Beethoven's Farewell To The Piano

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  • Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
  • In 1824, Beethoven, having completed his ninth symphony, returned to his own instrument, the piano, for the final time. He had signed off on his final piano sonatas the previous year, declaring the piano to be “after all an unsatisfactory instrument”. However, he seems to have been in a happier mood with the Op 126 bagatelles. They were conceived as ‘a Cycle’ of pieces, arranged in a specific order and it seems likely that he intended them to be played together as a complete set. When Beethoven sent them to his publisher, he wrote. “They are probably the best I’ve written.”
    This G major bagatelle follows the extraordinary, stormy B minor bagatelle (which we will look at soon in another film). The G major, like its predecessor, makes use of syncopation, but in a wonderfully innocent way, like a lullaby with a slightly surprising sense of swing. The whole piece is written in a 3-part texture, with two low voices (starting in parallel thirds) accompanying the melody in the outer sections, and, in the exquisite central episode, two upper voices (also starting in parallel thirds), with a distinctly Italian character, singing a duet over a rocking barcarolle accompaniment. This passage would appear to have had a marked influence on later Romantic composers, especially Felix Mendelssohn’s ‘Gondellied’ pieces of the 1830s.
    Beethoven’s handling of form is, as always, ingenious and unexpected. The opening section shifts unexpectedly to E minor with a half-close on a unison B, which then pivots surprisingly into the C major of the barcarolle middle section. This Venetian episode is also surprising in the way it progresses, from artless simplicity and stillness, into a climactic passage with an increase of harmonic turbulence (as if the gondola is encountering more difficult waters) and then dissolving quite unexpectedly into a tiny refrain of the opening, like a memory.
    The score in this video comes from the 1825 first edition. There is a missing tie in the upper staff from bar 12 - 13, and another in bar 19.
    Beethoven: Bagatelle in G major Op 126, no. 5.
    Pianist: Matthew King.
    Another film about the B minor Bagatelle Op 126 can be seen here: • Beethoven’s B Minor Ba...
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    #Beethoven #Bagatelle #themusicprofessor
    Edited by Ian Coulter ( www.iancoulter... )
    Produced and directed by Ian Coulter & Matthew King

КОМЕНТАРІ • 262

  • @OctopusContrapunctus
    @OctopusContrapunctus Рік тому +577

    As a composer myself, I am even more amazed by the genius of beethoven in composing universally beloved and sentimental music even during of his tinnitus, even during his deafness. He was truly "A man battling against his fate".

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +48

      Yes, he wasn't going to let the very great difficulties of life get in the way! In all the portraits of Beethoven, you can see the determination in his face. The famous striving quality in his music is therefore understandable, but the intimate, vulnerable element that's also there is really wonderful, and moving.

    • @pjflynn5978
      @pjflynn5978 Рік тому +30

      @@mtv565ranked by who? I love dearly all three of these composers, but to a degree it is subjective as to who is “best” among the three. They all composed during completely different eras and revolutionized music in their own unique ways!

    • @downfromkentuckeh
      @downfromkentuckeh Рік тому +2

      How does one get into composing music

    • @Yama98989
      @Yama98989 Рік тому +3

      ​@@downfromkentuckeh
      Studying music theory.
      Downloading music composition software (DAW).
      Creating the first projects within the software.

    • @OctopusContrapunctus
      @OctopusContrapunctus Рік тому +10

      @@mtv565i truly don't understand why people continue to compare composers. If you mean in contrapuntal way, for sure. Because countrapuntal was the main concern in bach.
      My suggestions is that you listen something other then baroque and classical my friend

  • @BrandonCuringtonOfficial
    @BrandonCuringtonOfficial Рік тому +285

    Beethoven's such a genius he composed an end credits piece for his life.

    • @Sora-o
      @Sora-o Рік тому +1

      Lmao

    • @jrgptr935
      @jrgptr935 Рік тому +6

      Das ist aber mal schön gesagt!

    • @elemusic19
      @elemusic19 8 місяців тому

      I feel like the "replacement finale" for opus 130 perfecrly fits that description considering that is was his last full composition.

    • @marcraider
      @marcraider 8 місяців тому

      but this was his credits and farewell for piano solo@@elemusic19

    • @67Pgame
      @67Pgame 19 днів тому

      ​@@elemusic19It's the most "finale" thing Beethoven ever composed, in my opinion.

  • @altekamerad
    @altekamerad Рік тому +274

    Beethoven is a literal music mastermind...
    It's sad that he couldn't have led a happier life.

