc7ojDM/видео.html
diabolical dog
And at 8:22 we begin to hear the whining. . . everybody's a critic (and a good shake at 8:38)
Imagine - there was a time when this kind of intellectualism was actually available on broadcast television. And further, most of our "sets" could only receive 3, 4 or maybe 5 channels. Where are we today in comparison? Giants walked the Earth back then.
Man-alive.... thanks for saying that. People just don't get it--that we could, on those three channels, see in one week, Paul Desmond, Miles Davis, and Oscar Peterson - usually on The Tonight Show with Steve Allen. I miss those times so much.
Now intellectualism is seen as lies and danger. Back to the middle ages....
Growing up in New York at the height of Bernstein's popularity, his brilliance and class permeated the arts in New York City as well as the rest of the world. I feel so lucky to have been a witness to Bernstein and to grow up surrounded by his music.
@msa 100% agree.
Bruce, this was all planned - from this high, trained rigorous level of intellect & discourse to the dumbed down trash we see & they give us today - #Elites plan - it's a bloody nightmare.
Mr. Bernstein is the epitome of a great connoisseur of his professional art... His intelligence shines, his acknowledges on linguistics, general "musical science" and his major intellectual stances are highly appreciated and virtuously shown on these series of lectures he presented.... Additionally, he was an extraordinary communicator, given with a powerfully modulated speech conveyed through a convincingly nice tone of voice. It is delightful to listen his explanations and it is easy to understand his multilingual sprinkled deposition. LB was and is one admirably gifted human being!!!! Respect and best regards for ever!!!
perfectly said!
As a music teacher myself I say that Bernsteins lectures are masterpieces of music teaching. Bravo.
"Tritonically-alienated . . ." Leonard Bernstein, STOP IT before you make me SWOON from the sheer musicological majesty of your prose!!!!!!!!
I'm completely overwhelmed with his genius. His ability to so succinctly break down theory is humbling
Pianist, Conductor, Composer, Educator what a great man
I love Debussy, sometimes all I can think about is Debussy
Me too! Find him in Bill Evans too,
kutuluu Is that a Family Guy reference?
kutuluu But always remember to finish on the Bach, never on Debussy.
Debussy was a famous Rosicrucian. Who knew?
Demann got Debussy on Demind
Debussy IS modern music. The greatest composer of our time, IMO.
The tritone: "The devil in music"
And then Bernstein goes to write West Side Story, where the name Maria starts with a tritone :D
christophe ponsard He had already.
he's not saying the tri tone is bad. he's referencing it being banned from church music historically
Pretty much the entire musical was written around the tritone.
He was a supreme communicator.
@@HieronymousLex it wasn't banned from the church. check out Adam Neely's video on it. It is only called the devil in music because it was (and is) particularly hard to sing
What a wonderfully talented, intelligent, and eloquent man was Mr. Bernstein.
what key did the dog bark in?
B flat. but sometimes my ears are wrong when it comes to anything other than an absolute pitch
Bb followed by an Ab I think. Considering it was over Bb7, it was very impressive. His Bb is a little bit out of tune though... :P
I thought it sounded more like A, Ab. Then again, this dog bark is one of the major points of contention in analysis of this Debussy piece.
Too bad we can't have wonderful Erik Satie here with us. He could weigh the notes on his 'Phonomotrometer" or whatever he called it. If you want to live laughing, read his "Essay on Critics."
decidedly so
A dog... there was a dog in Debussy's music!!
yep- what a nonconformist! :D
This is the most interesting about music theory I've ever seen.
+Aaron Tyrtania Check out "The Greatest 5 min in Music Education" also posted on my channel
Yes, I've seen that one already. It is AWESOME!
Hey everyone these carefully edited briefings are posted with the hope that your interest might be piqued enough to listen to these lectures in their entirety just look to the right... however I understand that even the most ardent music lovers might not have 3 hrs to devote to broaching these elusive insights hence these video cliff notes
you mean piqued.....
:)
And thanks SO MUCH for posting , these were so important!
