Vladimir Horowitz plays The Stars and Stripes Forever as a final encore 1948 

when I heard this arrangement for the very first time i was convinced it must be a duet. I was astonished when i discovered this was just a single pianist

Absolute brilliance!! How amazing it would have been to hear him live, it is a shame that my generation does not appreciate this skill anymore

He played it with all three hands.

He performed this in 1945 right when the war ended in Central Park with mayor LaGuardia and a million listeners!!!

I had a magical experience of meeting him in the woods at Quisisana in Maine. Was young. Had no idea who he was. He stopped to talk. Later discovered who he was. I was blessed. Unforgettable.

My God what power.

I've listened to this a few times- it always gets me how he manages to basically come up with six hands-- real magic! musically speaking, I've read in someone's comment that he makes Sousa sound like a Chopin Mazurka and I'd have to agree. This is absolutely fantastic and blessed those who were able to witness it live unfolding!

Please don’t take this down, it’s the best version.

So many painists have attempted to replicate Horowitz' transcription of the Sousa march, but ONLY Horowitz, himself, can provide the virtuosity needed to accomplish what this particular transcription arrangement demands of the pianist.

His biggest power doesn't come from his formidable sound, but his STRONG personality! he demands everyone listens to every note and its meaning.... it's like if the spirit of the piece is too small for him.....

Makes me cry every time I hear it.

Those thunderous left hand octaves, so Horowitz.

The applause goes on for a full minute…….!!! Imagine…….!!!

I didn't know Horowitz had three hands. Wow!

Vlad plays it how it’s meant! 👌👏👏

THE LEFT HAND OF GOD

Pure perfection. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

He's a gorilla, he's a magnificent grizzly bear, he's a sky full of birds and insects. He has four hands, and they are huge. No mercy here. The energy flowing through his brain to fingers can interfere with coronary rhythms, watch out!

I'm feeling that this as as close to heaven as I may ever get, at least on this plane!

I remember when the Berlin Wall fell, I heard a concert on NPR broadcast from Eastern Europe celebrating the event. The atmosphere was electric and the encore, "Stars and Stripes Forever", brought the audience to their feet and nearly brought down the house. The orchestra had to play it again and again until finally, NPR had to to take leave of the broadcast for their affiliates.I don't care if it's people's bodies piling up to keep Old Glory from touching the ground during the seige of Ft. McHenry in the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812, Joan of Arc raising the banner of her Lord to rally her troops, or General Moroni in The Book of Mormon raising the Title of Liberty, banners of freedom throughout history have conveyed a universal language that every human being intrinsically understands. ...And Sousa effectively put it to the music that orchestras and, later, a Russian expatriate at his keyboard would eventually share around the world.

Best performance ever 😄

The laughter at 2:41 :) beautiful

That is absolutely unreal 😅 what a man 👏

That's got to be Carnegie Hall. God, how riveting he is and always was. Brilliant rendition.

やっぱりホロヴィッツは音の粒立ちも綺麗で素敵！この時の映像が残っていれば見てみたいです。お茶目な姿のホロヴィッツが目に浮かびます

Inolvidable Horowitz. 🙏🇮🇷💕👋👋👋👋👋👋👋👋👋💥

Artificial intelligence could never play with the passion and subtleness of this master musician.

