Gulda plays Mozart Fantasy in C minor (1)

[britishpolitics1]

wonderful and great

[MrConvivator]

Danke, habe Link gesetzt

[thomandy]

I just noticed that the start of this piece is equal to Chopins Ballade 1. I guess that might have gotten Chopin to create the piece he did! The articulation is also the same! :)

[istarninwa]

Sends shivers down my spine. Every. Time.

[hirandomfun]

i think that Mozart's, and Bach's pieces have a simplistic beauty, which i love<3......Beethoven is much different...i would consider his style to be more like Chopin however my favorite out of the four is still mozart.

[eddiesridhar12344]

Bach...boring

But Mozart!!!

[DarthYoungling]

It cuts off at the end!!

[DEFGI]

learning this at the moment, never heard anyone play it before apart from my piano teacher. it's nice to sit back and listen to it without having to play it yourself to hear it

[MrLacidaremlamano]

I love the sound... beautiful

[obdeniye]

I have enormous respect for Mr. Gulda, but this performance is boring and asleep. His constant use of the sustain pedal is peculiar to me. The entire piece is supposed to be "tighter". Not louder, but tighter. The chords in B minor near the beginning are supposed to sound like a rush followed by silence. When the D major passage comes in the high melody needs to have staccatos mixed in. Melodies should be "flute-like".

More *tuck-tuck* and less *wah-wah-wah*.

[MusikPiratCH]

obdeniye, part 2 of Gulda's interpretation prooves that your critics seems too hard! xD

Friedrich Gulda really is one of the greatest interpretator of Mozart's sonatas and fantasies! :D

[Meewosheq]

@MusikPiratCH

His interpretation is hopeless! Without emotion, he renders the notation like machine. Especially the begining is emotionless.

[hfdmozart]

how,would u interpret a "fantasy",without specific notations?i guess it's anyones fantasy,that keeps it all alive. that's the beauty.!

best wishes,wolfgang!!!!

[metphmet]

Why?

[Temptezt]

With all respect but it's ignorant to say things like, it is supposed to be played like this and supposed to sound like this and that. It's not up to you to determine how it should sound, it WAS up to Mozart, but since he only left us some notes it's hard to tell. Please try to give your opinion instead without actually saying you KNOW how it SHOULD be played, because you do not. Noone really does...

[princenosiatajansen]

@Temptezt

xD i think a a general problem of the people/children today!

talking without doing :D or knowing something...

[brent78900]

I say Mozart sat down at his piano, or desk, basically, to create his works, and his most inspirational idea came to him: How can I create such a heightened You Tube argument that will create a total confusion to depict my work and personality. I've said this countless times and again, I say: you cannot simply say something is entirely one thing, and you cannot take someone else's words to mean only one unchangeable fact. Come on guys! All information is useful! None can be ruled out!!

[daisy1142]

@brent78900

i say that mozart did not sit down to impress anyone. i believe he was compelled to write music that reflected his personal feelings and what he heard around him. if he were here, he would call us some very bad names!

[brent78900]

Are you suuuurrreee? :-P

[maestrovinicius]

@daisy1142 You should study a little bit more about the virtuosi on 18th Century. Mozart was a show man. Das ist musik. Das ist Mozart!

[daisy1142]

why are there are so many comments in regard to theory? try having a musical experience instead of picking apart the movements, measures or chords. no one in this century can touch the brilliance of mozart, so one sounds idiotic to critique his work. and... gulda plays this piece far better than most other vids posted here. some i have listened to make it seem like the pianist is trying to kill the piano and blow everyone's eardrums.

[x79alcatraz]

Great job!

[Caribenoon]

I like the way he plays this very much. My previous favorite was by Ivan Moravec. Barenboim does a fine job too. I chose to play this piece myself because of the diversity, and because i like Mozart's minor key work best.

I heart Louise!!!

[sam0xin]

I would like to hear Fantasy genere in more freely, out of standards of Urtext...