    • @freedustin
      @freedustin Рік тому +23

      Happy people make nonsense music tho. Usually just a bunch of chants over the most basic stuff ever.

    • @franz9002
      @franz9002 Рік тому +30

      ​@@freedustinMozart: 🗿

    • @altekamerad
      @altekamerad Рік тому +8

      @@freedustin that is true, but Beethoven didn't deserve what he got.

    • @Warstub
      @Warstub Рік тому +11

      @@freedustin Even when the often happy Mozart wrote nonsense music it achieved more complexity than the best works of his peers.

    • @freedustin
      @freedustin Рік тому +2

      @@franz9002 difference was he wasn't just copy pasting something from 200 years ago...and chanting "I'm the best! Sex me up!" for 5 minutes over it!

  • @krisjustin3884
    @krisjustin3884 3 місяці тому +12

    Beethoven could and still does speak with notes as we speak with words.

  • @tarikeld11
    @tarikeld11 Рік тому +152

    I like his farewell to Sonatas even more. The second movement of Sonata No. 32 is like an ascention to heaven

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +45

      No one is going to debate that point! Beethoven's final sonatas contain some of the greatest music ever written by anybody ever.

    • @fatitankeris6327
      @fatitankeris6327 Рік тому +9

      Great stylistic variety as well, things never heard before given to listeners to look forward to in the future.

    • @ericb7937
      @ericb7937 Рік тому +6

      I have loved 32 no 2 for over 10 years and then today I discovered this one. What a gift

    • @mystogan6556
      @mystogan6556 Рік тому +4

      Yes, very true! It sounds like a happy ending at the end.

    • @tarikeld11
      @tarikeld11 Рік тому +2

      @@ericb7937 Yes, his bagatelles are simple but sublime!

  • @VallaMusic
    @VallaMusic Рік тому +219

    can not resist putting in my 2 cents as a composer myself - I love, love, love this kind of writing - it's the kind of music I often like to write - one grows as a composer - one cares less about impressing others - cares less about making grand, dramatic statements - one craves simplicity & intimacy - one knows the music will attract little attention or praise - only listeners in the same state will resonate

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +29

      Yes. Thank you for your wise comment. Simplicity and intimacy are enormously important and so hard to bring off!

    • @emanuel_soundtrack
      @emanuel_soundtrack Рік тому +9

      when it is the only thing the composer can do it is not intimacy, it is limitation. So the great things he did is what gives intimacy to this.

    • @VallaMusic
      @VallaMusic Рік тому +13

      @@emanuel_soundtrack truly one of the most bizarre music comments I've ever read

    • @izzyk867
      @izzyk867 Рік тому

      @@VallaMusic does he mean that because Beethoven is known for ‘big’ (great) music, the fact that he is just as adept at this type of intimate music is what sets him apart as a composer??

    • @VallaMusic
      @VallaMusic Рік тому +1

      @@izzyk867 personally i don't want to bother wasting any of my brain time trying to figure it out - and if I start ranting about what I think of the academic world and their opinions of what constitutes 'genius' and 'great' music, then I will get myself too worked up

  • @islaadele1212
    @islaadele1212 Рік тому +10

    Imagine having such supreme talent and yet being cursed by not being able to hear your own creations. I read that he had the legs cut off his piano so it was close to the ground and he could instead feel the vibrations. That's heartbreaking.

  • @ComposedBySam
    @ComposedBySam Рік тому +87

    Such a fulfilling farewell. I can imagine beethoven composing this while remembering all of his struggles in the past with tears in his eyes and with a gentle smile on his face...

  • @nikbivation
    @nikbivation Рік тому +56

    I could watch hours of music if they were narrated like this. Thank you!

  • @boundaryconditions1119
    @boundaryconditions1119 Рік тому +36

    I am not a good pianist, but I have played some of the late bagatelles, from Op 119. It's astonishing how much he gets from so little material. And at the same time, calling them "Bagatelles". His farewell to the piano is simultaneously dismissing it, and elevating the simplest of music to astonishing heights.

  • @Jantsenpr777
    @Jantsenpr777 Рік тому +23

    "Exquisite skill creates the illusion of utter simplicity". That's exactly what I was thinking: this seems so simple, and yet, it's so marvelously crafted. It reminds me of late Brahms, where he was able to take the most economical raw materials and make consummate masterpieces of them.

  • @ihaveacoolnickname
    @ihaveacoolnickname Рік тому +13

    For an artist, the gift of being able to encapsulate the sublime into the simple is one of the rarest of them all. You can search all your life and never find it.

