Agreed. My music teacher in grade school used to play it for us before Halloween. She would pull down the shades in the classroom and turn off all the lights. All of us were literally creeped out by what we were listening to but we all loved it. Especially me who loves creepy stuff like this anyway. 😁🎶❤️
The fact that this piece needs another person to hold down the pedal really is poetic. It's giving the image of someone powerless to do anything but watch as the horror unfolds.
today my music history teacher played this video for us in class and the whole piece had me unnerved, but 1:23 was a legitimate jumpscare for me- it was AWESOME! i love the various techniques people like Crowell have discovered to take music to different levels!
When I was in kindergarten, my music teacher played two pieces of music which had a profound impact on me. On was "Hall of the Mountain King" which was all the more impressive because of the story behind the piece. The second was "The Banshee" by Henry Cowell. Maybe it was having a Halloween birthday, but I always liked scary and spooky things, so these two pieces were favorites. The extreme experimental nature of this piece also influenced me when I eventually got into making music myself.
It was second grade for me, and the music book we used told a story about the banshee and how it lived on the dark side of the moon. I could not sleep that night. I asked my teacher the following week not to play it again, but since it was part of her lesson plan, she did. I said if I ever became a music teacher, I would never play a piece of music that would scare the little ones.
@@spartansquid5931 Ha, not at the time! But I love that version by Savatage and pretty much any metal version of a classical piece (Manowar's "Sting of the Bumblebee" comes to mind).
I have listened to this piece many times before I actually learned about it. It is so interesting to listen to it while reading the sheet music and knowing what each section is supposed to represent.
They played this for us in elementary school back in the 70s. I think it was 3rd grade (McNair Elementary, Fort Bragg NC). The teacher turned the lights off and told us to focus on the sound haha. A lot of the kids were freaked out by it.
I've heard this piece many times and used it in my elementary music classroom. Having a video of it actually being performed is so helpful and informative for students. Thank you for posting this!
8 ปีที่แล้ว +10
+Heather Klossner Thanks a lot for your words Heather.
+Heather Klossner My elementary school teacher played this for my class!!! I came to youtube to find a link to this piece to illustrate a comment where i tell of hearing The Banshee in school. I wish we had had a video. Am glad that it is still being taught.
This is so unique, quite a scary piece to listen to, but fascinating. I really wonder what kind of other music could be composed using this same technique.
Listening to this in elementary school must be why I like goth music now, lol. The creative use of dissonance. The atmosphere. No wonder I ended up liking Bauhaus (the band, not the art movement)
This piece says this to me: imagine seeing something in the distance. It's beautiful. It's otherworldly. You absolutely cannot avert your gaze. You venture closer and closer as you must know what it is that possessed such unnatural beauty. Then, as you approach, you get a feeling of unease. You see clearer the thing's odd form. As you draw nearer, your awe transforms into fear as you realize just how wrong you were. It is not a thing of beauty, but of abject horror the likes of which you have never experienced. What you discover is in fact a dark perversion of all that is beautiful, and you are afraid. You are terribly, terribly afraid. But it is too late. For it has opened its maw in a twisted song and is upon you. And you shall be doomed to join in its grim chorus forever ROFL LMAO XD ITS KFC BRO
wow TJ! To be honest I didn't end up to this video suggested by the piano teacher like a lot of people here. My writing teacher brought me here....perhaps she knew also about your little piece of creation in form of a comment? I would love to see a short movie out of it now! ;)
Bruh, you stole that from my comment three years ago from a Ligeti Lux Aeterna video th-cam.com/video/-iVYu5lyX5M/w-d-xo.html I’m actually quite flattered
I remember hearing this In music class in elementary school watching this brings back hearing it for the first time if I ever get a piano I'm playing this this is what anyone who asks me to play will get
When it comes to this piece all that comes to my mind is this - "Ah, how I relish the idea of falling asleep to this haunting melody. It reminds me of a beautiful gray morning with a heavy cast of clouds, a foreboding sign of the destruction to come. The imminent storm approaches, and I cannot help but smile as I listen to the suffering cries of the seagulls fighting over scraps. As the humans disappear into the abyss, I am filled with a sense of satisfaction that only an immortal creature like myself can experience. This music is my sweet lullaby, a reminder of my eternal existence and my insatiable thirst for the suffering of others. Let the storm rage on, let the screams of the dying fill the air, for I am the master of this world, and nothing can stand in my way."