It is right on.. I heard just a detail..This Adagio has plenty of different characters & moods...colors & DIVERSITY...I could not found any of them.

[Babejuda]

Excellent piece and performance.

[Solhemnis]

It seems very clear to me while listening to this wonderful piece that Chopin was very much influenced by Mozart. Not only for the ornements and the clear delicate melodic lines but also for the overall spirit. The mood changing from grave serious pondering to a chanting delicate blizz. Also, the very first notes remind me of chopin's first ballade. This version is one of the best versions on youtube IMO!

[skryabyn]

good call about the ballade, by the way haha.

[chopinandliszt]

this does remind me of Chopin Fantasy in F minor as well.

[ciaranodonegal]

To my hearing, this is the most beautiful interpretation of this piece I have heard. Smooth, even, with great clarity of sound, beautiful expression, perfect phrasing, precision in performance - just incomplete at the end!

[npa589]

I should probably add that I think it is impossible, and unnecessary to say Mozart is the greatest of them all.

Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart are interchangeable for that spot. Neither surpassed the other.

Mozart: the most brilliant

Bach: the most inspired

Beethoven: the most innovative

[anonymusum]

@ npa589

Often thought about something like a list you made. I could add:

Haydn: the most economical and innovative (according to the classical epoch);

Brahms: the most introverted, somehow bringing romantic and baroque together;

Schubert: the most lyrical, perhaps the most gifted according to the invention of melodies;

Wagner: reinventing the opera, the grandmaster in orchestration;

Where do we start and where do we end? Everyone has it´s particular strenghts and is incomparable.

[chopinandliszt]

with all due respect, npa589, Mozart's went beyond the achievements of Beethoven in the Jupiter Symphony, with this in mind, Mozart was never less innovative than Beethoven.

[npa589]

Try to understand this.The Jupiter Symphony?Probably contains the most brilliant stretch of music ever written.Of course I am speaking of the fugue at the end of the IV mvmt. Brilliance isn't determined by beauty. It is determined, in my opinion, by complexity combined w/continuity&focus-epitomized by Bach&Mozart. At the same time, Beethoven's 9th is the greatest piece of music ever written. Brilliant? OF COURSE!The most brilliant?No. Mozart perfected classical.Beethoven INVENTED Romanticism.

[chopinandliszt]

I think both Beethoven and Hummel are the major composers who brought about the Romantic era in music.

In Mozart's works, we can find some late pieces that are "romantic" in style, although he didn't experiment with this as much as Beethoven. I think you should also give credit to other composers for contributing to the creation of Romanticism.

[princenosiatajansen]

try to understand this.

you can't compare mozart with beethoven or with chopin or schubert ....

u can just say that u like mozart more than beethoven or i dont know what.

but these historican men were to MUCH for us.j.s Bach- polypony--mozart--clasic..beet­hoven---classic&romantic---sch­ubert romantic, Chopin---romantic---usw---unti­l yann tiersen xD

words like romantic..were times. WE, today call the music romantic. but mozart didnt sit down and say: ok, nor a write a classic one.

...idiot

[Nachtmarchen]

@npa589 Beethoven was nowhere as innovative as Monteverdi and Haydn.

[Ianthe22]

@npa589 Ever heard Liszt? I'm also a firm supporter of the three composers you mentioned. Okay, how was Mozart the most brilliant of all? Music came to him easily, Brilliant in it's simple form? How was Bach inspired? Inspired by whom or what? And beethoven should be innovative? Well, yes. Beethoven was allready half a foot into the Romantic period. Allready at Beethovens stage, his music could be considered quite different from the other two.

[maurokapo123]

@npa589 Yes it's true they look from other universe. what was the music before them?? i can't imagine

[maurokapo123]

look like

[npa589]

As much of a fan I am of Chopin - this piece proves that Mozart's musical mind exceeded everyone preceding and subsequent to him - in that, if God had placed him into the Romantic period - we would have been able to hear pieces that would have easily surpassed Chopin's pianistic brilliance. Mozart WAS the Classical period - and was entirely entrenched within it. If history would have demanded him to be a Romantic, he would have perfected it as well.

