If I Could Choose Only One Work By...BEETHOVEN
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ม.ค. 2023
- It Would Have To Be...String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131
This work is the goal towards which Beethoven was striving throughout this life, a perfect synthesis of musical language and expressive power.
The List So Far...
1. Ravel: Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose Ballet)
2. Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
3. Schubert: String Quintet in C major
4. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
5. Mahler: Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”
6. Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
7. Debussy: Preludes for Piano (Books 1 & 2)
8: Handel: Saul
9. Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
10. Brahms: String Sextet No. 2 in G major
11. Vaughan Williams: Job
12. Bach: Goldberg Variations
13. R. Strauss: Four Last Songs
14. Berlioz: The Damnation of Faust
15. Haydn: “Paris” Symphonies (Nos. 82-87)
16. Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
17. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor - เพลง
'After this, what is left to us to write!' - Schubert, after listening to the 14th string quartet while he was dying.
There is a brief scene near the end of HBO series Band of Brothers in which a German quartet sits among the rubble of their destroyed town and plays the 6th movement of Op. 131. Then they pack up their instruments and leave the scene. Incredibly moving...
Yes! That scene is utterly devastating. That whole episode is devastating; but this one scene seems to sum up the whole tragedy and loss and senseless, senseless waste of war, in just a few moments, a few words, and a few bars of music.
Thank you for this observation. Makes me want to watch the whole series again.
@@richardfrankel6102 Cool to see this chat - my brother is Frank John Hughes - who played "Wild Bill" Guarnere. The score for the series by Michael Kamen - is devastating and beautiful as well. I also believe, probably to Dave's chagrin, that Ennio Morricone can sit up there with any of the composers talked about on this channel. But I digress....
You can tell he wasn't going to say "The Ninth" because he's not wearing a tie.
I originally thought 9th Symphony because it seemed to tie together many of the themes of his life--the heroic struggle, the democratic element in music, avant-garde experimentation (first symphony with chorus). and also exemplar of his late style. If you are looking for the actual best piece of music however, it is completely arguable that the String Quartet is more ingenious and more all-encompassing. Tough to choose only one work.
The finale is one of my favorite pieces in classical music. Glad you chose this quartet. The Band of Brothers scene where they play the sixth movement is heartbreaking. Schubert had the original Schuppanzigh Quartet play this piece as he was lying on his deathbed and said “What is there left to write after this?”
For the composer of the cello quintet he was surely very self effacing!
One of the most interesting things about Beethoven's late quartets is the emotional directness of them. They are complex and unusual in design and structure, and you can certainly spend a lifetime analyzing that. But if you are a musical ignoramus who has no idea what is going on, you are free to ignore all that. Just listen to these quartets! They sound amazing and are emotionally engaging. To make such difficult music be eminently listenable is a big feat. After I heard No. 14 for the first time, I had two simultaneous reactions: "What the heck was that?" and "Whatever it was, I want to hear it again!"
I came to the music in a very different way. As someone who liked classical music at a moderate, pre university level, I could enjoy most of the standard repertoire but never the late quartets. Harp quartet? Very good. 12,13 onwards? Those sounded like crackpot beatdowns on sonata form. It was only much later in life that I realised what Beethoven was trying to do, by way of someone explaining the sophisticated theoretical structures behind them. Only after that were my eyes opened to the visionary nature of these works
My pick is the arietta from sonata 32,which i consider the greatest,sublime,solemne ,deepest piece of music ever written
Agreed. I’d choose the entire sonata though.
No.32 is the pinnacle of piano writing IMO
@@jules153 i thank you and appreciate your comment,because those Chopin&Lizst lovers are never gonna understand and even accept the brilliance and perfection of BEETHOVEN'S work
@@jules153 yep that and the Hammerklavier.
