Bethena - Scott Joplin

[@BFDT-4]

Such a unique reading of this often maligned piece. Just looking at the graphic and listening to the music this morning gave me more than 100 readings from elsewhere. You write below: "I see this piece as being very emotional and melancholy, but also hopeful." That in itself makes my (now) second viewing more profound than ever. Stunning.

[@evsponge1]

Thank you so much for your kind comments!!

[@georgy_v493]

I see this piece as being very emotional and melancholy, but also hopeful

[@nao_onao9718]

懐かしい感じの昔々を思い出すそんな少し切なくなる様な...素敵な曲

[@ChuckAbernethy]

To me, this is the best rendition of this Joplin piece that I have heard on KZbin. Evan did a great job of playing with feeling. Not too fast. He played it with a LOT of feeling. This music reflects the great love Joplin had for this woman who passed away not too long after they had tied the knot. I listen to this over and over again. I am determined to learn to play it. If I can play it half as well as you, I will be content. Peace.

[@evsponge1]

Thank you so much!! This is a very emotional piece for sure. Based on the context of his wife passing I see it as being very heartbreaking.

[@alixam1596]

Since I heard it, you are definitely on many of my friends' playlist. Hope you don't mind🤪

[@marcopiciche6085]

One of the two best performances I have ever heard. Soul, feeling, tenderness and heart. This version conveys all of that

[@evsponge1]

Thank you so much!!

[@Kurrific]

Quite possibly one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard.

[@evsponge1]

Thank you so much!! Glad you enjoyed! :)

[@goesfastandfar]

Now, this is the way to play Bethena. You've used your fingers to transmit your soul. And it shows. Bravo!

[@evsponge1]

Thank you so much!! :)

[@mYththePoet]

Incredible rendition of Scott's masterpiece. The ocean washing up against the piano is an appopriate image as well, as I am sure that is how Scott must have felt when he wrote this piece given the series of events that he had to endure which inspired the music.

[@evsponge1]

Thank you so much!! I thought that image was perfect honestly, so melancholy and contemplative

[@Richard-vq7ud]

Yes. That lonely piano at the shore makes me kinda sad.

[@justify798]

You are one of the few who play it very nuanced to capture all of the different levels of emotion in it rather than putting too much staccato or ragtime in it. It is a waltz and sort of requiem, after all. Thank you for a beautiful rendition. 👍

[@evsponge1]

Thank you so much!! I agree, it's not a rag and has a very different feel so I think slow and emotional is the way to go on this one.

[@marklund117]

Excellent rendition, this was one of the songs I used to practice when I took piano lessons as a young teenager - today I remembered it out of the blue almost a decade later, so happy to find a good version.

[@evsponge1]

Thanks!! Glad you enjoyed!

[@dfdhgtrss212]

This has got to the best non professional recording of this piece i've heard. Nice and slow

[@evsponge1]

thank you so much!

[@MrTehRave]

Wonderfully played. Finally someone who gets the slow emotional interpretation of this piece. Most people on youtube play it too fast or too robotically. Fantastic rendition man

[@evsponge1]

thank you!! I understand why people like to play a lot of Joplin's music fast, but this piece is really nice when it's slow.

[@duigiud]

DITTO!!!!

[@eurekify1563]

This is a fantastic version of the song, slow and meticulous, just as it should be

[@evsponge1]

Thanks so much!! This song is so gorgeous I think it has to be played slow and emotionally

[@ragtimefan4052]

This is executed very well. It breaks my heart to hear people play Scott Joplin's compositions fast and with no feeling. Ragtime is not to be played in that manner. But you my friend execute this very well especially when you consider the circumstances surrounding this composition.

[@evsponge1]

Thank you so much! I agree, I see this piece as being very emotional and melancholy, but also hopeful.

[@jcf20010]

@@evsponge1 I fee that same about Solace and it should played slowly also.

[@ct6502c]

Absolutely beautiful! This is definitely one of the best versions of "Bethena" I have ever heard and more like what Scott Joplin intended. Like other commenters have said, most people play his songs WAY too fast.

[@evsponge1]

Thank you so much!! I agree, this piece in particular cries out for a slowed down, emotional interpretation.

[@mindpoacher4732]

Wow!! You sir I am certain that you have put smile on Scott Joplins face. The emotions that you are able to generate from this piece of music is amazing!! Thank You!!!

[@evsponge1]

Thank you so much!! Glad you enjoyed!

[@Angel-tw3ko]

Bravo! Well done.. you would make Mr. Joplin proud with this rendition..

[@omar_rasidagic]

This is one of the best renditions of “Bethena” That I’ve ever heard!! Wonderful job!!

[@evsponge1]

Thank you so much!!

