Guthrie Govan Discussion

[alexkhan]

Well, I'm quite partial to Beethoven and have read several books and watched what else I could of him and his life, but this documentary movie exceeded all my expectations.

http://www.insearchofbeethoven.com

On Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Search-Beethoven-Juliet-Stevenson/dp/B00355A4M6/

I actually bought it on iTunes and downloaded it a few months ago but didn't get to watch it until a few weeks ago during my long flight to Asia on my iPad. I highly recommended it to Guthrie and told him that this is something all serious musicians and music fans should watch.

I have a large selection of Beethoven's works but this movie has really inspired me to dig even deeper - especially his lesser known or celebrated symphonies, piano concertos, piano sonatas, and string quartets. The sheer breadth of Beethoven's repertoire is quite stunning. It's really breathtaking to imagine how such amazing works of music that were considered revolutionary at the time flowed out consistently from him through his life - and while going completely deaf...

There are many classical composers I admire greatly (I used to be a fervent Wagnerian and still love much of Bach's catalogue) but, in the end, I always seem to return to Beethoven as my all-time favorite. In my mind, Beethoven is the greatest composer/musician of all time although that "greatest" can be viewed from various angles.

For me, it's the "human" element in his music that makes him so special. He fought his deafness, various physical ailments, and numerous failed relationships (never got to marry or consummate a relationship with women he loved) and was often on the verge of being suicidal, but he never lost hope and his music always had this sense of eternal optimism. He believed in the good of humanity and that we could be better despite all the wretchedness (for example, the Napoleonic wars in Europe) around him.

He expressed the longing, the sadness, the pains, and the despair he felt as beautifully, elegantly and poignantly as any composer ever has. At the same time, there was an amazing positive power and force of nature in his music that had never been composed and performed before or rarely matched since then. Ultimately, he was an optimist despite all the sufferings he had to endure - including his tragic deafness. In fact, he wrote some of his most sublime music while he was completely deaf in his latter years.

His triumphed over his deafness by digging deeper and "listening" to his inner self and allowing his musical imagination to completely take over. He still "heard" the music inside his head which he penned on the staff paper - including the globally and universally iconic Symphony No. 9 which is also now EU's anthem. It is surely one of the most inspiring and heroic stories of human history.

This movie illustrates his remarkable life story and artistic career with numerous musical performance snippets and interviews with some of the greatest classical musicians in the world. I highly recommend this film to all musicians and music lovers whether they are fans of classical music and Beethoven or not. There is so much to be learned and inspired by...
_________________
Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.

[alexkhan]

For those who may be interested in what Beethoven works to check out or start with and performed by whom, here are some recommendations. Generally, you can't go wrong with the symphonies featuring conductor Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (widely considered the "premier" or most prestigious orchestra in the world). But there are and have been many great conductors and orchestras. Sir Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado, and Karl Bohm are some other great conductors. The Vienna Philharmonic and the London Symphony are a couple of other very highly regarded orchestras.

Pianists-wise, there are so many who are great but I really like Maurizio Pollini for some reason. Arthur Rubinstein is another truly great pianist of the 20th-century. Claudio Arrau is another favorite of mine. I can listen to these pianists playing the same classical works and know instantly who is who - kinda like how blues fans will be able to difference between, say, BB King, Albert King and Freddie King. They all have their unmistakable styles and tone in their playing. Various violinists impart their own character as well. I'm to the point with classical music now where I can tell the difference between the conductors conducting the same symphonies or operas, etc. It's really interesting to hear the differences between them.

Anyway, here are some recommendations based on the works of Beethoven that I've been listening to recently:

Symphony No. 6 ("Pastoral") - London Symphony Orchestra, Wyn Morris - Probably my favorite Beethoven symphony... This recent version by the London Symphony is especially exquisite

Symphony No. 3 ("Eroica") - Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan - One of the most amazing symphonies ever written and composed, performed by the very best for music of the late-Classical and Romantic era

Piano Concerto No. 5 ("Emperor") - Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Karl Bohm, Maurizio Pollini on the piano - I've been listening to this piece since I was a 3rd-grader as my mother got me into listening to classical music at a very young age. This version by Vienna, Bohm, and Pollini is probably my favorite although there are many other great renditions. The second movement, to me, is the most beautifully lyrical and poignant piece of music ever composed and performed.

Violin Concerto - Itzhak Perlman on violin, Philharmonia Orchestra, conductor Carlo Maria Giulini - Simply an amazing work. You can really hear the lyrical quality of Beethoven's single-note "legato" melody lines as well as the majestic orchestration. I also love Anne-Sophie Mutter's performance with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic but I'm going to give the nod to Perlman here.

Symphony No. 9 ("Choral") - Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan - Not much need to be said about this one.

Symphony No. 5 - London Symphony Orchestra, Wyn Morris - The most famous musical "riff" in history? Beethoven would have loved hard rock and metal. Again, this London Symphony recording is just stunning. I've listened to many versions and recordings and this one is really special. It sounds huge, clear yet warm, and rich yet brilliant.

Piano Concerto No. 4 - Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Claudio Abbado, Maurizio Pollini - This is the last piano concerto that Beethoven himself performed when he was probably around 70% deaf. A revolutionary work at its time from a compositional standpoint.

For the piano sonatas, I recommend anything featuring Arthur Rubinstein. I like Pollini better in a concerto setting but Rubinstein just sounds more lyrical and "sweeter" with a warmer and rounder piano sound.

I'm still in the early stages of really getting into Beethoven's violin sonatas and string quartets but I'm certainly determined to absorb 'em all. I do have his latter quartets #15 and #16 performed by the Talich Quartet but it's quite difficult with moments of sublimity that have a profoundness that's difficult to describe.

As long as I have been listening to Beethoven, I never seem to tire of his music and I always find something new to savor every time I listen - even works I've listened to dozens or even hundreds of times. Maybe I'm getting old, but his music is touching me deeper than it did ever before. But then, right after a session of Beethoven, I'll turn and move onto the latest DJ mixes of Armin van Burren, then to old Meshuggah, switch to sappy New Age of Secret Garden, and then to some traditional Korean folk songs, so I take the variety thing to the extreme.
_________________
Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.

[sumis]

the later string quartets is where it's mainly at for me, these days. the 'spätstil' of beethoven as adorno called it. this is at the edge, the outer fringes, of what was even conceivable. something broken, in order to give a promise of a future.

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