Arnold Schoenberg - Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, Op. 41 (with score)

Dave Pittman-Jennings, Bariton
Janne-Marie Conquer, Violine I
Hae Sun Kang, Violine II
Christophe Desjardins, Viola
Jean-Guihen Queyras, Violoncello
Florent Boffard, Piano
Pierre Boulez, Director
Only for educative use.

[@joshsussman9432]

Masterpiece. Awesome performance, too.

[@simonkawasaki4229]

Absolute masterpiece. Flawless.

[@sean..L]

This has so much swagger

[@MrBluesboy15]

That eroic Eb major at the end

[@joontheory]

I'd say it's erotic.

[@JuanManuelSanchez_JMComposer]

Of course, heroic like Beethoven’s third symphony in Eb major, also dedicated to Napoleon. This was definitely a quote from Ludwig.

[@coreylapinas1000]

@@JuanManuelSanchez_JMComposer more of an homage or even just a nod. Nothing is quoted.

[@itamarbar9580]

According to Glenn Gould, There's a quote from his 5th in the piano part, and the E flat at the end seems like an allusion.

[@OxideManganese]

​@@itamarbar9580 I can't listen this 😢

[@toothlesstoe]

The "singing" seems to serve more as a distraction from the other instruments than to complement them, especially since the lyrics seem to have been serialized as well.

[@jkjkjk6007]

Fantastique juste funtasique

[@amitbenhur3722]

15:33-15:47 sounds like a section in the first movement of Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto.

[@StraussKeyboards]

yes it is haha

[@kelvinluk27]

I don't understand the vocal part of the score. And even if I do understand it correctly, the baritone does not seem to be executing those intervals correctly enough.

[@klop4228]

I think it's supposed to be a general 'contour' of the vocal pitch, rather than actual pitches

[@kiank1221]

Look up 'Sprechstimme'.

[@Karamazov9]

It’s sprechstimme

[@Emalm1895]

Well... of course it is Sprechstimme. But most composers, including Schoenberg himself, generally favour another and more comprehensible system for Sprechstimme notation. I agree that this way of writing is confusing and I don't understand why Schoenberg introduced it, abandoning his old conventional system. What are we to make of the sharps and flats when the natural pitches can't be identified since the stave has only one line (and no clef for that matter)? Would it make any difference if they (the sharp and flat signs) were omitted?

[@TerryUniGeezerPeterson]

Hints of the Psycho theme.

[@vivianespabanane7166]

3:49

[@WolfyGreen]

The tonal landscape is deceiving; this is a work resting firmly in the classical tradition. Brahms's ghost rises behind the notes. A powerful piece.

[@Erickvazquezc]

Please explain?

[@patrickbecker4473]

I guess this is self-explaining.

[@Erickvazquezc]

Ok lol

[@Erickvazquezc]

Thank you for your answer. I get that, but I dont see how "Brahms's ghost rises behind the notes". If I understand correctly, Schoenberg took from Brahms the concept of developing variation, and as you clearly point out this piece doesnt develop very much except in the dramatic sense. But I'm far from being well acquainted with Brahms. I completey agree with this piece being romantic in a new harmonic language, I think all of Schoenberg's late works could be described so.

[@toothlesstoe]

No, this isn't traditional.

[@wllm4785]

Where is our Byron? Where is our Schoeberg?

[@nanocyde_artist]

A tour de farce

[@itamarbar9580]

I see what you did there...😆😆

[@mark-j-adderley]

... hopelessly difficult. ... is that a quality ? Yes, it may be ...

[@danielzlatkin4824]

The performance contradicts such a statement.

[@Qazwdx111]

​@@danielzlatkin4824why

[@Wkkbooks]

Simply wretched.

[@netmendo]

A musical genius but a bit nuts in civics. To celebrate Napoleon in 1941 as a way to protest against tyranny is not witty. And to choose Byron that supreme egoist and aesthete is not very witty, too. and He should have recalled how Beethoven changed his Eroica symphony title. Odes usually eulogize their subjects, but "Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte" tells us that it will eulogize a lost Napoleon, a hero who has fallen from himself.

[@ericgrunin]

The title of the text is sarcastic - it does not celebrate Napoleon, it condemns him. Perhaps you haven't actually read it?

[@itamarbar9580]

In addition, Schoenberg's setting is only aimed at Napoleon in a metaphor. He's actually condemning Hitler in the work.