Beethoven, Symphony 3 ("Eroica"), 2nd movement (funeral march) ©

Ludwig van Beethoven's Third Symphony, second movement (funeral march), performed by the Bezdin Ensemble, with a graphical score.
FAQ
Q: What do the shapes indicate?
A: The shapes are assigned according to instrumental group:
rectangle: brass (also timpani)
octagon: clarinet
ellipse: flute
inverted ellipse: oboe and bassoon
rhombus: strings
Q: What do the colors indicate?
A: The colors are assigned to pitch, in a technique described here:
www.musanim.com...
Q: Where can I get this recording?
A: From Magnatune:
magnatune.com/a...
Q: Could you please make a video of ________?
A: Please read this:
www.musanim.com...

[@richardcondon3797]

on novemeber 22 1963 the boston symphony was about to perform when news came of the assassination of john kennedy. he was shot around noon that day but news of his death was withheld for the family. upon confirmation the conductor made the announcement to the audience who were held in shock and remorse and the greatest sadness. with the announcement the conductor told them they would change the program and play this the second movement of the eroica. of all the things that happened that day and for some days following this was perhaps one of the most profound.

[@Yaravis]

There are demons everywhere in this piece. Haunting, dark and sublime. I wonder what people were thinking when this debuted. Certainly there had been nothing like it before.

[@jonguirl3942]

I remember reading that contemporary reviewers were shocked by this symphony, and they thought LvB had gone mad - "who would ever open a symphony with two enormous hammer blows from the orchestra like he did!!" LOL - he pushed the limits for his time in a lot of ways.

[@ctcoet]

8:40 totally sublime!

[@QuantumMatrix2000]

one of the greatest pieces of music I have ever heard. /watch?v=f7R8AkopRdA on youtube for a more authentic performance.

[@mauricedesaxe1745]

The part of the piece 8:05 on is absolutely incredible. The piece takes a much more dramatic and heavy tone, and builds up to a massive display of pure grief, expressing an incredible display of raw emotion. It's dark, sublime... moving, truly. One is left to wonder what the listener may think of when they hear this portion of the piece- the death of a loved one, the despair of a broken heart, the tragedy of failure. This is, in my opinion, the most dramatic, dark and moving selection of music Beethoven ever wrote.

[@richardcondon3797]

+Jay Rohwer please read my comment your last sentence is quite true.

[@TheArmstrong1969]

It has been played today in Scala theater in memory of Maestro Claudio Abbado very moving

[@johndicecco2572]

8:50 The beginning of something extraordinary. Beethoven's emotive powers in full display.

[@carlosbashuertas]

Such a genius in every musical sense, Beethoven was a master in communicating angst, pathos, anguish, exhilaration, happiness, all sorts of moods like no one before and after and all might be here in this funeral march! Can you hear the heart-felt? Listen to them from 8:40 on...

[@ctcoet7631]

Carlos Bas O yes! 8:40 !! Sublime! The French Horn! I cry every time!

[@justdev8965]

Happiness? You must be confusing him with Mozart. There's no happy tone in any of Beethoven's works.

[@HyShroomOfficial]

@@justdev8965 Clearly you haven't listened to much Beethoven

[@jlowe8059]

From about 8:40 to 1200 is one of the most incredible pieces I’ve heard.

[@balthazarnaylor5874]

jlowe agree

[@SimPilotMika]

You might like Bach’s little fugue

[@freebiehughes9615]

For some reason, the section between 14:41 and 15:43 gives me chills, also! But the section you mentioned is incredible! The whole piece is. The Eroica is my favourite Beethoven symphony.

[@jlowe8059]

Mika Morgan I do. Bach is my favorite composer.

[@treeskates]

The Windswept Fugue

[@Connor-fj5rc]

Listening to this movement is like watching a Shakespearean tragedy. Drama of the highest caliber.

[@smalin]

Yep.

[@Nour_Taha]

Well described 👍

[@ramonguerrero1093]

A radio station played this song while the imperial japanese army occupied Nanking in 1937 I can't imagine what it must have felt like, hearing the bombs falling outside, and knowing that the city where you grew up in is now being destroyed.

