Stephen Beus - Beethoven Hammerklavier fugue

[purplebela2]

I love how you can see him getting ready to play each and every part.

[classicalnut1]

This is NOT supposed to be slow or dragging. I mean, its the finale of Beethoven's grandest and most powerful piano sonata. Its also one of the largest monster fugues in music history. (not counting some of the rambling contrapuntal works by Sorabji and others that just go on forever without really going anywhere) He really goes out with a bang! Coolest way to end the coolest sonata.

[classicalnut1]

This is very impressive! Anyone who can play the hammerklavier fugue this fast while being this accurate is a brilliant pianist. however, the next step would be to add deep expression between the fury and regain a sense of complete control. he manages control to an extent, but things are happening so fast its hard to absorb. Sure it could be a tad slower with more expression and artistic freedom. add in a little personality. but when he wants to, he can definitely show off his dexterity!

[TheMovvas]

I have a headache now - thanks

[manhattanvor]

I've heard it faster as an exercise. But this is remarkably clear for what it is. Much more so than many people going 10 clicks slower or more! Not my real cup of tea, but enjoyable for the reason the mountain climber went up Everest. Because it was there....

[in18v]

That's the way Beethoven wanted it to be played , believe it or not. I'm learning that piece right now and I also was like..huh -.- ???!!!

[alexlancastermusic]

Part 4: From my calculations, he's playing this at roughly 154 quarters per minute. That's very close, if you account for this being a live performance and several other factors. I don't want to start a flame war or get anyone angry. I just wanted you all to know the facts about this piece. Just because Barenboim plays this sonata at 20 beats per minutes doesn't mean it's right.

[alexlancastermusic]

Part 3: From my examination of my edition of this piece (which has a metronome marking of 144 quarter notes per minute), and cross referencing it with an 1819 edition of this, and the Brietkopf and Hartel edition, this tempo is Beethoven's own marking. He's playing this fugue at almost the exact tempo that Beethoven himself wrote in the music. Still think it's too fast? Take it up with the master.

[alexlancastermusic]

Part 2: This sonata is wild, masculine, unrestrained, and puts hair on the figurative chest of any pianist. You can all sit here and criticize a man from the safety of your computer who's put his life into his work, and has a whole lot more credibility than ANY of you, or you can research this piece and learn it and TELL me it's not supposed to be wild and fast. Look at Beethoven's metronome marks for this sonata. I've never heard a single pianist who's played it up to Beethoven's own markings.

[alexlancastermusic]

Part 1: As someone who has attended a masterclass by Stephen Beus, met him in person (very nice guy, by the way!), heard him play in person, etc., I feel inclined to offer a few comments about the man. He clearly plays this piece with incredible precision, do you think during all of his hours of practice, making this piece musical crossed his mind at least once or twice? Of course it did! As Andras Schiff put it, "There's nothing "beautiful" about this piece."

[thegoddescomposer]

Too sad this piano player really dont know how to play beautifull

[pnserious]

@thegoddescomposer Coming from someone being decent enough to call himself "thegoddescomposer"...

[Alexander87oclock]

Wonderful technique. Maybe a bit too fast but still brilliant.

[kinkokonko]

@Alexander87oclock I dont know how anyone could call this brilliant

[dexterityhunter]

To stay within the younger generation: give Lifschitz a try!

[Quasaur]

Beethoven was out of his mind...that's why we love him!

[classicalalways]

This performance is one of very few that question whether a natural born virtuoso (in the Liszt tradition) should do so when tackling late Beethoven or any Beethoven for that matter. Horowitz was supposed to be the pianist to test the waters of what can fly and what can't - but his Appassionata was quite lame for example.  Beus takes us to the edge & more - 8:11-onward. It certainly is a gutsy Liszt type player (Beethoven himself was brute too) - but keeping listener involved to end? Dunno.

[Justino111]

he can do it.

yes, it's even faster than Brendel's version. But he can do it.

it's supposed to be extreme.

recordings are fake. this is live stuff. check Sviatoslav Richter's version playing it live...it's not perfect, far from it.

