Arnold Schoenberg: Piano Concerto op. 42 (Excerpt)

Mitsuko Uchida, soloist. Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, conducted by Jeffrey Tate. Score available at www.schoenbergmusic.com.

[@jhg12989]

Wow, this is beautiful!!!! Schoenberg still sounds fresh!!!! His language is a reference towards the future even beyond integral serialism!!

[@jrk3150]

This is one of my favorite 12-tone compositions, and one of Schoenberg's finest late works. It has both the disquiet of much of his post-late Romantic compositions, and yet tremendous lyricism approaching tonality. In addition to Uchida, one of the best with this repertoire, I recommend the recording with Alfred Brendel performing this superbly.

[@andwhatfire]

complex rhythms. what i like about this is it doesn't carry any dogma with it; it feels organic, an marsh excursion in the dark. the voices challenge one another, the melody bumps and starts.

[@art2art]

I *LOVE* this piece. The opening theme on the piano is one of the best melodies I've ever heard. Schornberg is awesome!

[@beatingahorsetodeath]

Dear god, this is stunning.

[@LeipzigKantor]

Oh my; this is so beautiful! Maybe the world is ready for Schoenberg now.

[@ASirensSoliloquy]

If you hear the beginning of this piece and hate it, stop listening to it and go listen to something your mind can comprehend. But if you've fallen in love with the sound and admire its complexity, you should agree, this is magnificent.

[@logoxyz]

Kudos also to the Director of Photography, who was obviously following the score and had cameras ready to grab the various sections of the orchestra as they were featured.

[@limkongsun]

Schoenberg's piece has a definite style which I greatly appreciate as this is what sets him apart from others.

[@blackie5566]

Mitsuko Uchida is IMHO the best piano player for this piano concerto. You can hear, that it's in the tradition of late romanticsm - so melodic. I just love it 🙂

[@veryangrystorks]

I'm just beginning to fall in love with Schönberg's piano music, and Uchida plays beautifully!

[@davidofpiano423]

Gotta love Schoenberg... love him or hate him, when it's well played his music is expressive and it makes you think, feel and react. That fact alone I think validates his music as art.

[@Mike-pf1ru]

davidofpiano423 Did you mean to say “his music as fart”? That’s what I understand.

[@noobplaysleague7552]

@@Mike-pf1ru How old are you lol

[@insight827]

@@noobplaysleague7552 what, do you think like a twelve year old is seeking out works by schonberg? lmao

[@noobplaysleague7552]

@@insight827 Oh sorry, tis only for the elderly white men, children must not be exposed to this blasphemy!

[@labemolmineur]

I can't get over just what it took the soloist to understand and then master this part so amazingly.

[@jrk3150]

I keep coming back to her interpretation of this piece again and again. I love it. To the person who thinks that "Verklärte Nacht" is Schoenberg's only "genuine music," if you're a fan of that, then you should hear his tone poem "Pelleas und Melisande" and his large orchestral piece, "Gurrelieder," which is one of the lushest late Romantic pieces of its era. The "Song of the Waldtaube" (Wood Dove) is quite famous as a stand-alone piece.

[@robertbairdmusic]

Really is beautiful!

[@pawdaw]

She is awesome & so is this piece!

[@ParStenberg]

One of the few pieces I've never heard by Schoenberg. Brilliant

[@KokoRicky]

A lot of people find this to be unlistenable, wretched music, which is what makes atonality so controversial. I love it though. It's uncomfortable but it's wonderfully bizarre.

[@rahmahn.9012]

14 years ago..

[@ricardojorgecardoso7220]

Concordo plenamente.

[@art2art]

I forgot to mention that Uchida kicks phenominal ass bringing out the lyricism of this piece. Wow.

[@kookamunga2458]

He had a vivid imagination and his music is at times a wild rollar coaster ride . Spot on !

[@IngridSalaSantamaria2021]

Incredible! And the split screens with the overhead keyboard view is genius!

[@a.m.armstrong8354]

Yes, that's a brilliant device.

[@GlacierCow]

It's weird, but for some reason I kind of dig this stuff. It makes me uncomfortable, then I realize that it's supposed to. Music evokes emotions, so as a change from the usual "sublime, beauty, tragic, angry, aloof, etc" music it's kind of novel.

