Leo Ornstein - Piano Sonata No. 4 (1918)
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- Опубліковано 25 чер 2024
- Composer: Leo Ornstein (December 2, 1893 - February 24, 2002)
Pianist: Janice Weber
00:00 Movement I - Moderato con moto
04:49 Movement II - Semplice
09:58 Movement III - Lento
13:36 Movement IV - Vivo
I must admit that I find none of the recordings of this piece very good, likely because Leo Ornstein is so obscure, and this recording was chosen with hesitation (dislike the interpretation of the 4th movement).
Scores I engrave: github.com/CMajSeven
Program I develop for this channel: github.com/edwardx999/ScorePr...
00:02 Movement I - Moderato con moto
04:49 Movement II - Semplice
09:58 Movement III - Lento
13:36 Movement IV - Vivo
I love that 1:17 is just Clair de lune followed by the lick 😂
This comment had me dying
In the II movement I hear more of armenian shades)
I came to comment this but you beat me to it.
Glad to see I'm not hallucinating - this is too good to be true.
Oh God it's true🤣🤣
It is absolutely not Claire De Lune. Look at the context (sonata form) and compare both sheet musics. Amateur comment!
Holy crap this guy lived a long life.
omg... 108 years old ? Good heavens..
pianomanhere Right? He was alive during all the major musical movements in the 20th century. No wonder he has such a varying style.
He was actually born in 1895 and lived until the age of 106
Especially since he was a smoker: images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71jzb57N1cL._SX355_.jpg
But yes, he lived to 106, not 108 or 109.
I'd like to live into 3 centuries.
1:23 the lick
Alan Ding indeed
that whole section was good uncomfortable.... the lick interspersed throughout claire de lune
I heard it and instantly checked in the comments lol
@@cleaningagent101 same
omg I just saw the last vid you uploaded hahaha wtf is this all you do in life?
On the advice of a poster below I listened to Kharitonov’s compelling performance of the Vivo. Great clarity both in the fine details and the dramatic structure. It gives the impression of a riverboat inexorably gliding past a montage of scenes unfolding one after the other on the shores. Superb storytelling. I would be lying, however, if I did not admit to also loving Janice Weber’s version here. Hers is more like being IN the river as it tumbles over the falls. Her performance achieves something often idealized but rarely realized-sounding as if she’s improvising it. Her “Furioso” is more furious, her “Barbaroso” more barbarous. More blur, yes, but more color. What this is, altogether, is full-throated romanticism, more Dionysian, more impetuous, more extravagant. Kharitonov, more elegant, more in perspective, more architectural, more Apollonian-and no less convincing. It feels like two different pieces of music. But please don’t ask me to choose between the them. They are both fully-executed, stunningly gorgeous aesthetic choices for this extravaganza of a piece. This is why I HATE judging competitions. It’s often a matter of arbitrarily imposing one’s wholly-subjective judgement on innocent artists. But so goes the world. Anyway, bravo to Cmaj7 for putting this out there. Made my day!
I love your comment! Thanks for those well written words.
Came here to make Dark Souls jokes, did not expect a composer who lived 109 years.
I wonder why...
He was a god, of course he lived a lot.
My favourite composer ever, I can't thank from software enough
He sadly only made it to 108.
One of the most hard boss of all series... perhaps it is a reference. Where is Smaugh ?
How could this genius elude me completely for the past 5 years? What a good composition! He deserves more fame!
My esteem for Leo Ornstein has only grown since I first discovered his music. Such a shame that his first three sonatas were never notated; it would have been wonderful to have the complete set.
Funny seeing you here
what do you mean not notated? does that mean not documented/recorded?
@@aquafine.2250Ornstein was known to be able to play all his sonatas from memory, and he didn't notate them in sheet music until later in life. However, when he sat down to transcribe the first three sonatas, he was shocked to find he could not recall them anymore. It's an unfortunate loss :/
@@abb5643 Unfortunately reel to reel tape wasn't a thing yet, back then.
I have listened to this numerous times. It keeps drawing me back over the years. This piece is truly intoxicating.
@Kristýna Bednářová and the 4th mvt.. it reminds me of something that i can’t quite put my finger on..
Wow! This sonata is such an adventure! It brought me from Paris to Spain to America and to an Arabian Kingdom. I love this!
Great music to enjoy an Estus '12 by.
ayyyyy
praise the sun
Zero Kelvin
mandems - sick classical music is what i play when i tear up on dark souls.
That's totally true.
Praise the sun
I just started working on making a video for this! Good thing I happened to check my subscriptions before going too much further! Great job -- it is really an amazing work!
Medtnaculus are you on last.fm by any chance?