[@jakemanlivestoday]

My favorite Beethoven Symphony. This movement never tires me having heard it many times. Beethoven takes us through grief and extreme sorrow but litters this piece with constant glimmers of hope. Absolutely incredible music.

[@douglasdaniels8433]

Very well said

[@Ivan_1791]

8:47 I love that part.

[@daveluttinen2547]

The Boston Symphony played this immediately after the assassination of President Kennedy was announced on November 22, 1963 during an afternoon concert. The changed their program to honor the 35th President. There is a recording of that announcement online. To this date, wherever the symphony goes they take the music with them in the event of another tragedy.

[@waltertomaszewski1083]

Dave Luttinen We ‘re going to have another one shortly,....😢

[@usernotfound6475]

Walter Tomaszewski oh don’t say that

[@djandersonny]

@@waltertomaszewski1083 Sadly true. It's going down right now in the US Senate, 31 January 2020.

[@e.conboy4286]

Interesting. Thank you.

[@orgelboeken]

Thanks for uploagding an other great video!

[@basemtaha7476]

I think the big secret of this piece is that Beethoven mixes only sadness and anger in a way that only a great musician can do. In this music you will find only the feelings of sadness and anger intertwined and surprisingly successive. He is saddened by the disappointment of that false hero and anger at his lies and deceit.

[@douglasdaniels8433]

Nicely said. I find you to have the gift of prose in large measure!

[@samhopkins5101]

Play this at my funeral, please. I love he fugue. Then again, I will be able to have Beethoven play this for me all I want in the hereafter.

[@theoa8524]

True isn't it, though he was a piano & violins guy, so who would do the Bassoon and the Clarinet. If there is one piece of music we should send to any aliens who come to destroy us it should be the fugue. It sounds like it leaps 8 octaves up and down and yet the entire thing never goes above G6 or below C2.

[@abhilashpaul2248]

No movement in no symphony is as perfect as this one. This is a poetry on evolution of human civilization. Beethoven defines its direction as well....always forward

[@pavlelazarevic3270]

I think there is one . Beethoven symphony no 7 allegretto

[@deejy232]

The section at 8.50 just reaches something that no music has come close to

[@sofiaedmundson9128]

This is what it must be like for genius composers to SEE music even before it's written down. I was captivated! Thanks,

[@e.conboy4286]

Yes indeed! Imagine how it would have been utilized!

[@FrZugger]

When President Kennedy was shot on 22 Nov, 1963, the Boston Symphony was giving a concert as it was Friday after Thanksgiving. First it was announced to the audience that the president had been shot. After intermission, the orchestra returned to find that the scheduled music had been removed and replaced with this magnificent solemn piece. That was how Boston learned that JFK had died - a fitting tribute.

[@meredithmullins8638]

It was not the day after Thanksgiving. That was the following week and Lyndon Johnson gave a speech. But I love that the Boston Symphony did this, even though the news had been out for hours.

[@patricioramosnegrete1192]

Live recording of what happened: www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/02/listen-to-the-boston-symphony-orchestra-stop-a-performance-to-announce-jfks-assassination/283683/

[@annbogden2847]

A beautiful tribute🎶🎼🎵

[@e.conboy4286]

This visualization is genius! Thank you Stephen.

[@israelasiku3975]

I ridiculously love 8:45 to 11:05 and 15:48 to 16:18

[@jamessalepe]

Beautiful!!! Beethoven genius!

[@eduardoguerraavila8329]

This is the greatest symphonic movement ever.

[@justdev8965]

Nah. 5th symphony 2nd movement. No comparison

[@kushgroover54]

@@justdev8965 bro can we just appreciate all Beethoven symphony 2nd movements, they're all gorgeous and I honestly don't see how you could pick a single one from them all

[@annbogden2847]

@@kushgroover54 I agree with Kush

[@s3dubs]

This is the most accurate visual representation of sound to vision synesthesia (how I perceive it anyway) that ive ever seen.