[gladandgood]

Stephen Beus is a major talent. Apparently there is some debate about Betthoven's tempo markings. Some things are lost & some things are gained by playing it this fast. I would love to hear Mr. Beus play this at a more moderate tempo. What we CAN do is listen to other pianists & decide each for him or herself. Please bear in mind that the faster a piece is played the more critical are the acoustics & recording quality. I think this You Tube version muddles the sound.

[MrStrav81]

No doubt, Mr. Beus has a wonderful technique. But...

He plays the fugue so fast that no listener would have any time to digest the amazing moments that occur throughout. It's not something you plow through, as a performer or as a listener. A fugue like this should feel massive. To me, people that play a piece like this too fast are either exhibitionist, do not have a vision of what to do with it musically, have something to hide, or all of the above.

Let the hate responses ensue.

[wol4fram]

@MrStrav81 Having just met him and heard him perform, I can honestly tell you that he is not an exhibitionist.

That being said, I cannot enjoy a performance of one of my favorite Beethoven sonatas when it is played at this tempo. It's simply too fast to be appreciably musical.

[MrStrav81]

@wol4fram

Maybe that is true. I just can't come up with another reason for playing it at this tempo. I don't think many people, even non-musicians, would hear this work at that tempo. To me, he's going for the world record fastest Fugue tempo.

[despina41]

the youtube recording acoustic is not right for this tempo. I can only hope the hall was better. If not, then he should not have taken such a tempo because it's muddling - I mean, the fugue may have some "ideal" tempo but you have to be aware of the acoustic, unless you are not performing it for anyone else.....

[herodot2]

Why does he play the HK so idiotically fast? This is not Rimsky's bumblebee.

[andreybeci]

rare - master - one of a kind!!!

[norbertoguarinello]

he plays as a vituose, and he is. And the results are impressive, But is some times at the expense of the understandign of the music. A little more sentiment would improve his perfomance. Just a little slower, emphasizing the notes.

[prestoallegro]

@norbertoguarinello but he does emphasize the notes.

[DorianKill]

Beethoven Rulez!!!! Fantastic fantastic fantastic..........

[crazymooose]

In my experience, people who pull the "oh, it didn't have any emotion" card are really just jealous. It always gets pulled when someone plays something extremely technically challenging and people want to discredit it so they don't feel like they suck compared to the person. How do you know he's "not an artist"? Just cause he can perfect someone else's song doesn't mean he can't do his own thing.

[wendlerkurt]

i completely agree. This is amazing. This is one of the most challenging pieces ever written for piano and he plays it perfectly. Any criticism of this is a criticism of Beethoven. People who criticize this video don't know what they are talking about.

[NBPBP]

@crazymooose You're absolutely right. people are just jealous. He is wonderful pianist and artist. And this is perfect playing. And for everyone who thinks it is too fast Beethoven tempos were faster than most people normally play these days

[AntiProUltra]

hmmm...

playing it at this speed is fine in principle but so much gets lost. the phrasing in places is just a blur. also, what's with pianists who think rubato is just for chopin? this guy's rendition could benefit from some...

[prestoallegro]

@AntiProUltra its only blurry because of the quality of the video

[theoryjoe]

People are posting all these negative comments, but I don't see why. This is great. If only everyone played it with this much balls.

[Zarkme]

You have no feelings, you are a robot.

You're not a musician

[wendlerkurt]

I disagree

[musicman9897]

@Zarkme i completely agree. this is why we should only play the blues and philip glass

[brettrussell561]

@Zarkme You want emotion out of the box, go listen to Mendelssohn or Brahms. This is emotion within the box, as it should be.

[pcma1970]

GReat

[TheMazurka]

talk about executed with LASER PRECISION

[wbiro]

any physical acts that are not conductive to bringing out the music is pure BS... (or sheer nervousness- which can be forgiven) "look at me" theatrics can't... in the beginning of this I was ready to accuse this pianist of detracting ego-theatrics... (and I hope they don't teach that anywhere)... one thing this pianist loses (and everyone if you ask me) is that Beethoven was just creatively playing... sad that that aspect is lost to pretentious over-seriousness- here is a pianist, not an artist.

