Jascha Heifetz - hora staccato

[theSweetOliver]

The control the heifetz has... if far "showier" than any "show" performers!!! OMG!!!!!!

[zhangkristina]

and who said heifetz doesn't move?

[demalexandru]

Wonderfull Romanian music!Thank you !!

[lanarv]

..of course Michael Rabin ..:-)

[oneoctavelow]

'Desteptovici' te rog transmite salutari sorei si multumeste-i din partea mea pentru contributia la aceasta discutie. De altfel imi cer scuze pentru raspunsul intirziat :-) daca dinsa are dispozitie poate asculta o compozitie Romaneasca de a mea cantata de o orchestra sinfonica Australiana - vezi 'oneoctavelow' - si cred va intelege ce vreau sa spun.

[Artemissa1965]

You've got to listen to Ginette Neveu's version.

[Desteptovici]

scuze..era d p profilul lu' fratemeu:)

[Desteptovici]

nu cred k doar romanii pot canta muzica romaneasca in stil...oricine poate...daca este familiarizat si eventual si petrece un timp indelungat ascultand si invatand de la cineva care este roman si canta in mod curent muzica folclorica (eu sunt naista si am 2 colege -una olandeza si una japoneza care canta folclor romanesc in cel mai pur stil la nai..cu suflet,autentic si tot tacamul:)

[SteauaBucuresti]

@Desteptovici

Nu, nu oricine. Dar tinand cont ca Heifetz era jidan, ca si Menuhin si Perlman, si toti au reconscut ca muzica romaneasca este nucleu in aparatinea acestuia.

[tubaeli93]

the greatest violin player virtuoso ever... yeah sure... have you ever heard of a man named Paganini???

[cristianvantu]

search for "Grigoras Dinicu hora staccato". That's the original and obviously if this is good that is best.

[paixiao7]

his technique is exquisite...but he doesn't embody the romanian spirit or traditional style of the piece..which is understandable

[oneoctavelow]

@paixiao7 Bravo !!! Te iubesc pentru ce ai spus!!!! Chetii astia uita ca Dinicu al nostru a compus si cintat muzica Romaneasca. Heifetz e (a fost) un zeu al viorii...dar ca sa fi un lautar adevarat, a fi un zeu nu e de ajuns. :-) trebuie sa-ti fi vindut sufletul la diavol. Nu vorbesc prostii uite muzica Romanesaca am scris si eu, si inca pentru orchestre profesioniste (oneoctavelow) ce a ce-mi gidila pipota e ca doar Romanii pot cinta muzica Romanesaca.

[Roquefortify]

Teachers today would criticize how straight his bow is when he reaches the tip.

[zexsii]

aleksandar sisic hora staccato

[77liszt]

it seems so easy! he has the elegance of franz beckenbauer.

[markzemusic]

Great recording.

[lmfviolet78]

downbow staccato= probably one of the hardest violin techniques ever

[mithrilflames]

he plays it so effortlessly, makes it seem easy

[nixrox13]

How did he run out of bow on the downbow staccato theme twice? Maybe he planned to have it fade away.

[mayatatyana1]

I agree with you! Heifetz was the greatest violin virtuoso-ever. There are many more of us who adore classical music. Thank you for posting.

[SteauaBucuresti]

@mayatatyana1

Ion Vocicu! Was the greatest, just listen to his Hora!

[dilibau]

@mayatatyana1 Heifetz himself has admitted that Grigoras Dinicu (the author of the musical masterpiece) was THE greatest violin virtuoso he had ever heard...o_O

[orgecriste]

there is no sistorshion on the video silly

[vioristu1]

vai de capu' meu'...cum face staccato in sus cu arcusu...

[violin957]

Rabin kicked his ass...

[246trinitrotoluene]

does anyone know a good place for sheet music?

[Flaminggential]

@246trinitrotoluene  google sheetplus it's not bad

[SteauaBucuresti]

Jascha Heifetz is master. Romanian culture is veeeeeeeeeery beautiful. Too bad no one want´s to recognize it.

