Rhythmic training wheels for Große Fuge (Beethoven opus 133)

Ludwig van Beethoven's Große Fuge (Great Fugue), opus 133, performed by The Alexander String Quartet, with an animated graphical score showing measure downbeats.
FAQ
A: What is the purpose of this video?
Q: There are many ways Beethoven's Große Fuge can challenging for listeners: much of its motivic material is very angular, the chromatic harmonies contain lots of dissonance, the texture can be very dense, and it's highly contrapuntal. I've made several videos of the piece in an attempt to clarify its motivic structure ...
www.musanim.com/GrosseFuge/
... and given some guidance in following the harmonies in the piece's opening ...
www.musanim.com/GrosseFuge/Un...
... but one of the major stumbling blocks is rhythm. The music is highly syncopated, and it's hard to understand what's going on if you don't know where the beats are. So, in this video, I've add a bouncing ball measure marker so show where the downbeats are. If you'd like to refer to a conventional score, this one ...
www.musanim.com/pdf/Beethoven...
... has measure numbers that match the ones shown in the video.
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/gp/product/B002...
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/underwriting
Q: Could you please do a MAM video of _________?
A: Please read this:
www.musanim.com/requests/

[@jonp3890]

Most definitely the strangest piece Beethoven ever composed. I absolutely hated it the first time I heard it, but it grows on you. Like body hair. But this graphical score helps you take a razor to it and sculpt your understanding better of what all is going on with this crazy beast.

[@Adeodatus100]

Over the years I've gone from "What the hell is this godawful noise?" to "This is the greatest music ever written".

[@letMeSayThatInIrish]

I had completely forgotten it existed. They played it every now and then on Norwegian radio back in the 80's and 90's when I was a kid. It was just there in the background. As you say, it grows on you. Today I loved every second of it.

[@CrossbowManD]

I loved it the first time I heard it, which was also from this TH-cam channel

[@flippert0]

Late Beethoven is his own genre ;-)

[@Richard.Atkinson]

Amazing video as usual! It really helps the viewer understand the crazy metric shift in that transition at 9:30.

[@123Joack]

Demystifying große fugue part 2?

[@samuellafleur6945]

bruh moment at 1:10 when you realize you've heard the downbeat wrong your whole life... but I think my original interpretation still works fine

[@bsku0765]

Great Fugue!!!!!!!!

[@bsku0765]

Aka the best music.

[@leonhardeuler6811]

Really wished this video existed when i first listen to the grosse, especially for 3:35

[@smalin]

Me too (back in the early 1970s).

[@damaljinev]

Ah, I see you've finished this. Thanks, Mr. Malinowski!

[@dc.kastel]

The original video on this piece is what made me discover your channel many years ago so this brings back memories :)
Thank you for coming back to it

[@spnhm34]

Strangest speedrun of Rainbow Islands ever.

[@stephenf3838]

Great

[@gogatsu26]

Swingin' the 1820's

[@sasha_sokol]

Might I suggest pre-empting the downbeats slightly (as a conductor would)? I get the feeling that sometimes the downbeats appear 'late' even though they're actually perfectly in time.

[@smalin]

I've actually already done that! But I agree --- they still do seem late. It's interesting: the timing of the downbeats doesn't seem to have the same effect on the note action/highlighting as it does with the arcs. When I started, without the arcs, everything seemed fine, but the arcs seemed very late, and I found that, in fact, the synchronization track had lots of late timings. So, I fixed them all, and even overshot (making the sync points earlier than the note onset) on some notes. But it still isn't enough.

[@sasha_sokol]

@@smalin oh, curious! Possibly a factor is that the note highlighting is predictable whereas it's not always obvious where exactly the arc is going to land. Maybe some confirmation bias going on but I think the lateness effect is stronger when there's an extra complication e.g. the arc dips down to a lower voice, the next arc is under instead of over.