[gxgfree4rhyme]

@wbiro Agree. An interpreter not an artist. But what would happen if "all" Interpreters would be artists? haha

[wbiro]

ah, I was just prodding and pushing like a good teacher (but more as an artist! )- it's hard to think 'art' when you've been focusing on technique all your life, but all it takes is one little poke, or one little flip of the switch, so to speak... and it's there in the back of his mind, like a little seedling, growing...

[wendlerkurt]

what?

[dajohnthomas69]

for beethoven it would probably be too slow;-) It is known that during his lifetime no living pianist could master the pianistic technique required for the last piano sonatas. it is clearly performed despite the speed but i don't enjoy it cos it takes away the attention of the music. Someone like Arrau really takes the time so you are able to hear the music. This sonata is not a pianovirtuoso piece, but a musical virtuosopiece. These are two different things however they may be intertwined.

[alilapointe1]

you would have to be mad to play this from the top of head

[lagathy]

this is simply too rushed...though technically,it is astonishing to behold !

[PointyTail]

I think it was Glenn Gould that said something like "I'll play it this time. And never again."

[jeroenelo]

I hear the "flirting with disaster" thing too.

It always seems to be there in my favorite's.

Any Psychiatatrist, please explain.

[louisvonbeethoven]

I love this movement. Here my favorite composer tears the fugue form a new asshole. The performance is superb. You have to flirt with distaster in order to give this piece a proper reading.

[AZazaxe]

This fugue is deadly, if you look at the score, it is extremely confusing

[terryregnar]

SURGICAL ACCURACy WTFFFFFFUUUUUKKKKKKKKKKKK

[esembesem]

a little bit too fast for my taste.

This fuge and the fuges op.110 and 133 are getting their "sound" in a lower tempo

[dvijey]

he is trying to beat webster aitken

[animemusic8]

Its a BIG challenge to the pianists

[enricoI]

I wonder what Barenboim would say about this performance in his master class?

[Endeavour88]

Wow! He runs a lot on the fugue! BRAVO!

[davidbaker03]

i'll be seeing him in concert at Utah State University of Tuesday!

[TJFNYC212]

quite a performance! thanks for the posting I am not familiar with this pianist but do plan on familiarizing myself with his work WOW tour de force

[ellihaysee]

This is a great performance! For those of you who think this is fast, listen to Ashkenazy's earlier recording of the Hammerklavier when he raised the bar for this mvt. Liszt also championed this piece in his 20's and it's said the he played the Fugue on the faster side.

[alexhuddleston]

Jesus.... he got a flight to catch or something?

[beyondunreal]

amazing!

[ivonneit]

O___O

[Grigor99]

What's really amazing is that he actually is able to make any music out of this tempo. Crikey that's fast!!

[sunflowerptl]

I have seen him perform and it is amazing how much talent he has.. not to mention he is only 27 years old and has played for years! If you ever get the change to see him it is very worth it!

[LaVitaSphere]

The music is pretty, but not beautiful. Regardless, his technique is fantastic.

[TheMazurka]

It's not supposed to be beautiful or pretty, it;s Beethoven challenging any pianist out there to see if they can play what he can compose. Nobody played this full sonata fully until the days of Franz Liszt and him accepting Beethoven's challenge. long after he died. (The challenge is implied, not him coming up and challenging the public through a speech or something)

[animemusic8]

Yeah I know that...nobody can play masterpieces of the Masters perfectly as how the Masters play them....

[hellomate639]

Lot of people say this is too fast, but I question that because this piece supposedly had a virtually impossible tempo marking on it...

[coqdorysme]

Post it. We shall see.

[thepianovirtuoso]

This is the hardest movement of the hardest sonata that beethoven ever composed

[sshuck]

I really like this performance. It's very fleet but also has a lot of detail. The visual aspect is also very cool to watch and exciting.

