Will never forget the first time I heard it live (Chilingirian Quartet, back in the 1970s)! Mind-blowing, and still fabulous to hear almost half a century later.
Incredible that the human mind can invent such complex strange but beautifull music. Even his most simple melodies in Mikrokosmos are jewels. Bartok must have been a happy man gifted with such geniality…
One of the towering achievements of Western art. Forget for a moment that it contains some of the most expertly and artfully constructed feats of motivic development and thematic organization; if your pulse doesn't quicken in the last movement, you're not alive. Like, literally, you're probably dead. This performance is utterly perfect.
I'm not the biggest fan of this harmony yet, but parts of this piece are truly orchestral sounding. Bartok's ability to draw out textures here is incredible. Edit: The 4th movement is currently one of my favorite works for string quartet. It's so edgy with its rhythms and harmony, it's hypnotic in a way.
An excellent performance, with an almost perfect sound for Bartók: big, crisp, confident, no-nonsense. The end of the first movement still gives me shivers. It’s been over 90 years since this piece was written, and 40 since I first heard it. I was a teenager. I felt suddenly that I knew what music really could be. Exciting times.
I hate myself for saying this but... if you play the last movement at 1.5x speed you can really appreciate the folk rhythms and they're very similar to his later Mikrokosmos pieces (also similar to certain kinds of prog rock if you like that comparison)
1st two movements left me kind of cold...but starting with the 3rd movement I started to feel this. It's really such a mesmerizing and compelling work. Full of strangeness and dark thrills.
third was the first too grab me too. As a young person just getting to know classical music, it totally baffled me. Actually sounded random to me at the town and totally chaotic...but something kept drawing me back, and I'm glad it did cause its so rewarding. Been listening to it for 20 years
@@Berliozboy if I had a favourite it would be the third. The first is not quite up to the standard of the others but not far behind. My mother said they sounded like a bunch of beginners who had no idea what they were doing. She unfortunately never grew out of this view.
@@richtrophicherbs Yes, I actually love the first one quite a bit. There's a moment towards the end of the first movement that is one of my favorite moments in all of the quartets. 3, 4, and 5 are the ones I listen to most, but all 6 are incredible
Along with Liszt, considered one of Hungary's greatest composers, 1928 Modernistic, atonal, chromatic, makes use of unconventional playing methods (string slapping, glissando, sempre pizz), complex structures from simple folkloric melodies
@@slateflash Fair enough. I remember when I was writing these comments (on like 40 different pieces across several centuries), I was just spitballing and typing them up very quickly because I had an exam I was studying for. I realized I wasn't being 100% accurate. Just needed to make notes for my personal use.
Videos like this are a great study aid. Incidentally, the pizzicato movement was used with great dramatic effect in Woody Allen's "Melinda and Melinda."
@@a.s.vanhoose1545 I know this is a somewhat older comment but I think they mean “study aid” as in studying the music itself, how the different parts work, the chords they outline, stuff like that.
I don't know have much knowledge of specific recordings of string quartets, nor do I like to rank any classical recordings as being the "best ever"...but hearing this...it *has* to be considered one of the best ever, right? Surely of a 20th-century piece. I mean, the playing, technically at least, is ridiculous.
This is so far beyond anything "heavy metal" bands could conceive of (let a lone play) that the comparison is silly. It's just your not understanding what's going on that makes you think of a pop mode.
Timothy Brittain classic. You’re probably another person who thinks metal is just “noise”. Progressive metal, neoclassical metal, tech-death are among some of the most musically complex genres ever, and are on the same level as classical music and jazz, only a musician would know
Axl H. Sorry man, I’m a musician too. I used to love metal, but this is harmonically much more complex then 99% of metal music. The similarity exists rhythmically, but metal doesn’t come close to use dense voicings and harmony like this.
