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| Beethoven Op 111 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 20 2008, 08:38 AM (161 Views) | |
| jon-nyc | Jul 20 2008, 08:38 AM Post #1 |
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Cheers
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I read through the last movement today for the first time. It is such lovely music, like it fell from heaven. What a perfect way for him to end the Sonatas. |
| In my defense, I was left unsupervised. | |
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| bachophile | Jul 20 2008, 08:51 AM Post #2 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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leonard bernstein on beethoven... "Many, many composers have been able to write heavenly tunes and respectable fugues. Some composers can orchestrate the C-major scale so that it sounds like a masterpiece, or fool with notes so that a harmonic novelty is achieved. But this is all mere dust - nothing compared to the magic ingredient sought by them all: the inexplicable ability to know what the next note has to be. Beethoven had this gift in a degree that leaves them all panting in the rear guard. When he really did it - as in the Funeral March of the Eroica - he produced an entity that always seems to me to have been previously written in Heaven, and then merely dictated to him. Not that the dictation was easily achieved. We know with what agonies he paid for listening to the divine orders. But the reward is great. There is a special space carved out in the cosmos into which this movement just fits, predetermined and perfect.... Beethoven broke all the rules, and turned out pieces of breath-taking rightness. Rightness - that’s the word! When you get the feeling that whatever note succeeds the last is the only possible note that can rightly happen at that instant, in that context, then chances are you’re listening to Beethoven. Melodies, fugues, rhythms - leave them to the Tchaikovskys and Hindemiths and Ravels. Our boy has the real goods, the stuff from Heaven, the power to make you feel at the finish: Something is right in the world. There is something that checks throughout, that follows its own law consistently: something we can trust, that will never let us down." |
| "I don't know much about classical music. For years I thought the Goldberg Variations were something Mr. and Mrs. Goldberg did on their wedding night." Woody Allen | |
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| Tav D | Jul 20 2008, 10:53 AM Post #3 |
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Junior Carp
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One of my favorites of the Beethoven Sonatas, although I think maybe all of them are! Paul Lewis's recent recording in his complete sonatas project is really good. I once heard a live recital given by Blanca Uribe, a fine South American pianist, who was playing the first movement of Op. 111 when the stage lights went out. She soldiered on during the blackout which lasted several minutes. She didn't miss a note. I realized how a professional should deal with mishaps - just keep playing!! |
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| Klaus | Jul 20 2008, 11:07 AM Post #4 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Which recording(s) did you consider, Jon? I think most pianists play the movement too fast. My favorite recording is Arrau's. The most bizarre one I know is from Glenn Gould. |
| Trifonov Fleisher Klaus Sokolov Zimmerman | |
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| jon-nyc | Jul 20 2008, 11:30 AM Post #5 |
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Cheers
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Bach - great quote, thanks for posting that. Tav - that's impressive, especially with the first movement. I've only recently began practicing with my eyes closed, its humbling. Klaus - I assure you I didn't play it too fast, given it was the first time I read it. I have 5 recordings of it, including the Gould. My favorite of those I have is probably Brendel, although Claude Frank's is nice too. I agree its ruined when played too fast, especially the 4th variation. |
| In my defense, I was left unsupervised. | |
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4:53 PM Jul 10