Seeing people's eyes opened to classical music is a joy. I must have heard the William Tell Overture hundreds of times in my life, but it's a thrill every time. Thanks, guys.
Ah Herbert von Karajan! He was my favourite conductor. Back in the 70's and 80's I would go the music store at least once a week and every time I saw a new record with him conducting I would buy it. He then helped CD become a thing. I bought my first CD player in 1988 and the first CD I bought was... Star Trek: The Motion Picture. But the second one was Also Sprach Zarathustra conducted by Herbert von Karajan. I still remember (with chills) when he conducted Beethoven's 9th Symphony on live TV after the fall of the Berlin wall.
You’re confused I’m afraid … Von Karajan died several months before the Berlin Wall came down. The concert you are talking about (I.e the ‘Ode to Freedom’ concert) was conducted by Leonard Bernstein on Christmas Day 1989 in the Konzerthaus at Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin.
Long live Tower Records on Santa Monica & Land’s End in Beverly Hills - I shew’d up ev’ry Friday in the 1970s & 1980s to buy selections from the ‘then-new CD’ invention replacing my old LPs (Vinyl) - we’ve come a long way so CE then !!!
@@theophilos0910 There is still something to be said about vinyl, though. There is a reason they still make record players these days, and vinyl is making something of a limited comeback, though mostly among afficiandos. Still remember getting my uncle a more current one a few years ago for Christmas. But CDs give you the option of much more controlled playback, not to mention just how much music could actually be stored on one and keep sound integrity.
The conductor Herbert von Karajan had a jet plane that he flew himself. Aside from being one of the most important conductors of the 20th century, he did something that many don't know. He accelerated digitization by about 15 years. That's how it happened, he heard that Philipps was researching a lossless method to store music recordings forever. But the research was expensive and threatened to be discontinued. So he invested 100 million in this research. The CD came onto the market much earlier and the development of digital storage accelerated.
He didn't just fly his own plane, he was also the only private person allowed to fly their plane over the territory of the GDR, which was part of the Soviet block. He flew himself from Austria to West-Berlin for his performances with the Berlin Philharmonics and back the same evening, with a special dispensation from a Stalinist government that would have shot down anyone else. What a character he was... My mother was lucky enough to hear him live in Berlin countless times.
The most compelling thunderstorm that was ever written (composed) in classical music, including raindrops an all. Can you imagine what it's like to sit in the middle of the orchestra while playing this in fortissimo (the loudest your instrument can possibly produce) and you have no chance to hear yourself playing because the 120 people around you are also playing at the same level and the sound is coming from all sides at once? The horse riding is such a good connection because the rhythm is exactly what it feels like to ride a horse in canter :-)
Exactly this. I was fortunate while at school to play 2nd bassoon in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in the nave of Wells Cathedral. My lips were numb and I couldn't hear a single note I was playing for the sound of the orchestra around me and the kettle drums behind me. Awesome experience. 😁
@@carlallery3693 I remember as well and it's quite incomparable to anything else. Well, maybe similar to getting caught by huge waves in the ocean one after the other and loosing all sense of direction and control while still trying to hold onto yourself. I've played the violin in several orchestras between age 14 and age 18 and I wouldn't wanna miss this experience.
There are three really good storms in classical, this one, the Beethoven, and of course the one in the Grand Canyon Suite. And yes there is a good one in the four seasons.
The conductor probably can play more than one instrument, but not all. BUT! He knows how to read the musical scores for every instrument, he knows all of the instructions given in those scores, and he conveys those instructions to the musicians. They keep their eyes on him and depend on him to keep time. A small band depends on the drummer to keep them all together, a large band or orchestra depends on the conductor.
Honestly, a professional orchestra can keep time by itself. They need the conductor to set the initial tempo and to communicate changes, but they don’t need to watch him all the time just for keeping time. They listen to each other and stay together. It’s only in middle school and high school that they really need the conductor to keep them together.