@@timothybrittain4161 i mean the complexity aspect of this i will say there's barely any musician in popular music able to make such music, but if you really think metal players can't play this you really underestimate a huge chunk of them. specially when a lot of classically trained musicians love the style
I used to have trouble with the third movement but I can't get those cluster chords out of my head. They sound vibrant now instead of dissonant somehow.
Before listening to the 4th part of this (namely this) quartet, I did not like Bartok's music. After listening to it, I understood and loved everything. No wonder that Shostakovich said that each new Bartok's quartet is better than the previous one
Hi, first of all congratulations for this fantastic channel. Bartok is my favourite composer but sometimes is quite difficult for me to understand his works. for example in these days i'm studying the SECOND STRING QUARTET(1917), and i have found chords like this: a triad C - Bb - E, followed by Db - F - A with Ab in the bass! I really don't know how to classify those chords! Can you help me?
first movement is taken a bit slow for my taste, really nice emotive phrasing in the third movement and fourth though. this is probably favorite of his quartets.
@@Sam-zj6mw It's not quite the same thing. Comentators would have thought Bartok drivel because it stretched their understandinding, whereas neo-minimalist 'modern' music is drivel because it relinquishes constant invention of form, harmony, counterpoit and melody which distinguishes the great western muisc. It is hubris that made people reject the former because they fail to understand it, and the same hubris that leads them to set great store set by the latter because it's easy for them to understand.
@@jonathanlohn4376 I could guess that -what- you hate all modern compsers? I could certainly guess, but it wouldn't have the clarity and precision of you owning up and criticizing specific composers. If you aren't talking about specific composers, but are just slinging mud and a vague era of music that you aren't actually that familiar with, then perhaps you should hold your tongue until you do some research.
I am a modernist by birth. Beethoven lulled me to sleep as a youth. Attempted to replicate on piano what I know now was "avant garde" John Coltrane. This is pretty yet vigorous music. What's ugly or eviserated here? I was reared in NYC so my ear isn't born to the quietude of German farmland -- or "city" -- circa 1818. Hail the modernist.
This piece feels like a 20 minute panic attack and I love it
I love you too you
9:56 is the lick
NO WAY HOW DID YOU EVEN NOTICE THIS?!?
OH FUCK
What does this mean - "This is the luck"?
@@reginaldmolethrasher437 look up "the lick." it's a meme originating from jazz music, from Adam Neely's youtube channel
@NinjaSnail1080 But not before Cam Neely.
So my father heard me listening to Shostakovich and recommended listening to Bartok's strings. I think I found a gold mine to check
are ya winning son?
As an enjoyer of both, i can see why
Yeah I immediately thought of Shostakovich when listening to this piece
The fifth movement is some of the most adrenaline pumping music I've ever heard.
Here is something that may have been inspired by this Bartok piece... ua-cam.com/video/jX0caf1HvNs/v-deo.html
I think he wrote the opening to it shortly after discovering that his car had been stolen.
Sounds like a gorilla chasing something
Will never forget the first time I heard it live (Chilingirian Quartet, back in the 1970s)! Mind-blowing, and still fabulous to hear almost half a century later.
that used to be my alarm sound for quite some time lol
“Trust me, I’m not an alien” -Bartok 1928
"That sounds like something an alien would say!" -Guy Speaking To Bartók 1928
LMAO this is the comment I was looking for 😂
Yeahh ....i´m just a Zombie.
Frank Zappa was fan .!
Incredible that the human mind can invent such complex strange but beautifull music. Even his most simple melodies in Mikrokosmos are jewels. Bartok must have been a happy man gifted with such geniality…
00:00 : Allegro - forme sonate
06:02 : Prestissimo con sordino - Scherzo
06:52 : Passage faisant penser au Sacre du Printemps de Stravinski
08:50 : Non troppo lento - forme rhapsodique
14:15 : Allegretto pizzicato - Scherzo
14:22 : gamme Bartok
14:57 : Pizz Bartok
16:54 : Allegro molto - forme sonate
One of the towering achievements of Western art. Forget for a moment that it contains some of the most expertly and artfully constructed feats of motivic development and thematic organization; if your pulse doesn't quicken in the last movement, you're not alive. Like, literally, you're probably dead. This performance is utterly perfect.