@@romanleon76 exactly. I agree 100%. Beethoven reaches a level of depth that borders, and even surpasses philosophy, he was the greatest creator of them all. His music isn't very "beautiful" or "easy" to listen to compared to the very obvious poetic singing elements that you hear in Chopin, and his music is incomparably hard to understand because of its depth. I find that his is the most organic and pure, his music truly comes from the soul and succeeds in reaching those of others.
Good choice! I totally get why the work in question would have to be one of the late quartets. My favorite is no 16 in F major. The transition from F major to Db major in the beginning of the slow movement is just magical, and when it changes to C# minor in one of the variations: OMG! That is just such an emotional place for me. My favorite recording is the studio version with Alban Berg Quartet. Just love that recording!
Good choice Dave, I can understand why it would be the c sharp minor quartet. But for myself, it would be the ninth symphony. After all, its shadow, in length, drama, and form influenced so many composers after him, Bruckner, Mahler, Dvorak etc. But after all the quartet would be on my short list too.
Paul
Agreed - It can be no other than the NINETH
I really enjoy this series. David’s argument for string quartet No.14 is very interesting. Agreed, it has to be one of the late string quartets. Almost with the same argumentation, my choice would be string quartet No.13, with the original grosse fuge as last movement. What tips the balance is that die e grosse fuge is forever contemporary, incomparable to any fuge before it.
As Furtwangler, or even Bernstein, said Beethoven’s string quartets are the height of his music output. A sort of a lifetime diary where interpreters and listeners can find the answers to the great questions of a human being existence. Fully agree with this choice!
It may not be one of Beethoven's most revolutionary or transcendent works, but the 4th Piano Concerto covers both the piano and symphonic realms in one go -- and it's easily one of Beethoven's most beautiful (and enduring) pieces. I find it difficult to believe that the 4th piano concerto would piss anyone off, the almighty Cancrizans included.
I tend to agree. I enjoy Beethoven in general, but PC4 is a genuine pleasure on several levels.
I love that work and would definitely choose it over any of the symphonies, but I must confess that I lean more toward the Piano Concerto #4. Such and utterly charming work and I just couldn't live without it. If I were to be forced to choose a symphony instead, it would be the 4th.
Bravo.... I would agree totally... both works are stand-alone works of genius, but also so spiritual.. I will listen to both of these works until my last day.
I think the one thing that spoils the fourth symphony for me is the development section of the first movement. I find it almost entirely nonsensical.
Yesss - exactly my choice 🙂 As Schubert lay dying this was the work he wanted to hear.
The String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor is wonderful, but I would choose the Fifth Symphony: it is perfect from the first to the last note, a symbol of classical music!
agreed------not necessarily my favorite Beethoven , but only symphony where each of the movements are magically connected---a perfect composition
I'm not sure I get Dave's choice, difficult though it may be, but the Fifth is iconic and is the piece that got me into classical music back in my distant youth, listening to Reiner and the Chicago SO on RCA. So it has to be my choice.
A C-minor work seems like a good choice for LvB.
@@laurentcompagna6166 love the 6th too----- it is subjective when it comes to the connection between movements but it does seem that B was trying to depict different aspects of nature here
@@alberg6290 The Sixth is my favorite Beethoven symphony, my introduction to the man's music.
Thank you, Maestro Dave Hurwitz, for your lucid and lively explorations of sublime works from the classical repetoire. Who was the greater composer--and man--Verdi, or Wagner?
What do you think?
I know this was not addressed to me, but Verdi was definitely a great man than Wagner, and Verdi's music is more approachable and humane.
Excellent choice, and convincingly argued why this is the one! My personal favourite is Op. 132 (using opus numbers, just to annoy you) with its majestic slow movement. If people annoy you with Opus, Hoboken, Koechel numbers etc., you may just tell them: KV 231! Cancrizans is especially fond of long tempo indications, and the fourth movement of Op. 131 must hold the world record: Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile - Più mosso - Andante moderato e lusinghiero - Adagio - Allegretto - Adagio ma non troppo e semplice - Allegretto.
