Rhythmic training wheels for Große Fuge (Beethoven opus 133)
3,372
Published 2024-05-10
FAQ
A: What is the purpose of this video?
Q: There are many ways Beethoven's Große Fuge can challenging for listeners: much of its motivic material is very angular, the chromatic harmonies contain lots of dissonance, the texture can be very dense, and it's highly contrapuntal. I've made several videos of the piece in an attempt to clarify its motivic structure ...
www.musanim.com/GrosseFuge/
... and given some guidance in following the harmonies in the piece's opening ...
www.musanim.com/GrosseFuge/UnderstandingBeethovens…
... but one of the major stumbling blocks is rhythm. The music is highly syncopated, and it's hard to understand what's going on if you don't know where the beats are. So, in this video, I've add a bouncing ball measure marker so show where the downbeats are. If you'd like to refer to a conventional score, this one ...
www.musanim.com/pdf/BeethovenOpus133Score.pdf
... has measure numbers that match the ones shown in the video.
Q: Where can I learn more about the Alexander String Quartet?
A: Here:
www.asq4.com/
Q: Where can I buy the album this is from?
A: Here:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002M2V06M
Q: I appreciate the animated graphical scores you make; how can I support your work?
A: Thank you! The easiest way to support my work is by contributing via Patreon:
www.patreon.com/musanim
If you'd like to help in more specific way, consider this:
www.musanim.com/underwriting
Q: Could you please do a MAM video of _________?
A: Please read this:
www.musanim.com/requests/
All Comments (14)
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Most definitely the strangest piece Beethoven ever composed. I absolutely hated it the first time I heard it, but it grows on you. Like body hair. But this graphical score helps you take a razor to it and sculpt your understanding better of what all is going on with this crazy beast.
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Late Beethoven is his own genre ;-)
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Amazing video as usual! It really helps the viewer understand the crazy metric shift in that transition at 9:30.
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bruh moment at 1:10 when you realize you've heard the downbeat wrong your whole life... but I think my original interpretation still works fine
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Great Fugue!!!!!!!!
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Strangest speedrun of Rainbow Islands ever.
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Really wished this video existed when i first listen to the grosse, especially for 3:35
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Ah, I see you've finished this. Thanks, Mr. Malinowski!
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That's wonderful! I always liked this piece and those rhythmic training wheels would have been extremely useful the first time I heard it. Frankly that's exactly why I usually download the midi version of those pieces. I would say the most confusing piece where it was most useful - would be BWV 543. (Fugue in A minor) The syncopation in BWV 543 confused me very much at first, but when using midi to listen to it and editing it in various ways - really helped me understand that it's actually syncopated. Another piece I would find it useful is in BWV 851 (fugue)
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The original video on this piece is what made me discover your channel many years ago so this brings back memories :) Thank you for coming back to it
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Great
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Swingin' the 1820's
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Might I suggest pre-empting the downbeats slightly (as a conductor would)? I get the feeling that sometimes the downbeats appear 'late' even though they're actually perfectly in time.