MuscleDaddyCMH Thanx for watching Sir,and I stand corrected :-)
just discovered this.. intend to spend a lot of time on these lectures when I get the time. Thanks !
paxwallacejazz Thank you for your videos. They are very helpful!
and your comments in these videos are rad by the way!
These videos are incredibly enlightening for me. I'm a guitarist with a pretty good understanding of harmony, but the principals explained here are so inspirational for me. I will be exploring these concepts!
ed phaze Glad to hear it !
So yeah watch these lectures in their entirety they are posted numerous places try cagin and I am happy you like my excerpts !
ed phaze glad to hear it!
It’s insane that he does this all in one take.
he's not talking to the kids. He's reading a prompter into a camera. I don't like fake setups. Just lose the kids, film him talking to a camera while reading the pre-written script. That'd be a lot better.
Wow! Bernstein has enlightened millions on this piece, expressing every story in beautiful words. Think: all of this came from one human soul with fierce musical, poetic inspiration! So much can we do in this life, creating purity out of reality, creating melodies of the air, joy of the sea!!
The octave's ratio is 2/1
The perfect-fifth's ratio is 3/2
The perfect-fourth's ratio is 4/3
The tritone's ratio is √2/1 - an irrational number!
Wonder if Pythagorus dealt with that last entry?!
God he was unique. No one could inform like Bernstein.
he was amazing, but this exact analysis of Debussy's Faune you can find in most composing and conducting master classes
Lol the barks startled me. This is a gem. Reminds me of music school days. If only our theory profs had been this captivating! Thanks for sharing this ♥️
I believe in these lectures we are receiving the insights of decades of conducting the finest orchestras on Earth all the while being constantly exposed to brilliant musical minds.
paxwallacejazz absolutely; agree with you 100% 👌🏽♥️
@@aliyaahmad5840 Just about everything Bernstein Talk about is something that I in 42 years of listening and playing music thing I ve felt and noticed but couldn't articulate. Amazing that I could learn so much in a half hour. Fantastic. The world is going to he'll. I'm convinced. You'd never hear or watch a new show today that had one third of the insight presented here.
@@aliyaahmad5840 "are things I've felt. That's what I meant to type.
@@aliyaahmad5840 "
I really wish we had stuff stuff like this on our free view tv, amazing to listen to.
Luv me some Debussy...And what a great way to learn music!:)
"How do we count silence? Do we care?"
John Cage: Hold my beer.
Thanks for sharing this. Bernstein was a genius and a treasure.
very pleased to hear it :-) I spent a lot of time trying to extract the "really good stuff from each lecture "
I think the dog is trying to say, "hey maestro, I have a theory ". lol, love dogs by the way.
What a genius is Bernstein. He's extremely learned and is able to bring all of his knowledge to bear on a musical piece. And he can communicate this knowledge to us. And he can play the music. He rocks.
Whenever I hear Debussy, I remember how well my brother plays it. I tried to copy him but never came close. I see from Bernstein's exposition that I don't understand the music well enough to play it. I can also see that my brother does understand it. There's no substitute for talent.
Thank you so much for posting this. Bernstein is a remarkable lecturer, making the complex comprehensible.
most welcome
In 1970 Wash DC heard a brilliant speech by Bernstein against the Vietnam war - he was not like this / he was so impassioned he was almost doubling over -with logic that flew straight to the heart
We need this stuff on television today!
hahaha the dog, seriously thank you for sharing...
Caesar good dog and you're very welcome sir
How ambiguity relates to musical expressivity ;very interesting isn't it ?
yes
I only wish I had the full musical vocabulary to describe Mt emotional reaction to each chord change and swell or shift of motive/emotion in this piece! I've been in love with it since I was 17!
hippojuice23 music has meanings of it's own !
I feel like Bernstein could've been a writer
He was. A brilliant writer on music.
Evan Galyen Ironic, sarcastic?
@@artysanmobile A perfect time of an emoji.
Paul Somers I’m on an anti-emoji kick.
@@artysanmobile I'm not all that pro-emoji, but I use them sparingly when one might suggest a tone of voice or an intent.
The unexpected "Bach" made me jump.