I agree. Which is your favorite pianist in this? I imprinted with Richter on Philips. But Arrau is playing as if he is sculpting marble. Difficult choice.
Neither could I face a life without the Dankgesang. I have a plan to intercept Dave's submission to Cancrizanz and make a few judicious emendations. You're welcome!
I just discovered this quartet #14 orchestrated for the Vienna Phil conducted by Bernstein. He thought it was one of his best recordings.
If I could choose only one work by Beethoven, I think I'd choose the piano Sonata n°32 (I understood I shouldn't say OP111). And yet my favorite genre is the string quartet and the works of beethovenI prefer are quartets 10 to 16 and 7 to which I would add piano sonatas n°30 and 32. Quartet No. 14 is my favorite. I understand your choice.
This was my 1st exposure to the late quartets. Beethoven himself called it his greatest. Who are we to argue?
Great choice, Op.131 is so darn special..
Had some fun trying to work out how this title differed from the identically named article on the Grosse Fudge ... but here, Beethoven is in capitals! A very fair choice, though I would still incline to the Fifth Symphony as being truly groundbreaking and having a wider impact.
When I was a senior in high school about 20 years ago, I heard my violin teacher play the quartet no. 15 with the university faculty string quartet. It was one of the most moving live performances of my life. I can still remember distinctly the Lydian movement and how it affected me. This was my first introduction to the late string quartets. I whole heartedly agree that it had to be a late string quartet, and the op.131 is the perfect summation of his art as a composer.
Very good choice and very good reasons for this choice...so many works, like you pointed out, could have been here but yes, the culmination of a life's work is contained in this great masterpiece and you've got to love the String orchestra recording by Bernstein too, just stunning!!!
Bernstein said - on more than one occasion - that his recording of op131 with VPO was his greatest achievement
Still the Ninth. "Alle Menschen werden Brueder." Even after 50,000 hearings.
Thank you for this choice! As an old geezer I have a place in my heart for the book about Beethoven by J N W Sullivan, who has an interesting view of the late quartets…probably old hat today but fascinating for his time. I might have chosen the last movement of opus 109, but I agree with you.
Er...that's 'Sonata #30', in Dave-speak. :-)
That Sullivan book is truly a masterpiece. I was introduced to it by an Orthodox rabbi, and I have since put it in front two of my kids. I read it several times and remain in awe of how he writes so clearly about non-verbal communication, and distinguishes subtleties; like explaining the differences in the heroic qualities of the 3rd and 5th symphonies. Beethoven feels even deeper after reading that book.
Monteverdi’s Orfeo. Besides being a seminal work it still feels as fresh as it ever did. For me it edges out the madrigals and other operas (only just) Also it’s about the power of music. Maybe it’ll convince Frangipanis (?) not to destroy so much of it!
I agree with this choice completely. I think the late quartets are Beethoven's greatest achievement.
Hello Dave. Good choice. I’m enjoying so much this videos. Can’t wait for Schumann…
I would choose the Hammerklavier sonata instead, though it is very hard to pick between the two, as they both reach a spiritual depth and a level transcendence that will never again be equaled in music.
If I had to choose what the greatest piece of music ever composed was, I would choose the Hammerklavier Sonata (especially the 3rd movement), then Mahler's 2nd symphony, then the Op 131 String Quartet, then 32nd sonata, then Bach's Art of the Fugue Contrapunctus XIV, then finally the 9th Symphony. What do you think of this list?
I feel that, the piano being his primary instrument of choice, his ideas were most clearly expressed within his piano works, precisely because of this they, therefore, are the most intimate and the most personal of his works and served as his own "musical diary" in which the most deepest of his thoughts could be expressed.
The Hammerklavier, Mahler's 2nd, and the Op. 131 Quartet at least for me, are pinnacle of musical expression, they plunge to the depths of the soul and at the same time reach forth beyond the heavens, it is music that will be forever lasting.