I tried this piece once but found it very hard to follow the instructions because of the unusual way (I think) the frame bridges are placed in my old grand. Here is looks much easier as all the slithering and scratching is in one area. The pedal part is quite easy it seems :) Intriguing piece from a very interesting composer. Thanks for the performance !!
8 ปีที่แล้ว +3
Thanks for your words, try to play it on a proper piano that allows you to do all the slithering and scratching.
Me! My music teacher from Kindergarten to 6th grade, LaDonna Knight, played this for us, along with John Cage's 4' 33" and a couple of other things I can't remember. It wasn't until I was a teenager (and older) and discovered Pink Floyd, Bowie, Laurie Anderson, and later, Merce Cunningham (and re-discovered Cage) that I realized what a gift she had given me.
This song slaps fr fr 🔥 I have never seen anyone play the piano like that before, how this is played looks as unworldly as the song being played. Great preformance!
My grade school music teacher, Mrs. Roche would play this for us every year around Halloween time. She would literally pull down the shades and turn off all the lights then play it on her record player. OMG I was so creeped out and fascinated by this piece that I knew I’d never forget it. Could you imagine hearing this sound in a dark forest somewhere? Holy s**t! 😳😳
Love that after years of searching I've found the song that my kindergarten music teacher showed me, just to see I've had this shared experience with hundreds of others lol
I got to assist Anthony de Mare yesterday when he performed this piece in Indianapolis. It was such a cool experience. My foot was a little tired by the end :)
Wow. I came here looking for one of his fist pieces. I had not heard this one before. We're coming up on the 100th anniversary of this piece... don't throw in the towell on Henry Cowell!
Something. Something is there. The hairs on your neck stand up, every muscle and sinew tense. Running. Running. Panic drives down like a celestial hammer. Something is there, lurking at the edge of your eyes, just at the fringes of your mind. A close brush, you see it fully- Luck, maybe. it takes a while, but eventually your heart calms and you walk away, shaken, but, mostly... Untouched.
Now, this type of banshee is an evil fairy whose moaning cries bring nothing but bad luck. - Blarney Kilakilarney, The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold (1981)
My kindergarten teacher would play this song for us and If you would talk while it’s playing you had to go sit in the bathroom with the lights off while it played
Bro I thought this guy was trying to prepare the piano for the guy on the seat until I started feeling like I was listening to an alien monster screech
You have to violate a piano physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually to play this and I’m here for it.
I hate how you describe that, it’s disturbing to think about
ew
There's one word in that series of adverbs that you wanted to include but couldn't
Not only that, your hands has to come inside the piano which implies that you also violate it sexually
Don’t forget also sexually 💀💀💀💀
My kindergarten teacher played a recording of this for us in 1971. I have never forgotten it, and decided to google it, and here I am.
KINDERGARTEN?
@@GreenToast01 Yes.
have nice dreams-
What the fuck
What a Teacher
Legitimately one of the most terrifying pieces ever composed
Agreed. My music teacher in grade school used to play it for us before Halloween. She would pull down the shades in the classroom and turn off all the lights. All of us were literally creeped out by what we were listening to but we all loved it. Especially me who loves creepy stuff like this anyway. 😁🎶❤️
I dont see it as 'that' terrifying.
The jumpscare freaked me out.
It should be in a horror game
@@UserUser-kz4fqyou have to be in a live performance to feel it.
WHAT IS IT WITH PEOPLE AND HAVING THEIR KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS PLAYING THIS TO THEM 😭😭😭
Seriously lol... I'm reading through the comments and wondering if it's a joke going over my head. Why would anyone play this for kindergartners?
@@ScraeblerI would if I were a teacher. But that's exactly why I shouldn't be a teacher 😂
😂😂
learning about this in college
To scare them, haha 🤣
I got to hold down the pedal for a friend of mine when she performed this for a piano competition. It was a unique and rare perspective.
@@cocospops9351 lol i was on the bench, she was walking around the piano plucking strings and such
@@cocospops9351 tf?
@@cocospops9351 out of pocket bro wtf
what competition?
@@porple4430 just a really small one within my university.
Imagine breaking a piano string while playing this piece…now that’s true horror
Scarier than the song
This piece was meant to simulate someone's scream, I'm gonna be screaming if one string breaks
A wailing banshee screaming
Decapitation is assured
Особенно если порвëтся струна капут будет " исполнителю"
The one sitting at the keyboard is the hostage, the victim, the witness, the sacrificial lamb
This is AWESOME!!!