[@douglasdaniels8433]

Likewise

[@jonnsmusich]

Brilliant! Have loved this movement 40 years, and the Strauss Metamorphosen derived from it. Your color/shape arrangement really does reveal the structure. Especially for those of us who are not so practiced reading symphonic scores. Wonderful. - And thanks for the Debussy butterflies. Sent it to my daughter for Valentine.

[@JeanGorin80]

Certains ont du génie, vous en faites partie ! Merci également pour les informations que vous donnez dans la description de votre vidéo ( les trois liens ) qui permettent de comprendre votre travail et d'en savourer, encore davantage, toute sa richesse pour notre plus grand plaisir.

[@Grondorn]

In my opinion, this is his best symphony.

[@freebiehughes9615]

It's my favourite, by far!

[@waukee321]

The section from 11:18 to 11:56 begins eerily and then plunges into such a force of doom; very moving.

[@jedicid]

For me from min 5:00 to 9:00 is perhaps some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard. It always brings me to tears.

[@JFullerUCSB]

@azertyuiop Honestly it's the best. I remember a couple years ago I was really trying to get into classical symphonies, and Beethoven's 3rd was one I hadn't really listened to. I would play them on Spotify during my commute, and when I heard this section for the first time I almost had to pull over.

[@nathanjohnson6543]

Thank you for this! Partly because of the recording but mostly because of your graphics, I found a part in the fugue which I didn't even know was there.

[@Kyubiwan]

The part beginning from 08:47 was used as a song that a red larvae was singing while mourning the death of a female mayfly in a Korean TV show. I would like to say that the composer as well as the song itself is so fantastic and dramatic.

[@LNcello]

Thanks so much, Smalin! Great to watch - had to keep myself from scrolling to the A flat at 11:22 ... Of all Beethoven's symphonies, maybe the movement I love and respect the most (and love to play).

[@guikentaro]

Beethoven is one of the composers I most likely get ideas from their pieces to compose mine. The beginning is just what I expect for a "dark, quite, to begin to feel" entry... Love him!

[@jonny5779]

hard not to listen to this movement without getting emotional...such despair in those opening bars💔

[@thisisrtsthree9992]

+Jonathan Allon There are some chords that i can't understand (not that i even wanted to honestly, in mystery i enjoy them more)

[@qcislander]

About halfway through (8:02 to 11:22 in this recording) is one of the most perfectly composed weavings of "voices" that I know. Nevermind that it's a funeral march: it's *mind-bogglingly* beautiful. This movement of the Eroica hasn't once failed in more than 50 years to stand as THE exclamation point to all of the grief, pain and tears I've known. It's amazing that music - just *sounds* - can do that. :-)

[@jrbleau]

Yes, this is an amazing passage. Mind-blowing. Or as you say, mind-boggling.

[@rbleier4368]

Ditto. One of my all time favorites

[@bag3lmonst3r72]

Listening to this, one can see why this is considered the first Romantic symphony. Its depth of emotion is unprecedented and innovative.

[@cdiegorodriguez]

To me it feels far more Classical than Romantic

[@ze_rubenator]

@@cdiegorodriguez There's a reason why in books about the history of music, between classicism and romanticism there'll be an entire chapter just on Beethoven.

[@bfjk1]

This video is a stunning work of artistry and technique and interpretation and genius in its own right, and it well complements this movement. Thank you, sir.

[@Philobrony]

Smalin doing more Beethoven? All my dreams have come true.

[@smalin]

BTW, you know who Beethoven's favorite composer was (among his contemporaries)?

[@Philobrony]

smalin No idea. Mozart maybe?

[@TheArmstrong1969]

smalin Cherubini?

[@smalin]

TheArmstrong1969 Bingo. I hope to do some movements from his second string quartet.

[@TheArmstrong1969]

smalin it would be fantastic ! I'm Italian and is beautiful know that many great composers were Italians. Your job is very original !