[@sinisterbotanist]

It is a bummer there's still people who are bothered enough to tell others they know what music actually is or isn't. I mean, there are even professional philosophers out there who attempt to justify their aesthetic preference for tonal music by saying atonal music really doesn't qualify as properly musical (Raffman). It's obvious to me this type of music should not be listened to in the same way as tonal music. It does not engender the same sort of musical sensations as tonal music; they are different sensations, not subordinate. It isn't just a mere intellectual sort of appreciation, but neither is it the same sort of listening you'd do for Beethoven. It's like learning a different language.

[@Mike-pf1ru]

houses of the homo It shouldn’t be listened to at all. It’s simply garbage noise, and nothing - including the way one listens to it - can rectify that.

[@Brandon-cv9uh]

Mike you really miss the point of it. You are closed minded and probably cant enjoy anything unless you decide its correct and comfortable

[@jinnymudlark1815]

@@Mike-pf1ru Each to his own, Mike. What the avant-garde should not be allowed to do is try to tell others that their musical tastes are inferior.

[@Mike-pf1ru]

Brandon I’m glad I am so unsophisticated that I don’t “get it”. The emperor has no clothes.

[@Lightshayde]

@@Mike-pf1ru You can't go about thinking it's all just random crap, like a bunch of random numbers, or like digits of pi from 29,023 to 29,555. If you listen to it with that mindset that's all you'll hear. Listen to it as Schoenberg trying to make order out of nonsense--like how the existentialists, such as Camus or Heidegger, argued that what fundamentally makes us human beings is that we strive to make our own meaning out of an absurd world--or fall into angst and thoughtlessness if we fail or refuse to try.

[@abulic2433]

So expressive and full of tension! What a wonderful study.

[@SigmaOxygen]

Before Gutenberg, most of the stories people knew were designed to be memorized almost word for word. Structure was essential so the brain could hold on to verbal patterns and common themes. If you gathered a crowd and spoke with verbal austerity or told a story with an abridged/ambiguous ending, you would lose them or be stiffed. I think people have a deep urge to admire patterns rather than interpret something unfamiliar, regardless of "content". Even frivolous patterns are loved: Escher.

[@surj33t]

Amazing. I love it. It's so exciting.

[@CheeseCakeee]

Can't stop listening to this.

[@goodridgewinners]

this song gives me an image in my mind of kids playing...its like the child's imagination coming out to play. and really, in this video, we see a bunch of big kids playing with their instruments. i dont mean this in any negative way, shape or form...its just what i place schoenberg's music under...Compositions by children. its sooo amazing.

[@Lucifxr]

true ngl

[@LlamaSensei]

I actually really love this music, if it's put together the right way. Schoenberg has a nice way of orchestrating it. It almost doesn't even sound random because each instrument seems to speak at just the right moment.

[@MatthewMingLi]

How wonderfully grotesque. LOVE IT!!!! How can anyone not like this piece???

[@GeorgeMaj15]

The perfect mix of jazz rhythms and the impeccable beauty of twelve tone. There is a large difference between atonality and "out of harmony." They are in harmony, in fact, twelve tone is a lot more structured and "correct" than traditional 7 tone scales based on a tonic. I can not believe that people are calling this "terrible to listen to." This is tame atonal, in fact, it's structured, it has themes, it's "music." go listen to String Quartet 2 or Cello Concerto 1 by Pendereski.

[@IWolfGod]

I like this! It's great music for exciting moments in a movie or a game.

[@montecarlostar]

This has got me totally captivated. I had only heard Schonberg's Pierre Lunaire and wasn't too impressed, but THIS is impressive. I'm gonna buy this concert immediatly!!!

[@cnmaster01]

I'll have to dig up my old research for their logic behind it, but in counterpoint texts the fifth and octave are described as "perfect" consonances -the earliest departure from plainchant depended entirely on these intervals- while the third and sixth are called "imperfect."

[@GeorgeMaj15]

II think the comments on this page truly demonstrate that if you don't understand the piece the instant you begin hearing it, insult it. This is atonal, yes, but based on a tone row that ensures stability. This isn't random note pressing, this isn't even cluster chords. It's a set row and variances on that row. It even has a repeating theme and structure. It's beautiful. If twelve tone wasn't a great creation, Stravinsky, Weber, etc wouldn't have picked it up for their own uses.