Congradulations, your masterpiece has won the award of Best YT Comment Of The Decade!
The fact that this piece needs another person to hold down the pedal really is poetic. It's giving the image of someone powerless to do anything but watch as the horror unfolds.
My elementary school music teacher used to play this for us every Halloween and it would scare the crap out of us
I seriously want to learn how to play this piece so bad so when people ask me to play something for them on the pinao I'll just give them this >:)
That would be funny, let´s try it. ;)
Yoli Patzkowski
😂
The correct way to approach the strings is with a hacksaw blade, not the fingers as shown above, here. Hacksaw is much more contemporary !
its not as easy as it looks
Only possible if it’s a grand tho🤔
The piano is screaming because you are digging through his insides
This made me gag out loud thinking about it 😭
today my music history teacher played this video for us in class and the whole piece had me unnerved, but 1:23 was a legitimate jumpscare for me- it was AWESOME! i love the various techniques people like Crowell have discovered to take music to different levels!
When I was in kindergarten, my music teacher played two pieces of music which had a profound impact on me. On was "Hall of the Mountain King" which was all the more impressive because of the story behind the piece. The second was "The Banshee" by Henry Cowell. Maybe it was having a Halloween birthday, but I always liked scary and spooky things, so these two pieces were favorites. The extreme experimental nature of this piece also influenced me when I eventually got into making music myself.
It was second grade for me, and the music book we used told a story about the banshee and how it lived on the dark side of the moon. I could not sleep that night. I asked my teacher the following week not to play it again, but since it was part of her lesson plan, she did. I said if I ever became a music teacher, I would never play a piece of music that would scare the little ones.
We're not talking about Savatage's Hall of the Mountain King are we 😂
@@spartansquid5931 Ha, not at the time! But I love that version by Savatage and pretty much any metal version of a classical piece (Manowar's "Sting of the Bumblebee" comes to mind).
@@robbieschneider8855 Good taste my man!
@@nameistanya What I meant was what the music was portraying from the play. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Hall_of_the_Mountain_King#Setting
this is absolutely terrifiying
i'm going to play it on repeat
you are not human
When life gives you lemons, find 2 children wallking in a forest, hide somewhere close to them, and blast this song at full volume.
He played the piano without touching it, what an incredible man
How do you not have likes
lmao he's actually a pianist and a magician so he can play the piano with magic
he played the fear and nails
Me at 2am the next time I sleep over in a house with a grand piano.
The owner will murder you, the fun police really hates with you play piano strings like a harp or guitar because of the oils on your fingers.
You can't pull this off alone. You need 1 person pushing the pedal and occasionally playing the keys while you going to town with those strings.
Better hope the more than 2 people at the sleep then, but only you and one other person are in on it@@hideous_taco_michael_zacki
@@hideous_taco_michael_zacki a brick will have to do
@@juankgonzalez6230lol the thought of the brick jumping and hitting the keys is so funny
Genuinely more terrifying than most horror soundtracks in the whole of history.
Finally found the song we were singing along to on the radio
underrated comment this goes hard
No doubt this was what you sang, but I don't think this played on the radio.
The human mind is capable of imagining unspeakable horrors. Truly stunning.
I (as a comp major) played this on a piano recital once in college and my piano teacher was so scandalized!!!
I have listened to this piece many times before I actually learned about it. It is so interesting to listen to it while reading the sheet music and knowing what each section is supposed to represent.
They played this for us in elementary school back in the 70s. I think it was 3rd grade (McNair Elementary, Fort Bragg NC). The teacher turned the lights off and told us to focus on the sound haha. A lot of the kids were freaked out by it.
this doesnt sound like a piano, sounds like the thing that stares at you from that dark spot
a fine.addition to the Netflix and chill dinner date music album
Yes, you´ll fall in love whatever.
I've heard this piece many times and used it in my elementary music classroom. Having a video of it actually being performed is so helpful and informative for students. Thank you for posting this!
+Heather Klossner Thanks a lot for your words Heather.
+Heather Klossner My elementary school teacher played this for my class!!! I came to youtube to find a link to this piece to illustrate a comment where i tell of hearing The Banshee in school. I wish we had had a video. Am glad that it is still being taught.
Thanks!