[revelations146]

Dude! How can your fingers move that fast.

[hukanobehu]

actually i do also agree with haridiasis,

for some reason it doesnt really sound musical. its technical, but who really cares.

[hukanobehu]

LOL i laughed too lolz

[234234234werrrrrrr]

HOLY SHIT!

[voluntate]

BRAVÍSSIMO!!!

Execução fantástica!

Mas que entendimento, que maturidade!!!

[harisiadis]

Impressive technique. Alas, not in the service of music. Lacks maturity.

[seijurouhiko]

amazing!

i heard that this piece is one of the hardest piano pieces ever made.

[tchebinai71]

I didn't remember watching this video. wow !

great man .

[hellomate639]

Great technique, and apparently, the tempo marking on this piece is usually described as impossibly fast, so that's good.

It had a very static volume though.

[adam4397]

I got his autograph the otherday at church- HE IS AWESOME!

[Grachus7]

in my opinion much too fast, sometimes it doesn't feel like Beethoven's piece, sounds like Liszt... no great changes of tempo or dynamic... nevertheless obviously wonderful technic and skill, some really good moments, but - for me - not the best interpretation...

[tchebinai71]

If I were pianist I think i 'd love this kind of interpretation : something that wanders from the musical text even if the composer didn't want that . Playing very slow or accelerando or even very daring rubati .

it's nice to add something from yourself when one plays it's like building other combinations. Once i played moonlight sonata (2) in an atypical way . I had a new feeling :-)))

[fiddlinmatt]

ha!

[karlakor]

There is no question of this pianist's ability to play at breakneck speed, but this performance is simply too fast. The sforzandos that Beethoven marked are lacking entirely, as is the general sense of direction and pacing. Lest anyone think I am just another jealous pianist, I will say that I have played this sonata and know what I am talking about. Follow this performance with the score in front of you, and you will see what is missing. Still, I admire his technical command of the keyboard.

[tchebinai71]

2.12 : waow astonishin'

[WENCHINGTON]

But it is happy that a low caliber shit pianist, like yourself, goes around claiming what others know and do not.

[eligarf]

criticShutfup.

[XavierSky]

you know what I hate double standards people play this way (fast and technical) on piano or violin or any classical instrument and its musicianship or skill or talent and its good and awesome and cool but if you play this on a guitar....OMG you suck you have no feeling blah blah blah jsut stop with the bullshit double standards

[xazish]

world class musicianship. Maybe to fast, but the detail is so incredible. He never loses sight of where the music is going. Intelligently conceived and astonishingly played. This guy is going places.

[dripglass]

mad skills, but too fast for me.. lost me completely at 9:05 as he sprinted toward the finish. maybe he likes to see just how fast the notes can be played, but music is a communication, not a competition. I'm sure he'll realize that more and more as time goes by.. you must remember this.. a diss is just a diss..

[atometris]

and just for the record, not only does he have a huge career AHEAD of him, he has one right now. Check out his website. A remarkable musician. I've been stunned by his live performances many times.

[atometris]

I agree with many here. The ability is truly unbelievable, but there really is no pulse. A fast tempo is admirable if there is a pulse. It doesn't even feel like there is a tempo- just faster faster faster. And everytime there's a passage that can't possibly be accomplished at lightning speed, he backs off slightly to get it, and then takes off again. I find it both exciting and irritating.

[sshuck]

Only heard first 2 minutes, but it's 5 stars.

[koobird]

Beus lets the music speak for itself.

[getmorethanalife]

if u think this is bad i'd like to see u play better.

[Virtuoso80]

Put me in the group that likes this performance. There's a difference between capturing the details of a score and capturing the sprit of the music. Brendel is a wonderful pianist/historian giving us a template of technical notions and I'm thankful to have him, but I find it hard to believe that you can look at this insane piece of music and believe that Beethoven had reserve and restraint in mind. This was the Heavy Metal of it's time, and it should be played as such.