  • @demertzis2694
    @demertzis2694 Рік тому +19

    0:44 this note here hits in the heart omg

  • @johnchessant3012
    @johnchessant3012 Рік тому +54

    This is awesome! Composers' late works are endlessly fascinating to me

    • @zerois2801
      @zerois2801 Рік тому +5

      Indeed their stylistic evolution and growth is a joy to see

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +12

      Late style is an endlessly fascinating topic.

  • @jacquesracine9571
    @jacquesracine9571 Рік тому +1

    Wow. It’s like all the pain is gone. He’s free.

    • @jacquesracine9571
      @jacquesracine9571 Рік тому

      I could have also said ‘My horse for the score”

    • @jacquesracine9571
      @jacquesracine9571 Рік тому

      Wonderful channel. Thanks for your great work. Very captivating.

  • @DeflatingAtheism
    @DeflatingAtheism Рік тому +35

    Incredibly gorgeous! Beethoven’s genius could find the incredible beauty in both complexity as well as simplicity!

  • @alenkapintar8660
    @alenkapintar8660 Рік тому +27

    I love Beethoven's music. One of the great composers. Never enough of his music.

  • @drmichaelshea
    @drmichaelshea Рік тому +7

    I’ll always love Beethoven.

  • @basedokadaizo
    @basedokadaizo Рік тому +7

    i like to compose music.
    i am teaching myself music theory. it is slow. i listen to other, better artists, and i somehow hope their spirit will descend into my hand.
    but i could never reach the heights this man had. he struggled far more than i do now, yet gave us such beauty.
    i know it's no good to give up just because others are better. but i just wish i could feel whatever took him over in those moments, with a pen and paper handy at the fortepiano.

  • @BenTrem42
    @BenTrem42 10 місяців тому +4

    _How very lovely ... and sad._

  • @greyshadow37
    @greyshadow37 9 місяців тому +4

    This is the type of music that I like. He'll always be an inspiration to me.

  • @Baseline_truth
    @Baseline_truth Рік тому +5

    Bagatelle: 'a thing regarded as too unimportant to be worth much consideration.' 😅
    I think not.
    Lovely bit of 🎶

  • @fredhoupt4078
    @fredhoupt4078 Рік тому +5

    The masters last bagatelles are supreme art, sublime, simple, compact, perfect gems. Coming into existence right after the mountains of the 9th, it seems like the exhausted and increasingly I'll master seeks to catch his breath, find a little balance. I agree that they greatly influenced the next generation of composers.

  • @johnnyMcSheep
    @johnnyMcSheep Рік тому +6

    This melancholic joy with a happy ache is why I subbed to this channel

  • @paulograca3937
    @paulograca3937 Рік тому +30

    Beethoven is simply a genious

  • @alexhenderson3364
    @alexhenderson3364 Рік тому +12

    I havent even watched the video yet, but I'm shocked by the uncanny timing of this. I'm reading Gödel, Escher, Bach, A Golden Braid, and Just finished the section going over this hidden B-A-C-H at the end of his last piece. Didnt speak it out loud, didn't search for more info, and now I'm recommended a video by a UA-camr I've never seen, talking about this topic. Uncanny.

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +3

      At some point, we will look at Bach's final contrapunctus in the Art of Fugue, where his name appears as his final unfinished fugue subject... (it is a bit mind-blowing!)

    • @sirwan505
      @sirwan505 Рік тому +2

      A great book by my favourite author. If you haven't already, you ought to read his book Metamagical Themas (this is a very cute anagram), and read up on his articles of music and pattern and his 'Variations on a Theme is the Crux of Creativity'. They are two fantastic articles on the very nature of 'originality' in ideas and he sheds light on some Beethoven and Chopin in these works. They very much allude to what Beethoven is doing here, especially the 'Variations on a Theme' article!

  • @TimothyAsbridge_TENOR
    @TimothyAsbridge_TENOR Рік тому +10

    This is how music analysis should be taught in the institutions.

  • @KreutzerDaLoonOfficial
    @KreutzerDaLoonOfficial 9 місяців тому +2

    I cried Super hard because this is just.. Sad..

  • @steve29roses
    @steve29roses Рік тому +3

    The Bagatelles have a special place in my heart although it hadn't occur to that this was his farewell to the piano! Thank you for sharing.

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +1

      Well, it's not the absolute farewell because there's another bagatelle after it!

  • @timothy4664
    @timothy4664 Рік тому +12

    My favorite bagatelle. I have always felt this work ought to be performed with a slightly slower tempo as it suits the composition's contemplative nature. This piece is easy to play but requires refined technique and sensibility to perform.