This scared me I was in like 1st grade lol
Heather Klossner omg i remember you showing this to us
This is so unique, quite a scary piece to listen to, but fascinating.
I really wonder what kind of other music could be composed using this same technique.
Listening to this in elementary school must be why I like goth music now, lol. The creative use of dissonance. The atmosphere.
No wonder I ended up liking Bauhaus (the band, not the art movement)
This would make great atmospheric music for a tabletop RPG session.
This piece says this to me: imagine seeing something in the distance. It's beautiful. It's otherworldly. You absolutely cannot avert your gaze. You venture closer and closer as you must know what it is that possessed such unnatural beauty. Then, as you approach, you get a feeling of unease. You see clearer the thing's odd form. As you draw nearer, your awe transforms into fear as you realize just how wrong you were. It is not a thing of beauty, but of abject horror the likes of which you have never experienced. What you discover is in fact a dark perversion of all that is beautiful, and you are afraid. You are terribly, terribly afraid. But it is too late. For it has opened its maw in a twisted song and is upon you. And you shall be doomed to join in its grim chorus forever ROFL LMAO XD ITS KFC BRO
TJ litespeed Bird Box
You could be a writer I found this more unsettling then the song itself
nice interpretation 🤣
wow TJ! To be honest I didn't end up to this video suggested by the piano teacher like a lot of people here. My writing teacher brought me here....perhaps she knew also about your little piece of creation in form of a comment? I would love to see a short movie out of it now! ;)
Bruh, you stole that from my comment three years ago from a Ligeti Lux Aeterna video
th-cam.com/video/-iVYu5lyX5M/w-d-xo.html
I’m actually quite flattered
I remember hearing this In music class in elementary school watching this brings back hearing it for the first time if I ever get a piano I'm playing this this is what anyone who asks me to play will get
When it comes to this piece all that comes to my mind is this - "Ah, how I relish the idea of falling asleep to this haunting melody. It reminds me of a beautiful gray morning with a heavy cast of clouds, a foreboding sign of the destruction to come. The imminent storm approaches, and I cannot help but smile as I listen to the suffering cries of the seagulls fighting over scraps. As the humans disappear into the abyss, I am filled with a sense of satisfaction that only an immortal creature like myself can experience. This music is my sweet lullaby, a reminder of my eternal existence and my insatiable thirst for the suffering of others. Let the storm rage on, let the screams of the dying fill the air, for I am the master of this world, and nothing can stand in my way."
3:03 12 year old me sitting in class and the teacher is bent over helping another student and i see him from behind like
Cowell is such a brilliant modernist composer, it's always a pleasure to hear his work. Thanks for uploading.
Man my elementary teacher never played this to us 😭 I’m jealous
This Cowell dude must have been quite a tormented individul to expect someone to interpret such a score.
"Oh just Scratch it with your fingernails"
Can’t wait for lyrics for this one🔥🔥🔥🗣🗣💯
Fantástica obra. Parabéns ao dueto de pianistas.
great performance! love it
Thanks a lot!
I tried this piece once but found it very hard to follow the instructions because of the unusual way (I think) the frame bridges are placed in my old grand. Here is looks much easier as all the slithering and scratching is in one area. The pedal part is quite easy it seems :) Intriguing piece from a very interesting composer. Thanks for the performance !!
Thanks for your words, try to play it on a proper piano that allows you to do all the slithering and scratching.
Best song ever
by 1d
Who came her because of there music teacher
i first heard this in music appreciation in grade school in the 70s. my soul was psychedicized.
Me! My music teacher from Kindergarten to 6th grade, LaDonna Knight, played this for us, along with John Cage's 4' 33" and a couple of other things I can't remember. It wasn't until I was a teenager (and older) and discovered Pink Floyd, Bowie, Laurie Anderson, and later, Merce Cunningham (and re-discovered Cage) that I realized what a gift she had given me.
Your music teacher would also remind you of the proper spelling of *their* in the context of your question.
here because of my writing teacher :D :D
Me
Truly terrifying, yet beautiful. I like.
This song slaps fr fr 🔥
I have never seen anyone play the piano like that before, how this is played looks as unworldly as the song being played.
Great preformance!