[RuvaynBenFival]

what remarkable precision with that spiccatto!

[ElPiconeroalCognac]

Probably a silly question, but is his bow curved? Are all bows or just some?

[gibsonpaddy]

bows have to be curved to allow de hair on it to stretch slightly

[A4440HZ]

I think there's also some serious distortion on the video

[kaminskiian]

amazing. only thing that bothered me was how much his bow was veering off the center when the camer is viewing from the top at 2:11

[Fiiidla]

In response to that veering...The bow has many balance points..in the beginning every one is taught play with a straight bow..But at his level of mastery..his bow tech is perfectly placed not just for the dynamic differences in relationship to bridge/fingerboard..but to what it takes for a great upbow and downbow staccatto..hope this helps!

[IdanisVictoria]

Wonderful

[stuballs42]

Hey (iceshamanicgirl) then why don't you go and listen to Paganini,and drag your Violin behind you !!!!

[stuballs42]

All of you that are making negative comments on the man,need to hear him play this same song,on another u-tube location !!!

The sound is horrible!! here,and Its NOT Heifetz!! he was the best violinist of the 20 century,and if he lived into the 21 century he still would be!!!

[aurilind]

i know!!! to me its really funny, these guys who think they can tell Heifetz how to play... now that´s a good joke and great ignorance too! lol, i don´t know if its frustration or ignorance, but whatever.

[iceshamanicgirl]

I disagree with the ever part. Paganini was the best violinist that has ever existed. NObody is better than him. I agree Heifetz is very good, but there's no way he's better than Paganini, The god of violin

[shiveringflower]

As none of us have heard paganini,this is much too bold a statement!All we can rely on is the opinion of people who heard him and others,and were able to make comparisons.Joachim was widely regarded at the time as being better than Paganini(many people would have heard both),but was a very modest man who was disinterested in his own personality -unlike Paganini who actively encouraged the cult of personality which grew up around him and which survives to this day.

[bracrowe]

It totally lacks passion. Very cold. His down bow staccato seems to die out about halfway to the tip - it must be incredibly difficult to execute. Insert a little faking here and there. I like Rabin's version better, but it also has its faults. There must be a better version somewhere.

[arielpesach]

Personally, I think, Michael Rabin plays this on the same level as Jascha Heifetz.

Even more sensual, I would say, but this is a matter of my taste. Both are great!!

[acermusika]

For IPMOIC The classical lovers (we happy few) can enjoy so much more because of popular music driving technology.I look on it as surfing on the wave of pop culture to enjoy our rarer delicacies.Another of life`s paradoxes.Wish the cameraman had a bit more curiosity about bowing technique."Oh by the way Mr Heifetz could you TRY and keep your bow straight?"Thankyou so much.

[ipmoic]

sim155

Classical music will always garner the interest of a tiny percentage of any population. I remember learning this truth as a young musician--a sad day when one comes to that realization.

But everyone who downloads your wonderful post really wants to be there! Many thanks.

[IsaacDelarge]

I think the difficulty with this piece isn't about speed, it's about bow control. And I've yet to hear any violinist play this piece with the absolute command of staccato and tempo that Mr. Heifetz displays here.

[dilibau]

@IsaacDelarge Grigoras Dinicu is the one that bests Heifetz (actually Heifetz named him after hearing his performance of this piece "the greatest violinist he had ever heard") and so he went on to play Dinicu's graduation masterpiece

[Paganini1986]

@IsaacDelarge Try James Ehnes on his 'Hommage' CD, for me he plays even better, but that isn't live, of course... If you can't find that version I wouldn't mind to send it to you by email :)...

[oneoctavelow]

@IsaacDelarge the difficulty about this piece is not its bowing. The bowing is irrelevant my friend. The difficulty is in trying to capture its Romanian feel. Grigoras Dinicu, the person who composed this piece plays it with spicatto. Think about it. Dinicu composed this piece and didn't give a rat about bowing technique. Nor should anyone else. Heifetz is a God of the violin and can afford to show off. Concentrate on the speed and application of trills in the piece. That's all. Trills.

