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  • Someone please put forward a reasonable answer.

    Is atonality a complete language of expressions?

  • @CHELL9001 No, I don't think so. I do think atonality (or atonal elements) can broaden the way of expression but atonality alone seems to me an insufficient way of expression.

  • @bayreuth79 i dont understand how atonality can be a contradiction of terms, surely it is more of an absolution, atonality is 'total dissonance', which is a real contradiction because without consonance theres no dissonance, like yin and yang. it's like language. from the point of tonality, its just organised jiberish but atonality is a different language with new grammar and syntax. organized chaos doesnt really apply. maybe you just dont understand it... sorry to sound like a judgemental whore

  • This is not just a pianist, she doesnt just play it. She uses it for whatever means she wants, for whatever she wants to convey. This is truly a master.

  • Why would anyone want to learn it? There is no such thing as atonal music- it is a contradiction in terms. Without a tonal context- even if the tonal music is pushed to its limit as with Wagner's Tristan- there is nothing but dissonance and sheer dissonance is a kind of organized chaos.

  • @bayreuth79

    Western tonality wasn't codified until the Baroque era—so is everything before that not music? Come to think of it, are blues, raga, and gamelan not music either?

    "there is nothing but dissonance and sheer dissonance is a kind of organized chaos."

    Call is music, call it noise, it doesn't matter: that sounds pretty goddamn exciting if you ask me.

  • @TheRealLo Music previous to the baroque period was still basically in a tonal context. Medieval music, for instance, which is my specialism at university, was clearly tonal. The atonal music of Schoenberg and Webern is something new in terms of musical history; and if you don't recognize that then I'm afraid you are ignorant of musical history.

    In terms of sound- what distinguishes some of Schoenberg's piano pieces from someone banging on a piano randomly? Remember I said, in terms of sound.

  • @bayreuth79

    You're a contradiction in terms lol

  • @whatshendrix Explain. 

  • @bayreuth79

    1. Do you never feel emotions which can only be explained with sheer dissonance?

    2. Chaos IS order. Research it.

    3. How can atonal music be nonexistent if it exists lol

  • As much as I love Schoenberg and know better than to ask this but: whenever someone talks about screwing up wildly atonal music I just always think " Awww, no one can tell anyway."

  • @FidelioRoo

    :D Some people can't even tell if you mess up a tonal piece, most don't even notice off-key singing... So what? Some people are far-sighted, does that stultify the details in visual art?

    There are always intricacies which can ruin a performance when they are neglected, but can only enrich it very subtly when played well. To the trained attentive ear every sound adds to the listening experience and those who listen to the music passively like it's a blurry mash of sounds don't matter

  • She looks like a simple, funny, passionate, attaching woman.

  • @utubuser10 Her carisma, her elegance, confident....the passion and tenderness...there are many reasons for finding her sexy and falling in love with her

  • People like this... They gotta be like the smartest people in the world.. She sounds like she understands not just music, but life, completely.

  • I just love that facial expression at 5:40!!!! It's like, "I'm showing off!!!"

  • She talks like a Schoenberg concerto

  • I wanna se Her playing Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.3

    and Chopin piano Concerto No.1 there is not any recording of those concertos is so frustrating

  • I have never been so enthralled with a person, she is more than fantastic, her knowledge is beyond belief!!

  • What a wonderful person.

  • That's "aggregate succession"- the salient sound of serial music (row after tone row in different forms...O, I5, R7, etc). It's a wonderful piece!

  • Paying the row by itself is a rather "old school" gesture for serial composers. The row is a source of harmonic entities that will appear during the aggregate suggestion of the music itself. It means no more than a minor scale played before the G-minor symphony.

    During composition of this symphony, Schoenberg's student, George Tremblay, encounaged the maestro to re-introduce the octave and (0,3,7) trichord into motivic positions that made the concerto more distinctive.

  • she plays debussy like nobody

  • Again and again how marvelous is Uchida Mitsuko. This piece is a master class on composition, and what master class! I would have liked it to be a full day on the web!!!!