[TwelfthRoot2]

@npa589 I see your point, but for me it's hard to place anyone above Chopin in the Romantic category. Even if Mozart did contribute a lot to music before Chopin.

[urahara53]

@TwelfthRoot2 erm, Rachmaninov lol

[princenosiatajansen]

@npa589

yes. i totally agree. Its like we can say of Aphex twin would live during the romantic age or the classic age, i am sure that he got a genius on the piano to or doing something special with the music!

but i still think that one of the most genius ones still SCHUBERT!!!!!!!!

he...was as onnovativ like beethoven, ect.

i love the music from f. schubert

[kleermaker1000]

@npa589

Mozart is a Romantic as for the (dramatic) content of his great works but a Classical as for the structure of his compositions. The best of two worlds!

Btw: the interpretation of this masterpiece by M.J. Pires is imo even better than this one that is a bit too 'neat'.

[paevo2010]

@npa589 Nonsense...

[paevo2010]

@npa589 Nonsense...

[Bruceforge]

@npa589 He was the line between the Classical and the Romantic Period.

[MrPaevo]

@npa589 Sorry, ain't buyin' it...

[chopinandliszt]

I'm not really getting fond of this piece. I don't like it as much as I like the D minor Fantasia. Can someone explain to me all the details and musical meanings of the piece?, There are many classical pieces that don't appeal to me when I hear them for the first time, but I gradually start to like some of them. Maybe this is C minor is one of them and I haven't understood the details of this musical architecture.

[metphmet]

It is build like an opera with an ouverture and appear different figures on the stage and sing.

[ayso78]

Yes, Cortot compared it to Don Giovanni.

[petkoopet]

As the first moment in this piece I liked the part from 3:05, it seems to me like a "lovely crying", don´t know how to describe it, it´s very emotional part. Then the Piu allegro part is beautiful (the fast one and probably the central part, in fact the exposition). And then you will be understanding the rest as well, and I agree that it´s melody is less comprehensible.

[gonzal0999]

gulda...era genial... ylo segurira siendo siempre..nadie tocaba beethoven y mozart como el..descanse enpaz maestro friedrich gulda!!..1930-2000 u_u..

[Andreeeiiii]

mozart would be such an amazing jazz player today...

[gspaulsson]

I think when Mozart writes a 16th-note staccato, followed by a 16th-note rest, he probably does NOT want it executed as a legato 8th-note. Gulda does this all over the place. He generally ignores staccato marks altogether. Gould was just as sloppy with expression marks - they were both Bach specialists, playing harpsichord music on a piano, with no markings to guide them, & doing what they liked. It doesn't work for music actually written for the piano.

[requiemaeternam7]

The Great Gulda is above Mozart. He may make any changes to Mozart's inferior score as he sees fit. For he is the Great Gulda.

(end sarcasm)

[gspaulsson]

What is it with pianists whose names are GLD (with slightly varied vowels inserted). Mabe they mistake the L for an O?

[requiemaeternam7]

LoL. I can't stand Gould. I think he is the most pompous, haughty, arrogant, conceited moron to ever sit at a piano bench. The only thing of any worth that he's ever done is his goldbergs as far as I'm concerned. His criticisms of Mozart and Beethoven are about as laughable as his interpretations of same!

[IQ40000]

his interpretation of the 5th Beethoven concerto is quite good. You should try it, before judging his Beethoven.

[vincecharus]

Thanks for putting up the vid, but why do you have to chop it into two bits?

[vakareden2345]

Because it was not allowed to put up a video more than ten minutes.

[sopran21]

wonderfull piece!!

[Markohoppis]

In measure two, there is weird Neapolitan chord in root position with an added minor seventh to it. It's like combining the subdominant and dominant chord into one to resolve to G major.