[@skullketon]

Magnificent rendition, the pianist is excellent and the orcestra is so well conducted :)

[@mhenrikse]

Great performance and cinematography.

[@paulm74]

Spectacular!

[@peninsula8686]

2:08 gives me chills every time.

[@SongMakerNYC]

1st composer that was able to "escape wagner" ... as important as wanger ... amazing

[@shrunkard]

I don't mind Schoenberg. I don't listen to him unless I have to, mind you, but I can at least say that I appreciate what he was trying to accomplish. The man was a genius. That being said, I find comparisons between Schoenberg and Beethoven laughable, and find the idea that atonal music would ever replace tonal music, which Schoenberg believed at one point, downright hilarious. We are hardwired to prefer tonal music in the same way that apples are more appetizing to us than rocks.

[@muesk3]

"Actually sod it, just make music, sod this cerebral unpicking of things" I agree, let composers write the music they want in the way the want. Music isn't about methods or a technique, it's about emotions, thoughts,...

[@dralger]

I love Schönberg's music.

[@361643]

He’s taking a new set set of rules and within those rules he’s creating a crafted tidy piece that treats each note as important and not used to support or lead or deliver but rather to be emancipated from those sorts of tasks so that all are equal to the tonic’s purpose-genius.

[@bsharporbflat8378]

The real genius behind this is remembering it...

[@ukdavepianoman]

Love this concerto. First heard it when I was 13 or so (Roger Woodward, Proms). It's tonal and atonal at the same time, like Berg's Violin Concerto. After a few listenings, this is not difficult music to follow. The dissonances are not ugly, quite the opposite in fact. I've never understood why there are so few performances of this concerto. Mitsuko Uchida plays brilliantly. From her interviews it's clear she loves this piece. Would love to hear the rest of this performance !

[@stelun56]

Schoenberg has a certain 'je ne sais quoi' without doubt, but life is short and I have to delve into Bach more and more as his patterns and strange loops engulf me with the desire to see "the thing" again and again.

[@goofygoober4life]

I enjoy its sound of infinity. The constant flow of music is nice.

[@ninjapunk76]

@sybo59 Yes, of course - because 'agreeability' is the obvious quality by which we should judge the value of all music. Let's not concern ourselves with the reality that the music by many visionary Romantic composers (and even earlier) was also considered 'incomprehensible' or 'ugly' by their contemporaries. It's clearly a matter of historical perspective. I also love your it's "ugly BECAUSE it is ugly" line of reasoning. Circular logic always works, because it's 'circular' and 'logical'.

[@Dundatta258]

beautiful music amazing

[@nutsocket]

intense emotion and bitter sweet

[@risrosen]

That keyboard/orchestra sandwich shot was cool.

[@carninuz1]

A more modern form of this music is industrial music. It came around in the 70's as a post-punk, art rock movement. Anyone who likes this can find a subtle interest in industrial music. I suggest starting with Throbbing Gristle.

[@RyanJBridge]

@panzerschnott 2 years ago I would've shut this off in 30 seconds. Today I think it's extraordinarily beautiful.

[@Dogslovedan]

Music is more than a purely academic exercise, and should be analyzed as such. Knowing all the rules and how to use them does not make one a great composer, it makes their music formulaic. Music theory forms a basis for music but true musical exploration transcends the its rational and logical guidelines.

[@GeorgeMaj15]

Nature has been described as complex and wild, with no structure and seeming chaos. Yet zoom in, and notice ecosystems, and leaves, and the structures of nature--it has footwork. I feel that 12 tone is similar; it is chaotic and unpleasant at times, but zoom in and you notice the structure behind it, it only looks and feels free and wild. In that aspect I sometimes consider 12 tone the music to most accurately portray nature, not in actual sounds of nature, but in the nature of nature.

[@fate023]

man, the grudge is a pretty incredible pianist. this really sounds like three pieces of music playing at the same time. i'm amazed there isn't much, if any dissonance in the orchestra itself, but overall, not something i'd ever pay to listen to.

[@ErosDaArt]

Wow. Masterful in its own right.