First of all, this is a long comment. Second of all, thank you to whomever put this one up. Holy, crap. I have heard other versions of him playing this, but not this one. Does anyone know the concert and/or source of the recording. To my ears--blind musicologist here--I would guess Carnegie? You can hear the reverb of the piano in only the way Carnegie seems to have. If you want more proof of that type of reverb, play Charlie Parker with Strings Live there. Or the hard-to-find Jazz Scene recordings that were made just before the second recording ban of 1949. Also, whoever set the microphone did a damn good job, although it took a nice beating at the end of the piece, even the stage probably shook. Oh, I had to laugh a bit myself, did anyone else notice he kinda plunked the last chord? The interval wasn't quite right in the right hand, although that could also have been a defect of the disc it was transcribed on. Some of those acetates wavered in pitch, see my comments below regarding source. I seem to recall VH saying in later interviews that this piece was "too difficult" and would guess that this was one of the last performances of it? I could be wrong I don't have his discography/gigography at hand. Glad I'm not the only one who was wondering what the laughter was. Yeah I think it is because of that melodic line. Then there are the octaves and trills in the right hand imitating the piccolo. That's something Liszt would have been proud of. I tend to agree with those on here who say that modern technique is rather cold. I find myself going back to VH for 99 percent of my piano music. The other 1 percent is usually Rubinstein, his rival. But we'll not go there presently. I do wish there was a better bio of VH than the one done in 1983, unless there is and I've not found it, which is entirely possible. One more thing. The source. To me, and I could be wrong, this sounds like it came from an acetate 16 inch disc. Or a vinyl transcription disc, also 16 inches, but not sure if it was the latter, because Columbia had just introduced the LP and I thought that the switch to vinyl transcription discs came after that? I've digitized both types of discs, and seem to remember acetates having more hiss than the vinyl ones. The WWII v-discs were vinyl as well, easier to carry in a pack than a bunch of heavy 78s. The reason I think this is an acetate/transcription disc is the pops and clicks. There doesn't seem to be the typical sound of a 78rpm disc during the quiet passages. Either that or whoever digitized this recording had a lowpass filter on it? There are too many clicks that are higher frequency than you'd hear on a 78. And lastly, my guess at the source is because there's a full minute of applause. Even the classical 12-inch 78s only ran to 4 minutes, if I remember right. I'm still stuck on this idea of the frequency of the clicks and pops; their auditory frequency, not the timing of them. Although now that I think about it, that also be a sign that it was an acetate. The auditory frequency of LP clicks and pops is usually lower in pitch except at the start of a record, you'll hear the pitch drop usually once the needle finds the groove. The music/audio nerd in me was very happy to find this recording. If you made it through this entire essay, congratulations! I thank you for reading. If you didn't, you won't be reading this part anyway! Cheers, hope everyone is staying safe and healthy.

Just imagine being there. The power of his presence must’ve been overwhelming.

I guess he probably took a glance at the audience with a smile at that very moment 02:44 before final climax of this encore.

Genius. Sheer genius...

THE KING 👑

i would kill for this much power at the piano

My father was in the navy in the second world War and I would take him to nyc to the Goldman band who would play stars and stripes forever.

The power...

not human...

I would give so much money to know what the laughter was about at 2:44

I have a photo of Horowitz on the wall in my music room.

BRAVO!

Ну просто Чудо❤❤❤

Thank you.

How is this even possible to do? Goodness, he had a bit of technique.

whenever you want to hear how any particular piece should be played---listen to Horowitz's interpretation.

Perfect!

No se ven las tres manos. 🙏🇮🇷💐👋👋🌟🌟

Wowowee ❤❤❤

There's a slight buzz on some of the low notes - either something in the piano, or the microphone. Adds to the realism!

Is it true that Russian pianists were required to play American anthems as an Encore while in the States? I’ve heard this claim before and I’m unsure of its legitimacy.

Dear Lord !!!!!!!

Be played this for a post WWII war bond saying that it was his way of giving ‘Tanks’ to America

素晴らしい演奏、音の魔術師はアメリカを讃えている。 1945年前後のホロヴィッツの演奏がアップされ人々の様子も好景気に見える。これが原爆投下した国の様子なんだ、日本人としては気持ちは複雑。 もちろんホロヴィッツは尊敬しているし大好き。20世紀の宝物。

I wish there was video of thiis performance or 8 mm

3:07 on: [POUNDING HEAD WITH A MALLET] YAGGIDAYAGGIDAYAGGIDAYAGGIDA

He was never a strong technician,not by todays standards anyway, but he always played with heart and enthusiam which almost made up for his technical shortcomings.

3:30 Stormy Weather

It's surprising that he never played anything of Gottschalk's. Maybe he thought it was one bridge too far.

Bro I can’t, at 2:40 some people started laughing and then Horowitz literally started playing like stfu

1:36

1:42 Holiday Inn Club Vacations Holly Lake Resort

Three cheers for the red, white and blue... May it ever remain the land of freedom, in spite of Trump.

i wonder what they were laughing at at 2:08

2:06

the live 1945 version is better, probably supreme imo.

ホント、人間技では無い…🐱

Very gooud way not cabaret

Spellbinding.

Witchcraft! practice, practice, practice!

3:35 ewwwww

USA USA USA . . . . . . !!!!!

His protege, Valery Kuleshov, plays this even better.

Noch geschmackloser geht es wirklich nicht.

Only a Russian could play it this way! Excuse me- Ukranian.

Played slightly too fast and with too little subtlety, at least compared to the perfection that is his studio recording.

This has been speed up, stop fooling people