I love the dog sound it help me realize
not to be afraid of music theory like
I've been for the past 37 years
and even book for being a 64-year-old
musician who never got over the fear of music theory
"Imagine - there was a time when this kind of intellectualism was actually available on broadcast television. And further, most of our "sets" could only receive 3, 4 or maybe 5 channels. Where are we today in comparison? Giants walked the Earth back then" I remember it well. even Johny Carson had opera singers like Richard Tucker perform, and, gasp! talk about Classical music. the big honchos who dominated the media back then came from a culture where classical music was respected, germany, poland, austria, russia. their children and grandchildren grew up in dumbed down america, and figured out where the money is. the aesthetic equivalent to trumpism in politics
It looks like I wrote that Comment about 3 years ago. It’s fun to look again and see everything that has been written since. A lot of people seemed to be really moved by his brilliance.
Another thing that struck me - Bernstein did this in 1973 and Frank Zappa wrote I Am the Slime that same year.
I am gross and perverted
I'm obsessed 'n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little has changed
I'm the tool of the Government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you
I may be vile and pernicious
But you can't look away
I make you think I'm delicious
With the stuff that I say
I'm the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I'm the slime oozin' out
From your TV set
You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't go for help . . . no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold
Imagine that - in 1973! The decline in television since then is truly frightening. I often find myself thinking - what would Frank say if he were alive today?
thank you .. I love how he explains music , not just the notes and meter etc,, but the depth,, the way it makes you fell.. He was a genius!! Remember Harlends Opus.when he teaches his music class and says... " It's not just notes on a page!!"
I am extremely impressed listening to Bernstein's thoughts. His insights about music - about chromaticism, diatonic, triads, fifths - are astounding. I intend to watch more of these, because I think I understand where he is coming from.
It is unfortunate that today, because of blogs and social media, just about anyone can bather away, drowning out the opinions of true experts. Bernstein represented the pinnacle of musical thought.
Even though Bernstein wasn't a great composer necessarily; he was a brilliant musical mind, with truly original insights about the connections between structure and affective response. Well worth the effort.
@@paxwallacejazz Bernstein was a great composer though...
God I love the way this man speaks, so knowledgeable, passionate, and clear to understand
Bernstein would have been fascinated by Jacob Collier
Maybe. Composers were doing much of what Jacob does and more back in the 50s/60s, so it's not like Bernstein would've been surprised by the techniques. He probably would've been delighted at the fresh spin that Jacob gives Jazz if anything.
What if he was a Time Lord.
The tri-tone was a real stumbling point in my music theory classes in college. Why they were worried about "the Devil in Music" in 1972 seemed like a waste of time. Not only were we doing writing exercises to avoid a vertical (chordal) alignment of the tri-tone but also in linear form if you had parallel major thirds adjacent to each other. Ridiculous! I wish they had spent the time studying Debussy. This inspired lecture from Leonard Bernstein would have been much better received.
Well walking before running and all BUT;traditional classical (not jazz) theory is a quilt made of vestigial pieces of 18th and early 19th century approaches to vertical organization . Debussy himself was yawning in class . Honestly "Harmony" doesn't become exciting until you begin to truly understand they are trying to show you the entrance to the control room that contains those switches, dials and buttons that control mood and dimensionality in music . My introduction besides listening to my band director improvise at the piano was "the greatest 5 min in music education" posted on this channel (the free wheeling goulash part at the end) .
Lol. My dad was accidentally using my Google Account. I was about to say "I never posted this. Where did I learn all this stuff about Jazz." Lol.
Gracias por el video. Buenísimo.
I would love to know what those musicians are thinking/feeling during this lecture. No doubt they understand they are sharing the stage with a genius, but I wonder if they are following along with all that he is saying. I cant imagine not being sucked into Bernstein's passion and expertise. I'm not a musician and I'm getting pulled in.
Thanks a million, @paxwallacejazz and thank you as well, Master Leonard Bernstein !!!
Happy birthday, Claude Debussy... the one and only !!!
I like your dog.
