Quarantine Mini 17 - Mike Finally Delivers on the Threat
Added 2020-04-04 00:56:07 +0000 UTCProper or not, it's Hammer time.
Comments
Really love this musical interlude as I'm catching up, and especially that it's (mostly) Beethoven. I'd love to see more of these, specifically on his quartets (No. 4 in C Minor might be my all-time favorite piece of music, particularly the 4th movement). I've been playing violin for 26 years (minus some gaps) but haven't had a group to play with in ages, and I'd never found a group willing to tackle something at that level. I'd also love to see your take on Paganini, that confidence-annihilating bastard. You just watch someone like Hilary Hahn perform his 24th Caprice and instantly give up.
Scott Johnson
2020-09-15 20:12:18 +0000 UTCThat was awesome, Mike. Could you please do this with the Waldstein one day? I'm crazy about the Waldstein.
Gina Dalfonzo
2020-04-07 13:13:21 +0000 UTCI am thoroughly enjoying this commentary. Especially the mention of knife fights in the same sentence as mentronome.
Emily Brown
2020-04-07 00:09:29 +0000 UTCI had to go to the grocery store yesterday, and between the stuff they still haven’t been able to restock and the face masks and the general sense of barely contained panic, it was a weird and discomfiting experience. When I got back to the car, the classical station was playing Beethoven’s Fifth. I’m not normally a huge fan of that particular symphony, but there’s something really comforting about rolling through the neighborhood in a minivan with the windows down, blasting Beethoven. Yes, I was terribly popular in high school. Why do you ask?
Doodle
2020-04-05 20:14:17 +0000 UTCThe dream of Professor Good-Natured lives. Kind of.
Nick D
2020-04-05 03:14:19 +0000 UTCFascinating that it was never played in his own lifetime.
Kerry S.
2020-04-04 17:08:31 +0000 UTCThank you again for the new appreciation of Beethoven!
Chariti Messer
2020-04-04 14:38:31 +0000 UTCI had always assumed "Hammerklavier" meant "extreme piano", since "der Hammer" is used to describe something as being EXTREME. However, when I googled Hammerklavier, all of the articles indicate that it's just the term for "piano forte" in German. I like my translation better! :D
Elizabeth Meredith
2020-04-04 06:59:03 +0000 UTCI probably have the details wrong but I recall a story about Matteo Carcassi writing a theme and sending it to 32 different composers to write a variation each. Beethoven gets wind of it and writes thirty THREE variations and of course they're all better.
Moviegique
2020-04-04 04:59:12 +0000 UTCFor the Hammerklavier, it's tough, but I do love Alfred Brendel and probably Maurizo Pollini is my favorite. Vladimir Ashkenzay's is great. My controversial stance - Horowitz is probably the greatest pianist of the 20th century but his Beethoven I do not like. It ain't bad, for heaven's sake. His Waldstein I like.
372 Pages We'll Never Get Back
2020-04-04 04:30:55 +0000 UTCHey Mr. Nelson, if you read this, do you have a favorite recording or player? Or maybe what are your top three?
Christopher Dazey
2020-04-04 03:45:10 +0000 UTCThank you for balancing out bad books with great music. I had to write fugues in my college counterpoint classes, and I can vouch for the fact that it ain’t easy, even two minutes long ones!
John G
2020-04-04 02:47:15 +0000 UTCRight. But I'll have to find the professor who states that Beethoven was pulling a gag with the spelling or something... Stay tuned
372 Pages We'll Never Get Back
2020-04-04 02:21:36 +0000 UTC"Hammerklavier" is German for hammer-keyboard, which is the German name for a fortepiano. The full title of the piece is "Große Sonate für das Hammerklavier," which means Grand Sonata for the Fortepiano.
Theodore Lehman
2020-04-04 02:00:49 +0000 UTCLoving these, as well. I had a music teacher who made us listen to Beethoven incessantly, but never taught us to appreciate it. It was only later that I read Beethoven’s letters about his need to create beauty in the midst of his own suffering, which feels truly profound these days. Thanks so much for these (and I’m happy to share some Shostakovich recommendations in return). Also, apparently, Liszt had no connective tissue between his fingers, so he could jump octaves much more easily than most pianists, which is at least one reason he could tackle this piece.
Bridget K
2020-04-04 01:42:56 +0000 UTCReally digging these classical pieces. Thank you for sharing both the piece and your impression of it.
andrew
2020-04-04 01:20:31 +0000 UTC
