Beethoven, Große Fuge, op. 133, string quartet (animation ver. 3 w/barlines)

[VodKaLogic]

The animation helped me understand how terrifyingly technically demanding this piece is. I'm breathless and my arms hurt just thinking about the hell the Quartet is going through to execute this masterpiece ...

[perfectlydissonant]

Beethoven didn't need to be able to hear to know whether or not his music was consonant or dissonant. He knew what he was composing as most musicians can know exactly how a piece will sound simply by looking at it. At this point he was most interested in counterpoint and linear motion. And for the record, Mozart wasn't exactly the most consonant composer either, consider the introduction to String Quartet #19 in C, K. 465. Remember not all music is or has been created to be "emotional".

[histrionical]

Ive been listening to the 'late' quartets for forty years. What I hear is beauty in aural form. I admit that 40 years ago what I mostly heard was a lot of wrong sounding notes thrown randomly together. Deaf and blind too? I wondered?

[Dronkmoi]

i love you !!!!!!!!!!!

[spiritfool]

I really wonder how he perceived tuning in his head, because he might have been tuning intervals perfectly, or whether his perception of the pitch and harmonics of instruments changed... but that we will never know. For some reason, this sounds like a symphony sketch to me. As intricate as it might be, It still got Beethoven all over it though :-)

[ThinkingManNeil]

This is the first time I've heard this piece and I'm quite taken with it. It's surprisingly modern and contemporary sounding considering its era and astonishingly sophisticated. Without the external inputs and auditory distractions of the surrounding natural world and soundscape it's as if Beethoven had discovered the clear and precise harmonies, dissonances, and capabilities of each instrument and was able to express them separately and together with an almost mathematical purity and clarity.

[mikrowavr]

This was made for pot. Awesome!

[hendritube]

A stunning expression of anger, joy, frustration, confusion, consolation... what a mixture of feelings! ... this fugue somehow reminds me of Conway's 'Game of Life'. Very subtle ^^

[mahler151]

I love Beethoven and I love dissonance. Super.

[LiliaMarkova]

adorable, this incorporation of Music!!!

[rsr789]

Awesome! Thanks for posting this!

[w6zra]

Beethoven's hearing was NOT impaired in Music!

[TheEvilEmporerBunny]

...?

[G0dsMate]

i like beethoven, but i dont like that. music should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it

[CuriosityRoads]

@G0dsMate Um, no. Music should be able to evoke all emotions, not just positive ones. This is more emotive than any "charming" Mozart piece I've heard, for example.

[ClassicNovel]

@G0dsMate Thank you, Mozart, but music is not (and should not be) limited to only flattering and charming emotions. It was well and good for composers like Mozart (don't misunderstand me, I do love his music as well), but Beethoven broke out of that era. Its philosophies do not apply to him, because he made his own.

[jebsievers]

What's the general argument here? Is this a slightly-dissonant result of his lack of hearing----or is it exactly the dissonance he wanted and heard in his mind? Your thoughts.

[musanim]

@jebsievers If you don't like this, odds are it's your problem, not Beethoven's.

[jebsievers]

@musanim No I DO like it! In fact I LOVE it! I'm just posing a question and asking for opinions-----is this song slightly dissonant on purpose (did Beethoven intend for it to sound this way)------or was his hearing slightly off which caused it?

Because it does come off as slightly dissonant, which I actually enjoy and I think has an exciting sound.

[musanim]

@jebsievers That's what Beethoven intended.

[Schuiram]

@musanim

I dont think you can say that that easy ;) But I would tend to it too :)

[jeffamarie]

@jebsievers I don't hear dissonance... I hear the tension that resolves perfectly at every juncture and yet stays within character enough to make you question whether what you're hearing is both grotesque and beautiful. : P

[jebsievers]

@jeffamarie cool. i like that.

[ai1888]

@jebsievers That is a very good question, one I have pondered for a lot of days. Too bad the uploader cuts you off with rude replies. :(

[jebsievers]

@ai1888 :)

[ai1888]

@musanim Why do you have to be so rude, to such an excellent and genuine question? It is because of people like you, who exhibit such cockiness that the classical music loving community get the reputation of being "snobs".

[onyx735]

@jebsievers I believe that it was both. The loss of his hearing made him realize how music was about much more than just something that is pleasing to your ear. It was a sort of exploration he might have never attempted if he hadn't lost his hearing. I'm sure he meant it to be dissonant, but I am also sure he wouldn't have made this masterpiece if he had his ears to deceive him from fulfilling his goal.

[jebsievers]

@onyx735 Thank you so much!

[drqster]

beethoven probably would appreciate this

[TheGloryofMusic]

@drqster It's not generally known that in his spare time Beethoven worked as a software developer.

[drqster]

great animation

[anusvolant]

thank you very much, you made me discover beethoven by your animation - i think it really helps people without musical education (like me) to get an insight in the musical structure - in this case the great fugue's disturbing jerkiness

[freebase69x]

So amazing...

[willmiller5]

Thank you so much for showing the barlines. This really makes clear how brilliantly perverse Beethoven's composing is. His sense of syncopation is so delicate that the instruments that play "on the beat" are the ones that sound most syncopated.

In other words, Stravinsky is on to something with his quote at the end....

[poratosk8r2]

@willmiller5 i know what you mean i kept thinking the one was someplace else it has that ryhtmic pulse but the harmonic syncopactions make it super kinky