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +2

      It seems easy but it's really difficult! I know what you mean about slower tempo, and I certainly used to play it slower. However, I'm convinced that Beethoven's 'Quasi Allegretto' implies a bit more movement than it often receives from pianists.

  • @JamwebMusic
    @JamwebMusic 6 місяців тому +1

    The simplicity makes it so beautiful 😢

  • @darrenpursuingtruth2895
    @darrenpursuingtruth2895 Рік тому +5

    Great video.
    All the bagatelles (there are three sets) are gems, or as someone once described ‘chips from the masters workbench’. The final set of bagatelles by themselves are enough, in my estimation, to mark Beethoven as an exceptional composer.

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому

      Absolutely. If he'd written nothing but bagatelles, he'd be considered a very significant composer!

  • @zainmardini9573
    @zainmardini9573 Рік тому +6

    My favorite bagatelle by Beethoven is the bagatelle that comes right before this one (Op.126, No. 4), for I am a huge sucker to the fast tempo, and intense, militaristic sound. However, this one is very good too!

  • @papertoymonsters2748
    @papertoymonsters2748 7 місяців тому +1

    Beethoven did with 2 voices what most couldn't with a 100

  • @harpsitardo
    @harpsitardo Рік тому +8

    Great video on this fascinating piece. I still find this opus so gratifying to play.

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +2

      It's wonderful. I think Beethoven intended the Op 126 cycle to be a self-contained set, almost an equivalent to a sonata - a different way of doing things. It was a pioneering thing to do. They are marvellous pieces.

    • @harpsitardo
      @harpsitardo Рік тому +2

      @@themusicprofessor I think you're correct about that: not only does it make musical sense, but Beethoven himself seems to have had that goal (he wrote a note on the sketch of the first piece, "Ciclus von Kleinigkeiten", indicating the cyclical nature of the pieces).

  • @juankliss
    @juankliss Рік тому +1

    Simply made my cry with joy

  • @bartremmelzwaal5775
    @bartremmelzwaal5775 Рік тому +5

    I'm ashamed that I wasn't aware of this opus... thanks, beautiful

    • @colinsoder
      @colinsoder Рік тому

      I had never heard it either! So beautiful, playful, relaxing, and pleasant. Like an early morning walk through a meadow

  • @TrebleWoofer1
    @TrebleWoofer1 Рік тому +3

    I played the last Eb bagatelle during my last year as an undergrad as a farewell to college. I went back and did my masters in music and currently teach, research, compose, yet Beethoven's music is STILL so captivating and interesting the older I get - - he just gets better. And let's not forget the man was deaf the last 10 years - - truly an unrelenting man

  • @DressedForDrowning
    @DressedForDrowning 11 місяців тому +1

    Wow, this one is great. Now I know who my favorite composer is.

  • @themobiusfunction
    @themobiusfunction Рік тому

    1:01 This C# creates a sharp dissonance (augmented octave) and yet it doesn't sound out of place at all!

  • @federicoprice2687
    @federicoprice2687 Рік тому +1

    Sublime. Thank you, Prof, for the reminder of this beautiful piece ❤

  • @ryebread7224
    @ryebread7224 Рік тому +1

    I really enjoy your commentary/notes in this video!

  • @TrainFlood
    @TrainFlood 7 місяців тому

    Sitting here crying at this piece. Thank you for sharing this

  • @joestephens7105
    @joestephens7105 Рік тому +3

    Love it! Thanks for reminding me of this beautiful piece!

  • @JonathanOvnat
    @JonathanOvnat Рік тому +7

    Wonderful 👏

  • @karolcpm-
    @karolcpm- Рік тому +3

    Beethoven just wanted to put the piano's music to sleep; or better yet, the piano itself.

  • @darb.musica
    @darb.musica Рік тому +1

    Beautiful. Great analysis, thank you

  • @FRumpelstiltskin66
    @FRumpelstiltskin66 Рік тому +1

    Thank you for making this video

  • @synchro505
    @synchro505 Рік тому +1

    Outstanding. So fortunate to have found this channel. Many thanks.

  • @ΓιάννηςΚωνσταντινίδης-γ9φ

    Beautiful content! No matter how familiar I am with a piece I will always watch your relevant video and find something new!

  • @maryannpost8146
    @maryannpost8146 Рік тому +1

    Thank you for sharing this. I needed to hear this today. Love to all!

  • @philipthonemann2524
    @philipthonemann2524 7 місяців тому +1

    It is a beautiful little piece!

