Protopopov - Piano Sonata No. 2 Op. 5 (Part 2/2)

[lilstunnawbp]

it's sad that such atrocities occur in music such as this, I'm sorry but atonal music just doesn't do it for me there just doesn't seem to be much substance and a lack of organization and emotion, sorry I must now find some Chopin.

[hayazi95]

I'm not a troll and I can't stand twelve-tone or atonal pieces. Can someone explain to me how to understand a bunch of random notes?

[mrspoonofbuttonmoon]

@hayazi95 @hayazi95 This isn't strictly atonal. Whereas "traditional" music uses a hierarchy of fifths and major/minor thirds, Protopopov brought in tritones (the interval C-F sharp) and minor seconds. These are the most dissonant intervals available, which is why this music sounds so aggressive to our ears.

[mrspoonofbuttonmoon]

@hayazi95 It's certainly not random; if it were we'd be hearing a mixture of dissonant and consonant harmonies.

You'd have to wonder if a baby reared on this kind of music would find, say, Brahms random and painful :)

[nostromissimo]

@hayazi95 I'm not a huge fan of twelve tone either, but this is not. If you want to understand this harmony start with early Scriabin, progress through to middle and then late. This sounds to me like Scriabin's harmonic framework taken a step further. In fact, it's more modern in pretty much every way, but if you understand late Scriabin, this isn't so hard.

[Vlessgorian]

And I suppose ONE pianist must pay all this right?

[mrspoonofbuttonmoon]

What a way to end a sonata!

[88fingerspete]

awesome piece- Thanks for the upload!!

[jdaesaorn2012]

wtf? wut are those notes at the beginning?!?

[pastrychef1985]

At least this video hasn't somehow descended into a race-riot.

[machtrebel]

I'm making this into a mp3 right NOW

[BOARBIG]

@machtrebel you can download it in Flac format

[machtrebel]

@BOARBIG ...if only I knew what that was... :-)

[BOARBIG]

@BOARBIG As far as I know the CD is called "Soviet Avantgarde". It was recorded by STEFFEN SCHLEIERMACHER.

[ionas82]

@BOARBIG thank you!

[dalecampbl5]

this music is terrible...

[Marcuys]

@dalecampbl5

no, your taste for music is terrible

[dalecampbl5]

this stuff will forever remain in vaults

[Sveccha93]

@dalecampbl5 hey grumpy pants, sorry you had a bad day/life but it's a matter of taste. Protopopov put more blood, sweat and tears into this composition than you are likely capable of imagining. And at least he will remain in the 'vault', to be preserved, studied, revered and heard, long after your body and mine are relegated to the elements. Grow a pair and do something better, you bizarre and angry little person.

[dalecampbl5]

hahaha..your response is humorous. I just think people need to reevaluate art....I'm a music love and I've heard a lot and normally I'm pretty tolerant of all music...but I think people need to draw a line on what is considered insightful art and what is merely outrageous for the purpose of being outrageous.

[Sveccha93]

@dalecampbl5 haha. yeah, i wasn't all that serious. I hear what you're saying, but I'm also curious why that impulse manifests itself by posting abusive comments about dead people's music. Also, you still seem to be drawing the line yourself with no criteria that I can tell...it seems you are viscerally offended by the music and are lashing out like a disturbed animal, until you say something more definitive.

[dalecampbl5]

@Sveccha93 well...because i guess you can say I can voice my opinions on here with no repurcussion...if you were my friend and I knew you personally I would tell you are an idiot even if I thought you were...like if you ate dog shit, I'd think to myself "okay he's an idiot" but I'd let you be. On here, I can say your an idiot...also I'm curious why people like this stuff, I want to hear some real experiences.

[Sveccha93]

@dalecampbl5 So if you think something is stupid, it's stupid. That's hardly an objective criterion like I was asking for. You mention Schoenberg, Berg and Webern - but there is more to "atonalism" than serial composition. There are other branches, kinds and mixtures. There is more to visual art than representative art and more to music than pure diatonic music with predictable chord cycles and resolutions. Both ideas have their extremes, but I also personally find pleasure in both.

[xodn3300]

@dalecampbl5 can you tell us at which objective point a piece of music become "merely outrageous for the purpose of being outrageous?" As far as i know, outrageousness is a subject measure and the "line" you're talking about is subjective as well.

[dalecampbl5]

i'd say atonalism is outrageous for the purpose of being outrageous...I think schoenberg, berg and webern are outrageous. they threw everything out the window to make things that sound like crap...but they're famous for being different. so YAY for them. But I still think they stink for the most part. I too can write atonal music...in fact before I knew how to play any piano masterpieces, I would make shit up on the piano ,and little did i Know, I was practicing atonalism!

[TheRealLordRama]

@dalecampbl5 Hey everyone, stop replying to dalecampbl5. He is an obvious troll. I mean, only a troll would favorite a Smashing Pumpkins video and pretend to have valid opinions about music!