Ive never listened to Bernstein speak before, I'm hooked the colour of his prose fit perfecty with the ambiguity of chromaticism
A lot of New Metal riffs use that sharp fourth. I’m reminded of “Go Away” by Godsmack.
Footnote: Gerard Manly Hopkins did some strange things with meter and the accentuation of syllables in his poetry, sometimes even including accent marks over vowels that English speakers would otherwise not emphasize. He called it “instress.”
Comment from Debussy: “Close, but actually I arranged those chords that way merely because it sounded cool. That’s my only test for what stays in a piece.”
I thought it was my dog barking! 😂
Haydn & Beethoven also pushed at the gate, but Sebastian Bach had already explored the outside.
Debussy was a Master Painter, using every technique and creativity , to reach the "pleasure of sound (Le plaisir du son) " ...I feel that E natural note on that Bb7 chord like a 4# (or 11th#) introducing a Lydian sound/atmosphere, typical of the Impressionism/Belle Epoque era - if you look very closely to that chord, it's got 2 tritones, not one...(One is Bb-E , root-4#/11#- the other being Ab -D (7th- 3rd) - So -with an "atonal" quality in itself, it's got an incredible "functional/directional" power and possibilities...His choose of D (Maj 7) is great, though
To me it sounds just like complete nonsense that back then the Church banned the tritone for being dissonant and called it "the devil in music" for the reason that it's dissonant... I mean, why didn't they ban the color red from paintings and called it the "color of the devil"?
DerSibbe
Wow this is great stuff!!! And oddly enough I think I'm understanding what Leonard is getting at...Can't wait to try it out to see if I'm actually following!
Perfect. He explains as well as he plays for all of us, technically, historically, musically, and verbally.
Bernstein was fabulous, but in every composition class I've been they teach the exact same stuff:-)
Imagine pontificating in genius mode like this in front of a camera......without cue cards or a teleprompter
augmented fourth is also heavily present in black sabbath's music.
No wonder - it's the devil's interval...
I always thought it was a minor 5th. Or a dimished chord.
Interestingly how all of this chromatisism later became chromodynamics!
I am so grateful for this video being avaliable...
In his previous video he finished on the Bach, now he finishes on Debussy...
Hey I edited out snippets snippets from 6, 2hr lectures some longer. Don't for a second think this is some kinda complete statement they're just my favourite moments heavily edited.
I thought I made that clear in the notes.
@@paxwallacejazz You aren't familiar with Family Guy, are you ?
ruclips.net/video/UKO-ebWS4Ko/видео.html
Dog's barkin' at the Devil('s interval)
Bless You for Posting this!!! AND I bust a gut laughing with doggie's superior timing , doggie knows a Lot about music too !! My cats gather around no matter how or what I play on piano, its a salon and concert time and you should see them crawl and climb closer and closer and relax and lounge and go into trances with me.. Debussy is indeed their Rockstar too !!LL!! AND BERNSTEIN His Axeman !!LL! YAAAAaaaa!!! So I guess I was born with a singing voice Alto that lends so well to harmony but especially in E keys , ohhh …. but I still have lead music nicely at church , so hmmm.... church leaders getting scaredy-pants but Bach and his organ they were cool with , hmmm history cycles ..and makes political problems .. bleh.. lol ROCK ON!!
One does not have to "binge" through this, I don't. I compare this to reading a book. You don't have to read it all in one sitting.
There are hours of his lectures to enjoy starting in the early 60's. Go "nuts" on RUclips!
He the most engaging proponent of music "education" ever. It was and is so compelling.
I'm Chris, using my wife"s phone. She passed away in June after surviving almost eleven years of brain cancer. And with zero deficits. But that's another story.
Lori K. Well hey brother perhaps you might like my 3rd stream Requiem written for my mom on my channel it's for Orchestra and Jazz piano Trio. Look up Winter Adagio in my video list on my Channel paxwallacejazz.
paxwallacejazz hope i May find
Lori K. I am so sorry
i love big Len, but he's a middlebrow. He doesn't get why no one really listened to Debussy. He'd rather reference Walter Pater-ish clichés...