I love all of the last five quartets, but number 13 (op. 130) is my favorite. The Yale Quartet made my favorite recordings of the late quartets.
What a powerfully engaging chat, David! Op.131 would've been my choice as well, and not just in LvB but all of music (sorry, but for the quartets, the only way I can go is by opus). You're making more and more videos. You'd think we'd be tired of you, but I have to say - you're growing on me
Though I'm not sure your choice is mine, I have to commend your excellent and fully-convincing lecture, pulling together "the contrasts and eventual synthesis" of Beethoven's highest achievement. Well said!
Good for you! Helluva good choice!👏
Great piece… personal favorite is the 15th. For me I’d have to choose a symphony… when I think of Beethoven the first thing I think of is symphony.
I love everything, everything beethoven.....two works that I like and to which I often come back....the three piano quartets WoO 36 early work which contains the sketches of the sonatas op 2 no2 and 3. ....and the cycle of six leider An die ferne Geliebte, Op.98 which remains in my first choice....but the choral fantasy op 80 is irresistible.....! (barenboim, klemperer version) and the slow movement of quartet op 132 etc etc
Great video as usual! But since Beethoven's style changed after 1815, I think he should be represented by at least 2 works: one for his Middle period (my choice would be the Eroica) and one for his late period.
Great choice. As for Sibelius, if I were trying to appease the mighty Kankrazans, first I would make sure I knew how to spell his name correctly and secondly I would have to offer up the violin concerto. Is there a greater marriage of genuine drama, beauty and angst? Probably, but not one I can think of at the moment anyway. I'm pretty sure we could at least live to fight another day by laying the violin concerto before his altar.
The Takacs were my go to for the Late SQs for many years, but I love the recent Belcea SQ recordings. The Tokyo SQ are still my go to for the early works
The violin concerto is my favourite.
I have a feeling many of us would enjoy an in-depth talk on this quartet somewhat like the one on Brahms’ sextet with a discussion of the structure. I know I would. Maybe one day, Dave?
Sure, why not!
I always thought one of Beethoven late string quartets must be the most amazing music ever. Thanks for pinpointing it! Actually I had an unsure guess at beginning of video that that may be the case, not 14 but one of the late ones.
A great choice. Quartet 14 is somehow both intensely personal and universal. I think that's what Beethoven was about through most of his career, and he finally achieved that near-perfect balance, and perfect unity in of the personal and the universal in many of his late works, including the late Piano Sonatas, Late Quartets and the Missa Solemnis.
For me, it would be the "Choral Fantasy". it's got everything in it.
Have to agree. It is, even for Beethoven, an astonishing work.
Great choice Dave.
I mostly agree, my only wish was if there was a way to stick the Cavatina from Beethoven's string quartet No. 13 into No.14 somehow, I would be less torn about my choice haha. Overall thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Good choice ! But why not quatuor n°15 instead (maybe more "universal") ?
Didn't you do one of this before where you choosed Grosse Fugue or am I dreaming?
He got me on that one, too! I thought he chose the Grosse Fugue and just made it funny, and then the next day's video, it wasn't on the list so far...Tinnitus classics strikes again!
It was a joke.
The best critics go against the (popular) grain and make it seem inevitable. Bravo, sir! Speaking of heresies, I was thinking that Mendelssohn and Schumann and perhaps the other, non-German members of the Class of 1830 (Berlioz, Chopin, Liszt) should be considered a transitional generation, in which, on the one hand, you have the return to Bach and a perpetuation of the classical forms; and on the other, sonatas as the principal form of solo piano gives way to 'piano works' and Mozart/Beethoven are finally overcome (as Nietzsche might say)?
Will the Tam Tam come back Dave? Also really enjoyed your pick. Surprised me and worth a re listen.
Sure.
Excellent choice! The Budapest Quartet's 1951 recording might be the best.