What interpretation were you gonna use
Wow, I hear a bit of Debussy. Didn't know Ornstein also created such sonorous work. :)
You certainly can. theres a nod to Clair de Lune in there
Shane Nugent yeah it seems like a Moonlight evening got a little bit more complicated
Ornstein adds some Jewish SOUL to the intricacies of Debussy! There's an oriental mood too, like Bloch
The 4th movement has a beautiful melody and the 2nd movement is magnificent. Thanks for scoring this piece :)
My God… This has Debussy, Ravel, Scriabin written all over it, quite a love letter. But it's the movement at the end that killed me.
Granados, Milhaud, Brubeck, Monk, Evans. Whatever you say about influences or who was influenced, this is a very captivating work! Should be performed frequently.
I'm so stunned by this piece, excellent choice!
That second movement. No words
3 better
@@vine2197 yes
True
@@CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji Ok
Stunningly beautiful
There are less Dark Souls references than I expected in here. But the music makes up for it.
I'm not cultured, can you explain how this piece is related to Dark Souls?
@@stacia6678 in dark souls there is a character named after Leo Ornstein. And as far as I an aware the music of the dark Souls Ornstein took a lot of inspiration from the musician Leo Ornstein.
16:07 reminds me of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade
The violin solo at the beginning, right?
Never come across this before. Amazing!
A lovely piece in the post romantic tradition. Thanks for uploading. The performance is superb.
Wow great post.....truly amazing cmaj7
such beautiful melodies
This masterful work is top-notch. 🤠
🤠
that's the piano music I like !!!!! some parts reminds me at Rachmaninov or Scriabin ...
Bruh, This is Magic.
This is incredible.
It's a shame... only so much time in this life to learn what we want to learn, and now another gem of piano music to try to add to one's repertoire. Thank you so much for sharing this.
_only so much time in this life to learn what we want to learn_
Heartfelt. If your curiosity is the least bit agile, you'll have more "want to learn" than 5 lifetimes could fulfill. An amusing concept when I was younger. Now, it seems outright cruel! :(
So true David. I remember the teen years, learning a wide variety of pieces (e.g Ravel Left Hand Concerto, Britten's "Diversions," Schumann's "Faschingschwank aus Wien", parts of Ives' "Concord Sonata'. etc). From then, even into my early 30's it looked as if there was still so much time..Even then (esp around 1995-2000) I was learning obscurities such as Koechlin's suites, Urmas Sisask's "Starry Sky Cycle" and Rautavaara's Piano Sonata No.2. Eventually life is determined to get in the way, and now, at age 52, the 'twilight years' are either here or just on the horizon......every selection is a trade-off for learning something else...but this is always true... take care..
You can handle Einojuhani's "The Fire Sonata"? Wow. There is a performance of it here on UA-cam by Laura Mikkola that I like.
I'm ahead of you by 5 years age-wise and I've come to suspect that this aging thing isn't sustainable. :D Thanks for the reply.
David: Yeah, I learned Einojuhani Rautavaara's "Fire Sermon" Sonata back in 1996. I will tell you, however, that his Piano Sonata No.1 ("Christ and the Fisher"), in my view, is more difficult, especially the fast semi-arpeggiated runs in the middle section of the first movement, and also the rapid tempo of the clustered chords at the beginning of the final movement. I love Rautavaara's music (most of it...for symphonies, try No.6 ("Vincentiana") probably my favorite symphonic work by him)... cheers....
As Rachmaninoff said, good music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for good music
Wow I agree with you about the performance of the 4th movement, but that being said I LOVE this sonata
Nice performance and a beautiful recording.
I have been quite interested in the life story of Leo Ornstein, who was considered an enfant terrible of the classical music scene way back in the 1920s! He seemed to drop off the map, thus leading a fairly reclusive life for the next 83 years-quite a retirement! I love this work and hope people can find more performances of Ornstein's compositions. Better yet would be a film of him playing, since he was considered quite a virtuoso.
He made some 78 rpm solo piano recordings for Columbia at the age of 18. I have posted videos of two Chopin pieces on my YT channel. Very impressive pianism - especially coming from a teenager.
:O the second movement is so beautiful
Evident Scriabinesque influence
Insane to think that Leo lived through roughly 40% of his country's history!
Obra muy bella y difícil!
Everyone's talking about Clair de Lune and the lick, but is 0:09 a quote from Medtner's Night Wind Sonata?
That second movement is such a charming piece. It feels like Ravel mixed with Debussy's La soirée dans Grenade, and I love it.
Amazing!
Soundworld of 3rd movement very Scriabinesque - 6th Sonata, Deux Danses, etc. Thanks for sharing this work which contains tributes to many composers and styles while retaining its own form.
Fabulous just fabulous
1:20 is there a hommage to Debussy's Clair de Lune?
