J. S. Bach: Partita in d minor, 4. (Itzhak Perlman)

[FridaysMaskedMan]

Paul Gilbert brought me here. And i'm glad he did ! :)

[saltblockparty]

awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rattenritter]

check out paul gilberts version \m/

[AmadoDom]

JAJAJAJAJA, ese es el tono de mi celular! BRAVO

[Pepprika237]

It's an honor playing this piece on guitar, i'm playing this as one of the many pieces for my audition!

[dpucci0493]

1:18-1:23 is the most beautiful thing my ears have ever heard.

[chloeamazonite]

How does he play it so fast so high in the bow?! Incredible.

[jasmine543210]

@chloeamazonite It's natural when playing this piece to use the upper half of the bow more than the lower half, it is actually harder playing it in the lower half of the bow. :)

[chloeamazonite]

@jasmine543210 Not in my experience of playing it so far, especially with the fast string crossings. Playing that high in the bow makes things messier and muddies the clarity of tone.

[jasmine543210]

@chloeamazonite Hmmm.. Well, when I play the piece at that speed, it becomes virtually impossible to stay in the lower half of the bow due to the many slurs which are followed by shorter notes that makes it difficult to catch up on the bow. But everyone has a different technique I suppose, doesn't playing in the lower half of the bow quickly make it harder to join up notes?

[MusicPredominates]

@jasmine543210 : No such thing as 'speed' in quality classical music. The story is one of tempo.

[jasmine543210]

@MusicPredominates Well, they're virtually the same thing aren't they? :)

[MusicPredominates]

@jasmine543210 : No. They are not, brother. Think this one through !

[Grothmanus]

@chloeamazonite I find it difficult to believe that you are playing this in the lower part of the bow. At least upper middle. The closer you get to the frog, the more difficult string crossings become. Think of the point of contact between the bow and the strings as a fulcrum; I think you will understand what I am getting at here. At a slower tempo, I can see this being in the lower half, but if one planned to increase the tempo, I would suggest playing it where you plan to play it up to speed.

[999kittykou]

@Grothmanus everyone plays differently

[Grothmanus]

@999kittykou In some cases, yes. Most violinists have a slightly different bow hold and posture, but they all tend to gravitate toward one of the accepted, comfortable positions; there is also a lot of leniency between some tempi, but they all tend to gravitate around the given approximate. But then there is good, effective technique, and then there is poor technique. playing this in the lower half of the bow is considered poor technique and far overworks the arm.

[MrFootbaler]

Giga Melqadze - Moonstreet <---- watch it guys :*

[TheInvalidChronicles]

All this guy needs is a violin bow then he could play any instrument

[blackmanvishnu]

what violin does he have

[MetaleX21260]

a pleasure to play this on guitar, thanks paul gilbert for show how to revive it !

[Jamsessionroom1337]

@MetaleX21260 I just got tabs.

:P still haven't tried it plan on using it as a training piece On my 12 string acoustic for exercising.

[bobchicken34]

Everybody in the Party Clap Your Hand

Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap

[danielguevara1]

damn... he makes ONE mistake and still sounds beautiful... he is so talented. i wish i could be his successor :'(

[xultradragonslayerx]

Even though Arthur Grimaux's playing sounds less rough than this recording, I like this recording better. By like soooo much,

[arseniyonline1234555]

Man;s smacking it



[ThePoscriptum]

Music is empty here, no expressions. Poor perfoming.

[Ibucrthis]

@ThePoscriptum Comment is empty here, no explanations. Poor criticism.

[jsnauwaert]

@ThePoscriptum

Poor guy.

[ThePoscriptum]

@jsnauwaert You are right, it he could better play a Kletzmer:)

[yam3sam]

@ThePoscriptum sorry i didnt know that you could play it better

[mviolin09]

wow. this is really fast. :P

[TheInvalidChronicles]

Got the first part down on guitar crazy song!

[sosome57]

I'm having a hell of a time learning this piece. He makes it look like his buttering his morning toast. Ah, the geniuses of the world. Share some iq points. You've got plent to spare!

[MusicPredominates]

@sosome57 : Drop the piece for eighteen months. Do one or two Paganini etudes.

[sosome57]

@MusicPredominates Actually, I think I just need a quiet, warm space to practice in. Have some Paganini though it is not an etude.

[MusicPredominates]

@sosome57 ... Drop the piece first. Do something altogether different for eighteen (18) months.

