You've never heard this version of Fur Elise - (Full Performance)

In July 2023 this channel released a video ( • You've Never Heard Thi... ) which included a longer discussion of the history of Beethoven’s ‘Für Elise’. In response to the various comments and requests for the score and recording alone, we are now releasing a separate video without the preliminary discussion, and containing just a score and recording, plus minimal written commentary.
In 1810 Beethoven composed a short piano piece, which we now know as ‘Für Elise’. It has become (with the possible exception of the first movement of the ‘Moonlight’ Sonata) Beethoven’s most famous composition for piano, with one of the most famous melodies in the world. which is something of an irony, because Beethoven never had the piece published, and indeed the version we know today comes from a somewhat unreliable source having been transcribed in the 1860s from a manuscript that subsequently disappeared. The dedication, “Für Elise’ may itself be a misreading of a more likely dedication to Therese Malfatti, who turned down Beethoven’s proposal of marriage in 1810.
Twelve years later, in 1822, after completing his final three piano sonatas, Beethoven put together an assortment of short Bagatelles for piano, some of them newly composed, and some revisions of older pieces. He sketched out a revised version of ‘Für Elise’, embellishing some of the material, rhythmically displacing the accompaniment, and slightly altering the structure. These modifications are a fascinating glimpse at the composer’s ‘tool-shed’, as we watch Beethoven altering and improving things that he appears to have disliked in the first version. In the end, he decided not to publish this revised version and so it was not included among the Op 119 Bagatelles.
Published versions of Beethoven’s 1822 sketch differ slightly: the British musicologist, Barry Cooper published a version of the sketch in 1989, and in 2021 Bärenreiter Urtext published an excellent new edition of the Bagatelle in A minor (Für Elise) containing the original version, a printed version of Beethoven’s draft of the piece with his 1822 alterations, and a completion (from the revised draft) of the 1822 version by Mario Aschauer, which closely resembles the version performed in this video. The notated material in this video reproduces the essential elements in Beethoven’s 1822 revision. Any extra material, not found in Beethoven's original version, or in his 1822 sketch, is written in small notes in the video animation.
Beethoven: Bagatelle in A Minor ('Für Elise')
Pianist: Matthew King
The original video (from which this is an extract) is here: • You've Never Heard Thi...
Mario Achauer, who edited the recent Bärenreiter Urtext edition, can be heard playing the 1822 version on a fortepiano here: • Beethoven: Bagatelle i...
Mario Aschauer's explanation of the 1822 version and the new Bärenreiter Urtext edition can be heard here: • Bärenreiter Favourites...
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Edited by Ian Coulter ( www.iancoultermusic.com )
Produced and directed by Ian Coulter & Matthew King
#Beethoven #FürElise #themusicprofessor

[@kyleethekelt]

Thank you for helping preserve and highlight this Beethoven treasure.

[@karolcpm-]

I have always wondered the original Fur Elise before Elise and Beethoven separated. And who would have thought that Beethoven almost foreshadowed Chopin's well-known nocturne style writing!

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes. Beethoven's influence on Chopin was profound (although Chopin was reluctant to admit it!).

[@boundaryconditions1119]

What a fascinating version - I confess I prefer the well-known version. But this shows a compelling window into the composer's thought process.

[@NotTheWheel]

It's like the guy is spinning plates with the melody.

[@josephde-zordi7324]

Thanks for doing this, Sounds more elegant, refined, and Chopin-ish , and melancholy, hard to not keep listening over and over

[@themusicprofessor]

Feel free to keep listening!

[@victorialove9104]

Beautiful and .mysterious. I love playing the "original" as it's the only piece so far I can play by memory. Now I most certainly will learn to play this version. Thank you ❤

[@lxdgr8]

Perhaps because I’ve heard the one we think of as the original for so long, I like that one better than the actual original.

[@michaelsotomayor5001]

This definitely sounds more like the classical beginnings of a romantic era of music. It sounds almost like Bach infused with Chopin. Really beautiful piece!

[@markybo7330]

Amazing!!

[@malenapalacios8460]

Thank you 🙏

[@japalsen]

Remarkable! Very distinct.

[@jojojo8835]

🤣 it sounds like ‘Elise’ often struggled to find the right note/key and he wrote her fumbles into the melody

[@watzinaname7325]

It takes some getting used to.... this new version but after a few lessons I really like it especially those added triplets...

[@naarfaem3530]

Speaking of Chopin, you should do a video about a nocturne or mazurka of his maybe! Might be interesting.

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes. I will!

[@saibhandari]

Niiiice

[@lewisb9226]

Hard to listen to this objectively because the original is so hardwired into one's brain but the additions all feel pretty superfluous to me

[@Atlas65]

I felt the same thing to begin with, that the first one is so Hardwired into our brain. But now on second listen I am started to be able to listen to this version for wha it is. There are still some part in this second part, which I find a bit clumsy.