We are so dumbed down these days, I have no idea what he's talking about or what his points are because of the complex words he use to explain music is very hard to understand and follow!
Dog you deserve credit for being there ☮✌
All you need to know for the modern day is 1-5-6m-4
Bernstein explains exactly why Debussy is my favorite composer in a way that I absolutely cannot.
Thx for posting!!!
I never tire of experiencing a piece of Debussy's.😁🎶🎹🎹🎶
Play On
Where Adam Squeely Bb at to tell on this dude that he lied about the tritone AGAIN fuckin Chick Norris 🤬😂😇
How clear! The "devil interval" can be found a plenty in Bach's music too
The Tritone.
The Devil's Interval.
Lenny hits it out of the park yet again, with an equal effortlessness as he displays both his instrumental and his didactic virtuosities.
(Is Part 2 of this out here, somewhere?)
People were smarter back then
In a world where the bar could be set this high; and programs like John Kenneth Galbrath's 'Civilization', James Burke's 'Connections', Jacobs Bronowski's 'Ascent of Man', and Carl Sagan's 'Cosmos' were alive and kicking yeah maybe so. It's like if you treat folks like they're smart they're more likely to be smart.
To leave out Franz Liszt beggars belief... Bagatelle sans Tonalite ie Bagatelle without key written in 1885(!) Liszt also anticipates Impressionism with Nuages Gris (1881 !)
Debussy, the colorful French impressionistic master that is unmatched by others... maybe Ravel,....maybe
Joe Gewarges Um Satie. Thank you.
@@wormswithteeth Satie contributed to the downfall of virtuoso-esque, complex music. He paved the way for a generation of easy, almost non-skilled musicians when people just went with music that only had to please your ears, rather than pleasing your mind as it was when pianists wrote finger-breaking pieces. To hell with Satie.
Everytime i hear this music i think of Captain Kirk ^_^
I tend to agree with the dogs suggestion.
i concur
2:20
Tritonius Maximus , obscuring tonality once again 🎭😶💯
Everything is the expression of Debussy's Aesthetics
Right after the dog backed Bernstein says: "Silence!" lol
From Fidos point of view..this may be a new Dogma in music!
This is a great series. Thank you for posting it!
You do know these are just short excerpts from much longer lectures delivered in 1973 . 6 lectures called "The Unanswered Question". Guess what? It's posted numerous places on You Tube. Just type it in.
hahaha for a second it looks like he is listening to the dog
***** cool
Thank you thank you thank you, this made my day
Moments of construction- not our moment, for better and worse, of deconstruction.
Is that a rather butch drama queen I see before me? He's wonderful.
Love the bark. Sweet.
6:25 Adam Neely debunks some of the tritone lore in a video.
Jajaaajaja the dog .....hilarious
Thank you for these posts. gratis gratis gratis...
in japanese musical history there is no systematic theory like this. i didn't care?
toshio takayama Did you feel you had something left out of your education?
THe tritone.. hehe.. he is describing what makes heavy metal so great right now!
The tritone plays an important role in diatonic harmony. The dominant 7 chord has a root, a 3rd, a 5th, and a flatted or lowered 7th. The interval between the 3rd and the lowered 7th creates the tritone, which causes instability or tension, and needs to resolve by contrary motion to the major third in the resultant tonic chord, which causes resolution. You could get away with playing a tritone 400 years ago as long as you resolved it with contrary motion. If you played a tritone and did not resolve it, it was the dungeon for you. That same tritone can also resolve by opposite contrary motion to the minor 6th interval if that same dominant chord is in 2nd inversion. This is what happens in Bernstein's "Maria" where the first 2 notes make up a tritone, making you think it's part of an altered chord (a chord containing a note or more that don't belong to the key the composition is in.) But when it resolves, you realize the initial tritone is simply the 4th and 7th step of the major key. It sounds chromatic but it's really diatonic. Genius.
"*snap* Foiled again!" Oh, how I relate to that so!
Better i going to play a beatls , im not very smart😂😂
Thanks for posting these videos.
omg that doggo cracked me up so bad hahahahahahahaha :D
So no one is going to talk about the dog barking? 😂