Keith Emerson composing Endless Enigma from Trilogy

[Nawtas007]

n1

[GabrielHackettBanks]

Woow! Fantastic! I like the way he's keyboard sounds (inlove)

[PLANx]

funny you should mention that- I've noticed the same thing. All the early footage I have of him, his voice is higher pitched, much different than now.

[lyronpa]

I have a question - I've seen ELP and heard Keith speak at shows and on TV and stuff, and this guy doesn't sound like him at all - what's up with that? Is it dictated somehow? Or what? I don't get it.

[lovedandhis]

GENIUS GENIUS GENUIS I LOVE YOU KEITH.

[jhanser]

Man this is a great video...thanks...To Think ELP YES and Genesis packed stadiums and arenas filled w young fans who delighted in this music...hard to believe ...can't see Gaga playing Karn Evil 9 2nd Movement at the Garden ...can you?

[prettieststar01]

How can someone be so amazing?!!

[nonlaricordo]

keith, you're a monster with the piano ... But I beat you in ping pong!!!

[progmeck1]

@sustayne

This footage is from the DVD " BEYOND THE BEGINNING". It was basicly filmed in 1972 and 1973 for british TV. It contains also the ELP european tour spring 1973.

[Libertarianne]

@progmeck1 The DVD you're thinking of is “The Manticore Special,” available as an official ELP DVD. The "Beyond the Beginning" DVD is also a must-have, but doesn't include this bit.

[sustayne]

Where does this footage come from? Is there more elsewhere I could watch? I have been entirely captivated by K.E.'s approach to improv my whole life and it has had a profound effect upon me.

[rommelario]

MASTER

[mattleemattlee123]

Re: Jaco "It ain't braggin' if you can back it up". Leather jackets? Histrionics? Hey, the guy was in a rock band. Gotta make a living, you know? It was entertaining and got the band attention. Then you hear something like this or his magnificent Hammond work and...well, I mean, what's to criticize? The man is one of the keyboard giants...and no more of a show-off than Chopin! Emo is a living legend!

[Tsnore]

A true musical gift to us all.

[Marillionboy]

Does anyone know if this is Emerson's home or a studio?

[annikee59]

@Marillionboy This was a converted barn attached to the 400 year-old house he bought that burnt down. The main beam was a salvaged oak mast. All burnt to the ground, don't remember the year- 75 or6. You should read his autobiography! Greg's supposed to be writing one, too.

[juandhaltrich]

Genius Genius Genius Geniusssssss!!!!!! this very short video is as good as any great live performance from ELP, 'cause it shows the very essence of emerson working in his music as a very natural thing. great vid. thanks

[Soamsey]

I loved Keith growing up. Now that I am older and have listened to better music I am sort of embarrassed by the leather jackets, gimmicks, distracting histrionics (spinning pianos, upside down playing). There were so many bad periods to come, cheesyness, awful Powell drumming, over-multi-tracked attempts at pop, really bad hand issues. But then you go back and listen to him just sort of working through material like this and realize there's a really, really good musician there.

[spitfire71068]

@Soamsey Good composer, too. I never had (nor do I now have) an issue with the histrionics. In the end, it was/is about "the show", and ELP *were* a rock band, though not in the conventional sense. In the end, it was and is all about the music once the spectacle wears off, and yes...Keith Emerson's music (and ELP's) has survived the test of time. It endures. And it has been spread far and wide, more so in the classical music world than rock.

[GuitarMasterizer]

OMG. That. Was. INSANE

[toadabc]

Imagine a rock musican READING, COMPOSING, AND WRITING in musical notation. Yout think there are a dozen others who can?

[ZugbruckMusik]

It's Piano Concerto No. 1, not The Endless Enigma, which had been recorded the previous year.

[Simona050]

In my view Keith Emerson's "Fugue" is one of the most beautiful pieces written for solo piano in modern times. I wish I could get the sheets for it. It is a piece worthy of academic study or simply an informal performance for pleasure. It's just delightful!

[ctchreport]

@Simona050 If you pass on your email address I'll gladly send it to you. Cheers David

[GinoBellofatto]

Excelente, siempre quise ver el momento en que se componían estas obras maestras.