[@phil5664]

such a cool background video, can stare at it for ages

[@carlosdiaz50]

sublime y profundo sentimiento

[@obliv6926]

8:02 through 11:16 is just genius (i probably should try listening to the whole thing someday, but that's beside the point)! ...and you managed to make it even more awesome! Nice! And thanks!!!! By the way, i 'rofld' on your list of 'i'll probably never do a video of...' composers. I'm an average fan of Classical (and not very keen on orchestral music), but there are some AWESOME chamber music by those guys! Come on! Anyway... your 'request' clarification is very nice, and so is the 'to don't list'. Unfortunatelly most music i LOVE fails at least one requisite. Most fail by its simplicity... indeed you can see the graphics of, say, Paganini's Caprice n. 2 on your head even if your not musically trained. Still, i can't help thinking some violin pieces would look awesome by showing how a violin can be an ensemble by itself. In that sense also Ysaye's Sonata n. 2, for instance. Anyway, thanks again! Very much enlightening musically!

[@moonbeamchaos]

The graphic is amazing. To create a readable image of music is a brilliant achievement. New to me! I hope to see more of it.

[@smalin]

You might find this guide useful: www.musanim.com/KZbinHighlights/

[@maelughran6981]

Adore the music, Smalin, but love your graphics too. Thanks for sharing one of the great man's most moving pieces.

[@liverpoolynwa1279]

Studying this currently for History BSC, I was struggling to understand the timings of the instruments until I found this video, the visual representation has helped immensely.. Thank you.

[@douglasdaniels8433]

Yeah, the visuals are mighty trippy are they not

[@AngelAlvarado-fc6ic]

Siento escalofríos con todas estas notas musicales sublimes llenas de perfección. Prohibido morir sin haber escuchado antes al libertador de la música: Ludwig Van Beethoven!

[@douglasdaniels8433]

What do you mean by "liberator of music"?

[@martin.trainer]

GREATEST PIECE OF MUSIC EVER WRITTEN.!

[@philliphattingh7841]

Music that transcends humans daily needs. Takes you to a higher level of spiritual conciousness.

[@ametrus]

Effectivement, Beethoven est un génie.

[@haj1111]

Amazing stuff

[@jonguirl3942]

Incredible- I love it! So amazing to visually/graphically see what the parts orchestra are doing and interacting - thank you for this!

[@jonguirl3942]

Watched this movement again -absolutely fascinating !

[@Lucas-sx3ko]

Beautifully done.

[@Ivan_1791]

10:13 Incredible.

[@kensukei.4984]

such a complex structure

[@williansuarez9522]

This is mirageful, and so advanced as a tool for any music appreciator. I'm blown away

[@smalin]

You might want to check out some of my more recent work: www.musanim.com/KZbinHighlights/

[@oscarstephanedeniau1305]

Incredible ! One of the most beautiful musical moments in the Beethoven's music.

fascinating gorgeous

[@parsa.mostaghim]

there is such a unique joy to listen music and watch your graphical scores, thanks for your effort

[@smalin]

If you like Beethoven, be sure to check out this: www.musanim.com/BeethovenStringQuartets/

[@robertmacdonnell1889]

love the visual representation, base hissing is the only issue i have with this

[@garyheinz280]

Remarkable and mesmerizing graphic depiction of the unparalleled music. While listening one can actually “see” the competing voices in the 2nd movement fugatto.

[@smalin]

If you like this, you might want to check out the quartets: www.musanim.com/BeethovenStringQuartets/

[@renka-chan9213]

i want this to be played at my funeral....

[@annbogden2847]

Good choice

[@JorgeGomez-wi1kl]

I want to listen it before my funeral, at least.

[@douglasdaniels8433]

I don't want a funeral. I want Jesus to rapture me! Today would be great.

[@e.conboy4286]

Thank you! This visual is great! helps me hear and understand the orchestration. I also noticed loss of acuity at certain notes. Bad for me!

[@treeskates]

8:43 fugue starts. 11:04 ends.

[@Wolfmort]

best part ever written in any song in the whole existence of humanity.

