John O'Conor: Hearing the Human Behind Beethoven's Piano Sonatas

Beethoven grew up in the wake of the American Revolution, came of age during the French Revolution, and witnessed the subsequent Napoleonic Wars. The ramifications of these world-historical events are felt from his first piano sonatas to his last. Yet the music is as jolly and filled with good humor as they are tragic and tinged with pathos.
Join famed Beethoven interpreter John O'Conor in a vivid and lively sketch of Beethoven’s biography and its relationship to his pathbreaking 32 Piano Sonatas.
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[@corgisrule21]

He would be such an amazing teacher🥹 He truly loves his craft

[@douglasl832]

Wonderful insights. More from John O'Connor please

[@viggos.n.5864]

I agree!

[@JcFiscus42]

I agree as well

[@jackisinforthewin]

I agree

[@Crabbydon37]

O’Conor’s complete Beethoven Sonata recordings are terrific! Have enjoyed them for years…

[@wiltzu81]

In the early nineties, back when I was 12 or something like that, the CD of John O'Conor playing Beethovens Pathetique, Moonlight and Appassionata, was the very first CD of Classical that I have listened and it was love from the beginning.

[@SharmaYelverton]

Same here except it was Vladimir Ashkenazy playing. 😄

[@DD-jj3vq]

I can’t believe that. It was exactly that same record that changed my life and introduced me to Beethoven. Now my sons love Beethoven so that record has had quite an impact on us. The only difference is in my case it was in the late 1970s and it was a record.

[@northshores7319]

Beethoven's beauty in music is the best ever and so overlooked.

[@gillan5]

I am German, and this guy is really good in explaining lebewohl and Beethoven. Superb.

[@johnboger6]

It's been said that, whereas Beethoven went to heaven, Mozart came from heaven, as witnessed by the latter's ability to write such heavenly music with such ease. This is hinted at in this conversation which I thoroughly enjoyed. But I couldn't disagree with that sentiment more. Here's my take on Beethoven: after him no composer would write 104 symphonies or 20-some piano concertos or 60+ string quartets. And not because Beethoven and those who came after him were any less talented. Or Mozart had divine inspiration. Beethoven's music is a watershed in Classical music; it would change how music was written. What Beethoven did was broaden and deepen the emotional range and content expressed in music. Whereas Mozart would always write music pleasant to the ear even when expressing sadness or anger, Beethoven would write the late string quartets and piano sonatas. Just listen to the great first movement of his last piano sonata. This could not have been written in the era of Haydn and Mozart. One consequence of this, each work became an individual expression. And that' by its very nature makes each composition harder to write. Don't get me wrong. I don't elevate Beethoven above Mozart or any of his predecessors, but I do recognize that music evolves, that it has a history, and Beethoven was History's means to transform the music of his time, as others had done before and after him.

[@curtisgrindahl446]

What a privilege to listen to this beautiful conversation.

[@sebastianb.6438]

Mr. O'Connor reminds me so much of my late piano teacher. I would give a lot for a single additional lesson. Sometimes the universe is cruel. I miss him.

[@myboibill]

This interview is wonderful. I have such a new understanding of Beethoven and a refreshed interest in the man and his work.

[@elliotpolanco159]

These interviews & insights are great to share tonthe world

[@Smaug1]

Love this guy. I looked him up here after listening to a record of him playing a couple short Beethoven sonatas in the 70s. He looked VERY different then!

[@batboy5023]

Such great interviews from this channel!

[@metteholm4833]

This is fantastic! Thank you John O´conor ❤💖

[@mr.jeanblanc751]

So much insight into Beethoven Thank you for the inspiration

[@zackg3507]

The opening motif "Lebewohl" is also based on a horn call that would get sounded when a carriage would depart.

[@MissMark999]

Many thanks for your observations, very illuminating. Regarding what makes Beethoven’s sonatas such a towering achievement I think it’s their humanity. They take you to places of human experience that words cannot describe. If they could, Beethoven might have been out of a job which is simply unthinkable. Not a day passes that I don’t think about Beethoven or listen to some of his music. Thanks for uploading.

[@lolsup9817]

I loved O’Connor’s version of Fields Nocturnes amazing artist

[@lifehacksandlessons920]

This is what quality discourse looks and sounds like amidst all the weeds on social.

[@ratboygenius]

For me, Beethoven is a master of the ancient Greek Trivium - grammar, logic, and rhetoric - coming from Plato, though the term "Trivium" is from the Middle Ages. The piano sonatas are full of rhetorical devices (that require much musicianship to pull off). And the logic requires that you remember everything that that has happened so far so that you understand exactly what's happening now, as well as being able to set up what's going to happen next. The grammar starts with Mozart and Haydn, and using that grammar Beethoven ends up pretty much inventing a new language.

[@matttondr9282]

That’s a very under appreciated fact about Beethoven, absolutely agree! So many of his themes are not really “melodies” but rather rhetorical statements, even whole dialogues of them. A good example is the descending slur in the Waldstein sonata’s main motif.

[@electromagneticlemon]

Nice one Bernstein

[@peymannoorbakhsh4749]

Thank you so much that I knew this great maestro.

[@Lexhouben]

Loved it

[@CRYDERSB]

Love it!

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

An amazing historian. Merci beaucoup.

[@kevinprice7362]

Great video. Thanks John. Kevin price.