One of those rare pieces that feels absolutely perfect, in my opinion.
ginastera string quartet no 2
all time great quartet here. very listenable yet strange and reveals new things years later w/repeat listens.
Is it modern enough?-Bartók to one of his colleagues after fearing he wasn’t modern enough
I'm not the biggest fan of this harmony yet, but parts of this piece are truly orchestral sounding. Bartok's ability to draw out textures here is incredible.
Edit: The 4th movement is currently one of my favorite works for string quartet. It's so edgy with its rhythms and harmony, it's hypnotic in a way.
An excellent performance, with an almost perfect sound for Bartók: big, crisp, confident, no-nonsense. The end of the first movement still gives me shivers. It’s been over 90 years since this piece was written, and 40 since I first heard it. I was a teenager. I felt suddenly that I knew what music really could be. Exciting times.
Hm. IDK. For me it sounds a bit softer than should be
I think that 12:03 to 12:14 has a truly spectacular, stangely unforgettable modulation, if we can even call it that.
I hate myself for saying this but... if you play the last movement at 1.5x speed you can really appreciate the folk rhythms and they're very similar to his later Mikrokosmos pieces (also similar to certain kinds of prog rock if you like that comparison)
It sounds good lol
The 3rd movement is so beautiful
it is
16:55 My head really swings left and right because of that chord!!!! Genie belly dance music!!!
1st two movements left me kind of cold...but starting with the 3rd movement I started to feel this. It's really such a mesmerizing and compelling work. Full of strangeness and dark thrills.
So great! I've loved these quartets since my teens (3rd is still my favorite).
me too!
third was the first too grab me too. As a young person just getting to know classical music, it totally baffled me. Actually sounded random to me at the town and totally chaotic...but something kept drawing me back, and I'm glad it did cause its so rewarding. Been listening to it for 20 years
@@Berliozboy if I had a favourite it would be the third. The first is not quite up to the standard of the others but not far behind. My mother said they sounded like a bunch of beginners who had no idea what they were doing. She unfortunately never grew out of this view.
@@richtrophicherbs Yes, I actually love the first one quite a bit. There's a moment towards the end of the first movement that is one of my favorite moments in all of the quartets. 3, 4, and 5 are the ones I listen to most, but all 6 are incredible
Along with Liszt, considered one of Hungary's greatest composers, 1928
Modernistic, atonal, chromatic, makes use of unconventional playing methods (string slapping, glissando, sempre pizz), complex structures from simple folkloric melodies
He protecc
He attacc
But most importantly
He bulgarian-rhytmically dancc
This isn't atonal
@@slateflash Fair enough. I remember when I was writing these comments (on like 40 different pieces across several centuries), I was just spitballing and typing them up very quickly because I had an exam I was studying for.
I realized I wasn't being 100% accurate. Just needed to make notes for my personal use.
Bartok is twice the composer Liszt could ever be.
Samuel Mincarelli Why
Wow! I'm such Impressed with this masterpiece!
ONE OF MOST INTENSE PIECES I HAVE EVER HEARD. SORRY FOR BIG LETTERS MY BROTHER ACCIDENTALY LIFT THEM AND I DONT KNOW HOT TO PUT THEM DOWN.
bro was way too hyped😭
Videos like this are a great study aid. Incidentally, the pizzicato movement was used with great dramatic effect in Woody Allen's "Melinda and Melinda."
Study aid? I would break my pen on the paper every three minutes 😂
@@a.s.vanhoose1545 I know this is a somewhat older comment but I think they mean “study aid” as in studying the music itself, how the different parts work, the chords they outline, stuff like that.
