Bartok - Three Etudes op. 18 (Zoltan Kocsis)

Excellent performance of these really hard etudes. Enjoy :)

[@cloud-dv1wb]

I cant believe nobody has done this yet 0:09 - I 2:19 - II 5:21 - III

[@cubycube9924]

Ayyy thx

[@VarynDEE33t]

Man this is some DIVERSE music

[@LazarSoljaga]

Ah i see your a man of culture as well.

[@VarynDEE33t]

Lazar Soljaga I forgot the source of this reference. I knew at the time of writing this but now I forgot xD

[@LazarSoljaga]

The dude from Become the Knight made a fuss about Despasito not being a diverse song because it was just in spanish but still used typical pop song cords and drums. So he made a list of songs that sound nothing like typical pop songs. We both saw that video and here we are.

[@VarynDEE33t]

Lazar Soljaga Ah yes, thank you for jogging my memory.

[@darriancampbell9928]

Mike Become the knight

They are almost horrifyingly captivating that makes me listen to again and again. Bartok is a pure genius.

[@Mozart-Symphony_No.40]

"The desire of repeated sounds".

Bartok is Absolutely a Genius. This set of Etude not only makes you to practice your technique, but also educates you the music notation/engraving, solfege. PLUS, this is enjoyable to listen to. Perfect Etude.

[@mobilephil244]

Fascinating. All the classic Bartok Idioms and harmonic devices are there. Only a genius could make something so discordant and complex so fascinating, engaging and simply listenable.

[@NF30]

Not even joking, this is honestly one of my top three favorite videos on KZbin ever.

[@niinaranta3014]

same

[@NF30]

Update: It is no longer top 3 but it is still very good. Also I fixed a 4 year old typo

[@dylanl.3366]

@@NF30 was not expecting to see a 39 minute old reply here lol

[@NF30]

@@dylanl.3366 Hahaha I was not expecting to make that reply but then I saw the video and saw that I had written a comment 4 years ago which I didn't even remember making and I'm bored and don't want to do homework so I figured I would fix it and stuff. Also since then I learned the first movement of Out of Doors and it is one of my favorite pieces I have ever played!

[@miss_honk]

@@NF30 what are your three favorites now.

[@k.lippins6454]

0:00 no1 2:19 no2 5:18 no.3

[@justelynnnjoelle]

Bless your soul.

[@AsrielKujo]

5:18 no.3 Please fix

[@vt2637]

Bartok is a genius. How is he able to produce such sounds? It just blows me away. That second etude is really something, the mysteriousness and eeriness just gets to me every time. But it should be impossible for me to play.

[@Ar1osssa]

Skill question

[@paulwhetstone0473]

Zoltan Kocsis is my favorite Bartók interpreter.

[@sebastientraglia1351]

Those final chords of the first etude, oh my god pure genius

[@CziffraTheThird]

Sebastien Traglia Speaking of final chords...the ones to the end of the third...unbelievable timbres Bartók created...so hair raising, pure ecstasy.

[@sevenlayer8780]

Only Bartok could combine this type of craftsmanship, rhythmic drive, and sonorous beauty. Look and listen closely; for music that is so frenzied, there are tonal relationships everywhere (etude #1 continually exploits and teases the F#-B, dominant-tonic relationship).

[@natm1402]

i literally can't stop listening to these its addictive

[@Rikarwb]

I just got educated, thx Mike.

[@krypto360]

Rika lmao this is diverse? This doesn't even have a rhythm fucking boring

[@ryanbollinger1759]

FallingLeaf It's diverse because it's stupidly complex with the thyme signatures, chords, and progressions

[@krypto360]

it's all over the place this is garbage.

[@op-th1yx]

@@krypto360 the composer was known for a quite funny philosophy. He insisted that piano was a percussion instrument, and that’s what his music revolves around. You can literally hear the rhythmic play in the first etude. His music is very fun listening to

[@MatthewMingLi]

Just heard about the news....RIP Mr Koscsis :(

[@PawelVVysocki]

It took me quite a while to understand modern music. The more you listen, the more your brain gets used to listening for different kinds of harmony.

