Bernstein about Beethoven's music

[azkeyz]

well that's interesting , because as for myself , I also found beethoven 9 ode to joy to be one of the most worthy pieces of music from beethoven.

butt when the joy is gone , beethoven is quickly back to his brooding moon light sonata

beethovens emotional range is very wide.

in my current musical situation , I'm seeking 1 single melody line that can defeat beethoven completely.

bach of course does it for me every time.

[jomeara75]

Nobody encapsulates the greatness of Beethoven quite like Bernstein

[obtica1]

youtube.com/watch?v=EmV35VPRT9­s

[Cocoheadedcannibal]

@onlinemonikers Troll

[blucinemafilms]

Bernstein kind looks like Beethoven himself. Make ya wonder. ...

[sithardeth]

is it from a documantary ? where does this video came from ?

[tangoalpha7]

Notice at 1:49 when Bernstein says "ALL" he pauses at almost the exact same time as the music. Coincidence? ;)

[Dan474834]

It's always a pleasure to listen to Bernstein.

[winrx]

This amazing man can expound on the intricacies of a speck of dust for hours on end.....

[1AdrianR]

@onlinemonikers I am if you are referring to the Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys

[skorpio2112]

@onlinemonikers yep... BW a genius... and Lennon, McArthney, Mozart, Schubert, Chopin... so on... and on... but I think that Beethoven is on the top of the pyramid

[skorpio2112]

Beethoven was deaf from the outside world... but clearly he listened what is soul was whispering in his heart... I love that man

[Cherubini47]

It is very difficult to explin the magic of Beethoven's music,yet,it's so easy to enjoy it.I am so glad that I was born after him,so that I can listen to his music,but there will be always the sadness of not meeting him personaly,for I owe the great part of my happy time exclusively to his inspiring and magnifecent music.

[craigdamico1]

i agree.. you described how i imagine him perfectly.. thank you

[volltreffer82]

Thank you ! What a great thoughts on Beethoven.

[MusicMan20061210]

We are fortunate to have captured forever these words of praise,by a man who knew.

[EyeLean5280]

Wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing this!

[Archivvve]

He reminds me Carl Sagan a lot. The way he explain things but even voice is similar and the way of speaking. Check The Pale Blue Dot.

[randomuserguy]

@Archivvve I was thinking about this very recently, he was like the Carl Sagan of music. And Carl Sagan was like the Leonard Bernstein of science. I mean this as a compliment to both of them.

[randomuserguy]

Daaaamn, his words almost moved me to tears.

[SirFoggy2Doped]

Hey let's all just have a big circle jerk over Beethoven ^_^

[FatBoySlim696]

Bernstein is the shit.

[thegoddescomposer]

this video almost maked mi cry

[MisterQuizzz]

Beethoven is God.

[bersa888]

This total adoration of the "canon of classical music (Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms...), with its untouchable geniuses, immortal compositions... it has the hollow sound of falsehood. It's mostly highbrow snobbery of the few who were allowed to be part of it, who alone can truly understand it: the "great" conductors, pianists, violinists, scholars, even music critics! The creation of the "Olympus of the Blessed" born out of the Romantic era and the idea of the prophet-artist-composer;-)

[OzzyKingofKings]

@bersa888 Your comment fascinates me. Care to elaborate further on this matter?

[bersa888]

@OzzyKingofKings : Thanks. I really don't think I was the first one to ever say something along those lines... all I wanted to point at is that, as much as I love those "classics", there have been "lesser" composers whose music, when closely analyzed, is often just has beautiful, effective, artistic, etc. It can be effectively shown that during the XIX Cent., an intellectual elite (mostly philosophers or writers on music, not so much the composers) arbitrarily selected a few amongst many....

[bersa888]

@bersa888 :... also, you can clearly see how these "chosen ones" derived and developed their compositional techniques from what they had learned from lesser known predecessors or contemporary composers. In short: how many recordings and versions of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony do you really need to know it's a great piece of music?!? :-)

[OzzyKingofKings]

@bersa888 Hmm, I don't think I've ever heard of such an arbitrary selection in the XIX century ever happening, but I suppose it's possible!

In addition, I observe that my own adoration of the classics stems quite a bit from the legacies of the great musicians of the recorded era; I'm firmly convinced of the importance of the musician's role in effective musical communication, and it just so happens that the most famous works in history tend to be the ones these greats frequented in performance.

[OzzyKingofKings]

@bersa888 I mean, I bear no ill will towards more obscure composers who were able to produce marvelous music, but I find that more often than not a great musician has the ability to elevate a more obscure composition purely on the basis of his own phenomenal interpretive powers and artistry, whereas more mediocre musicians can take the impact and charm out of even the greatest music in the canon and make them seem rather droll...

[EmitFlestiKY]

@bersa888 it's not mere "highbrow snobbery" that recognizes genius. Popular music today is just so banal and of the lowest-common-denominator that people recoil against anything of true taste and artistic merit that doesn't immediately excite the masses. It's sad that we live in an age of such artistic and cultural mediocrity.

[bersa888]

@EmitFlestiKY : Sad, but true, my friend :-) Obviously, I adore the "major" composers... but there are many others whose music deserves to be played and heard, and some of it could be easily stand side by side with a sonata by Beethoven or a cantata by Bach. The problem is that we heard those 100+ masterpieces too many times... everything else ought to sounds less familiar, less comforting, more hostile, not as right or universal - not as great ;-)

[QuintusVIIV]

don't want to admit it, but i have always had the feeling that bernstein is a bit banal...just can´t help it.

[maxbigazzi]

interesting! Where did you take the video? From any dvd?

[ppchak77]

"It is almost like celebrating the birthday of music itself"; that last line says it all..

Thank you for posting this.

[auerwack]

@maxbigazzi it was the introduction to the special where he conducted the 9th.

[maxbigazzi]

@auerwack Thanx!!

[letsif]

What a wonderful, beautiful human being.

[Johnnyfortune82]

A very eloquent man, it is very moving what he has to say...