I was just about to write a comment about it :D
I heard some Debussy influence there as well
I would personally not claim that a slight similarity in melody was a homage. Generally I would say composers inherit more structural, creative and conceptual approaches from true influences rather than taking small sections of melody from each other lolol For example Schoenberg claims to inherit everything he learned about string quartets from Mozart which says a lot about my point.
And at 3:00 too!
I WAS THINKING THE SAME THING!
Does anyone have any ideas where I could find other Ornstein recordings? Have recordings of all of his sonatas even been made? Do they exist? It's frustrating because I love the composer, but I can barely find any of his work.
I'm not sure if it's ever updated, but there are some free recordings on the composer's website poonhill.com/audio.html
I also find it frustrating, so far I've only found recordings and scores of two of his sonatas: the 4th and the 7th. It's strange how none of the others can be found on the internet
Carlos Cabello You can find the 8th sonata too!
@@carloscabello4746 Maybe 1 and 2 sonatas were lost?
@@carloscabello4746 the first 3 sonatas were never written down.
4:23
Liszt: I like 3 staves
Rach: Haha 4
Chen Qigang: HAHA 5
Ornstein: H A H A S I X
What’s next
18 staves for a orchestral score for piano? Lol
@@kevinnguyen552 xenakis synphai lmao
Sorabji has entered the chat
Sorabji: E L E V E N (*laughs in Parsi and English*)
@@wilh3lmmusic but for organ 🤠
such a gorgeous piece
Meh i preffer Artorias and Cirian.
@@HeroesOfThyme ok
What a wonderful sonata, full of great ideas, and melancholia. Ornstein trully expressed his musical style in his melodic works. Even if I think that the pianist didn't do a great job with the first movement, wich is my favourite.
Maravilloso....
Hey Leo, where's your buddy Smough?
he's eating bones
he sucked his soul to make this peace
He's still in the cathedral protecting Gwenewere. Ornstein left ages ago.
\[T]/ up the irons sunbro!!!
69 likes
1:24 the licc
magnificent!
Lovely music on piano. Romance sound.
I wonder how Horowitz would have played this.
Dear Adam Nealy, the moment you came here for is 1:24
I don't know what you are talking about. Did Adam Neely mention Ornstein?
@@mysterium364 Adam Neely is the licc guy
Like the first light of twilight, this music opens your eyes to old promises and to all the anomalies of nature. Evocative of powers beyond observation, these pieces pull the strings of the heart, attract nostalgia and awaken regrets, flayed lives and the torpor of tormented watchers¯\_(ツ)_/¯
muy bella sonata
wow, the man lived 109 years !!!
He was probably undead for a good part of it ;-)
He could probably remember the WHOLE 20th century...
Those were the years he moved from composition to decomposition. Sorry, I showed myself out long ago, so whatever your throwing is going to miss. :D
He was actually born in 1895 and lived until the age of 106
108 and two months
Anyone else hear the Scheherazade violin solo used as a theme at 16:05??
a little bit
Interesting... I hear so many derivations from the repertoire. It's apparent Leo knew his masterworks for the piano... and they rear their heads in his own music without apology and with élan! Of course the Debussy, but also listen through from 5:50 and you'll hear Ravel's Alborada Del Gracioso (the slow interior part of that piece with the bassoon solo and plodding V-I chords with high harmonics) all pushed together and on top of itself. Then the twelve or so other composers that rear their heads in this fascinating piece. Ms. Weber does a great service to the work too, brava!!
cpann2000 I think Ornstein arrangement the best ideas of a lot of composers, and then create a masterpiece in which his own voice appears. This is truthly a worth sonata to hear, and is one of (in my personal opinion) the best pieces he ever made. Among his cello sonatas, fantasies and tales, with other characteristic compositions like the suicide in an airplane.
Great sonata!
The ending sounds very similar to one of Bartok's Bulgarian Dances from Mikrokosmos.
Also I find this music very similar to some of Ginastera's works.
javiertw89 I also hear some Scriabin (7th sonata).
How about people of your like fuck off with comparing lesser known composers with bigger composers. It’s so god damn annoying. You’re basically taking all credit from the composers hard work and giving it to someone else. Harmony is harmony. And just because they use the same harmony does not mean it sounds or replicated a composer. God damn I hate people like that.
Richard Kazandzhidi Hahaha, I'm gonna continue comparing them and there's nothing you can do about it! How does that make you feel?
Richard Kazandzhidi - Mate, chill. It’s not disrespecting them, it’s more along the lines of understanding how music develops. Composers will sound similar to other artists. That’s simply how music works.