[FlyingJunk]

Why couldn't we make 1972 last forever?

[valehathar]

glad those days r over! thanx to iggy, ramones & sex pistols, those fart rock faggots a huge mistake in the evolution of rock'n'roll indeed...

[jtomasik]

@valehathar

It wasn't them that killed technically progressive music. In my opinion, it was marketing and video. You can thank MTV for starters.

[Xanthous04]

is this off a dvd?

[BRONGOHORST]

HE IS J.S.BACH or our time.

[harpsinth]

Good old days of pencil, blank sheet music, good piano and talent...very very much talent...

[bkisme]

good ol' reel-to-reel.

my dad fixed one recently :D it was pretty wicked sick seeing something so old up and running again, disco blasting through our house :)

[paghob]

GENIUS!!!! Im just saying it. I've known this and Keith since my childhood.

[wbiro]

(typing corrected) he's trying to show us the secrets to artistry- you need a foosball table, a ping pong table, a pinball machine, and most importantly, a reel-to-reel tape deck ;) (I remember my four-track reel-to-reel- bought it used, and the previous owner had taped the Beatles on Ed Sullivan)...

writing notes by hand- don't see that much today, not with computer notation software with instant playback... like he said, writing by hand would be a preference, an artistic choice...

[Hartolio]

Umm... did I miss something? The song he is actually playing on the piano through most of this, and seemingly working out at the end is Fugue, from Trilogy. I don't think I actually heard any of Endless Enigma in the whole thing.

[AlexRGravlin]

Endless Enigma is "Endless Enigma Part 1", "Fugue", and "Endless Engima Part 2".

[PinkFloydFan94]

Virtuostic God of the piano/Keyboard

[ironledtallicafloyd9]

too bad thats not what ended up on the album.

[funds450]

Warning:

Genius at Work....watch at your own risk!

[mindovermattjr]

@funds450 Warning: bad microphone quality

[anonymusum]

It makes me sick that just those reviewers came out with europhic critics when it came to punk, house and other primitive music styles. - So you better watch out! If you listen to a guitar virtuoso - thats ok. Keyboard virtuoso is really bad. If you listen to modern classical music - thats ok. Modern rock music with musical ambition - thats bad. In general better not listen to rock bands, where all musicians have a high technical standard - thats suspicious. Sex Pistols - thats the right choice!

[thunderinblack]

since when has punk had guitar virtuosos

[anonymusum]

In those compositions he was inspired by contemporary classical music and found a way to use it in a unique rock style. Especially in Karn Evil and parts of Tarkus he was so far ahead of the normal rock standard - even bands like Yes or Genesis used pretty simple harmonic and melodic structures in comparism with Emerson. - But ordinary listeners and reviewers? They obviously couldn´t understand what ELP were doing, called it bombast and cold virtuosity etc.

[anonymusum]

One must understand three points about ELP: firstly for so many people a rock band has to have a guitar player, their imagination is just too poor to face the fact that it works without. That´s the first big minus. Secondly for many people virtuosity is something really bad - oh I forgot - keyboard virtuosity of course. But when they hear a fast guitar player it´s totally different of course. - And thirdly many people just don´t understand that Emerson wrote complex composition.

[1994AlmostSkater]

@anonymusum Beautifully stated!

[fretfirestarter]

this guys alright but he's no john mayer........just kiddin.i wish when todays pop stars give themselves so much credit for learnin music they could just watch something like this and realize that music has sunk to beyond low.

[waspfarmer]

It's sunk Pf pf  pf -pftpft pfff

Sunk Pff pff pf pft pft pft pft pft

Sunk pf pf pff pa ta pa patu pu pft..

Sunk!

[petsounds75]

Shit, music right now makes Lou Reed during the Velvets look like Yngwie Malmsteen. 2 top ten songs right now by that Wal Mart burnout Britney Spears? We're face down in the gutter for sure.

[pnnorton]

I don't agree with this. Emerson was well above standard even in his own time. It's not like when ELP were making albums every pop star was a virtuoso at their instrument. Pop stardom has nothing to do with talent! It has all to do with production and cliches. Plus I think John Mayer is a well above average guitarist and definetly the best choice as an example of a pop star with no talent. I bet you are some 16yo who thinks they are really special for liking this sort of stuff. Pathetic.