[@m.a.g.3920]

The final Boss Cecil Taylor😂😂😂

[@TimothySweeney]

once again Bartok leaves me speechless, a wonderful performance.

[@TimothySweeney]

I believe Robert Fripp said "music can be a considerable friend at times" and so I have rediscovered Erik Satie's Gymnopedes and Gnossiennes, I may attempt # 3 on the mandocello. Which led me to Bartok's Three Etudes, not for the nervous to be sure. Then there's this Bill Frisell "Dysfarmer", distinctly American Music. and Hendrix of course. What are you listening to ?

[@Zantorc]

Timothy Sweeney Conlon Nancarrow. Study no.21,Wyschnegradsky - Twenty-four Preludes in Quarter-tones; No. 3, Anything by Kaikhosru Sorabji, any piano work by Sciarrino, anything by Bach, Barkarole by Thomas Blomenkamp, Jessye Norman - Beim Schlafengehen by R Strauss, Electra by R Strauss, Cecilia Bartoli Vivaldi- Gelido in ogni vena, Berezovsky plays Liszt's Transcendental etudes, Robert Johnson- Crossroad blues, and quite a lot of Hendrix. (You can find most of this on KZbin).

[@MrStrav81]

Kocsis is so phenomenal. This is one example of his phenomenal technique and polish. Another good one is his recording of the original version of the Rachmaninoff Sonata No. 2. Unreal!

[@slateflash]

the second etude is so beautifully sinister

[@theoboegoddess]

This is freaking brilliant

[@katachi1]

very interesting for me. I am glad the score is displayed. The interpretation of the Mr Kocsis is simply breathtaking.

[@joshpfeiffer2645]

23 people are scared s*itless by the pure brutality of these amazing etudes. Nobody plays Bartok better that Kocsis.

[@TheOSouLO]

the difficulty of the piano is extreme here...how skilled one pianist can perform this..

[@siksill]

Two Hungarian genius. Bartók and Kocsis...

[@nicholas72611]

Don't forget Liszt!

[@kyletomlinson5365]

nicholas72611 ha its you again

[@nicholas72611]

Kyle Tomlinson Where did you last see me?

[@nicholas72611]

Kyle Tomlinson Ohhhhh are you the guy who said Prokofiev was shit?

[@kyletomlinson5365]

nah I was on that reply chain thing though

[@yagiz885]

Truly a genius!

[@stravinskyfan]

It would be cool if you make a synthesia of this. Would be crazy to visualize this masterpiece on synthesia.

[@CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji]

Indeed

[@juanborjas6416]

Great and complex music, Bela was really a master at his craft.

[@dragonsreingsupreme1]

20 seconds in and I already love this.

[@nostradamusguy]

I. Allegro molto [00:09] II. Andante sostenuto [02:20] III. Rubato - Tempo giusto [05:20]

[@mstrongny]

Bartok was a genius . First he goes out into the countryside and discovers that the peasant's music is more harmonically advanced than "Western classical music, " then he adapts that into his style creating something wonderful and unique. By the way I love dissonance. Check out Jancek also please.

[@ruchirrawat8804]

Bartok is the kinda guy to use time signature 47/20

[@ChrisBreemer]

I'm starting to think these are even more modern, radical and impossibly difficult (both technically and intellectually) than Ligeti's fabled etudes. I don't think they could be played better than this. Kocsis was to Bartok what Larrocha was to Albeniz and Granados. Untouchable, in a class all of their own. I wonder if Kocsis would have given us the benchmark recording of the Ligeti etudes had he been granted more time.

[@tptmh23]

Stunning. Absolutely stunning.

[@npelletier89]

These etudes... every once in a while I'm like "ahhh, this is so cool let's give it shot"... and hour later I'm like "good god Ligeti is easier". Besides the amount of chromaticism, difficult passagework, the rhythm is so damn complex... the third etude goddamn.