    But what surprises and amazes me most viewing the various postings in Youtube is her passion and energy. So communicative. How happy does she look, and passionate!

  • I love her expression at 5:40 when she plays the original and inverted tone rows together... It's like, "I'm showing off, haha" :-)

    seriously, that is pretty hard to do, play two tone rows together like that at that speed without errors. (at least...i don't think there were errors...)

  • From this musical didactic it is clear that our man was not kidding when he thteatened to

    use tone rows. Fortunately used them only in the harmonic/melodic domain, not quite the rhythmic, so this is recognizably Brahmsian, and is quite neat.

  • 'the limitations of the system' says the interviewer. I don't think the limitations are any greater than any other way of writing muisic.

    Uchida's enthusiasm for this piece is infectious, though I admit it's not one of my favourites- i prefer the Violin Concerto.

  • I find she is a unique artist, and she plays it so tacfully and beautifully. I'm not trained in music but I think her piano is amazing.

  • @shibadoggie11 Her piano playing definitely is amazing, and those of us pianists who are "trained in music" think so too! :)

  • Schoenberg's piano concerto is... A LOT of brain-work, you see?

  • Uchida lived in Wien and then changed her residence to London. That's why she has british accent probably.

  • @violench SHe Changed her residence for her concerts, Her languaje is the german the english is her third languaje

  • @manuelspcool You can search her interview on Youtube. She says that now she's more comfortable with expressing herself in English. And I don't care her residence and her language, whatever it is german or english, you know? All that counts is her music.

  • @violench yeah youre rigth the residence and the languanje are in other place, Her Art is the important thing = ) and for me She is the most puwerful pianist in the world

  • @violench oh and a year ago there where a interview in youtube but was erased where She Speaks German like a Real German and says a lot of thing's of the languajes but like you say the very important thing here is the art

  • xD he didnt see it.

  • piano is kool XD

  • She really convinced me that Schoenberg is just BEAUTIFUL. Beautiful, with no catch. It's not about being dissonant on purpose, as she shows that the third is also a very important interval in the work.

  • on a mundane...love the Englishy accent

  • I know a French woman who has the same "Englishy" accent when speaking English. They both must have learned the language in England or from a Brit.

  • What year was this interview done?

  • This woman is a genius of music, a prodigy, I love her style and I love the way she thinks of the music she plays. All my respect to her!

  • I always love hearing interviews with concert pianists, and seeing them play.

  • Ah, I want more of this! It's so wonderful to listen to her.

  • Great to hear her speak!

    Ted, couldn't find TK on YouTube. Listening to more Rachmaninoff III today here -- Argerich and Kern are great. Tom (MSO concert goer).

  • I fell in love with her while watching her saying "do you know what it takes? just take guts to do it...just takes guts to say...well too bad, hop it goes..."

  • same :D

  • I completley agree!

  • that's so amazing when she plays both the original and the retrograde inversion tone rows together at 5:39!

  • this was marvelous. thanks for posting.

  • She's awesome!!

  • I heard about a pianist who was going around the US faking Schoenberg's piano pieces & it took 3 years before anyone figured it out. I guess you could call this DodecaPHONY music.

  • She makes a good comparison at the end about Debussy passively discarding tonality, Schoenberg aggressively.

  • I agree. She's brilliant!

  • Cretino.

  • Mitsuko Uchida is amazing!! She's soooo passionate! I have been blessed to see her live at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and her stage presence is a welcome addition to her astounding gift! I've seen other famous virtuoso pianists, but she, by far, stands out amongst the crowd! And not only did I see her in concert, but I met her afterwards. She is genuine and truly interested in those with whom she meets. I have many of her cd's/dvd's; her interpretation makes the music come alive!!!!!!!!

  • She is a wonderful pianist, sensitive to, and understanding of, the music but I have been in love with her speaking voice for so many years!