[MusicPredominates]

@sosome57 : You cannot play your violin in Mother's womb.

[MusicPredominates]

@sosome57 : Do what I say not what I do ! Listen to you father here !

[sosome57]

@MusicPredominates Hahaha! I'm guessing you're not old enough to be my father. He'd be 97 were he still alive.

[MusicPredominates]

@sosome57 : The advice I have given to you - take it, or leave it - is adapted from leading instrumentalist teachers.

[alessioarenachannel]

Watching this reminds me of my only frustration. !!!

[MusicPredominates]

@alessioarenachannel : Try re-tuning your vioin - there are other tunings you know - and then start over learning bar by bar independently from the end. Then wait six months and start again from the end but connect certain bars into episodes and entries. Then wait six months and tie the whole together. Harmonically and rhythmnically analyse the whole as a means of learning it by heart.

[alessioarenachannel]

@MusicPredominates I'v never ever studied violin! It was too expensive for my familiy when I was a child. So I startet to sing. :-)

[MusicPredominates]

@alessioarenachannel Hola allí. Usted es solamente veintiséis años de edad. Porqué no comienzo ahora. Vaya al portal internacional del proyecto de la biblioteca de la cuenta de la música (IMSLP) en el World Wide Web y transfiera el libro en el vilon que juega por Auer. Tome las instrucciones y emprenda los etudes y los ejercicios que él dicta. Estudie los vídeos vivos en Youtube y enséñese.

[vyolynoalex93]

Many people who are commenting on the quality of his playing...

Try performing that after playing the first three movements; at the same speed with all the repeats. Plus he still has to perform chaconne.

Plus it's a transfer from VHS

[apolothegod]

I love playing this Gigue..... I'm used to play this fast, but once my teacher said that I should slow down a little, 'cause it wasn't sounding baroque. So I said that I like Perlman's interpretation of it and she said he is not a good example of someone who is suitable to interprete Bach's works. Well, anyway, I like his style very much and this interpretation is awesome!!!

[classifieds103]

@apolothegod your teacher is right though. Perlman is wonderful and his performance of this piece is great. However, he's not conforming to the baroque style at all. His bow is aggressive and heavy (which in Baroque it's light and airy). As for speed, i don't think it matters. as long as you have the same feel. I remember one of my teachers talked about how perlman called baroque teaching a fad when he went to juilliard (my teacher). so he probably wanted to show his own way of playing it

[ebealienhead]

That was just awesome. He plays Bach so well. Vivaldi too...amazing.

I got to meet him and got his autograph in NYC years ago while waiting on the sidewalk to go into a taping of Late Night with David Letterman show...Very cool guy indeed!

[spawnofwheezedog]

Paul Gilbert performs a fantastic rock guitar version of this piece on his new album Fuzz Universe. He's very straightforward with it, a very true cover. And of course, Perlman is astounding here.

[waistoi]

Doesn't one have to marvel at the genius of Bach for writing something as sacredly deep as this?

[Yehudi92]

Was it just me or did he play a bit out of tune at around [[2:16]]?

Otherwise amazing

[symfotroll]

@Yehudi92 No, it's not just you, 2:16-2:20 is a bit messy, not only there either, but that's the longest imperfection he's got there. Which, i guess, is a testimony to how difficult this job really is. Even guys of that level of playing having trouble here and there...

[animefan294]

@Yehudi92 it's not just u i heard it as well

[pedrostacatto]

Is not out of tune.It's a memory failure but what he does is a litlle slide and fast to correct the mistake.

[piuchello]

Perlman comme Stern, c´est la musique, la joie , l´homme. En cela je le préfère à Heiffetz.

[HeifetzRanew]

Flawless...

Perlman at his absolute peak.....

A jem...

[Dilettante3397]

..I'mnot sure for playing this piece too..Could someone give his opinion too?

[paulostroff99]

What wonderful playing.

[Dilettante3397]

Great version;does someone know if he arranged the piece ?

[nolamkp09]

no he just used his own bowings

[marqgirls]

I love this one, learning it right now.

Perlman looks so happy when he plays it...

[princess251000]

he doesnt sound like he messed up

[leoncioviolin]

siempre increible!!!!!!!!!!

[codenamewanda]

I just saw Perlman perform last night in San Diego!!! :D

He's one funny man. After a Mozart piece:

"I just got an urgent call from Mr. Beethoven. He would like everyone to not clap in between movements. He said it was fine with the Mozart, but please do not clap in his piece. ... ... I'm just a messenger."