[tchebinai71]

I agree with you .

[nostromissimo]

I Don't care about any of these negative comments coming out about this guys playing, even if some of them may be right. I can say with confidence that this guy has a career ahead of him.

[kmpiano1]

I think one point most commentators miss is the speed has only to do with parts of this very talented individual's playing. As Barenboim has always talk about, in most Beethoven, especially in this colossal fugue, there has to be a sense of struggle. I don't really find it here. He has phenomenal technique, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't give me a sense of triumph at the end. There's really a lot of debate about Beethoven's metronome marking.

[xazish]

This is incredible! The best video of this movement I've seen on youtube. His phrases are so long and seem to encompass whole sections of the work. It's like he is scaling a mountain. Bravo!

[AndyWarhol]

The speed is not the problem it is the fact that there is absolutely NO rhythmic grip to his playing. At a speed such as that phrasing has to be impecable and i simply do not get that from his rendition. There is no accentuation; his playing is blurry....i can hardly hear the music, just a myriad of notes. Speed merchants aren't impressive at all....perhaps they feel the need to compensate for a lack of something more profound.

I personally prefer Glenn Gould's slower performances.

[TONICOSWORTH]

Je suis assez OK sur le fait que le tempo VOULU PAR BEETHOVEN (136) se prête parfois mal à certaines accentuations syncopées et je partage votre analyse;

Mais prendre GG comme modèle dans Beethoven, c'est de la pure provocation.

Ce document visuel d'Hammer jouée au bon tempo, j'en ai rêvé; maintenant, je l'ai. Merci Youtube !

[TONICOSWORTH]

excuses: it's 152 and not 136

[tchebinai71]

did you hear gg' hammer performance??? Where ?

[jefftam1234]

people who criticized Beus for playing too fast.

obviously never read the score and its metronome.

go back to ur caves and listen to Brendull's recording on ur casette tape player.

[Ankaboot25]

Black 144 is what Beethoven has written. This is certainly faster than 144. Furthermore Beethoven has marked many legato lines in script. I don't hear any legato music here.

[corkybeautiful]

I saw him accompany the Utah Symphony and there is so other word to describe him and his talent besides PHENOMENAL!

[atometris]

actually, the Utah Symphony accompanied him ;)

[eligarf]

lol

[CPSheidi]

Very Nice This song, your played so top hehe...!!^.~!!

[Grigor99]

Wow. You're all a little too weird for me.

[Grigor99]

Well, you have a point, however, I feel there are certain passages that are more playful. His tempo is certainly the "upper limit" of what it should be performed at.

[radiaeve]

You ended a sentence in a preposition. Bad.

[progrockkeyboardist]

Weirdly, Grigor99's last sentence is perfect English. An alternate would be...

His tempo is certainly the "upper limit" of at what it should be performed.

This kind of structure is used in Spanish and French. Even though it's valid in English too, it sounds totally unnatural.

[Zippolata]

Your grammer is lost in translation...It should be; "his tempo reached, the upper limits of a truly grand performance". Leaving the audience to ascertain what should, or would be the "upper limits"....

[234234234werrrrrrr]

i laughed

[Grigor99]

With all due respect to this pianist's formidible technique, it's just way too fast. He misses all the playful phrasing at this speed even though the fingerwork is impeccably clear.

[BachFong11]

I think this is very full of character! I'm not really sure if this fugue was intended to be "playful" anyway.

[chrish12345]

it obviously is intended to be playful

[classicalthema]

A marvellous pianist.World-Class. An extraordinary talent.I heard some of their owns compositions and they are amazing also. Bravo

[chrish12345]

i wouldn't say this is 'world class'

[ptitepianiste]

Wow ! wonderful !

[SimonTrader]

Impressing.

[bakjoi66]

Never liked listening to this part, but seeing it performed up close like this gives me a new appreciation. Heavenly.

[arsforsa]

its awesome!!!!!!

[BachFong11]

this is kinda scary...

[maestrovivaldi]

I second you!