  • The knowledge and insight on display in this clip shows me the difference between a musician who is merely technically good and a musician who also understands the music. Ms. Uchida is a shining example of the latter.

  • she is so cool, one of the greatest pianists I've heard, and I have heard gould argerich, rubinstein etc.

  • 6:03 so dramatic

  • "Oh My God! The guy was mad!" Great first impression of Schoenberg's but so true...Schoenberg's must grow on you! As a pianist myself, my goal is to reach the quality level of Mitsuki Uchida...she is amazing! So much enjoyable to hear speaking of music and, most important, playing it! Indeed a true musician! Brava!

  • "hop it goes!"

    huahuhauhuahuah!!!! Great artist. Really amazing.

  • Excellent clip.

  • No. Cello.

  • I wonder, did Schoenberg play piano at all?

  • Comment removed

  • She is so intelligent it is frightening!

  • That's fine :)

  • Lol sorry lionsome..I think you took my comment the wrong way. I didn't mean anything like that :) I just said it because she did remind me of my aunt, in the sense that she looks "comforting" and familiar to me

  • これで日本人なのだから驚きます。

    She has great pianist!

  • She's no chick, she's lady. Fuck you.

  • Wow, you're so damn stupid.

  • what is that first piece she says she played by shoenberg? Right around 7:40 minutes.

  • She says "Schoenberg Opus 11," which is the Drei Klavierstücke (Three Piano Pieces), Op.11.

  • I think I heard: opus eleven..

  • i was lucky enough to listen to her live yesterday!! she is AMAZING!!

  • She is so brilliant. It is inspiring to listen to her talk about music. A true artist.

  • wow....I think I've just witnessed a true "musician" on Youtube...

  • lol and she kind of looks like my aunt side on...

  • She's so cute!

  • my newphew chris, was mashing down on a half assed casio ctk, i listened to it, really payed attention to it, it sounded like mush at first, but with effort and some dedication, i FOUND a way to percieve it so it can be some what enjoyable.

    the moral of the story, taste in music is not a matter of what you like and dislike, it's what you understand and what you don't understand.

  • So elegant and classy :-)

  • I think I might be falling in love with this women. Also, I love the way her accent is a mixture of Japanese and German (with a bit of English: "soooo" "knoooow") What a gal!

  • jesus

    i thought she didn't speak english well.

    Her english is beyond amazing.

  • shes awesome!

  • For amateur pianists such as myself, her discussion of performance and what it takes to play concertos just makes you want to play the piano even more.

  • Her passion for this piece is infectious. I can listen to and enjoy atonal music up to a point, but hearing her talk about it and break it down makes it more interesting.

    Also agree that her Mozart readings are outstanding. Also, check out her Schubert recordings. Not sure if there are any here on YT, but her CDs of his Impromptus and Sonatas are excellent.

  • She seems like a really cool person.

  • i like her face when she speaks in front of the camera than she plays the piano, but don't get me wrong, i also like her especially when she plays Mozart.

  • atonal music might be brilliantly composed, but it's appreciation is too technical as a result. i'd much rather dwell on music that's pleasing to the ears.

  • Of course it is music. This music may be more than 65 years old, but it has lasting lyricism and power and will continue to be played because it is a great work of art. Thank goodness music is so varied that it fills the needs for all kinds of expression. This is brilliantly composed -- no debate about that. Tonality is learned. One can learn to love music that isn't based on modern Western tonality. After all, medieval monks knew modes and not the modern major/minor tonalities.

  • Agree about the concert, but tonality is not 'learned' as if it is a random system of major/minor scales. It actually has a very deep foundation on intervals, harmonic series resonance, physics. There is nothing 'non-tonal' about medieval monks modes, traditional indian music etc.

  • i cant stop watching this.this woman is amazing!

  • Her interpretations of the Mozart pieces are downright breathtaking too. In my opinion, she is the best interpreter of Mozart today.