[@matttondr9282]

Completely agree that Beethoven had always been “the same” in the sense of pushing the boundaries and stubbornly breaking conventions. That did not only start in his middle period as one might have believed.

[@freemusicstation22]

Awesome 👏

[@militaryandemergencyservic3286]

great talk! I'd recommend Schubert's Beethoven Project by John M Gingerich (especially about the importance of 'memory' that you talk about around 12:56)

[@martaromarate5372]

Bravo!!👌Que interesante!!🎶💞

[@martinvanheusden9832]

In terms of origin, Napoleon was a descendant of a (lower) noble family, so he was certainly not a nobody!

[@joebloggs396]

Neither were American leaders, who were slave owners and land takers too. There's no point putting modern mythology on Beethoven's time.

[@LavaMLG]

13:48 WOW

[@normhall1622]

Beethoven was a giant, as Brahms would say "I hear the footsteps of the giant" when asked about his own compositions. And Brahms was a giant also.

[@jeffsmith1798]

@11:38 exactly.

[@LeaderOfTheRedNinjas]

After defeating the Terminator John Connor dedicated himself to the piano then? Good job

[@Musicolan]

Could you put spanish subtitles please? The channel is amazing but there are some phrases that i don't understand, thanks

[@Digibeatle09]

Great discussion - whilst Beethoven did live through some turbulent times (to say the least) - there was nothing "being beamed" into his "personal space" - by means of a tv or radio - about the "latest developments" in Napoleon's campaign or whatever - so his enormous creative powers could operate without the constant intrusion of the "latest news", tv images, etc - with the exception of the advent of the "steam engine" and some additional creature comforts, the state of affairs just described pertained during the lifetimes of later composers like Brahms and Tchaikovsky - do any of our contemporary piano composers wish they could revert to those days - and leave the "social media noise" behind ????

[@josephhapp9]

Just turn it off.

[@yuhengwu6853]

This is what I want to do for the rest of my life when I have the time and money.

[@zenonorth1193]

Enjoyable, but VERY short on the subject of humour in Beethoven's music. It's there, and LOTS of it - not just the sonatas. Quartets, symphonies, other chamber music. Not in every piece - I'll allow (as examples) that there really isn't any humour in the "Appassionata" sonata, or the op. 95 quartet. Was Beethoven frequently unhappy? Of course. But he was not lacking in a sense of humour. He CELEBRATED that humour (and joy) in music throughout his life. (Don't get me started on the Diabelli Variations). Don't be fooled by the iconography!

[@KingstonCzajkowski]

There's so much humor in the Appassionata's second movement! It's not funny funny humor, but there's certainly playfulness and maybe tongue-in-cheek stuff.

[@zenonorth1193]

Yep, I'll agree with "playfulness".@@KingstonCzajkowski

[@TichmanClassCologne]

Read Sullivan on Beethoven

[@suzyserling277]

J.W.N.Sullivan:”Beethoven- his spiritual development”: excellent!- Take care.

[@alexhamilton9758]

The best book on music I've ever read.

[@CziffraTheThird]

@@alexhamilton9758 Which book? The Sullivan book or the Spiritual Development?

[@husseinabboud1137]

I think the ops 111 he was feeling regret and anger

[@funkyxela7891]

Could you please give my the name of the interviewer?

[@AlphaNumeric123]

Such a brilliant mind, insightful on many different levels

[@CreativeWarrior-]

Op. 111 suspends the listener higher and higher......then just leaves you there.

[@MrInterestingthings]

Beethoven 's stubborness and innovation are apparent as early as op.2 . What did Hadyn think . This kind of sound . Did Hadyn's letters talk about this phenomenon. The early A M sonata must have made the whole of Europe look up . A privilege O'Conor says .Yes . I luv how O'Conor shows op.10 FMajor Sonata . I must read his(Beethoven) letters . Do we have Hadyn's letters . Imagine what Mozart would have done if he had Beethoven and the 19th century to experience !!!

[@JaymesSinnah]

I don't believe this interviewer was very resourceful in his questioning. To interview John should be a pleasure and this interview extracted very little.

[@JBorda]

Mozart was a demi-God...he came with the music written on his DNA. Beethoven was a super-human who fought for every note through his pain and honest heart.

[@matttondr9282]

Just like Bach

[@dominikschrott7412]

I am bothered by the title of the video. Is Beethoven's legacy really something human?

[@militaryandemergencyservic3286]

I also think Beethoven believed in God - more specifically in Jesus Christ - cf his variation in the Eroica Variations that is from that famous Christmas carol. Schubert then used it, of course, as the theme for the first movement of his d 960.

[@GourSmith]

@OrganicOrganist He wasn’t a devout Catholic 😂🤡

[@GourSmith]

@OrganicOrganist If you don’t go to a Catholic Church, don’t take part in the sacraments, don’t actively participate in anything that could be considered “catholic”-you’re not a catholic … and absolutely not a *devout* catholic 🤣 That is your creation. Yes, I know my music history.

[@papagen00]

nice video, even though personally I prefer Mozart and Haydn sonatas. Beethoven's just a bit too moody and dense for me.

[@FalkzTV]

Try the Sonatas 9,10,15,18. I think they have a very different character than you would expect from a beethoven sonata. Wilhelm Kempff would be my reccomendation, he plays Beethoven in a beautifully lyrical way.