  • @mduftube
    @mduftube Рік тому

    Your analysis in the description is excellent

  • @nsns-g8b
    @nsns-g8b 7 місяців тому

    I love your works...thanks Beethoven

  • @VRnamek
    @VRnamek Рік тому +4

    you often find waltzes and other dances in his sonatas, like in pastoral or appassionata. But I think if there's a single Beethoven piece who really foreshadows and inspired the young romantics was his short sonatina op 79, often called Cuckoo, especially the andante... must have caused quite an impression on those kids

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +1

      You're absolutely right - that little barcarolle had a big impact on Mendelssohn, and it is very similar in character to the middle of this bagatelle.

  • @joeross9478
    @joeross9478 Рік тому +3

    I have recently subscribed and I love your channel. I have discovered several composers I had not heard of before and some music I really like. Even better I like the way you present your material. The comments are very much an addition. It's funny you both seem like a professor and you don't seem like one at all. Also I like the fact the scores are hand written. Thanks much.

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +2

      Thank you so much for your encouraging comment. Simultaneously 'seeming like a professor and not seeming like one at all' - yes, I think that's very perceptive. I'm glad that's how it comes across.

    • @fatitankeris6327
      @fatitankeris6327 Рік тому

      This score is printed

  • @Qahtan_ahmed
    @Qahtan_ahmed Рік тому

    Loving the content on your UA-cam channel!
    Thank you so much for posting such high quality visuals alongside the sheet music, it really helps in internalizing and understanding the compositions deeply and from a different perspective.
    I Really hope you get 10x the amount of views/subs, it is well deserved!

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому

      Thank you so much!

    • @Qahtan_ahmed
      @Qahtan_ahmed Рік тому

      @@themusicprofessor Of course!
      Could I suggest a video on maybe the Rebecca Clarke Viola sonata or Joseph Jongen's concertino for viola and piano?
      Both composers have some outstanding and underrated works, and I'm sure some people would be interested in discovering such pieces!

  • @chjxb
    @chjxb 7 місяців тому

    your videos are good. Genuine and to the point.

  • @mk_9116
    @mk_9116 Рік тому +1

    So glad i discovered ur channel! Your videos are short and right to the point, unlike other channel when i have to watch 40min of nonsense. Keep it up.
    And, as a violinist, i hope i can see something related to my instrument. Im sure im not the only one. Something like Brahams, Dovrak or Sibelius violin concerto. That would be one hell of a video

  • @connormedberry4901
    @connormedberry4901 Рік тому +1

    Less is only more once you know what more is

  • @blacksky492
    @blacksky492 Рік тому

    That was magical

  • @wmadmw
    @wmadmw Рік тому +2

    0:54 passage really reminds me of Shostakovich's 2nd Waltz, amazing!

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +1

      Interesting. Another comment said the same. They are both in C and have a similar momentum but DSCH (being minor) is surely more melancholic.

    • @juliannadoyle8976
      @juliannadoyle8976 Рік тому

      What is DSCH stand for please?

    • @marcraider
      @marcraider Рік тому +1

      @@juliannadoyle8976 I think he is refering to Dimitri Shostakovich

    • @andresfranzchavez113
      @andresfranzchavez113 10 місяців тому

      Actually, if you just whistle the main melody of this section you'll notice more clearly how similar the melodies are (apart from the harmonies). You can almost take one for the other

  • @deanedge5988
    @deanedge5988 Рік тому

    beautiful

  • @ShaunakDesaiPiano
    @ShaunakDesaiPiano Рік тому +6

    0:56 you know what this reminds me of? Shostakovich’s arguably most famous piece, the Waltz from the 2nd Jazz suite.

    • @orgue2999
      @orgue2999 Рік тому

      Ouch

    • @ShaunakDesaiPiano
      @ShaunakDesaiPiano Рік тому

      @@orgue2999 why ouch?

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому

      I can see what you mean - both tunes share a similar C tonality, and momentum, but Shostakovich's waltz is minor, and generally more melancholic!

    • @ShaunakDesaiPiano
      @ShaunakDesaiPiano Рік тому +2

      @@themusicprofessor oh totally, I agree. I meant also the melodic line and phrasing of the Beethoven, compared with the Shostakovich

  • @franciscocanizaressanchez-3638

    Outstanding video and explanation.
    Perfect music!❤

  • @UMVELINQANGI
    @UMVELINQANGI Рік тому

    Charming

  • @diannalaubenberg7532
    @diannalaubenberg7532 Рік тому

    Oh, my!