[@GeorgeFanucci]

I’ve never before heard it so well as when seeing it here. Visualizations like this one are amazing help for deeper appreciation.

[@rodolphehimbert5375]

@@Wolfmort je n'irai pas jusque la , mais on est équivalent au meilleur de Bach ici ....

[@eduardoguerraavila8329]

The section that follows 8:02 reach peaks that no music or art in the history of mankind has close to it yet. Leonard Bernstein said that the Marcia Funebre existed before the time and universe and Beethoven simply stool it from heaven.

[@zacherylouis8660]

I counter that point with the existence of The Shawshank Redemption, the highest rated movie on IMDB. There are dangers in holding other humans beings up on pedestals like gods, and Beethoven was just as human as every other bipedal ape on this planet. If this music was so great, it should be impacting me like watching Shawshank Redemption or playing Majora's Mask did, but those things are emotionally resonant in a way that this isn't for me.

[@eduardoguerraavila8329]

Zachery Louis You cannot compare cinematography with a symphony, or a personal feeling against a particular work. I like particulary the Darabont's movie, even its not my favorite, I found It particulary poignant and deep.

[@eduardoguerraavila8329]

Zachery Louis It takes years to absorb and asimilate all the notes and the overall structure of this symphony on the brain, and maybe its not for everyone.

[@obliv6926]

​@@zacherylouis8660 Really? 8:02 to 11:07 does nothing for you? May i insist that you listen a few more times? It's just 3 minutes, so you won't be missing much if it doesn't grow on you. Little to lose... MUCH to gain.

[@carlosbashuertas]

This afternoon I was blown off by this ensemble's versions of Beethoven's 7th, 8th and 9th. And there isn't virtually any information about Bezlin outside their label. And credit, my God, thank you Bezlin from a Beethoven listener who's heard his music from countless orchestras and interpreters!

[@smalin]

I should update the FAQ. Bezdin Ensemble was a fiction at the heart of a classical music piracy operation. Licenses to recordings purportedly by the Bezdin Ensemble were sold to various labels, and resold to others (like me). The recordings were mostly by world-class ensembles. In some cases, I've identified the true source.

[@nanocalp]

this is by far the best recording of the funeral march!

[@NonDomForever]

nanocalp Nothing beats Nikolaus Harnoncourt in my opinion.

[@theyoutubetroll6679]

I love the C major part.

[@jack1be2]

Fantastic! 👍

[@MarceloHenrique-dz8hk]

amazing

[@ArcanusOpacus]

perfeitamente Maravilhosa,...

[@captsparks1]

These videos would be a great aid to study for those in a musical program on the university level.

[@smalin]

+captsparks1 They are being used in music programs at every level from pre-school through university.

[@captsparks1]

+smalin That's cool.

[@Kyubiwan]

One of my friends died of breast cancer yesterday... Now this piece sounds a lot darker and more tragic than before yo

[@orb3796]

I'm deeply sorry for your loss.

[@Kyubiwan]

@@orb3796 thanks. I appreciate it.

[@annbogden2847]

God Bless

[@Kyubiwan]

@@annbogden2847 thanks. I appreciate it.

[@e.conboy4286]

My sincere condolences to her family and you.

[@smartylila]

amazing!

[@carlosbashuertas]

(heartbeats)

[@earlymusicvisualizations9264]

In some ways, this was like a ballet of abstract forms.

[@JJJRRRJJJ]

7:16ooofffffff goosie bumps

[@edwardkenway6029]

good sound

[@TTCello]

U listen to this man? Anyway requiescat in pace Beethoven :D

[@MrAvakstone92]

Poor Benjamin Giraud. Still hunting the truth. There was still a shred of hope in him. But now that's gone too. Hard to tell, through the glass.

[@elijahwatson3474]

came here for the same reason, he show anybody can descend into madness.

[@jaredfaulk7496]

Computer science projects about to be like "Code a graphical score for Beethoven's Symphony no. 3, mvt 2" *crying*

[@IbrahimHoldsForth]

Jan Swafford in his bio of LvB says the fugue in the middle is the composer's greatest moment.