[@moev51]

Haha, sorry-- Legeti is pure torment. I'll take the Bartok.

[@jethroolivier868]

Scriabin Op. 65 also screaming

[@AlbertoHernandez-zm9ul]

lol lol same here!!

[@jasonkim5503]

Thank you for sharing this awesome music and video with its wondrously difficult score. It’s beguiling visually as well as aurally, and there is a certain amount of synergy that this video creates. I have watched this over a dozen times, over the past several years, even shared this (link) on my facebook a few times, and it never gets old. I also kept looking up iTunes for this very fantastic recording by Zoltan Kocsis, but it never seems available. So here I am, revisiting this, for the Nth time. Thank you again.

[@jdbrown371]

I'm in total awe that someone could play this. Zoltan Kocsis must be one epic pianist, right up there with Hamelin in the raw technique to deal with the seemingly impossible department. My finger tips hurt just thinking about it.

[@philiprostek]

Mr. Kocsis gets it all - thanks for sharing this!

[@Kalen1457]

I always think of something diabolical when I listen to these, like gargoyles or demons dancing or something, especially the first and third. The second makes me think of something like stepping on broken glass or something...its very disturbing. The third is the true "devil's staircase" I think.

[@NF30]

See, THIS is real music!

[@MisterMolloy]

Did anyone hear a bit of Gaspard de la Nuit in this? Chords from Scarbo...

[@NanaKwame96]

Oh yeah, totally. The ending of the First Etude.. And a little bit from even the second etude.

[@banjalien]

Yes I thought same thing...

[@vnwa7390]

That's what I thought before I saw this comment

[@Kalen1457]

I love these etudes the second in particular is so beautiful in its own perverted way.

[@amundarainjavier]

Szervusz. These are three beautiful pieces that we can enjoy thanks to the mastery of such a great interpreter of Béla Bartók's music like Mr. Kocsis. Bravo!

[@PianoDreams]

Good lord this looks so ridiculously hard!

[@DaRQsiDe]

That second etude... Probably listened like 10 times now... Wow!

[@Jarnobh]

Very expressive, beautiful performance.

[@elijahvalongo9528]

honestly as a pianist I love challenge like when I heard the liszt sonata I was like I could so work hard on this and feel good after. the first glance I took at these etudes repelled me in such aggravating fascination. but its a piece i know ill never bother with because my im just gonna have a nervous breakdown trying

[@mwsc04]

These are some really challenging studies, musically and technically biting and neurotic. I've always found them more fascinating than much of Bartok's other piano music. He wrote these in a transitional period of his career (along with The Miraculous Mandarin), and understood the limited appeal these would have to the general public. The older Paul Jacobs recording still resonates in my ear strongly, though the performance here is staggeringly good.

[@mikolajochocki2810]

So difficult yet beautiful

[@AlexanderThePilgrim]

The first etude is threathening af 😂

[@That_Revenant_Guy]

This is just incredible; I tried to follow the notes and my eyes are now permanently rolling. I 'Favourited' this within the first 5 seconds

[@CatkhosruShapurrjiFurabji]

The first etude is amazing! These are extremely hard but still help enhance technique.

[@gilles9646]

an amazing performance. what a great pianist he is!

[@giorgiociomei5030]

Sono difficilissimi quasi ineseguibili! 😲🙂👍

[@sneddypie]

the third one is just like bartok saying "these classical musicians want time signatures? *ill give them time signatures*"

[@Catman_321]

For some reason i've been taking a liking to atonal pieces and i found this. This is very interesting to listen to and impressive bartok was able to write this. Atonal pieces are hard to make well.

[@cordeiropascoal]

Kocsis is perfect, but I miss the swing that Argerich gives to Bartók. Thank you for sharing!

[@Rinhos]

oh my God, I'm not a pianist but this sound terribly difficult! and Kocsis is a phenomenon, as always!