  • Shoenberg has the firmest command of music theory, structure, etc., it is the emotional impact of this piece that really shines through for me. By using 12-tone harmony he is able to change moods on a dime and can express horror and delight in ways tonal music cannot.

  • you are the person who really understand music. its rare. Enjoy!

  • Thank you for this wonderful excerpt. This will definitely help me listen to the Piano Concerto with fresh ears.

  • Its good listening to people who know what they're talking about.

  • she speak english very fuluently,cos she stayed europe for a long time.

    she is genius piano player,good mozart player.she is inspired.I like her mozart.

    she is great piano player indeed.

  • This video pro(o)ves that music is indeed a universal language and that all people asserting that "Asians don't know how to play western classical music" are very wrong.Ok,they make faces(so what!!) but they make music as well!every continent has something characteristical,that's all.P.S. (I am not Asian).

  • That is preposterous!!! How dare you?

    Are you going to start measuring skulls as well??

  • This has to be one of the most ignorant comments in all of youtube. And youtube comments are pretty stupid.

  • No thanks. I would never apply to a shitty "schooll" where they can't even spell. Besides, I already have a PhD.

  • You play "twice better"? According to which scale, may I ask? How do you measure that? By the way, I think the real disgrace of a teacher is the one who taught English. Complete failure.

  • I couldn't care less about your taste in languages. If that's how you speak English after five years in NY, it's obvious you wasted your time.

    As for English being utilitarian, read some Shakespeare.

    About Uchida, please do shut up and come back when you record something so we can all take a shit on your ludicrous "manners of pianoi playing."

    Also, take your head out of your ass.

  • You don't fool anyone. You couldn't stay in NY because of your mediocrity. Period.

    There's nothing "repulsive" in Uchida's playing while there's plenty of repulsive in your childish opinions.

    Who's to say a language is "pretty" or "ugly"? You're full of prejudices (and of shit as well). I guess you also believe that Paris is the "city of love" and nonsense like that.

    It's clear you have the faintest knowledge about English literature.

  • I was just looking at the list of pianists included in Phillip's great collection Great Pianists of the 20th Century. Brendel, Perahia, Gould, Gulda, they're all in there. Uchida is included too with beautiful recordings of Debussy, Mozart, and Debussy.

    However, I can't find anything by lokopiano. Apparently he is too busy looking good and playing weddings and bar mitzvahs to be bothered.

    PS. Mi lengua natal es el español. Pero mi inglés es excelente, a diferencia del suyo.

  • I wouldn't want to step in but, lokopiano... that's some bullshit.

  • No, BULLSHIT is the way you think that Asians play like monkey! And bullshit is the way you percept such puny and imbecile thoughts!

  • lol... you must be dumb to the highest order...

  • This sounds personal. I think U R being subjective.

  • Yes i am. I do suck cocks, after all.

  • Locopiano, Sucking cock is about as personal as one can get, especially if U tell the recipient your name first. So Locopiano do U like Pianissimo or fortissimo or a combo of both? And can you do this while sucking cock? Just bing Aleatoric.

  • Oh locopiano, I forgot to ask! Do U swallow?

  • subplantation of identity.

    some frustrated hacker who like the "Quasimodos"maybe.\Lokopianio

  • I think she is striking. It is extremely difficult to pull off a schoenberg piece like this and by no means is it a normal piece of music.

  • Bahhhh.....Pollini (real great pianist) plays from memory the2nd Boulez piano sonata........................­....so? wich is the point , if that sonata is a good pice of shit?...

    lokopiano

  • OK I'll look up Pollini playing Boulez if U look @ Valentina Lisitza playing Gaspard De La Nuit.

  • Silencio, subnormal!!

  • What an engaging pianist and woman.

  • Thanks for this. Really great to hear a performer speak about this composer with her own ideas and appreciation for composition. Bravo!!