[@antobag]

does anyone know what kind of mutes the trombonists are using? you can see them at 3:17

[@TheJMusicNow]

So incredibly gorgeous

[@googlekopfkind]

lol first i saw your comment on NYJO and then i was watching this.

[@TheJMusicNow]

googlekopfkind Ha das cool whatre the odds aha

[@googlekopfkind]

such things happens very often on youtube. the world is small.

[@Mike-pf1ru]

You are a very funny fellow. I like your style of humour.

[@pearspeedruns]

Mike what's the joke? I don't get it

[@CrisDu91]

you can't compare this kind of music, with rock music, they are both at opossite sites. The rock is melodic, but this music, has transcend the melody, and has an atonal way. With the twleve note composition. So i could tell that Schoenberg is a lot more modern than any kind of rock, in content, and in technique.

[@uhj4]

beautiful music!

[@GeorgeMaj15]

It is more structurally perfect than the 7 tonal system. The structure behind twelve tone not only controls pitches being played, but the order in which they're played, unlike the 7 tone system, which only has "suggestions" for chord progressions. To correct this, we have structure forms, like the rondo, which in time were also cast aside because they're additive. Note pattern is written INTO 12 tone, it's beautiful and complex. Hard to understand, yes, and I get your point, but still.

[@ONALTIKIRKALTI]

Mitsuko Uchida + Schoenberg= feel good :)

[@denverchingombe6927]

weldone I Love it

[@villanovabandrocks]

Schoenberg is Edgar Allen Poe of composition. Freaks me out a little to listen to gotta be honest. Genius tho

[@GenericGoogleAccount]

You should try Penderecki, his music is pure nightmare fuel. Threnody for the victims of Hiroshima, anyone ?

[@pinstripe01]

@ Saremo I agree with you If you focus so much of what music "has to be" you lose the very mysterious nature of what music is. I have really learned to expand my appreciation of music and sound because great musicians like Schoenberg test the norm of how people interpret music. I would of never liked bands like Skinny Puppy, Venetian Snares, Autechre, Mr.Bungle or Devo if I confined myself to listening to music from 1 perspective.

[@corrietrue6347]

The white noise in the background is giving me a headache.

[@alexmoxon]

Music's not always about pretty notes. Sometimes it's about ugly notes. Sometimes the purpose of music isn't to make you feel good.

[@Oakleaf700]

Jangles the nerves- like everyone is playing their own instrument without thought for what others are doing. The piano is especially jarring, sounds like a set of wild cats let loose on the keys.

[@Mikerizzle]

Which segment is this? Could anyone give me a page number or movement?

[@mirak63]

I think the fourth is special because the note on the top can steal the tonic property to the bottom note and become itself a tonic, and vice versa, it's not as clear as with a fifth when the bottom note clearly feels as the tonic no matter what I think many considerations are about this rather than about a dissonance in the intervall

[@emixolydian]

Open your mind and ears.

[@cnmaster01]

@sybo59 To me, the only thing that can possibly redeem atonality or noise is an attachment to some form of "program." So then, do you have more sympathy for Moses und Aron, Periot Lunaire, A Survivor from Warsaw, or the dramatic works of Berg, etc.? If so, we have at least some common ground, as those happen to be the atonal works I hold in highest regard.

[@Varese13]

For those who may have difficulty, please allow me to advise that you listen carefully to the opening theme, which has the character of a Ländler. Everything that comes after the complete statement of this theme is a variation on the opening motif or some other aspect of that theme. It is precisely the same compositional procedure used by Brahms or Beethoven. The only difference is the total chromaticism of the musical language.

[@MELONMOVIES]

@smitty01209 I think he was referring to it as classical as opposed to contemporary music, not as in the period... :)

[@PeteS_1994]

This reminds me of some jazz, the piano in the song at the beginning. I like it.

[@theomartin6238]

Of course, because last 50 years most jazz musicians use harmonies and progressions that were used commonly by impressionist classical composers in late 19th century till middle 20th century. Take every impressionist composition and give slow swing rhytm and you will get a modern ’jazz’ composition. And many famous “jazz“ musicians like Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellington were classicaly trained. They used a lot of classical music. And don’t forget that jazz music started like brass music based on march compositions by classical composers.