  • @ZootBurger
    @ZootBurger Рік тому +1

    Brilliant ❤❤

  • @gimenezagustin
    @gimenezagustin Рік тому

    I didn´t know this piece, thank you very much.

  • @KVSGamer
    @KVSGamer Рік тому

    Beethoven's last word to his piano was a rest

  • @malcolmdale9607
    @malcolmdale9607 6 місяців тому

    I seem to be the only one that is not convinced that Beethoven wrote this. It is nothing like the style of any of his late works.

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  6 місяців тому +1

      erm...given that we have it in his manuscript and he had it published in 1825, I'm not sure how to convince you further. Actually the style is similar to several passages I can think of. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagatelles,_Op._126_(Beethoven)

  • @lawrencetaylor4101
    @lawrencetaylor4101 Рік тому +1

    Merci for the gift of Beethoven. I go walking in the woods listening to Beethoven Symphonies instead of the silence of nature. Without his music, I would be like Luigi, since there are no more birds, insects, worms. We're going through a mass extinction. Beethoven loved nature. He would be outraged at modern man. We don't deserve the Ninth.
    My Radiology professor always talked about Beethoven when he presented Paget's Disease, an abnormal bony growth after adulthood. Often the first sign is that the hat has become too small. His bony ear canals became narrower, crushing the auditory nerve. First came the tinnitus and then deafness. He also suffered from joint pains.
    And he gave us these gifts.

  • @nachito2002x
    @nachito2002x 11 місяців тому

    There Are Two Musical Pieces That Could Be Possibly His Last Works:
    1) String Quartet No. 13 In B-Flat Major, Op. 130: Negative Reaction To The Work's Final Movement At The First Performance, And His Publisher's Urging, Led Beethoven To Write A Substitute For The Final Movement, A Contredanse Much Shorter And Lighter Than The Enormous Große Fuge It Replaced. This New Finale Was Written In The Late Autumn of 1826, During A Relapse Into Severe Illness, And Is The Final Complete Piece of Music Beethoven Composed Before His Death In March, 1827.
    2) Bagatelle In F Minor, Kullack f. 51/52: This Was Written In 1826, A Year After The Six Bagatelles. IMSLP Says This Could Be The Last Composition For Piano, Actually Uncatalogued.
    3) Instrumental Draft, Biamonti 849: Written In 1827, It Contains Sketches For The Last Movement of His String Quartet No. 13, Op. 130. According To An Annotation By The Highly Unreliable Anton Schindler, These Are The Last Notes Written By Beethoven, Ten or Twelve Days Before His Death. Based On Its Location, This Fragment Is Indeed One of The Very Last Musical Writings, If Not The Last, Of The Composer, And Cannot Date From Any Earlier Than November 1826. The Intended Instrumentation Is Unclear, But Since It Appears On Two Staves Piano Was Conjectured. This Item Has The Final Biamonti Number.

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  11 місяців тому +2

      There is also a sketch for an unfinished string quintet and several incomplete sketches for a 10th symphony. I recall that Beethoven also spoke, near the end of his life, about wanting to compose a requiem and an overture on the theme B.A.C.H.

  • @curtmcd
    @curtmcd Рік тому

    I was expecting the one in F major called literally "Adieu to the piano".

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +2

      "Adieu to the piano" is a little early Romantic F major piece with a pretty melody. Probably not by Beethoven.

  • @DressedForDrowning
    @DressedForDrowning 10 місяців тому

    About 2 weeks ago I heard this piece for the first time and fell in love with it. Now I have a question to @The Music Professor, sir. As I understand, the piano in Beethoven's days sounded a bit different as today's pianos sound. How could he have composed such wonderful marvellous sonatas and pieces? Had he had some better versions of piano sound in mind? And can you make a comparison how a piece sounded in Beethoven's days and how it sounds today?

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  10 місяців тому

      The fortepiano evolved very fast during Beethoven's lifetime and Viennese makers like Nannette Streicher (who was a close friend of Beethoven's) were adapting their pianos to the performance idioms that Beethoven's music required of the instrument. Even so, the pianos of Beethoven's lifetime had a very different sound and action from a modern Steinway. In many ways, their beautiful, fragile tone, and subtle variety of tone is much closer to Beethoven's imagination than the sound of the modern piano.

  • @kent.1337
    @kent.1337 Рік тому

    you should do a vid on the first bagatelle from that set

  • @PaulJoseph
    @PaulJoseph Рік тому +1

    Great presentation! Also, at 1:56 the key signature incorrectly states D instead of G.

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +2

      The middle section is in D and this is taken from the first edition - I suspect it's an engraver's error.