@@richardkazandzhidi4093 Don't be toxic. Of course some composers can use harmonies and etc from other artists. It's normal actually. For example Liszt took many of his style from Czerny. Rachmaninov took many from national russian music and from composers like Rimsky-Korsakov, Balakirev, Lyapunov. Taking some parts from other composers to create your own style. It's truly acceptable for me
Fun fact: clair de lune was released only 13 years before this.
ok
@작곡가 최현준 no ok
The whole thing is fantastic, but that third movement!! I've never heard anything like it.
4:14
The lick and Indianna Bebop in the same piece?
You should redo this video using Arsentiy Kharitonov's recording of this sonata. The 4th movement of his recording is particularly better than the one on this recording.
Imagine being a Decendant of a Dragon Slayer
Wow I rarely love so instantly works by contemporary composers
+Sebastien Traglia He's not so much contemporary, by his year of birth he's more likely to be considered modern. You do have to remember/know that he's very creative in terms of styles, and not every piece he wrote is as "beautiful" as this one is.
+Sebastien Traglia Contemporary would be anything past the 70's m8.
***** ... Because this music was written in 1918. I'm not talking about the artist, I'm talking about the music.
Movement IV is one of the best piano pieces I have ever found
winnerandloser This whole sonata is one of the best pieces that piano has in its repertoire, this is wonderful.
@@alejandrom.4680 Yeah I'm interested in learning this... (maybe just the 1st mov. ) How you would consider it in terms of difficulty compared to let's say, Scriabin's 5th Sonata?
@@scriabinismydog2439 This whole sonata is very difficult in musical, technical and voicing terms. I can recommend to start learn this after Rachmaninov and Scriabin etudes for example. Because this sonata is mix of different classical music styles with complicated structure
1:17 Clair de lune + the lick lol
I like this
shit, those last two minutes are insane...
Hermosisimo, una version apasionada de Debussy..
It's so odd as a Leo Ornstein fan and also a Dark Souls fan to see people refer to him as Ornstein....and....Ornstein as....Ornstein.. you see what I'm saying? It's like I'm reading a dark souls lore discussion in an alternate universe where dark souls is a rhythm game.
Really jazzy the 2nd mov
Very interesting channel
1:19 Debussy's Clair de Lune reference?
Don't mind me, just here for the licc
What is the best work from Ornstein, sonata 4 or 8?
Yes.
The 5th
@@scriabinismydog2439 Pinsau
He was a great composer. He lived to be 109!
108 actually
@@erikbreathes 106 actually. He was born in 1895😊
Sounds like the love child of Debussy and Borodin
Praise the sun, y'all
Is it me or does it sound similar to Gwyn theme
The last movement sounds like GInastera's Danzas Argentinas but decades earlier
nice
I think if you hadn't warned me about mvmt 4, I still would have understood what you meant. It'd be interesting to hear with less pedal and a few ticks faster
Visually the last movement looks like Prokofiev 's 7th sonata 3rd movement
2:34
Found you.
19:47 Rachmaninov Sonata 2
1-st movement reminds me 1st Prokofiev sonata
The first theme sounds like Rachmaninov
The harmonies in the second and third movement remind me of Scriabin
1:18 cita ''Claro de Luna'' de Debussy cierto?
Yep. Also near the end of 4th mvt. It's not a direct quote tho.
wow....
I'd never heard of Ornstein before today. I'm glad a tried this after I tried suicide on an airplane or I might not have known what he was capable of.
Suicide on an Airplane slaps tho
15:07 Jazzy!
+Daniel Sabelnikov Yeah, I found that an interesting way to play a march.
It is not strange, because many jazz piano players were educated personally by him.
Hey, my comment was here! Where is it?
Yes, one figures he'd write if he wanted the rhythm swung or something of the effect. I didn't understand the qualms about this recording until the 4th movement came around. Seems it's a bit beyond the pianist.
Could you please name jazz pianists who studied with him?
l i c c
"I must honestly admit that none of the recordings of this piece are very good, likely because Leo Ornstein is so obscure, and this recording was chosen with hesitation" < What brings you to the conclusion the recording is not very good? It sounds fine to me. And I am a professional musician (piano, organ, and voice).
In the fourth movement, Weber completely disregards the direction "molto ritmico e marcato." The previous movements are fine.
See "Leo Ornstein: Modernist Dilemmas, Personal Choices," by Michael Broyles, Denise Von Glahn
Anyone also hear Alkan in the 4th mvt?
I’ve listen to this for years and just heard that he almost does “the lick” around 1:33 😂
Yes nice licc
1:18 Yes, that old pianist stole this from Debussy, but Debussy stole this from Blanchet.
From Blanchet? Would love to know which of his pieces :)
Yep, bump
May I ask what your complains are about the recording?
For this recording, the fourth movement is not at all played "molto ritmico e marcato." The other movements are fine.
5 staves that's crazy
1:18 Debussy Clair de Lune
That's the same thing I thought! It reminds me so much of the melody from the Tempo rubato section