[oneoctavelow]

@IsaacDelarge you are missing the point. The bowing is irrelevant !!!!!! its the Romanian feel hat counts which most Western violinist cannot attain if they sit on their head. I have seen so many would be world class violinists destroy this Hora with their 'bowing' Hey Dinicu (the guy who composed the damn thing plays spicatto not up/down staccato si there. You are ALL MISSING THE POINT

[barro27]

Dinicu was one of the greatest violonist  that rroma comunity had . I am proud to be a rroma

[dhollseed]

bum note at 0:38

[redviolinistuk]

omg are you serious... :(

[iluminada333]

Sim i do not agree with the anime opening thing; cuz everyone can watch anime; but few can understand real music :D

Regards

[Sim155]

yup you are right. I am very happy to know that u know what real music is :D

keep it up in the same way

[lialiliana1991]

@Sim155 try to search and listen : Grigoras Dinicu- Ciocarlia..(probably you already did)

[proktoses]

You can see Grigoraş Dinicu playing Hora Staccato and other famous works here -

watch?v=GJMumOY0AEY

This is a very rare recording!

Enjoy! :)

[jaschenski]

There's no "hard and fast rules" about staccato - just do it any way you can make it work! In fact JH never thought much of his own staccato and used to get one of his pupils (Eugene Fodor?) to demo it while he walked around analysing what he was doing. It sounds OK to me!

[BaRToLoMaSi]

ive a question... is it normal that he doesnt keep the bow straight? like this | .. sometimes he goes like /

lol

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

Haha a lot of old violinists did it, it never seems to affect their sound though.

[EuskaltelEuskadi]

the further you move the bow from the bridge the quieter the sound is, so when he plays like / it may be for that reason

[buescher1925]

great violinist and great interpretation.amazing.

[roitrawon]

he's great but i hate the acoustics

[markmd9]

This is a showpiece composed by a romanian gypsy musician Grigoras Dinicu in 1906. LEARN to APPREACIATE the real artist and the real composer!!!

[dfxr808]

Yes, I agree! Heifetz called Dinicu "the most perfect violinst"

[markmd9]

This is a showpiece composed by a romanian gypsy musician Grigoras Dinicu in 1906. LEARN to APREACIATE the real artist and the real composer!!!

[markmd9]

This is a showpiece composed by a romanian gypsy musician Grigoras Dinicu in 1906. LEARN to APPREACIATE the real artist and the real composer!!!

[jaschenski]

To walk on from cold and play like that ... ^%%$ me!

[musicangel2152]

wow, that's absolutely amazing! i could never play MY violin like that!!!!!!!!

[ipmoic]

Some people prefer Michael Rabin's performance of this here on YouTube. But is Rabin doing all the up-bow AND down-bow staccato's that Heifetz does?? We can't SEE Rabin. Maybe someone out there knows?

[Zozolinus]

i preffer true version ... Grigoras Dinicu :)

[TomBarrister]

Thanks for uploading this.

If you want to hear Heifetz's performance from the movie, "They Shall Have Music", I have it posted in my Videos section, and it's the only version of that performance (from the movie) on Youtube that isn't a half-step sharp.

[funess5070]

VIVA ROUMANIA!!!!!!!

[melomansarasatiste]

cette piece de musique chante dans ma tete pendant toutes les journees

[bountyhanz]

Pp pls so critising Jascha Heifetz, although he may nt be able to play as well as other pp, but he INVENTED tis horo staccato , pls be more mindful

[capsuna1]

hora staccato by grigoras dinicu

[Zhou9]

Your defense is for the completely wrong reasons. Heifetz plays better than everybody, with the questionable exception of Paganini. Also, he did NOT write the piece.

[bountyhanz]

i do not entirely agree, he's nt the only 1 who can play the best, wy u say the exception of Paganini?? ...