[@rickgordon2849]

One of the best renditions I've ever heard of my favorite Joplin composition. I first became aware of Joplin's wonderful music viewing Marvin Hamlish's utilization of the music in the Movie, "The Sting". And while some of those renditions were debatable in their adaptations, I was hooked and bought his complete works to practice on. I too played the pieces far too fast, whereas my rendition of the "Maple Leaf Rag" was originally played at breakneck speed. I know better now. To hear Bethena I am also reminded of Joplin's music being the main soundtrack for the movie, "Benjamin Buttons...". It fit the mood they were trying to generate admirably. Knowing the storyline behind the composition of this piece, this rendition is the closest I've ever heard to capturing the mood Joplin must have felt in it's creation to begin with. Kudos, and very well done. It made me sit down at my piano and play along, note for note, with a smile. Thanks!

[@evsponge1]

Thank you so much for your kind, thoughtful comment!! I knew Bethena was featured in Benjamin Button but I didn't know other Joplin pieces were too, I need to watch that movie. I actually just watched The Sting for the first time in a long time recently with my mom, such a great movie and I absolutely loved hearing Hamlisch's fun arrangements of all those Joplin pieces. And so cool to hear that I got you playing along on the piano! :)

[@duigiud]

Outstanding interpretation! Chock full of feeling. Excellent use of tempo, syncopation and timing to titillate the ears, bravo 👏 Exactly how Joplin wanted his music to be played.

[@evsponge1]

Thanks so much!!

[@angelopastorini1711]

This makes me cry every time i heard It... Fantastic performance, bravo!

[@Mortimer50145]

It is a curse that I compare every performance of Joplin's work with what I think of as the definitive version - the Joshua Rifkin version which is what I heard first in the early 1970s (yes, after The Entertainer was made popular in The Sting). This version can hold its head up proudly: it passes "the Rifkin test" ;-) Slightly slower in places, which I think is an improvement over Rifkin. The minor section starting at 4:15 is almost painful to listen to - and that's a compliment: I mean that it perfectly captures the utter hopelessness and dejection that Joplin must have been feeling after the death of his wife so soon after their wedding. Thank you for not doing what I've heard in other KZbin versions - either over-syncopating the initial melody so it starts to limp, or else messing around with the timing so as to delay the odd note and then have to play catch-up to recover the timing (as an eminent pianist did in his KZbin performance - it really did *not* work - if a pianist holds onto a note, he shouldn't rush the next note which is the thing I found really grating). But you didn't fall into either of those traps.

[@evsponge1]

Thank you so much, that means a lot! I'll have to listen to the Joshua Rifkin version, I've heard a lot about it. And I agree, although syncopation works great for Joplin's rags this piece is in a category of its own so I think simple, slow, and emotional is the way to go.

[@evsponge1]

Thanks for listening everyone!! If you enjoy please hit Like and Subscribe, it helps me out a ton =D

[@raymondst.pierre4372]

Where can I purchase an "Evan Spiegel" T-shirt? Love hearing you play!

[@evsponge1]

@@raymondst.pierre4372 Thank you so much for your kind comments!! You're the first person to ask me about merch so I might have to look into that! :)

[@raymondst.pierre4372]

@@evsponge1 I swear, Evan, that you match the Joshua Rifkin recordings I hold as the 'standard' of Scott Joplin's music; I also loved hearing you and your dad's duet of "Bethena"..It made my day. P.S. I'm 71 years old and my own dad introduced me and my brothers to Scott Joplin's music.

[@evsponge1]

@@raymondst.pierre4372 Aww that's amazing! That's so cool that your dad did that, he had great music taste =) I'll have to listen to Joshua Rifkin!

[@philhewett1601]

Well done and thank you. Wonderful pace to bring out Joplin's emotional state at the time. Again, thank you.

[@evsponge1]

Thank you so much!! Glad you liked it :) This is one of my favorite piano pieces ever.

[@ianandrew1947]

Mr Spiegel...that is beautiful.Congratulations from the UK.

[@hlnbee]

Beautiful

[@houseofvenusMD]

I just went through a traumatic racial experience. This music always soothes me. Thanks Mr. Joplin

[@evsponge1]

I'm so sorry to hear that :(

[@andhisband]

My gosh! This was beautifully played. I grew up listening to Joshua Rifkin, who may have been the foremost proponent of slowing down Joplin's music and playing respectfully to capture it's emotionality. (I myself wondered if a rollicking rendition is really what you'd want in a bordello. Seems to me that you'd want to keep things calm. I dunno.) You did a marvelous job with this. Congratulations.

[@evsponge1]

Thanks so much!! I've heard of Joshua Rifkin, I'll check him out!

[@bobhawxwell1606]

Hear, hear and same here re growing up on Rifkin .