[@Soytu19]

Pffff the scales of the third movement are so freaking amazing

[@cmdess]

Shockingly good. Thanks for putting this up!!

[@carlosmontilla1804]

Become the knight sent me here

[@sll10]

Fantastic playing of some fiendishly difficult works! BRAVO KOCSIS! Zsenialis!

[@jeanmarie0733]

Remarquable interprétation de ces études de Bela Bartok vraiment très difficiles. Très peu de pianistes actuels ont cette vélocité et éclat sonore, ce piqué qui détache toutes les notes sans user trop de la pédale. On est vraiment sous le charme.

[@joernbroeker]

Around 4:00 it sounds like Chopin's Etude Op.10 Nr.3 revsited; excellent performance of these almost unplayable etudes.

[@NanaKwame96]

I thought I was the only one.

[@Achtelnote]

yes, i thought too :).

[@ethanrosenthal8268]

You're right

[@GBWagner1]

Genial! 100%! Cant, imagine better version of these pieces.

[@the_seer_0421]

Finally hearing something great from Hungary. I'm saying that as a Hungarian myself.

[@abraxasstone]

You’ve never heard Liszt, then! A great Hungarian composer, not the most famous but definitely one of the best.

[@the_seer_0421]

@@abraxasstone nah, I think I have heard of him but it was a long time ago. I need to check him out.

[@abraxasstone]

Alrighty c:

[@scriabinismydog2439]

@@abraxasstone I think Liszt is the most famous hungarian composer actually... Hell he's one of the most famous composers in all Europe

[@Sathrandur]

You've got a fantastic channel. Very interesting music. And one can really appreciate the technical difficulties when there is a score to follow. Like with Rachmaninov, you would not want to have small hands attempting this sort of music.

[@skryabyn]

thanks this is great! immediately added to my favorites

[@MichaelAMAoun]

You have good taste!

[@RichardRoland]

feel the power and emotion.

[@fisherroastedpeanut]

Also, the first etude is like La Campanella on steroids

[@antoniolosciale]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 #BestCommentEver

[@vnwa7390]

La Campanella on steroids is Liszt's "La Clochette" fantasy, which includes the La Campanella theme and runs for about 15 minutes, presenting various extreme difficulties; far more difficult than any of these etudes, if majorly considered.

[@vnwa7390]

@@paeffill9428 Any of them are arguably harder than La Clochette, depending on the pianist; likewise, La Clochette is arguably harder than any of them depending on the pianist/keyboardist.

[@vnwa7390]

@@paeffill9428 I really don't get it. La Clochette and these etudes can generally be considered to be in the same realm of difficulty and it's different for every individual (it's more difficult than any of the etudes for me personally for example); using a Sorabji-Haydn outlandish analogy here doesn't make any sense. By the way, I shouldn't call you a nut because you seem rather musically knowledgeable and I've seen you around youtube on the obscure and relatively popular music videos.

[@rht100]

Incredible performance of these impossible works.

[@francoiscouture2011]

best version!

[@micheldvorsky]

Kocsis is amazing.

[@KamilKosecki]

Thanks! great etudes and performance

[@organboi]

Truly remarkable. Such masterful music. Bartok is so great. Played to perfection here. Thanks for sharing.

[@aidancraig1903]

Who else is here cuz of become the knight

[@pramodacharya6756]

i am

[@schwarzenudel2937]

aidan craig me xD

[@brucenatelee]

ROCK ON! One year later, but still.

[@OofBoi727]

I am

[@inkognito8400]

One of the hardest etude sets I know.

[@nicolassimion6967]

amazing music and great performance !

[@user-ic2yk8ky8g]

just amazing piece

[@MrStrav81]

Thanks for posting. Bartok and Kocsis are extraordinary. I'm sorry your video comments have been attacked by trolls. If people aren't interested in these pieces, why don't they just go somewhere else? Nobody is forcing them at gunpoint to listen. I'm interested in these pieces from a pianist's perspective.