I had thought you might not choose the C# Minor, for its being too lofty. But I'm quite happy (except for giving up the Dankgesang from the A Minor.) And about that "wacky" scherzo: did Beethoven write any other scherzo in duple time? That in itself puts it in wacky territory!
Well argued, but I think an equally compelling argument could be made for the piano sonatas (as your introductory remark suggests). Those 32 works (and I'd insist that Cancrizans be presented with Arrau's 1960s set to make the best case) really do encompass everything Beethoven is about. His early/middle/late period concerns and their respective musical developments/innovations/experiments cover all the significant Beethovenian ground. You hear what he inherited, what he learned, what he invented; you hear the ferocity and the tenderness, the tragedy and the comedy, the struggle and the resolution (briefly, all the oppositions that inhabit and shape his music). There's the mastery of classical forms and the emergence of romantic expression, and always the crucial sense of a quest to come to terms with what Forster called "the C minor of life"--a quest which in the final sonata miraculously ends in C major. So yes, for me it has to be the New Testament, these 32 matchless works.
Perfect choice. Though I was ‘certain’ Lol that you’d go with Sym #9 or like you said a piano work because LvB was a piano guy. With that in mind for Satie I suggest Socrate for the same reasons that the c# quartet is the perfect choice here.
I like the late quartets, but I love the Sixth Symphony.
That's my favorite of Beethoven's symphonies, and served as introduction to his music.
Ah, what a good choice. It’s in my top five favorites of Beethoven, for sure. I personally would’ve loved to have the lot of the “New Testament”, but your arguments are very sound for picking Op. 131, Mr. Hurwitz! Also, I hate to keep pestering but… PSSST! Chopin’s Preludes! 😁
Agreed on the New Testement!
There is also a movie: A late quartet with Philip Seymour Hoffman
My choice is either 1. Hammerklavier Sonata, 2. Sonata No. 32, 3. String Quartet No. 14, 9th Symphony
I guessed it! Though Opus 130 (with the original finale) was also a strong contender, imho.
Cankerantz can't have the Beethoven. I'm finding a new god.
Well, I knew it would not be the Tripple Concerto. LOL
Totally agreed.
For me, it would have to be either Missa Solemnis or the one where you wear a tie. :)
Tough choice. Will Cancrizans allow the string orchestra version? I hope so, as it is “the same work”? I thought you would select Symphony no 5 - which is part of the “is my choice the same as Dave’s” game. My choice would be sonata no 32 - as I don’t know how many times I have gone to sleep with it. I will check now if there is a Dave’s Fave’s on it. If not, can you please do a programme on it?? Bambi eyes please?
Cannot think of anything greater than no. 32. Thanks for mentioning it. Transcendental “jazz”.
The one requiring a tie.
For the greatest work of Beethoven please choose the Grosse Fuge, Opus 133. I'll now go a step further. The greatest piece of (intellectual) music ever written by any human being : Beethoven's Grosse Fuge !
The last movement of Bach's English Suite #6 sounds remarkably like some parts of the Grosse Fuge.
If I could choose only one work of all composers in world it would be...The ninth.
Good choice, but for me it’s the 9th
You did this video twice
No I didn't. You didn't watch them.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Is this sarcasm? By the way i love your videos, keep the good job going on.
@@ernstjung6234 The other "beethoven" video was different and obviously a joke
Me, sarcastic? BTW, love the screen name. I'm thinking of changing mine to Merrill Lynch.
@@fedegwagwa Not going to lie, i didn't even watch it.
I thought for sure you were going to choose "The Ninth" and voted for the Pastorale symphony. Lenny, of course, recorded this with the entire string section of the Vienna Philharmonic and said it was the recording he was proudest of. They protested mightily against do it this way, with full string forces. It was also the only recording that he ever dedicated to anyone, in this case his wife Felicia. This work is also the key work performed in the outstanding movie "A Late Quartet," with, among others Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, and Christopher Walken, which everyone reading this should watch.
When Bernstein slaps his baton down at the end...yup...he liked what he heard.