It's supposed to resolve to Gb major, though. *scratches head*

[Markohoppis]

opps, Apparently the two chord progression I'm describing is a Mozart Musical Trademark. It's a three note Italian 6th chord followed by a three note major chord.

[piedijon]

usually followed by the dominant triad

[gspaulsson]

You got me curious enough to look at the whole score. There is only one tonic C- chord in the entire piece, and that is at the very end! The first two bars are German 6ths resolving onto the dom., then a sequence (B-flat minor), landing on the third iterationon the German 6th of C in root position, an Ab7th chord, by which time we have more or less modulated to Ab+. The first clear tonality is B+ (b.11), & the first C chord comes in b.59, as the dom. of F+. Mozart is playing with us!

[requiemaeternam7]

there's no neopolitan in the 2nd measure it is in fact an inverted german augmented 6th that properly resolves down to the dominant (g major) of the key of c minor. but then in the very next major he does it all over again except this time in Bb minor and does another german 6th onto the dominant F major.

[gspaulsson]

Yes, I think that's what I said - the beginning is in C minor, but it's all dominant harmony that implies the key without ever sounding the tonic. Actually, the modality is ambiguous, and the key signature is C major. We don't actually ever hear the resolution of that dominant onto the C minor tonic chord until the very last note of the piece - perhaps the most remarkable case of a delayed resolution ever written?

[requiemaeternam7]

indeed, at least in that classical period. i haven't looked at the whole score but i'll take your word for it.

[DeSuperjang]

@ gspaulsson & requiemaeternam7

There are more c minor chords before the end. Take a look at the "Andantino" section. (b. 91). In bar 93, you have a c minor chord in 6th position (eb in bass) on the first beat (as a tonic!!), and on the second beat you have a c- min chord with an appogiature (f), this time the chord will disolve into F+, dominant of B+. The same situation in 100-101. Then, you have a c min chord in bar 125 first beat. One more c minor chord in bar 160, again in 6th position.

[DeSuperjang]

@ gspaulsson & requiemaeternam7

I haven't finished yet. ;) Tempo primo: Bar 173. You can't deny that this is c- minor! ;)

So you can't say there's no c-minor chord until the end of the piece. But I agree that the fact that he did not resolve into c- minor at the beginning of the piece creates one big whole beautiful thing. :)

[requiemaeternam7]

dear friend i believe what gspaulsson said was that there was no clear resolution onto a c minor, the word RESOLUTION entails a TONIC chord i.e. a PERFECT/AUTHENTIC cadence and tonicization so a 6/3 chord would not count because it's not in root position, however if you're saying there are other tonic c minor chords prior to the end then TOUCHE!

[gspaulsson]

Yes, basically the entire piece is a V-I cadence with everything else a huge interpolation. The Tempo I is just a reprise of the opening - G6-V but no I, so we have the tonality but not the modality. The Andantino is in Bb major, and I would parse the passage you refer to (sorry, my ed, doesn't have bar nos.) as a modulation to F major. The C- chords are functionally II of Bb major, the pivot chord (V of V) of the modulation, not a tonic (except to the spirit).

[DeSuperjang]

Well, ok, I agree that the one in the Andantino passage isn't really a strong argument. ;)

But look at bar 172 (7th bar of the Tempo Primo). If I'm right, the word RESOLUTION means V-I to you?! There you have a IV-V-I cadence if it's that you're referring to. I hope I've understood the word RESOLUTION now, I'm not common to the English musical language. Please correct me if I'm wrong. ;)

[gspaulsson]

OK, you're right. He gets to C minor 10bars before the end, and in fact then hammers it home with a coda that consists of almost nothing but V-I cadences, in fact I think I count 8 of them plus a V-I6. Missed all that totally. But still, he does delay that original resolution until almost the end, and it's still a remarkable piece of writing.

[mll351]

this is one of my favorites precisely because it is written allowing the pianist to really interpret. wonderful wonderful!!

[beethomozart]

I like gulda´s style ,he feels the usic in his own very particular way,long live mozart

[silazioz]

clear and straight but also emotional