I'm the luckiest girl in the world :)

[ILoveMusicVM]

@codenamewanda hahaha...he is really funny...:D...and you are so lucky to hear hi playing....lucky you...

[MusicPredominates]

@codenamewanda : No you are not ! Because he didn´t give you an engagement ring !

[Shadowtech666]

@codenamewanda haha he did the same thing at UIUC when people were clapping between his Mozart piece.

[999kittykou]

@codenamewanda  wow sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo lucky :(

[rawautube]

Wonderfull music.Bach was great.One of Mr.Perlman's best moments great performance love it

[Dogaradodia]

Certified Intergalactic! The Perlman Star!

[vyolynoalex93]

good performance

- I think he messed up at 2:36, but fixed it at 2:40

[rawautube]

What are you talking about?!

[Orcakeline]

@vyolynoalex93 I wouldn't say so, sir. It was completely like in the music sheet and very passionate anyway. (I actually just know the song pretty damn well, that's why I have the guts to tell you it was perfectly well played)

But I agree it's a great performance :)

[DocBarc]

@vyolynoalex93

it isn't right: he messed up at 2:42

[ASSASSINATOR199]

Ive never seen such WEIRD FACES! LMAO

But he is awesome... im 15 and i went to my girlfriends orchestra recital and i got into this music. I wish i could play it.

I LOVE it!

[questions613]

ever noticed he looks abit lie schubert

[vepzep]

it's the sideburns! hehe

[violistu]

thanks for posting.good job.thanks for the effort

[TwelfthRoot2]

Most people think Paganini was the best violin composer... I think it was Bach. He was incredible :-)

[almitadesign]

I'm agree!

[linalein248]

this is an interesting question, whether it was Bach or Paganini. This is sort of like... God against the devil...

Bach clearly showed his Christian 'Memento mori'- attitude and Paganini was often described as very odd and demoniac person.

I think they were both great, the best of their period.

[prayformercy4]

i really dont know. they were both great. 2 different styles, cant really compare. i like bach cuz his music isnt prejudiced against people with small hands like me. how r u supposed to play some of the paganini caprices with small hands

[pviola314]

nobody older than 14 should think paganini was the best violin composer.

[FlashyCat2008]

Funny. Liszt, Schumann, Brahms and Chopin sure had a very high opinion of Paganini; enough to transcribe his music, or write variations on his themes. Please give informed comments, not opinions. Paganini completely reinvented the romantic period. No other composer has had such a dramatic and intoxicating effect on audiences and contemporary composers. Oh, I can supply a much longer list if you would like.

[pviola314]

Everyone had and should have a great respect of Paganini as performer and what he did for violin. Musically in composition he wasn't as deep though, and most people do recognize that. It's not an insult.

[FlashyCat2008]

Most people recognize what anthologies and Wikipedia has to say on the matter. This is still opinion. Like saying that Perlman is the greatest living violinist today; opinion. The polyphonic style so revered in Germanic composers should not be imposed on all others. If not Paganini then who? Paganini fits this label more than any other. Try coming up with another composer who composed specifically for the violin and he will not equal Paganini; not counting Vivaldi of course. Try it.

[pviola314]

It is opinion and taste, it is not law. For me Brahms, Schumann sonatas, Bartok, Stravinsky, Hindemith, Berg all write more timeless material for solo violin that I would rather listen to on any given minute. Sure I like popping in a caprice every now and then and I know that without Paganini they would not be able to write the way they did. The same way that Wagner is said to be invaluable but I'dnotsitthroughan opera of his most of the time. But again, you right: opinion. Lets not say more

[AreejObeid]

Amazing performance. I'm working on this piece myself now, though it's really challenging so far.

As a side note, I couldn't help but notice the people passing by through the window. It sort gives an eeriness to this old video, lol.

[simon5009]

very nice ! jewish... le grand maitre!

[quartercherries]

I love the angles

[ChopainPaganini]

Majestic, simply majestic... a true Jewish prodigy...Shalom!!!

[theviolinist94]

ugh I have to learn this. Its amazing but man alive my fingers aren't that fast!

[quartercherries]

learn. stop whining, it kills the process.

[theviolinist94]

Umm I wasnt whining. I was just saying that my fingers have a hard time moving as fast as that.

[Orcakeline]

you don't even have TIME to think,believe me..I played this too..all you do is sweat and hope your hands do what they want..the problem is that you don't get the time to start it and feel like you're really playing it. It usually overcomes you.Pretty tricky!