[@kelvinluk27]

Theo Martin Schoenberg is anything but impressionist

[@OsvaCola]

A lot of bullshits about Schoenberg are written in the commentaries. But that isn't important.What is important is Miss Uchida one of the most important pianists of our time. She is specialist in Mozart, Schubert , Debussy , Schoenberg and Beethoven . The record of Uchida with this concert with Boulez is by far the best version of this beautiful music. I regret that the majority of the people stopped at the 19 Century.The Concerto opus 42 is a masterwork. Miss Uchida proves this.

[@ProggyDox]

amazing !!!

[@J4m3z1]

@PianoGod1990 Good question. When I compose the first thing I do is grasp and attach myself to something that has a very obvious pattern which I know will satisfy many listeners. But I find myself disatisfied because it doesn't feel innovative to go for the very obvious pattern. But then I try something a little more innovative, perhaps too innovative, and I feel equally disatisfied because it's not so easy to listen to, which makes me feel like it's not good music.

@lefthandovRA Kant said there are two things that don't need any reason at all, those are music and laughter. Sigmund Freud once said "Sometimes music is just music".

[@sybo59]

@cnmaster01 Wow, thanks for all the comments. Right off the bat, I see a lot to agree with, and a lot to clarify. I'll get back to you when I have the time to focus my attention on this topic and give you a worthwhile response; I'm not a full-time esthete you know!

[@vino122]

it might be that this pease of music resembles something real.. huge and dynamic...eg storm in the woods... rocking trees... or storm at the sea Storm maybe sounds atonical and monotone at the same time and therefore atonical 12 tone music simply hits it.. what do you think which music would better describe a storm?

[@LordZephyroth]

Amazingly brutal is the phrase

[@wogandmush]

which pentatonic scale?

[@michaelcrowleypianist]

Interesting... this piece has some nice moments!

[@isaacjuarezflores]

i like it

[@machida5114]

so good...

[@khbgkh]

Strangely, i gind myself warming up to this music evry time i listen to it, though i still find tonality much more satisfying in terms of my own writing. atonality will rarely give that shiver down the spine that tonal music can deliver... Oh well.

[@cnmaster01]

@sybo59 How is treating dissonances like consonances "DELIBERATELY incomprehensible?" That's thoroughly straightforward to me. Centuries ago, music theorists hotly debated whether the third was even a consonance. Are the triadic works of the Classical era "DELIBERATELY incomprehensible?" Even after the third became accepted as a consonance, the perfect fourth was still considered a dissonance, even in Schoenberg's theoretical writing. Does this invalidate Copland or Debussy's work?

[@MrFaceHead]

If the audience appreciates what is being played then so be it. Those with an actual neural disconnection between harmony and emotion might enjoy it on the level of texture and rhythm. Those with an approval reflex for anything touted by fringe anarchist-artists can continue to force themselves to enjoy this. Harmony is not purely cultural subjectivity, it is a product of acoustic physics. You don't 'choose' your reaction to music, it's involuntary. John Cage's et al. philosophies are spurious.

[@AJ-mt1gl]

Listening here for music history that i need to answer for modules TvT

[@Grondorn]

@alienalienss The music I love is fullblooded, and it feels like it is weaved in the very essence of the whole universe

[@mechwarreir2]

I just have one question, is there any thought/ music theory put into making these songs? I REALLY like these atonal melodies, but are they just random, or are they carefully thought out?

[@art2art]

If you like this, I recommend Schoenberg's Violin Concerto and his Variations for Orchestra. Also, look into Alban Berg's Violin Concerto, and Bela Bartok's music. I think classical music of the last century could really speak to contemporary audiences, even those not particularly familiar with classical music. Enjoy!

[@MaestroTJS]

Oh wow, Boulez's Notations was attended by a few hundred, maybe even a thousand, people who applauded...that means it is music that is universal and loved all over the world! Yup, move over Mozart and Beethoven, Boulez is taking over everywhere and speaking to everyone's souls!

[@applekyut1398]

Amazing

[@sybo59]

@J4m3z1 Fair enough; I was just curious. Though we disagree on the main point, I believe we both recognize that the choice between either knowledge or happiness is a fatuous and artificial one. Reason is practical by its nature, but isn't good BECAUSE it is practical (ie. pragmatism). Have a good one!

[@annisa6053]

What theme?

[@pxtokarev]

She's great! Even in this most difficult performance.