    • @themobiusfunction
      @themobiusfunction 10 місяців тому

      @@themusicprofessor actually the middle section is in C

  • @mottobel8502
    @mottobel8502 Рік тому

    Oh that A sharp..

  • @mtrsoftwareservices
    @mtrsoftwareservices Рік тому +2

    Okay, now I'm sad. 😢

  • @FindleyOcean
    @FindleyOcean Рік тому

    Thank you for introducing me to this piece! Now was Beethoven completely deaf when he wrote this?

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +1

      His hearing was very poor at the end of his life, although I believe he could hear some sounds, and I believe he still made use of ear trumpets when composing.

  • @BenjaminCherkassky
    @BenjaminCherkassky Рік тому

    1:09 How did it inspire a genre? Barcarolles have been popular since at least the 1770s. And Mendelssohn's Venetian gondola songs are very different in tone

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +2

      In the 1820s Mendelssohn studied late Beethoven more than any other composer.

  • @sherylbegby
    @sherylbegby Рік тому +4

    Does anyone know anything about the authenticity of this piece? I inherited a ton of sheet music as a kid, but this one had "Definitely not by Beethoven" clearly written in the margin. And if you search for this piece on the internet there's plenty of doubt about its authenticity, although it is described as a "popular parlor piece in the 19th and early 20th century" in some places.

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +18

      Sorry but I think you need to check your sources on this one. The Op 126 bagatelles are as authentic as the 5th Symphony. These are essential late works, with absolutely no query whatsoever of authenticity. His handwritten manuscript can be seen online (on IMSLP) as can the 1st edition, which was published under his supervision in 1825. The manuscript and published materials are all in the Beethoven Haus in Bonn, if you want to check on their reliability! www.beethoven.de/en/work/view/6442185083846656/Six+Bagatelles+for+piano+op.+126

    • @emanuel_soundtrack
      @emanuel_soundtrack Рік тому +1

      i wrote this

    • @Veepee92
      @Veepee92 Рік тому +3

      Are you sure you're not confusing this with the Sonatina in G major? That one has dubious authenticity.

    • @eriksatieofficiel
      @eriksatieofficiel Рік тому

      @@themusicprofessor How do we know about the authenticity of the 5th symphony though?

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому

      I suspect the confusion is with a piece called 'Adieu for the Piano' which is a very pretty Romantic piano piece in F major, published in the 1830s and attributed to Beethoven for commercial reasons. It's a lovely waltz in a moderate tempo, with a charming tertiary shift to A major, that's not unlike the kind of thing Beethoven does on occasion. However, it has a Romantic salon character that Beethoven's music very rarely (if ever) has. It's still a nice piece though and not too difficult to play.

  • @benedicvelasco
    @benedicvelasco 7 місяців тому +1

    It's a shame Beethoven never wrote for the guitar. What wonders he would've made with it.

  • @brianbernstein3826
    @brianbernstein3826 Рік тому +2

    By FAR the strangest part of this happens at 1:20. The C major section ends in key of G, with a D major chord (dominant) and the lightest, weakest G major chord ever…. then back to C. It’s a very rough and unconvincing transition

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому

      It is unorthodox certainly, but quite typical of the harmonic innovations of Beethoven's late style, in which standard progressions and harmonic rhythm are often deliberately subverted, standard cadential formulae are avoided and curious elisions occur instead of more conventional transitions. These are all recurring things throughout the music of his final decade - and absolutely what he intended: not the result of technical deficiency.

    • @brianbernstein3826
      @brianbernstein3826 Рік тому

      @@themusicprofessor Agreed. It actually reminded me a bit of what he does in piano sonata 28 movement 1... the first theme is in A major yet we never get a tonic cadence. At the end of the first phrase he immediately does a "just kidding it's actually a dominant chord"

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому

      Yes, it's an extraordinary piece, that one.

  • @gregmonks
    @gregmonks Рік тому

    The most amazing thing about beethoven was that he was a tiny, wee man. Vertically challenged, one might say. Yet he had large hands, and arms like an ape. So he was an oddly proportioned fellow. That would have made him genetically odd, too. I've always suspected that he was a throwback to our Neanderthal ancestors, with an oversized occipital bun full of the ancestral memories of the species, and a big, fat imagination, where all manner of odd things took place.