  • Whether one calls oneself conservative or revolutionary, whether one composes in a conventional or progressive manner, whether one tries to imitate old styles or is destined to express new ideas -- whether one is a good composer or not -- one must be convinced of the infallibility of one's own fantasy and one must believe in one's own inspiration. (Arnold Schoenberg, "Composition with Twelve Tones")

  • I can no longer add to the Ketchum-Ramatganski-erniespark­s substring. So just declare Ramatgansky the winner and go on doing what you separately would do anyway.

  • I won't be offended and I'll definitely understand if you declined, even by not responding.

  • YouTube commentary is no place to carry on a discussion. I have learned my lesson.

  • Like A. Schoenberg's, B. Bartok's music may also at times (most inconsistently) be very confusing and difficult to immediately relate to emotionally.

    I don't yet have enough of Schoenberg's music to "work with", but I did have a personal break-through with that Bartok 1st movement which always "bugged" me.

    Sorry, but as long as the discussion is relevant to the video commented upon, I don't see a reason to apply your "lesson", though I accept and understand your position.

  • I love her! Amazing in Schubert, Mozart + Schoenberg!! And her accent is exactly like Georg Solti's...

  • I am surprised, I thought she only plays Mozart, guess a good musician is good at every piece they play.

  • Most pianists don't find this music comfortable, but she shows that it is infallibly effective when played with mastery and conviction.

  • yep... nobody is perfect. But I could say.. she's near of this.

    She is almost perfect. ^^

  • ownage.

  • I Love her... She is a Treasure. Anything she does is Wonderful.... and her Mozart brings me to tears..... Thanks for Posting this! Charles, in Atlanta, GA

  • She looks like my piano teacher I had when i was 10 years old. I bet she has a cat. And I bet the cat has dementia from all the Schoenberg playing!

  • Uchida is a wonderful presenter.

    I doubt most cats would go mad over any music, as long as it is fairly uniform.  I once had a cat who would run away from hard timpani bangs. My present cat peacefully tolerates whatever I play through speakers, including this. Cats have no concept of humanly conceived music. However, cats will tune in on your reactions to it.

    Holy retrograde inversions: this is great!

  • I recommend two books that might interest you. first "Music, the Brain, and Ecstacy" by Robert Jourdain. A phenomenol book dealing with many aspects of music. Also, "The Cult of the Amateur. How today's Internet is Killing our Culture." by Andrew Keen, 2007.

  • Robert Jourdain, Music, the Brain, and Ecstasy: How Music Captures Our Imagination, William Morrow Press,1997

    Do I really want to understand that much about Mancini's Pink Panther theme? :)

    What neat idea (or more) did you derive from this book? Has it altered your listening habits?

  • Andrew Keen,The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture, Doubleday, 2007

    I don't have anger about Internet content. People can post stuff; I can ignore them. That's all I need.

  • What movement is the beginning of the video from with the cadenza-like octaves spanning up the keyboard(which starts at about 0:17)?

  • 17": final passage of the entire concerto.

  • She is so gorgeous, so gifted, so passionate! I had several times the honor to be in her concertos, her Mozart is unique, Schönberg aswell!

    I adore Mitsuko Uchida!

  • This is awesome. So great to watch such a talented performer who is so devoted to the composer's music!!

  • Thanks so much for uploading this!

  • I think she's amazing! A passionate and phenomenal performer. She speaks so eloquently and beautifully too. She is also hot!

  • There is a wonderful recording of Uchida and Boulez doing this concerto for those of you who are interested. Included in the liner notes is an analysis written by Uchida herself. This is the cd that got me liking this concerto. BTW, thanks for the clip.

  • How delightful - what a passionate woman and how well she brings this music to life!

  • shes a little crazy lol but also very passionate and really intelligent

  • a great art

  • \o/

  • I just love Mitsuko Uchida. She plays wonderfully and it is always very interesting to here her unique Eurasian accent. Shoenberg's concerto is among my favorites, yes, a lot of brain work!

  • i think she's crazy...but i guess that's considered genius

  • I just love her! How I would love to hear her play this piece in concert.........

  • Genial!!! I love the opening of the concerto