Friedrich Gulda-Light my Fire!

[ataryhadera]

he is a genius

[carolinedollard]

eLi thank u for the share this is great feel better working on a walking stick and listening to music to clear my thoughts hope u r enjoying your family and day always caroline :)

[entenfang]

he is a true hipster !

[beethoven1357]

è davvero straordinario quest' uomo!!

[beethoven1357]

è davvero straordinario quest' uomo

[Nikolidas]

I would give my genitals in their entirety for an hour with Gulda's hands and a piano.

[drjekyll66]

P.S. Yes, he light my fire !

[drjekyll66]

During playing, Jim Morrison was in his mind ! 5 Stars !

[Gatapotata]

these arent variations, this is jazz!!!! hes improvising!!!!!!!!!!!

[vkoracx]

well this is nice

[vunkenvlug]

das ist eben die gefahr des virtuosentums, dass ihm alles zur bloßen fingerübung missrät.

[shilloshillos]

Anyone who can play Bach, Mozart and Beethoven like Gulda and then can play this stuff with the same gusto, feeling and ease has my complete RESPECT!!!!

[fabrizzzio48]

Viejo Comemierda.

[PatriziaBluette]

Namasté

[ambro83]

che sound...grande gulda!

[ambro83]

che sound...grandu gulda!

[robbiethemann]

sounds like ornstein somehow..

[pitbull2005]

Started off well, but then he loses the intensity of the improvisation for me. Brilliant musicianship from Gulda though...he makes things seem so effortless

[TheStockwell]

@pitbull2005 There is a 1971 performance by Gulda on YouTube - black and white footage - that you might like better. If not, then it's not a problem with you or Gulda - it's just the piece that loses something. By the way, this isn't an improvisation! The variations were actually written down, thoroughly composed, and can be bought or downloaded. A YouTube shows at least one other pianist - Yi-Chih Lu - performing this work. As written - not improvised.

[pitbull2005]

@TheStockwell

Thanks for the information. It makes it even more incredible that he can remember this variation! Not only a great pianist but a wonderful personality with it.

[GeneralKuno]

@TheStockwell

You are partially correct. Gulda DID compose this but he encourages (and even demands) the players to improvise and add embellishments to his pieces. Check his "Play Piano Play".

[27FreedomMan]

Thanks for sharing this! One of my most beloved pieces of piano music!

[riethc]

Kind of silly to cover The Doors for a musician of Gulda's prowess, is it not?

[TheStockwell]

@riethc There are composers who have based variations on material a lot weaker than this. Nursery rhymes, like the one Mozart used for what we call "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." The source of the variations isn't its selling point but what the composer decides to do with it. You know the cliche: Beethoven asks someone to hit four notes on a keyboard and then get out of his way. Maybe Gulda's making a statement but he's doing it with a tune written by an American - Ray Manzarek - who knew Bach.

[cbdesade]

I suspect that Gulda idolized Liberace. Thus this desperate fusion of pop fodder with the grandiose and flashy. If only Gulda had worn sequins...

[rockability666]

this is so amazing! if you know how to the play piano, you know how difficult it is, what he's doing!

[CherylEtzel]

Wow!

[guldalex]

c'è qualcosa di unico che ha lasciato al mondo questo musicista straordinario:pezzi dalla forma classica ma dal contenuto jazz/blues che era il naturale punto di incontro tra i 2 gulda:pianista classico ineccepibile e dotatissimo e jazzista creativo.forse il pezzo più indicativo di questo incontro è Preludium und fugue...

[n00belicious]

when did he go from suit and neat hair tot t-shirt and hat????

anybody knows?

[pitbull2005]

@n00belicious

Knowing Gulda, probably a second hand charity shop!

[frentury]

Absolutelly loved it,these Doors-based intonations always are close to my heart :)

[Joanneafterbeat]

Bach docet.

[unalegeli]

süper doğrusu gulda sen harikasın ve hiç yaşlanmayacaksın

[nizigar]

If you feel depressed or bored after that,so nothing can make it!!:-))

[Babejuda]

to Soamsey: don't be too semantic: of-course "Light My Fire" is only a point of departure! That's the whole point in jazz / individual interpretation / variations on...

and this rendition is great and amazing - it doesn't contradict.

[elvislard]

I prefer Ray Manzarek

[danceofthegoblins]

Is there anything Gulda can't do!? I love this man!: an artist in the truest sense of the word!

[gonzal0999]

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

[darkmaides]

why many classical musicians always love the doors!?, this is great, gulda is great.

[Soamsey]

Cool. What is this from? Was it ever released on DVD?

[vakareden2345]

As far as I know it not exists on DVD.

[Soamsey]

Thanks, I figured as much. I have Gulda Non-Stop and Mozart No End w/ Paradise Band. These seem the only two with substantial amounts of Gulda compositions. Since his death a handful of others have come out but they seem mainly his interpretations of Mozart, etc.

[pkoen79]

you should look for the 5CD set called "midlife harvest" it only contains original Gulda compositions.

[hfs030929]

There was a concert in the Vienna Stadthalle on July 4 1987 where he also played it live in front of 20000 people and had them feak out. Great musician, world-class pianist.

[hfs030929]

He also played it at a session with Joe Zawinul and Chick Corea in the Vienna Stadthalle in the 1980s and has 20000 people freak out. I do have the video of the complete concert, but it's on old BetaMax ...

[xXyoupooperXx]

amazing! but i really dont see how this is light my fire..

[mengenstrom]

it's in the harmonies

[Soamsey]

I don't think you deserved a thumbs down especially after saying it was amazing. Well maybe just for your name. Anyway, I also feel arriving at this from light my fire is a stretch. But I guess "variations on..." can be almost anything (using the original only as a point of departure in some sense).

[pianojazz66]

Nice to see him playing this tune. Of course I know his recording and like to play his published version but this is much more free and improvised. Thanks for posting!