[Zhou9]

Paganini is a legend. I'm not sure that he plays as well as he is touted to play. However, he was supposedly perfectly in tune.

[Fabit3]

"better than everybody"... How can you say that?... It's an insult to all the violonists, to the music, and I guess to Heifetz himself... Grow up! He is not "perfect". Or, if this is what you think, you had to accept that they are other "perfect" violonists!

[Zhou9]

No, what you're saying is ridiculous. First, it's not an insult to anyone, much less to music. Second of all, this has nothing to do with "growing up," it's a matter of opinion. Third of all, you don't have to be perfect to be better than everyone else.

[Sim155]

better than anybody else? .. u mean from the violonists?

imagine a violonist reading ur message right now. maybe u will destroy his dream .. maybe he will just throw the computer in the rubish and practice more .. or he would do everything to piss u off, until u would say "he is not perfect" :))

[Zhou9]

What? If somebody really reacts like that, he or she has serious problems. It's delusional to think that one is better than Heifetz. Saying that he is the best merely sets a standard to beat. Again, you don't have to be perfect to be better than everyone else.

[Sim155]

well, i am not a violonist. My mum in law is. She playes all day long violin and if somebody comment bad about her stupid violin or any violonist like jascha, she gets crazy.

Even if u tell her that they dont play perfect and blabla...

Yes i know she has a serious mental problem, cleaning maniac.. everything must be cleaned from minute in minute .. how sick

Is great to be a violonist, huh??

Believe me the type of ppl that i explained before, are existing.

[Zhou9]

Well, don't twist my words. I didn't insult anybody. If someone is better than Heifetz, they can prove it. As of now, nobody has.

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

Heifetz is not perfect and there are no other violinists that are perfect. What is a fact, however, is that Heifetz had better technique than any recorded violinist in history, and in a sense that makes him the greatest violinist. Of course, artistry is subjective and there are others who rival him on that level, but in terms of pure technique Heifetz was undoubtedly the best.

[govibe]

The Michael Rabin recording on youtube is cleaner

[dostc]

ın 47-50 seconds in the pulling bow staccato, the last few notes cant be heard, he is like too close to the end of the bow and afraid to finish, so he jumps to the next passage. Not good.

[thinkpad20]

Oh man he made a mistake?? Unforgivable! That man should burn his violin.

[Sim155]

ahaha u're right.. but he didnt

[thinkpad20]

How has my comment gotten all of these thumbs down? It was obviously meant to be sarcastic... Heifetz was a great violinist. Sheesh.

[stuballs42]

To dostc! Please listen to Heifetz play this same song ,with a much better sound track. It has been viewed 284,000. It says from SamLee0519 below the title. You may be able to see it ,if you are reading this ,on your upper right screen!! You'll like this better!!

[leeganstrad]

dostc.....hahaha..haha..go practice.

[ztefieh]

does anybody notice how curved his bow seems?

[LuminiferousAether]

it's just the video. The aspect ratio distorts along the bottom of the frame.

[ztefieh]

well, I'm no videographer, but I figured it was something along those lines...pretty cool effect, though.

[schilippe]

what's a violine?

[j00nk1m110]

horrible sound quality

[scottbos68]

the melody sounds so gypsy to me thats why i like this piece

[Lisakamhernandez]

Heifetz down bow staccato loses so much sound when it gets to the tip that you can't hardly hear it, it gets weak but since he was such an arrogant ass nobody could tell him to keep the presure of his right hand index figer on, all the way to the tip. Simple solution!!! Heifetz surprises me sometimes for not been too smart when it came to phrasing, just listen to his chamber music playing, yikessssssssss!!!!!

[jascha1]

if there´s an "arrogant ass" that should be you....

[jascha1]

no comment...

[schilippe]

The down bow staccato is pure genius!!!!

[Jextxadore]

Everyone has their own style of playing. Itzhak's staccato is weaker at the tip of the bow. Everyone's is, and I'm sure if you played closer attention to your own playing you might appreciate how hard, if not impossible it is to do strong pizzicato with the very tip of your bow.