[dalecampbl5]

i'm a troll because I'm not a stuck up musical elitist who only likes classical music?!?!?! at least smashing pumpkins are tonal and they sound better than Berg and atonalism...even lady gaga sounds better than atonalism, but they don't beat Moussorgsky or Beethoven, that's for sure

[TheRealLordRama]

@dalecampbl5 "at least smashing pumpkins are tonal and they sound better than Berg and atonalism" Not true—in fact, the Pumpkins might sound a little better if they grew some balls and played a little out-of-key! Anyway, if you would've glanced at my profile, you'd see that I'm by no means "a stuck up musical elitist who only likes classical music," although it is true that I have standards. ;)

[xodn3300]

@dalecampbl5 do you like late scriabin? how about Feinberg's 6,7 and 8th sonatas?

[dalecampbl5]

to answer directly..I have no comment because I never found the time to intently listen to Scriabin's late works and I don't even know who Feinberg, maybe I heard his stuff on youtube but haven't paid attention to it. I had a friend who played a prelude from SCriabin's earlier years and I thought it was beautiful.

[Sveccha93]

@dalecampbl5 this just betrays the fact that you don't know all that much about it. that's not your fault, but to say that atonalism is the same as random or impulsive is just asinine.

[dalecampbl5]

i know the basic tenents of atonalism...but my point is those rules were made as new rules but they don't really follow the ears for what is pretty...you can argue atonalism is pretty...i guess there's no real way to define "pretty" but I know we all have a sense what is pretty and atonalism isn't it

[4785689]

8:07 OMG

[Scarbo09]

Nice chart, but I think a better name for it would be the Scriabin 11th sonata. Not that this is criticism, far from it. But it is extremely clear that this composer was living and breathing Scriabin for many years before he composed this, especially Scriabin's 6th sonata.

[angelix211]

WOW amazing masterpiece.. beautiful,, too dark and misterious

[PhysicsFritz]

This is one of the most exception pieces of Piano music I have ever heard.

[addeex1]

what? :O this is great!!!!

[Cardossian]

I think the idea of having a score moving along with the music is wonderful! Thank you!

[superstition222]

Now this is a change from the banality of certain other composers I've discovered recently.

[Hexameron]

Like who?

[bowmanlz]

Hexameron has spoken.

[Aerovistae]

@Hexameron maybe czerny :)

[Aerovistae]

(2 years later)

[John11inch]

Like who?

[JakaAce]

Really strange Oo

But nice :)

[musicencyclopedia]

Amazing composition! It is as if Scriabin was able to give birth to the apocalytic baby - Protopopov made it grow and fulfill the end of the world!

[dalethomasdewitt]

More like artist Esher's take than Scriabin. Dissonance ain't nothin new. Pardon mixing media. Scriabin took harmony to an occult level. This ratio is textural. (For instance the retina reflecting a scull; or the lizards walking back into the desk mirror's shadow.) Of course opinion is disagreeeeable

[MultiFailBot]

wut

I did not understand that post.

[dalethomasdewitt]

Take 6:57. You don't find Al making those trends. To put it bluntly: He's more pedantic in a good way. Don't get me wrong I love musical destruction. Hopefully neurons get bent. But that's another story. The point is Scriabin has a dual edge. Chopin and the Occult. Dissonance is a physical arbiter against routine. Listening to non-existence requires going outside routine. It's a balancing act since compositors have to utilize routine in the act of either destroying it or copying.

[FabioThePianist]

I like very much this sonata, pure genius

[IloveAlexisBledel689]

Very dark, I love it!

[scriabinwasmydad]

I don't think I can get tired of listening to this! xD

[Hexameron]

I'm counting on you to work your magic and find obscure recordings of the First and Third Piano Sonatas ;)

[scriabinwasmydad]

LOL , Please don't over estimate the speed at which I obtain recordings! xD

I will try ... My channel is on the watch also, so I'm kind of scared to post certain things. 2 Pianists have contacted me regarding some posts of mine! Thank God all went well...

Let's see what I can do ...

[skryabyn]

hey hex and scri. I am a huge fan. please dont go!!

[cleomagoolando]

Jonathan Powell may end up recording all three sonatas, since he's already learned to play them all. After hearing Schleiermacher's version of #2, I would love to hear him tackle #1 and #3

[Hexameron]

Schleiermacher is a visionary with this kind of music. I have another recording of Protopopov's 2nd with Thomas Günther performing and it really left me disappointed.

I would salivate for a recording from Powell; he recently played Protopopov's 3rd at a recital in London... I envy that audience.

[josephstef]

completely new and enlightening to me !! Thank you so much. I have never heard of him. How availalble are his scores? Thanks again

[Rick035244]

5:50

[coqdorysme]

i have made it my new mission to learn at least this sonata - awesome music has too long been kept unknown!

furthermore, it isn't all that technically demanding anyway.

[DarkRaimundo]

Just try pressing those chords xD

[damildlyshreddah]

Lovely

[bartje11]

Great sonata. Love the final part.