I don't know have much knowledge of specific recordings of string quartets, nor do I like to rank any classical recordings as being the "best ever"...but hearing this...it *has* to be considered one of the best ever, right? Surely of a 20th-century piece. I mean, the playing, technically at least, is ridiculous.
The fifth movement is absolutely to my tastes holy fuck
The Allegretto pizzicato is very pleasing
La mejor pieza musical que he disfrutado sin lugar a duda
17:04 this is literally heavy metal before heavy metal... genius
This is so far beyond anything "heavy metal" bands could conceive of (let a lone play) that the comparison is silly. It's just your not understanding what's going on that makes you think of a pop mode.
Timothy Brittain classic. You’re probably another person who thinks metal is just “noise”. Progressive metal, neoclassical metal, tech-death are among some of the most musically complex genres ever, and are on the same level as classical music and jazz, only a musician would know
Axl H. Sorry man, I’m a musician too. I used to love metal, but this is harmonically much more complex then 99% of metal music. The similarity exists rhythmically, but metal doesn’t come close to use dense voicings and harmony like this.
Drake M I can agree with that, orchestra and pianos can do more voices at once
@@timothybrittain4161 i mean the complexity aspect of this i will say there's barely any musician in popular music able to make such music, but if you really think metal players can't play this you really underestimate a huge chunk of them. specially when a lot of classically trained musicians love the style
I love Bartok's string quartets above all his music, and the 4th is my absolute favourite.
8:50 the beginning of the third movement of catches me off-guard, such a beautiful and sweet underpinning for the cello solo
listen at twice the speed absolute madness.
lmao the lick in the cello part at 9:50 (rehearsal mark 15)
i really like the sound of the second violin's violin
11:50
It sounds woodwind-y at some points, very pretty
badass...
The best one
PERFECTION
16:15 oh my this is so wow amazing it's like I'm in the video game😱
“Hey guys. I think we should count this out loud while playing.”
OH NO! HAHAH
Absolutely excellent complex music. Very good clear performance.
I used to have trouble with the third movement but I can't get those cluster chords out of my head. They sound vibrant now instead of dissonant somehow.
16:55 sounds like a video game like final fantasy or pokemon when there's an enemy
Fantástico!!!!!!!!
16:54
I get 1800’s chasing music vibes from this
3:15 Surely inspired Bernard Hermann!
音樂史必聽 ~
An outstanding interpretation... By whom, by the way?
Your mom
Your mom
Your mom (AKA Keller Quartet)
ur mom
Before listening to the 4th part of this (namely this) quartet, I did not like Bartok's music. After listening to it, I understood and loved everything.
No wonder that Shostakovich said that each new Bartok's quartet is better than the previous one
Hi, first of all congratulations for this fantastic channel. Bartok is my favourite composer but sometimes is quite difficult for me to understand his works. for example in these days i'm studying the SECOND STRING QUARTET(1917), and i have found chords like this: a triad C - Bb - E, followed by Db - F - A with Ab in the bass! I really don't know how to classify those chords! Can you help me?
C Bb E could be C7. Db F A with Ab is a Db major 2nd inversion with a dim 6.
@@rogthefrog I'd say an aug 5, since it is an A natural. Strange chord definitely, 2 different 5ths
Second chord seem sus
i like this.
2:45 What was that note? Did the cello play that? Because I feel like I heard an A♭1, which is too low for the cello.
9:57 I never would've thought I'd hear "the licc" in a piece by Bartók.
I would never had expected to find such useless comments about Bartok - it's the second time I read someone pointing it out.
@@emilianoturazzi Ok, lmao? Settle down, Mary. Jeez...
@@emilianoturazzi It's useless, yes. But people have some laugh out of that. No need to be annoyed by 2 useless comments, jeez
20:40 Rite of spring?
DEFINITELY an influence! I love when composer sneakily quote great works, always seem to do so in chamber music.