[@jaid3243]

Me too!

[@raymondst.pierre4372]

@@evsponge1Your skill at playing Scott Joplin's music is truly the way he himself would have played them.

[@mYththePoet]

The more I listen to it, it really does sound like Scott.

[@c.a.savage5689]

Beautiful and beautifully played. Thank you very much.

[@alixam1596]

Beautiful!! No need to say more!

[@evsponge1]

Thank you so much!!

[@alixam1596]

I've listened to it in loop all night! Beautifully performed!!can't get it out of my head.

[@davidmcdonald1600]

I just listened to 6 or more performances of Bethena and this is by far the best one I had just seen the movie made some years ago about Scott Scott Joplin and heard phrases of this piece played but had to explore a bit on KZbin before I found this. I would like to learn to play it myself

[@evsponge1]

Thank you so much!!

[@jeremypearson6852]

Falling asleep to this marvelous piece.

[@cynthiabitto1140]

Lovely.

[@evsponge1]

New Bethena duet with my dad! kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6ObiGl4eJyBqqc If you enjoy, don't forget to hit Like and Subscribe! It helps me out a ton, and I put out lots of beautiful piano music :)

[@anthonymorris2276]

People sometimes say that the United States has never produced any “great” composers to put up besides the masters of the Old World like Beethoven, Mozart and Tchaikovsky. I disagree. The US has produced at least two such … John Philip Sousa and Scott Joplin. That we still enjoy their works after the passage of more than a Century proves that their music is truly eternal.

[@evsponge1]

Oh yeah I agree, Joplin is up there with all the greats.

[@c.a.savage5689]

George Gershwin, Aaron Copeland, Randy Newman, Philip Glass...come to mind.

[@anthonymorris2276]

@@c.a.savage5689 Really? Gershwin, Copeland, Newman, Glass on a par with the masters of the Old World like Beethoven, Mozart and Tchaikovsky? I don’t think so. You might as well propose that Tennessee Williams is up there with Shakespeare, Goethe and Molière, or that Jackson Pollock is in the same class as Michelangelo, Rembrandt and Rubens, or that Ernest Hemingway is a patch on Dickens, Dostoevsky and Dante. Gershwin, Copeland, Newman and Glass are significant national figures in the US - like Williams, Pollock and Hemingway - but their celebrity comes from the fact that they are the biggest fish in a small pond. When the 2224 edition of “Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians” is published, they may each rate a paragraph or two, but Beethoven, Mozart and Tchaikovsky - along with Bach, Handel and Vivaldi; Schubert, Mendelssohn and Brahms; Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff - will still warrant a full chapter for each.

[@raymondst.pierre4372]

Just as well played as the Joshua Rifkin recordings on Nonesuch Records.

[@Dylonely_9274]

So good !!!!!

[@woshiairy]

I like your interpretation for this piece the best!

[@evsponge1]

Thank you so much!!

[@kb-co3cp]

So beautiful!

[@evsponge1]

Thanks!! :)

[@dwesson9252]

This song reminds me a whole bunch of "Married Life" from the Pixar movie "UP". Makes me want to cry. Supposedly it was written shortly after the death of Scott's wife. Makes sense.

[@evsponge1]

I agree, that's a great comparison! Married Life is sooo good

[@mrgrinch8540]

@@evsponge1 how are you such a happy person

[@にしだこうき-h3j]

ジョプリンの中では数少ない４分の３拍子の曲ですね。バラードで気にいってます。

[@TheLuvschool2]

I can imagine it being played on a steam boat cruising down the river

[@silentbook4468]

Gorgeous cover. Played slower than usual, but when it comes to this piece that may even do it a favour. Rather too slow than too fast when it comes to Scott Joplin in my opinion.

[@evsponge1]

Thanks!! I agree, this piece in particular is so heartfelt and emotional it makes sense to play it slow.

[@g.patrickbryant9674]

I owned and operated a thriving piano tuning, servicing, and rebuilding business for more than 30 years. I sincerely hope this photo is photoshopped or AI, because I cannot think of a faster way to destroy a piano than to place it in the ocean. This is a beautiful rendition of Bethena, by the way.

[@evsponge1]

Oh wow that's awesome! I'm guessing it's photoshopped haha, otherwise poor piano. And thanks!!

[@georgy_v493]

ok nerd

[@g.patrickbryant9674]

@@georgy_v493 I count that a compliment. Most people have absolutely no idea how complicated and precise an instrument the piano is. I encourage anyone to attempt to repair or rebuild one. Thanks for your comment, and Merry Christmas!

[@georgy_v493]

@@g.patrickbryant9674 no worries nerd, merry christmas

[@LOTGiscool]

Stunning!

[@evsponge1]

Thanks so much!! :)