[@israelasiku3975]

That section is just incredible.

[@treeskates]

It is definitely beautiful and amazing. 8:47

[@tj-co9go]

It is his greatest achievement indeed. I cannot help but weep every time I hear it, and I have heard it quite many times. Sublime and poignant in its beauty

[@CengalLut]

at around 13:08 the long oboe star moves backward (to the left)

[@smalin]

You're right. I missed that. There was a typo in the score, and it got transcribed to an orphan tie (a tie from a note that doesn't go to another note of the same pitch), which resulted in there being two notes at the same time in the oboe 1 part. Since each note in the animation goes toward the next note (and one of the two simultaneous notes is considered "next"), it had to go backwards. Sorry about that. If I ever re-make this video, I'll fix that.

[@Berryloss]

It happens a few times, there's another a bit before 11:00 as well.

[@Heavysscreams]

Tragic Reconstruction

[@diliaromero6551]

Good job

[@gregorybader7135]

Wonderful screen work!

[@huyiii2435]

I'm learning this on piano

[@e.conboy4286]

ARE you?

[@moonbeamchaos]

Bravo!

[@ParasaurolophusEwan]

Civ4 German theme if you play as bismark

[@davidgo8874]

Considering the times a funeral march is very appropriate. Millions killed in the Napoleonic wars. But the blame goes as much to the coalition powers as it does to France. More so to the former.

[@ProBiggity]

11:17 - 11:50 Exciting

[@waukee321]

Eerie and spooky too.

[@jonnsmusich]

OK, it is probably pedantic to point out you couldn't actually do a slow step funeral march at this tempo. Just too slow. But anyway it doesn't feel right. The balance feels off to my ear. -- But on the other hand it is helpful for the graphics because there is so much going on and so many relationships to try to hang on to as it proceeds. No matter how well I think I know a piece of music I always learn more watching these graphics. Clearly there is a lot of your musical understanding that goes into this as well as the computer-technical artistry. So: thumbs up as usual. And nice to come back here and see how far your graphics and musical clarification through the forms you us - have developed over the years. -- Also, I'm not asking, I know better, but I dream about seeing Strauss' Metamorphosen given the Malinowski treatment...

[@pennystocklocks]

Kendall Roy!

[@bbotafogo1]

im nervous!!!!!

[@davidrwlinge]

Do you plan on doing the entire symphony?

[@smalin]

Yes. I hope to complete the third movement today.

[@YayaDoc1]

Vraiment plaisant à regarder.

[@user-nl8oo8oj6v]

8:46

[@GemmaCallahan-tj5wl]

This movement gives this Eroica Symphony a second nickname, the Funeral March Symphony or the Requiem Symphony

[@Ivan_1791]

A Requiem Symphony would be incredible.

[@ritawyrsch]

Danke!

[@smalin]

Thank you!

[@paulinazareba8712]

8:46

[@este_crow]

8:38 Perfect

[@karsadkarsad]

7:00 to 7:24

[@terripederson4026]

Love it. Does anyone know what software is used for the graphical score?

[@smalin]

www.musanim.com/HowTo/

[@DGreen-ku8po]

BYU Idaho music history led me here. Again, I love the visuals! What kind of software makes this possible?

[@smalin]

It's software I wrote. Follow the link at the end of the video ...

[@johnnypaliotti5926]

5:29 to 6:13 is the best part. :)

[@smalin]

When people talk about books they've read, they never say things like "where the guy gets the girl is the best part" --- they recognize that peak moments in the story only have their effect because of what led up to them. And yet viewers regularly comment "_ to _ is the best part" or "I really love that chord at _" on music videos. Puzzling.

[@johnnypaliotti5926]

Thank you Smalin!

[@johnnypaliotti5926]

It does not make sense when I said thank you but I said it because it was a nice gesture.

[@johnnypaliotti5926]

What does each shape represent? Triangles are oboes and clarinet and elipses are flutes,right?

[@smalin]

Johnny Paliotti See the FAQ.