[@TheDecadant]

@PSNDemonwing i suppose thats the problem for casual listeners and music enthusiasts - if you dont know what youre listening for, it makes it difficult to appreciate beyond the 'for its time' rather than as an isolated piece of music, irrespective of genre. When you learn a piece by Bartok at the piano you start to hear things differently and it is so amazing. His music will live on for a reason, and its not to annoy those who live in the strictly diatonic world of harmony - he was a genius.

[@pandiatonizm]

The first etude has so many resemblancies of Ravel's Scarbo, also the same drive throughout

[@mokumegane2825]

Really need to remember that this is not your typical 'Classical' music. This is from a much later period when composers were experimenting with many different ideas in music, from alternative scales such as whole tone scales, to harmony and dissonance, and even the idea of sonic textures and more. The early 20th century composers are often much harder for the general public to appreciate, in my opinion, due to the complexity of the music in general.

[@stvp68]

I can’t even imagine how you read all those arpeggios in mvmt 2 with all those accidentals

[@NikkElektrik]

Question from somebody just getting into chromatic/atonal music. Why are double sharps and flats used in the score since there's no key? Wouldn't their enharmonic equivalents make it a little easier to read? I know it wouldn't make much of a difference for a piece like this, just wondering if there's something important there, really

[@NikkElektrik]

Thank you for the detailed answer! I will definitely look into the scales Bartok favored, since getting a similar "sound" in my own music is something I'd like to experiment with.

[@Soytu19]

+Nikos Tsakas Jr. Actually that's the reason why there are double sharps and flats in everymusic, not only in Bartok. The answer should be simply that Bartok is not truly atonal. Bartok was a very melodic musician for the XX century. And here there's melody too.

[@Eorzat]

Not sure if you still need, or want, an answer, but it simply comes down to the chords used. For instance, if he wanted to use a C fully diminished seventh chord, the notes would be - C, E-Flat, G-Flat, B-double-flat. Now, in jazz, they don't use double flats or double sharps and, instead, will write the enharmonic equivalent being A in the example I gave. The advantage is that it's easier to read, but slightly harder to analyze.

[@jedwards1211]

Dave Smith it doesn't seem like he had any kind of system that could be characterized by anything as simple as diminished chords. I think it was more a mix of conceptual experimentation fleshed out by brilliant leaps of intuition.

[@marimbaninja4304]

01:57 is unbelievable

[@BlueSkyWhiteSun8888]

Bartok was 'THE' metalhead back in the day.

[@heshreds4049]

toothless toe Metal has a lot in common with classical music. if you pull your head out of your ass and examine the music at a fundamental level you would see the similarities. Metallica of course doesn't have anything near this complexity in their repertoire. almost all metal music is infinitely more simplistic as compared to this piece but there's still some fundamental similarities. Randy Rhoads one of the most critically acclaimed metal guitarist was a classically trained guitarist. Randy Rhoads true passion was classical music.

[@heshreds4049]

toothless toe There is a whole genre of guitarists that practiced classical music, for the challenge that music such as this poses, they used what they learned in their music. They are called "Neo-classical" guitarists. Guys like Steve Vai and Satriani come to mind. Instead of being a troll on the internet, experience some of this music. Look up For the love of God - Steve Vai.

[@heshreds4049]

toothless toe did you listen to my suggestion or you just talking out your ass.

[@jerryhilli4039]

I do think Robert Fripp and King Crimson is the definite enlargement, extension between something like Bartók and Metal (Black Sabbath to Metallica, and everything afterwards). They were all so seminal in their way of expression. But almost everything (excluding math metal and such) that has their vein in metal is a simplified output of what came before. So I do agree with you, metal has a lot in common with classical music, even if many a time it is a abridged and simplified. You could say that Black Sabbath, in their essence, is a much, much more abbreviated figuration of King Crimsons song "Pictures of a City" -- Well at least to my mind and ears

[@nsmtuzh]

I read, Ligeti tried to write works like Bartók. Now, I understand, why they write in the book, where I read it. :) This is fantastic, thanks for upload!