  • @Stashi1808
    @Stashi1808 9 місяців тому

    I'm composing a leider based from my a favorite poem by Longfellow. It begins in Dm goes thru Bbm and ends in Bb I really want the Bb to sound like this. I thought it'd be easy, but how could Beethoven write such stuff? It's awe-inspiring. I feel the opposite from Beethoven. Writing for voice is easy for me where as piano with voice piano as backup that is, is like "child birth!"lol Is there any book on deconstructing Beethoven bagatelles? If so, which would you recommend? Or any books on "his Musical Majesty's" music. Thanks

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  9 місяців тому +3

      It's a good question. It would be good if there was a book called "how to compose like Beethoven" but there isn't! The best way to learn though is to imitate initially. So you might like to look closely at a Beethoven bagatelle and see if you can do the same kind of thing your way...

    • @Stashi1808
      @Stashi1808 6 місяців тому

      Thank you! I finished it! And, though I may revise it a few times to come, it's exactly what I wanted. Someday I hope that a baritone and soprano will preform it, for now it is just a voice sound on my free composing app. I'll upload I today.❤

  • @marksmale827
    @marksmale827 Рік тому

    I wonder what Ludwig would have been happy with the modern pianoforte.

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +1

      Hard to know. The fortepiano of his time was a very different instrument.

  • @ВолшебникВсегдаприходитвовремя

    0:47 Tchaikovsky)))

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому

      Interesting. Which piece?

    • @mystogan6556
      @mystogan6556 Рік тому

      ​@@themusicprofessormy guess is Waltz of the Flower. Could be wrong but that's the closest one

  • @qwaqwa1960
    @qwaqwa1960 Рік тому

    How about the "bagatelle" discovered ~15y ago in his Missa(?) ms...? (or a late 4tet was it...?)

  • @LouisEmery
    @LouisEmery Рік тому

    What piano(forte) was this played on? Now and then, it's nice to hear Beethoven's piano music on an instrument for which he may have known the sound.

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому

      I have had the great pleasure of playing a Nanette Streicher fortepiano that Beethoven probably played (housed at the Cobbe Collection in the UK) but actually this was recorded on a modern grand piano. I was pleased that, on the recording, it does almost sound like a fortepiano though.

  • @Gustinante
    @Gustinante 5 місяців тому

    There seems to be a mistake at the end of the score, 'cause you're playing in G major but the score is in D major. 1:58

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  5 місяців тому

      Yes - it's the first edition from 1826. The key signature is wrong.

  • @majorpayne8373
    @majorpayne8373 7 місяців тому

    Was this a French bagatelle?

  • @chazm3
    @chazm3 Рік тому

    Can anyone confirm that Beethoven referred to the bagatelles as “my children”?

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +3

      I'm not aware of that. He is reputed to have said of Fidelio, "of all my children, this is the one that cost me the worst birth-pangs and brought me the most sorrow; and for that reason it is the one most dear to me."

  • @andresdaniel6711
    @andresdaniel6711 Рік тому

    La Romanesca.

  • @harryk4840
    @harryk4840 Рік тому +1

    Lo es

  • @museprof
    @museprof Рік тому

    If Bach had written this, the melodic gesture in the right hand in bar 2 and elsewhere would be an obvious example of the Kreuz (cross) motif, and the parallel thirds and 3-part writing would be candidates for Trinitarian symbolism. What are your thoughts on whether Beethoven intended these to be Christian symbols?

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +3

      It's difficult to know - he's not explicit about it. He is explicit in the great sonata Op 110 in which the finale appears to be a symbolic representation of death and resurrection.

    • @jrgptr935
      @jrgptr935 Рік тому

      Erstens: Hätte, hätte, Fahrradkette.
      Zweitens: Wenn Bthvn nichts darüber gesagt oder geschrieben hat, dann wissen wir rein gar nichts darüber, was er gedacht haben könnte. Er könnte eben durchaus an die duftenden Bratkartoffeln mit Zwiebeln, die es um 18 Uhr zum Nachtessen geben sollte, gedacht haben.

  • @louisvalencia5244
    @louisvalencia5244 9 місяців тому

    Letzer Musikalischer Gedanken ?

  • @houdacookies
    @houdacookies Рік тому

    Plz can someone give me the opus and number?

  • @Tacitus_BirchSaw
    @Tacitus_BirchSaw 9 місяців тому

    Name of piece?

  • @bealreadyhappy
    @bealreadyhappy Рік тому

    I don’t understand why do you say it’s his farewell to the piano? please explain thank you

    • @themusicprofessor
      @themusicprofessor  Рік тому +3

      If you read the video description, below the video, it gives a very clear explanation! This is the 5th piece in Beethoven's final set of Bagatelles Op 126, his last major piano composition.