[mattdbravesfan]

Dude, that's freakin' hilarious! What a great comment. When I saw, the name "John Mayer" I wanted to slash throats. But then I got it. Really funny comment and I couldn't agree more.

ELP is absolutely incredible.

[ARTEPARALAPAZ]

EXCELENTE VIDEO... THANKS

[Sabored]

if i wrote something like that i wouldn't even bother writing it out.

[Sabored]

way to many notes, from :0 to :5 theres like 5 pages alone, so i say he should just record it and memorize it.

[krishotsaucemiller]

The keyboardist can play 82 more notes.

..Way too much!!!

[krishotsaucemiller]

thank God these guys aren't popular anymore!!!

[KingCrimson776]

A dumb question. The guitarists you refer to are just pointless shredders who go up and down scales. Emerson plays actual musical ideas. The fact that he plays them fast doesn't mean he's the same as them. Anyone who would even think that is unable to perceive the notes that are being played in both scenarios.

[pnnorton]

There is not much different between a good shredder and this. Except guitar sherders I am thinking of are probably more into bach and stuff as emerson is more into contempory composers I think.

[B3Rock]

It goes somewhere. Listen to the finished piece of music on "Trilogy".

[paul7703]

emersoon is the greatest keyboardist ever, he can fit as many notes as he wants :)

[anonymusum]

I deeply admire Emerson for his talents but live he is playing much too fast, nearly destroying his own music! Just compare this to the brilliant studio version!

[pnnorton]

When your emerson time is money. The quicker you can get in and out the better!

[tailwind339]

Absolutely the greatest pianist/keyboardist in Rock and Roll history.

[krishotsaucemiller]

nah!!!

[fromafriend1]

love this piece-magical. an honour to see it being 'born'. thanks so much for posting.

[JohnLeeJohnLee]

Seeing this reminds me why I cannot take popular music seriously these days. This was the zenith of "rock" music. Keith Emerson...the Chopin of the 20th century.

[ziearmo]

Does anyone know what this is taken from. I would love to see more. Keith Emerson was my hero as a kid and I spent countless hours working out his piano works by ear.He is an enigma.

[beebfader]

It's from the 1973 film `The Manticore Special' which is available on the recent `From The Beginning' Boxed Set

[blobo123]

I haven;t watched this Manticore special in a while, seems like this was recorded in his barn, maybe the same one that a tractor crashed through in 1986 and dragged the yamaha GX1 through his yard....just as they were forming ELPowell....

[cagarosa]

es un capoeira

[VladtheEmailer]

Ah....I think it's already composed as of this film, yes? ;-)

[GianLuNicoGazNevada]

Perche non posso vederlo? Perchè mi dice "this video is no longer avilable"? Why can't I look at it?

[violajustine]

Io lo vedo benissimo.

[kirkmach32]

Sublime. Enough said.

[leemcuk1]

A fantastic musician, the greatest rock keyboardist ever. Doesn't half sound like David Beckham though (his voice not his piano playing!)

[gareththefireman]

Where is this footage from? It looks early seventies, was it some sort of arts program or documentary.

[carrietide]

he is brilliant indeed.

[PaulHartXYZ]

Endless Enigma.

WOW.

This is my favorite ELP song ever.

And to see Keith composing it really blows me away. Thanks for posting this.

[TheNilvarg]

He makes me wish I practiced piano more when I was little.

[Sterndi1]

A full musician - a pity he hurt his nerves in one hand one day... :-(

[Bluesmen88]

Yeah, sadly it was a lot more than that, it required surgery and he can't quite play exactly the way he used too.

[kendu123456]

OMFG!

[dhan13]

he`s truly my music HERO since my childhood!

and this rare video very very interesting

would u like to post the complete version pls?

thx

[kokakolakidd]

Great! Thanks for adding this.

I've never heard Keith implement this solo in anything that he's ever done on stage. As far as I know this excerpt is exclusively on Trilogy.

[eurotard]

he's very good pianist!

[westrokker]

really?