[@PawelVVysocki]

what a genius!!

[@jackal59]

I don't listen to nearly enough Bartok.

[@sanicyouth6540]

jackal59 I don't listen to nearly enough classical music. I must fix that.

[@slipperyslope7970]

Piano Sonata Sz.80 is one of the masterpieces of all piano literature.

[@releasethefrogs]

regardless of what anyone says, there's a melody there, and beautiful music. bartok heard it, and wrote it, so it's there. he didn't waste his energy writing music he didn't like. try and find it. its not in any major scale, thats for sure

[@sevenlayer8780]

Exactly. And honesty, the lyricism is not as submerged as one would think; it's readily apparent in these pieces.

[@user-zl2xv6lr8c]

화이팅!!! 할 수 있다!!

[@strav12]

Thanks John - I'll look these up - as I say, the composition itself is so dramatic that it carries the player along as long as they just get the notes right - but more anon - it sounds like you know others with interesting performances....

[@calebhu6383]

6:32

[@JordansAnalysis]

This is fucking AWESOME!!!

[@teppopuinut]

Best nourishment for the mind!

[@vitalijsrazdorovs3637]

Потрясающая игра Кочиша! Барток само собой.

[@tarikeld11]

1:30 you can even hear a bit of Schumann's Toccata :D

[@hansschonfelder735]

Incredible!

[@jiaxuli1013]

The third one has insane difficult! I'm not sure whether I can even read the score properly

[@Lillars]

Fabuleux !

[@figensco]

So did you take 10 years to learn Chopin 26 etudes and Liszt's trascendentals? well, be ready to take another ten, just to learn this Bartok's three etudes.....

[@vnwa7390]

What about Liszt Grand Etudes, Mereaux Etudes, Ligeti Etudes, Sorabji Etudes, etc etc?

[@EmptyKingdoms]

@@vnwa7390 Sorabji can get literally unplayable. Never heard of Mereaux, will check out. Ligeti start pretty easy, so it's great motivation to study them all.

[@vnwa7390]

Sorabji is never unplayable. It’s just extremely hard; as Alistair Hinton, chairman of the Sorabji Archive would say, Jonathan Powell, Ian Pace, and the God like Hamelin have the capabilities to play anything by Sorabji but don’t always care to. For reference, Powell has performed the Sequentia Cyclica or Super Dies Irae Variations many times live and has a few recordings out iirc; the most complex piece ever that is still playable is (as J. Carey would argue) this “thing” of a piece: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y6qbk5aaiL2qj5o Harder than the cacophony of Finnissy’s Country Tunes or History of Photography in Sound, Sorabji, Godovski, Szimanovski, or any of that; in terms of accuracy.

[@scriabinismydog2439]

@@vnwa7390 that "thing" isn't really distant from Finnissy and or Fereynough (I probably spelled it wrong), but seems almost diatonic... Interesting. As for now the only composers that come near to Sorabji's level is the already mentioned Szymanowski (which can get really atrocious in the middle period pieces like the Op. 33 Etudes or the 3rd Piano Sonata). Roslavets' Sonatas (Hamelin defined him as Scriabin on acid), Reger's Piano Concerto and Leo Ornstein's 5th Sonata are extremely hard too, but are less hard than Szymanowski I think... A piece that people seem to forget when talking about transcendental-difficult pieces is Scriabin/Nementin's Mysterium, which has a solo piano part... It's basically a Scriabin piano sonata but it's 3 hours long, so as you can imagine, a total finger destroyer. Probably Messiaen is the closest to Sorabji's level in terms of complexity and difficulty. But of course we all know that Beethoven Moonlight Sonata 3rd mov the hardest.

[@p-y8210]

what about Alkan etudes

[@smsoarescunha4688]

IMENSIDÃO SOLAR LINDOOOOO

[@mwsc04]

Incredibly effective renditions, the best since Paul Jacobs' Nonesuch recording back in the day (which I still prefer for his use of rubato, especially in #2)