8:32 ~ 8:46
The Study of Orchestration 2-14 (2nd edition)
Listen to the 2nd mvt in 2x please, you will not regret it
14:24
*Red was not the impostor*
Your pfp is making me subconcsiously ask questions I do not want the answer to
I hate you
The licc at 9:56 !
Haha
This reminds me of the movie, Waking Life.
Bartok is abstract
6:58 Am I the only one thinking the timbre of the 2nd violin kinda sound like a bassoon playing in high register similar to the rite of spring solo?
You're definitely not the only one!
exactly like basson~~~
brutal af
Caused PTSD before anything happened.
Sit back in my armchair, spark up a blunt, and take in some Bartok.
or guiffre
9:57 the lick is played
Omg the second movement is so chaotic
GOOD
Lowkey this is terrifying ngl
kinda bangs tho
His string quartets kinda make me sick to my stomach. I like it.
based bartok
first movement is taken a bit slow for my taste, really nice emotive phrasing in the third movement and fourth though. this is probably favorite of his quartets.
But WHO IS PLAYING IT? How absurd not to tell that!
지훈이 유튜브 스타네...
Who are the performers?
uah!... 🌜✨🌛 🐻👍
What kind of musical style is this?
20th century classical music. Bartok was also very influenced by folk music.
Bartokian music
Hungarian hip hop
Idk, it’s kind of a mix between semi tonal music (idk if that’s the correct term) and folk music.
Experimental metal
Дарк соулс два лучшая игра серии
Who else got here because of their modules?
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Transcendent, spectacular, unfathomable, raucous, noisy, funny.......add your own adjectives.
00:00-0:14
1. 8:31~8:48
2. 15:21~15:33
I cannot think of Bartok without remembering a production i once saw of Bluebeards Castle. One of the musically horrifying pieces i have ever heard.
Je n arrive pas a acceder a cette musique trop intellectuelle pour moi.
9:57 LMAOOO
16:54 Shostakovich/SCH (TwoSet Anime Nickname): 👁️👄👁️
Who’s here from Last Song Standing?
Μπράβο στους ναύτες της Κρονστάνδης
PSYCHO! Bernard Herrmann was clearly influenced by this piece. Especially the finale (IV) and (V).
Sounds like i'm in a horror movie.
My study of orchestration by Samuel Adler brought me here.
12:50
3:09
help is this alt rock music
Yes
I like the 5th movement a lot but as far as the rest goes I think that you have to be a full fledged musician in order to "get it".
9:56
Ok
This beautiful music still sounds modern, especially compared to the reactionary drivel that seems now to pass as classical music.
And yet that’s what many would have said of Bartok’s music at the time.
such as
@@Sam-zj6mw It's not quite the same thing. Comentators would have thought Bartok drivel because it stretched their understandinding, whereas neo-minimalist 'modern' music is drivel because it relinquishes constant invention of form, harmony, counterpoit and melody which distinguishes the great western muisc. It is hubris that made people reject the former because they fail to understand it, and the same hubris that leads them to set great store set by the latter because it's easy for them to understand.
@@johnpaullabno I wonder if you can infer what I am talking about.
@@jonathanlohn4376 I could guess that -what- you hate all modern compsers? I could certainly guess, but it wouldn't have the clarity and precision of you owning up and criticizing specific composers. If you aren't talking about specific composers, but are just slinging mud and a vague era of music that you aren't actually that familiar with, then perhaps you should hold your tongue until you do some research.
As cool as that last movement is, I feel bad for the musicians that had to learn it.
Lol. I know. But I'm sure they knew what they were getting into. It's like torture and ecstacy at the same time
Ciao belli
Bartok was already in the jazz community before it existed 9:56
I am a modernist by birth. Beethoven lulled me to sleep as a youth. Attempted to replicate on piano what I know now was "avant garde" John Coltrane.
This is pretty yet vigorous music. What's ugly or eviserated here?
I was reared in NYC so my ear isn't born to the quietude of German farmland -- or "city" -- circa 1818.
Hail the modernist.
.....Jesus Christ.