[@zevelgamer.]

1:18 I know It's probably useless to create many comment sections but I gotta note that in the book there is actually a 16th note rest, they are not a quarter beat and a half.

[@themusicprofessor]

Correct.

[@0Trenthian0]

Hi. Love this video and its precursor. I am reminded of this thing. I was wondering if you could maybe talk to us some time about the 6th Symphony, 1st movement. I heard BBC Proms playing it with embellishments I had never heard before in any recording, and maybe you could shine some light on this if there is anything to it be it creative license or some more direct less known manuscript like the Fur Elise explanation video. Contact me if you would like to know about what I'm talking about lol.

[@themusicprofessor]

Which recording of Beethoven 6?

[@0Trenthian0]

@@themusicprofessor It was the Symphony 6 Movement 1 from the 2014 proms. The original video has been removed, and they have uploaded only the third movement from that performance. I have the video saved however and have clipped the section for you here -> kzbin.info/www/bejne/rIjRgYJ8fteKb8U

[@themusicprofessor]

Thank you. And I see that the whole prom (Zinmann and the Zurich Tonhalle) is there: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqCTdIqFqb56j7csi=fY3ejkOWTmH-EPqZ. I believe the orchestra were playing from the new Bärenreiter edition of the symphony which has some details and modifications that earlier editions don't have. But I also believe that Zinmann and the orchestra added some embellishments of their own. I've just watched the performance and think it's rather good. In answer to your question, the late classical era was a period when performers regularly embellished scores. Nowadays, tasteful ornamentation in Mozart and Haydn would be considered good practice. In Beethoven, it's a bit more controversial because Beethoven himself often got cross about performers embellishing his work. Consequently, he tends to embellish it himself - I believe Beethoven has more trills in his music than any other major composer. However, I don't think this should necessarily prevent performers from embellishing if it makes sense to do so. The Tonhalle embellishments make sense to me - the simple melodies in the Pastoral symphony can certainly bear some tasteful ornamentation, and the whole performance is highly refined and intelligent.

[@0Trenthian0]

wow@@themusicprofessor Thank you so much for your insight and information on this! Yeah it's such a great performance of what is maybe my favorite piece. I look forward to many more of your videos!

[@JewettMusic]

Any chance you could make a pdf of the sheets available?

[@themusicprofessor]

www.baerenreiter.com/en/shop/product/details/BA11839/

[@JewettMusic]

@@themusicprofessor Thank you!

[@lxdgr8]

I have heard it before. This is the original.

[@zevelgamer.]

I got the book for it finally! Now I can learn how to play it. The weird thing is you said Beethoven had no dynamic but on page 7 of the book itself, it had pp. why's that?

[@themusicprofessor]

He did write in occasional dynamics into the sketch. This is one of them.

[@zevelgamer.]

@@themusicprofessor Hmm, then why there were no Dynamics on the video? Also on the triplet cadenza, you've added 2 Am chords before it reaches the una corda. Is that a mistake?

[@zevelgamer.]

3:19 In measures 105-106 there are 2 A minor chords which are not being played but are shown here. Is that a mistake?

[@themusicprofessor]

Well spotted. Actually it's a mistake in the printed music, not in the performance.

[@zevelgamer.]

@@themusicprofessor Really? How so?

[@themusicprofessor]

Bärenreiter Urtext recently published an excellent new edition of the Bagatelle in A minor (Für Elise) containing the original version, a printed version of Beethoven’s draft of the piece with his 1822 alterations, and a completion (from the revised draft) of the 1822 version by Mario Aschauer, which closely resembles the version performed in this video. The notated version here was created for this video and there a couple of minor errors.

[@AH-nt6xw]

My Priv teacher would have told me MÓ ÉMOSION PRÉFORMANCE IS ÍN TWO WEEKS

[@c-st4r]

Isn't the fur elise we all know some random half transcribed old sheet music and this version is the properly cataloged released version?

[@themusicprofessor]

The full story is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJPPd4RnrM2La9Usi=GqFZkh26MqTjkBlg

[@somethingoldish7696]

Where on the Internet can one find a pdf score for this version?

[@themusicprofessor]

www.baerenreiter.com/en/shop/product/details/BA11839/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CB%C3%A4renreiter's%20new%20urtext%20edition%20of,%E2%80%9C

[@k98killer]

I've always found the other version somewhat unsatisfying to play. I'll give this version a shot.

[@Caff68]

Maybe it is just familiarity (or the lack of it - I have known the "normal" version since I was little, so nearly 50 years) but I really do not like this. I think the little extra bits are clumsy and unpleasant on the ear, and I dislike the shifting of the arpeggiated left-hand motifs away from the beat. As for the extra section, and the rearrangement of bits...nope. Not for me. Fascinating, nevertheless...

[@luaria9554]

its like Elise played the wrong rhythm😂😂😂