My grade school music teacher, Mrs. Roche would play this for us every year around Halloween time. She would literally pull down the shades and turn off all the lights then play it on her record player. OMG I was so creeped out and fascinated by this piece that I knew I’d never forget it. Could you imagine hearing this sound in a dark forest somewhere? Holy s**t! 😳😳
Me encanto. Que místico espeluznante más hermoso Bravo!!😊
haha i used to be scared by this song in the second grade :p
Funny, I may have heard this the first time when I was in second grade. So weird I never forgot it, but I really liked it!
Me too!!
@@joeblow7064 Yeah, me too actually. That's why I came here, because I remember it scaring the hell out of me
Lol. Crybaby.
Sanr
I’d love to play this over and over to my 5 year old niece. I’m sure she’d love it.
Better late than never
probably it is black metal version of piano
It's genuinely sooooooo creepy. I love it! Thank you for performing it!
Love that after years of searching I've found the song that my kindergarten music teacher showed me, just to see I've had this shared experience with hundreds of others lol
Its my sleepover i get to chose the music
Wow! So creative. I love it! Thank you. 🙏🏻
hey vsauce michael here
But what is here?
*Vsauce theme starts playing*
HAHAHA genuinely laughed out loud
This brings back MEMORIES!
Yes, this is exactly what they sound like. Beautifully done; TFP.
Imagine making more musical pieces from piano strings.
I got to assist Anthony de Mare yesterday when he performed this piece in Indianapolis. It was such a cool experience. My foot was a little tired by the end :)
Wow. I came here looking for one of his fist pieces. I had not heard this one before.
We're coming up on the 100th anniversary of this piece... don't throw in the towell on Henry Cowell!
My band's pals when I'm trying to tune.
Good for horror movies!
HELP!!!! My heard cry !!!
Yes definitely
I've tried white noise, brown noise, rain sounds, everything but the only thing that helps me sleep is this on a loop. Thank you 🥱😴🛌
How many people do you kill each night?
My fingers are burning raw just listening to this 🤣 poor guy
This performance was F*UCKING AMAZING!! (Pardon moi Francais)!!!!!!! 😱😱😱😱🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹
I remember hearing this in music class in elementary school
I can hear this piano screaming "HELP ME WHY THEY PLAY ME LIKE THISSS"
And, the scariest part is
every part.
I think the scariest thing is seeing him do all this on his bare hands.
Academic decathlon 2019-20 kids wya?
Here
Ayy
Here
right here
Lets go
The guy sitting at the piano stole the show, LOL!
that guys face at 3:09 lol
Complimenti!
+Fausto Bongelli Gracie Fausto.
Acadec teams where you at
right here, m8
eyyyyyy
here
YOOOO
I'm a little late (class of 2017) but hell yeah!
Here buddy
love this song
lol i remember this from Kindergarten. anytime a kid got caught talking theyd get dragged off to the smile room 🤣
Something. Something is there. The hairs on your neck stand up, every muscle and sinew tense. Running. Running. Panic drives down like a celestial hammer.
Something is there, lurking at the edge of your eyes, just at the fringes of your mind.
A close brush, you see it fully-
Luck, maybe. it takes a while, but eventually your heart calms and you walk away, shaken, but, mostly... Untouched.
That is a very appropriate name for the piece.
My favorite piano company is also YAM
yam 🍠
Aha
"Why this thing doesnt clean?!"
Very good song!!
The most terrifying thing about this video is watching him claw at the strings like that...
high school freshmen when you tell them to stop touching the piano
Now, this type of banshee is an evil fairy whose moaning cries bring nothing but bad luck. - Blarney Kilakilarney, The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold (1981)
Fire 🔥
My kindergarten teacher would play this song for us and If you would talk while it’s playing you had to go sit in the bathroom with the lights off while it played
You don't have to be wacky to like something like this, but it does help a lot....
The piano's gonna need a cigarette after this 💀
2:21 my cat in the litter box
To day this piece, I suppose, would have been composed for electronics or been a conrete sound composition.
Perfect for a chase scene in a horror movie.
So cool! How was this piece notated?
There is a video on youtube with the score
I dare anyone to sleep listening to this
Mad man's wonderland
Henry Cowell was just goofing on everybody.
Normal Piano Piece In Ohio :
This needs to be in a horror movie 👻🎥
this sounds so scary
Bro I thought this guy was trying to prepare the piano for the guy on the seat until I started feeling like I was listening to an alien monster screech
Creepy music very disturbing……I love it
That must be hard on the ol' fingertips.
Love it
I call it “cat on the piano musuc” (inside the piano in this case)