[Gallipoli717]

Let's see you play it!

[zorrocanoso]

Does any one have THE HORA STACCATO being played solo by RAFAEL MENDEZ....please play it for me...JUST HAS TO BE THE BEST RENDITION by THE GREATES TRUMPETEER of ALL TIME....warm regards, Pablo

[EDUARDOLISA]

SAA

[EDUARDOLISA]

RTRTRT

[dunavbalkangroup]

Heifetz was an amazing player, but I have heard it played better (Yes, By a Romanian violinist). However, formal classical performing does alter things, was Heifetz different at parties?? I don't know!

[bahotheviolon]

heifetz is a trainingdone man....sure he is also very talented but,he says he hasn´t had that stac.before.this all movements-also leaning the bow otherwaaround at the top of the bow during the down staccato,well thought,and well trained...those are all resulsts of experiments,made by the training.

[starcati]

sure. this is obvious thing. talent and training.

but training is more important.

[tiemeishu]

Hora staccato was written by Dinicu, and music appreciation is subjective to the listener and the musician.

[tiemeishu]

This piece IS a technique showcase, it's only written to romanian music. And the only one who can tell you whether someone feels his music is the person himself. Over-dramatic body motions don't necessarily mean that someone enjoys their music.

[vbogdan22]

I was not saying that Heifetz should act like a clown and bite into his violin to show that he feels this music.I can listen to his interpretation with my eyes closed and still come to the same conclusion.

[vbogdan22]

If you are not romanian or even european you probably won't understand or feel this kind of music which has profound and ancestral meaning.I agree with you that Heifetz is waisting his time because he doesn't understand it, he only uses it to show his tehnique, which is not the means to a goal but a goal in it's self in his case.He plays this piece much too slow and linear to have any effect.The piece interpreted by Heifetz should not be called "Hora Staccato" but "Staccato Exercises".

[rule914]

Oh, so if I happen to have Romanian blood suddenly I will understand? What a foolish thing to say. As an incredibly talented musician, Heifetz is probably more likely to understand this music than ANY Romanian.

[vbogdan22]

Yes, he understands better the music theory, but he doesn't feel the music.He does not have the "magic touch" , and plays it like a robot. This is like listening to Andres Segovia playing Jimi Hendrix tunes.

[rule914]

Whether you think he does or doesn't have the "magic touch" wasn't really the argument. It was your ridiculous insinuation that being Romanian is a prerequisite to understanding this music. Of course, it's no big surprise you happen to be Romanian.

[vbogdan22]

I teel you what is ridiculous, you trying to say that if Heifetz made a staccato exercise out of a romanian tune, that makes it more probable for him to understand this kind of music better than any romanian.I think you got it backwards, ANY romanian is more likely to understand this music better than Heifetz, is closer to the truth than your impulsive assessment born out of an irational and subjective respect for whatever Heifetz interprets.

[rule914]

Since when do I respect whatever Heifetz interprets? My argument is that one is more likely to understand classical music based on his musical training than whether he is born in a particular country. Most people are oblivious to music, regardless of their nationality.

[vbogdan22]

Yes, but Hora Staccato is not standard classical music it is played by folk ansambles.

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

You're a moron. Heifetz plays with unparalleled emotion, what are you talking about?

[vbogdan22]

Your reply is worth absolute zero and is not worth giving an articulate answer.

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

That was clever... not. Who cares, Yo Yo Ma plays ethnic Chinese music, jazz, etc. A classical musician should not be limited to only classical music given that the other form of music is worth his/her time. When heifetz listened to Grigoras Dinicu, he exclaimed that Dinicu was "the greatest violinist he had ever heard." Besides, just because you don't see emotion in Heifetz's playing doesn't mean everyone else doesn't. So keep your opinions to yourself, vbecause they are not facts

[vbogdan22]

Yo Yo Ma is chinese, that's why he plays ethnic chinese music, Dinicu was a romanian gipsy that's why he played romanian ethnic music.Heifetz was a russian jew, so what was his connection with romanian folk music, other than the apreciation for Dinicu's staccato?