[sarahxboxbeara]

i totally agree! i just performed this and butchered it for a school concert! it's so difficult because there's no building in the begining, it's like just storming ino a room, slamming a door with no suspense or build up of anger, you have to launch into it and you can't get used to right away.

[Orcakeline]

You probably just have to be sooo used to the technical part that you can focus only on the...expressing part. I mean, I always felt Bach was the "feeling" and not at all the notes or anything else :) You have to be a passionate person to play Bach..and to like him :) I have a couple of classmates who play Bach and they never seem to tell me anything while playing. They only concentrate on not getting it wrong, which is stupid!

[MusicPredominates]

@Orcakeline : Nonsense !

[iloveholidayss87]

@Orcakeline I'm learning this piece! My violin teacher was like, when you play this piece, you don't have time to think or breathe. But you must not forget to BREATHE. But i'll never be able to play like this! Itzhak Perlman is really amazing, i can't even imagine the amount of practice he put into this piece.

[billymisfits]

ugghh! this is so unhuman! i really can't bear it.

[gdbalck]

gloriously sublime

[xcjin]

Wow, this is amazing. By the way verlex, you probably can't even play this fast, so don't criticize him. He's so old at the presidential inauguration...

[BFGUITAR]

I really wonder what is going on in his mind. You can tell hes thinking of something.

[Dzakovich000]

"Don't screw up! Don't screw up! Don't screw up!"

(jk) I really don't know but it could be very little or more than we can imagine.

[01538max]

wow inpresionante ...........el mejor violinista dentro de su Genero

Viva Perlman :D

[JonArcher1113]

Perlman is awesome!!!

[cloud041089]

why isnt this piece more well known? i didnt know about it until i stumbled across this video.

[3lnath]

its so amazing the sound he can make at the tip of the bow...strange that he ends on an up-bow hehe

[vp1981ad]

3inath: I agree! And the power he can produce with such a small amount of bow usage (eg. at 0:28)... Mindblowing!

[TheBowIsMightier]

I would kill for his left hand!

[verlex]

haha its not that fast compared to level one music.

[masael255]

It's not all about speed but you're right, there are faster renditions.

[changling21]

Magnificent *****

[3NUNS]

Listeners/observers of this clip should note the singular phenomenon that the gigue, the dance movement - of which this is one instance among hundreds in the classical genre is and was written for the violin - "geigen". Hey hey the gigue is the geigen dance everyday.

[MussoGorski]

This performance has been a long time favorite of mine. I can listen to it over and over and find more meaning in it every time!

[singuralka]

Which piece is more demanding? Gigue or allemande?

[violinist102]

I am pretty sure Gigue

[violinist102]

But thats personal preferance.

[bluejohnnyd]

Gigue. Without a doubt.

[HARMONICO101]

Perlman is a superb violinist, but his Bach is far too romantic style for my taste.

[dernieremode]

omg this man is a GOD! a genius!

[singinginachurch]

Agreed!

[Strad615]

Perlman is best at Bach

[surgeonhobo]

I'm trying to learn this on guitar. It is very difficult. I'm having a hell of a time with it. The way this man plays it, truly incredible. And he does like its nothing to him. He's got the speed and delivery and everything. Just amazing, simply amazing.

[vnikosv]

Impossib;e for him to make a mistake as it is the only thing he is doince since he was a kid ... and an amputee ... Listen to the 15 last notes can you here the "over the pentagram" re (d) note. It's false

[snowpoppy12345]

Wow! on the guitar. Pretty fast pace. Amazing is right!

[itswilleyee]

you're playing the unaccompanied partita with an ensemble? that just strikes me as paradoxical . . . but Itzahk, I bow to you

[3lnath]

solo and ensemble is the name of a contest for high school kids in which they play either a solo, an ensemble, or both for scoring by a judge.

[PETRUTZKI]

i love this video :X very good player :) congratz !

[selmersax55]

This is a wonderful piece that I play on alto saxophone and hope iI will get to this high quality of playing. Wondedrful Artist

[violinlb10]

This is my solo for solo and ensemble!!! :-)

I love this entire partita!!

[mshakhz]

wow

this must be rare, I haven't seen this before!

[PeterChang0414]

wow!

thanks for posting this!

[ricardojufe]

thaaaaaaaaaaaaaanks for posting!

[scottbos68]

gotta love the gigue