Any questions?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZuSaudKc68

Spoiled by the totally unnecessary rhythm backing.
I also get annoyed by the way so much perfectly good jazz piano music is spoiled by a rubbishy drummer and double bass.....

True, but that wasn't beethoven's doing. The man was THE MAN.

Don't know what kind of reaction you're going to get.. I expect not many people here appreciate metal music, but I thought that was great.

I almost expected this guy to be a member of TSO, but it appears that's not the case. Thanks for the link.

When someone uses music previously composed as the basis for an arrangement it has nothing to do with the first composition being ahead of its time.

But the thing is.. this mvt. of the Moonlight sonata seems to fit that style of guitar playing. You couldn't do that with Mozart or Chopin.

This is exactly right. You could certainly do similar things with less visionary composers.

To really see that Beethoven was ahead of his time, compare certain parts of the Grosse Fugue to certain parts of the Bartok string quartets....


-J

John Williams and Julian Bream could have played this brilliantly as a guitar duo. Just not this guy.

Where do I start? So many ways to go with this. Not everyone will or has the ability to compare counterpunctal elements of one composer to another, but we do all have the ability to hear the music (assuming no hearing impediment). Play the video to anyone who has no knowledge of classical music and no way will they ever guess. It's just as relevant today on electric guitar was it was in 1801 on piano. If fact probably more so given the type of instrument he had at his disposal.

I thought it was neat.

Btw, someone said something about not being able to do this with Chopin, but I've heard Fantasie Impromptu on electric guitar, like this.

This should make Chopin fans cringe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZXG0fNUUXs

Sorry, not my taste.

It has nothing to do with Beethoven being ahead of his time is the point I was making.

Not me. I've actually always loved this rendition.

My ears are bleeding... please make it stop!

Why all the hate on Pagey?

It is not hatred. We just prefer the original version (and the same goes with the Moonlight video).

Beethoven was certainly ahead of his time, that goes without saying. This dude with the guitar is behind his time probably! And not to mention Page... brrr...

Nah, it's hatred. It's cool though. I understand how most classical fans get nauseous at a contemporary cover. (even if it is great)

Of course Beethoven was way ahead of his time. The Gross Fugue sounds like it was written by an Shostakovich or beyond... It far exceeds what is being written in metal music today in terms of it being modern. There are people today who find it modern. And this is a bit less than 200 years before it was written. So I guess it is safe to say that Beethoven was ahead of his time. But using the moonlight sonata as example doesn't present your argument very well as pieces like it were being composed within a decade.

This, from the comments section...

" It's almost like Beethoven knew it was meant to be played on electric guitar before the instrument was invented."

Just brilliant eh?

The funny thing about heavy metal music (or as a friend of mine one said, stainless steel music), once you remove the distortion, it's still unbearably loud.

It's a little known fact that Beethoven originally scored the Moonlight for electric guitar, drums and bass. Definitely ahead of his time. Unfortunately, his audiences didn't quite "get it" - so in desperation he reworked it for solo piano. Nice to hear the original version.

I thought the original scoring was for glockenspiel, ondes martenot and Hammond organ. But maybe that was for the Appassionata.....

You're correct - definitely the "Appassionatasonata."

That was awesome.

I am awestruck everytime I hear Beethoven. I'm constantly making new discoveries in his music, even with pieces I've been listening to for years. I listened to the Hammerklavier today in my car and it just made me stop in the parking lot until it was done.


Also, I don't like metal music, but I thought the guy with the guitar did a pretty good job.

I'm not a metal fan but wow, nice playing and amazing tempo. Didn't know that this was possible on electric guitar. As said, this fits electric guitar amazingly well and yes I guess Beethoven would have liked it . I'm a bit less convinced about the background stuff but I think the style needs 'something' there and that backdrop was okay

>The funny thing about heavy metal music (or as a friend of mine one said, stainless steel music), once you remove the distortion, it's still unbearably loud.

Huh? Just turn down your volume knob??

More than pretty good !!!

I was referring to a live performance of heavy metal music. It's loud.

I lasted a little over a minute, before the total silliness of it just got to me and I had to shut it down. I've got a healthy sense of the absurd, but that's asking too much...

For fast electric guitar playing, I'd rather listen to Jeff Beck doing original stuff, or old Mahavishnu Orchestra tracks, or any number of other virtuosi of that ilk - there are lots of them, just like in classical piano. There may even be too many of them, just like classical piano.

And too, standard rock, or prog rock, cover versions of classical music are almost invariably pretty lame, musically. IMO. Oddly enough, I've actually been thinking about doing a synth/electronica version of the Prokofiev Toccata, and I kind of know in advance that if I do it, it will suck. Just because stuff like that always does.

That's great. Remember these guys?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH9kiOZ9u_k

I agree 100%, and I've always been baffled by this. I like prog rock. I love Pictures at an Exhibition. Put them together, and the result is the worst of both worlds.

-J

Depends on how far away you are.. if you're in the pit, bring earplugs for sure.