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

Appreciation is all you need. Who says you have to be a member of a specific race to like/play a certain type of music? That's like saying only black people can be rappers and only white people can be rockstars. Yo yo Ma also plays jazz and blue grass, which aren't chinese. Besides, Heifetz is Jewish, and many Jews lived near Romania and Jewish folk music (klezmer) is heavily influenced by Romanian style. Race does not limit the type of music one can perform.

[vbogdan22]

Many jews lived in Romania, but Heifetz didn't, so shut up and don't put that racist crap on me. i didn't say that. I was trying to say he had nothing to do with romanian folk music.

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

All I'm saying is whether he has anything to do with Romanian folk music or not (in the same way Yo Yo Ma has nothing to do with jazz or blue grass), he can still play it, and play it well. All that's required is strong appreciation. I don't care if he was a lithuanian jew, a romanian jew, or chinese, he can play whatever he wants and play it well if he likes it.

[vbogdan22]

Yes, anyone can play anything well with lots of training and ear sharpening, but bottom line is Heifetz didn't play this well and i was trying to find him an excuse for not playing like it should, because i like his playing in general.That doesn't mean that when i hear something wrong i will not express my opinions and be objective just because i like a specific player.

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

Well I have to disagree with you then, because I thought Heifetz played this piece very well (and I'm not referring to his technique)

[vbogdan22]

You probably don't know this piece then.People like you listen to today's music ripp off's and think it sounds good because they don't know the original pieces.I bet you like the movie 300, if you think this interpretation is authentic.

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

I haven't seen the movie 300 actually. Well, if that's the case, how do you know the piece so well then? Have you heard a romanian folk violinist play this before?

[vbogdan22]

I've heard many romanian violonists play this in 23 years since i was born.

This is a popular piece in our country, don't think Heifetz did some profund searching before he found this composition and messed with it,by changing the original arrangement.

[AbsoluteZ3R0]

Oh I see, well, I would like to hear an authentic rendition of this piece then

[vbogdan22]

If i didn't appreciate Heifetz i would not have replyed f....n ten times to this post trying to argue with 3 people at the same time.

[TomBarrister]

You two take yourselves far too seriously.

[vionicyann]

oh my god.... is a rare footage.. i love Heifetz!

[Pianowrestler]

If we want to compare this kind of music to a certain dish, for me it would be a very pure, simple, fresh local dish, but ONLY when it is played by a good folkloric ensemble with a (gypsy)master-violinist like Toki Horvath. Rumanian music is only "circusmusic" for so-called classical snobs.

[lonecloud7]

EDUARDOLISA! I don't understand why can't even you make sentence properly? Roumanian music is among the best and the brilliant Grigoras Dinicu composed this piece when he was about 17 years old. Heifitz admired Dinicu's playing. This is more like thai fast food than Burger King.

[jyk1182]

up bow and down bow staccato!!! YIKES!

[michaelrabin]

Well played!!

[seannyandme]

lol you betcha... I guess just to show off

[EDUARDOLISA]

I don't understand why Heifetz played such circus music that only make sense to violinists?

[cuzigothighh]

It is not that he played "circus" music that only makes sense to violinists. It is, however, that he played a romainian dance piece which your stupitidy won't allow you to comprehend.

[Lisakamhernandez]

A violinist like Heifetz (my hero) of such great sound and great musical understanding with such depth of musical thoughts and pharsing, such technique such sound personality, simply the best!!! but I still don't understand why he wasted all that great stuff I just mentioned with such stupid HORA STACATTO!!! Silly music, empty music, monkey music, is just like being a great gourmet chef and get get a job at Burger King!!! and if you like that monkey, circus music you may be a red neck!!!

[rheumer]

Lots of people eat gourmet food and also go to Burger King on occasion.

[rheumer]

It makes sense to cellists, too.