An orchestra still relies on the drummer, the one on the bass drum to be precise, to keep time. Not all players in the orchestra have a clear view of the conductor at all times, so they rely on the audio cues of the drum. There is also a lot of practice of a score to memorize the timing for this reason, which is why a conductor can conduct with only his hands and fingers, not using the baton, with the best orchestras. People underestimate the sheer amount of practice and rehearsal that goes into just one performance.
My dad was a senior Navy Officer, but he had a great sense of humor! At our family's cabin in Northern New Mexico (on vacation!), he would play the William Tell Overture at 7:00 AM to get us up in the morning! But it wouldn't start in the first movement! Good thing he already had the coffee made! Some of us weren't morning people!
Lol....your dad probably could have been friends with my dad lol 😆...we all learned a lot about classical music from the way dad motivated us ..from cleaning the house to washing the car to yard work lol
Bolero would be good to do, its used in a lot of samples and references in so much music even to this day. Haydns surprise would also be fun, that song always cracks me up.
Out of the several score recordings of Ravel's "Bolero" on RU-vid, I can heartily recommend two performances without reservation, and it might even be four: the two -- (1) under the baton of Valeri Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra and (2) the version led by Gustavo Dudamel and the Wiener Philharmoniker (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra). It's definitely not everyone's cup of tea, not because it's modern avant garde atonal stuff but because, to the untrained, unfamiliar ear, it's very boring. As one gets used to identifying instruments' timbres and playing intricacies, "Bolero" becomes more inspiring and enjoyable.
I'd suggest the following- Richard Wagner: Prelude to Act 1 & Act 3 from Lohengrin Prelude to Act 3 from Die Walküre Finale to Act 1 from Siegfried (Forging Song) Mozart: 4th Movement, Symphony 41 in C Finale to Act 2 from The Marriage of Figaro Suppe: Overture to Leichte Kavallerie Overture to Dichter und Bauer Sibelius: Finlandia
Such an iconic masterpiece! Studies have shown that if the William Tell Overture had never been conceived and executed, the world would have already stopped spinning and we would all be dead!
It was once said about those of us of a certain age group, that the "definition of an 'intellectual' is someone who can listen to Rossini's William Tell Overture without thinking of 'The Lone Ranger'"! Sadly I'm of the age when The Lone Ranger and Tonto were great hero's. So glad you're enjoying these tasters of the Classical and the Baroque eras.
When I was in high school our band teacher had us play "La Gazza Ladra" (The Thieving Magpie) for a concert band competition. We had been struggling with the piece for a few weeks when the band teacher said he would play a record (yes, that far back vinyl) of a performance. "Remember, this is being played by a bunch of old guys in their 80's who have been playing this for years." Ooh-kayyyy. We sat there stunned, slawjacked at the actual pace we should have been playing at. No, we didn't win. Decades later I was at a National Arts Education conference at my college alma mater, waiting for a presentation in a large auditorium. A man came in and sat next to me who looked very familiar - my band teacher from high school. I introduced myself and to give him an idea of what group I was in referred to the band completion. He groaned, slumped forward and put his hands over his face. !! (Well, sir, we didn't pick out the music....) 😁
For some reason, I thought the middle part sounded like something from Peer Gynt. Speaking of Peer Gynt, try listening to In the Hall of the Mountain King.
Back in the 60s to early 70s, one of the band members asked our Band Director about his music degree; he said it was required to learn all the instruments, in order to earn his music degree to teach. He was excellent. Our small public school band, of about 50, had about 5 to 10 members that made All-State annually.
So, like know how to play at a professional level or a working knowledge of all of them? I can’t imagine having the time to be able to play all of them at a masterful level. I assume he had one or two primary instruments?
A few other good ones that a lot of people know a little of from common use: Wagner Flight of the Valkyries, Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain, Copland's Appalachian Spring and Rodeo, Dvorak's 9th (especially 4th movement, maybe 3rd). Apart from those, Dvorak's 7th and Holst's Planets (especially Jupiter and Mars) are great ways to hook modern ears on classical music. Or Valentina Lisitsa playing Moonlight Sonata... few in the world can handle how she does. She also does a great Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody for everyone would recognize it from Tom and Jerry... :)
Another great/impressive piece that you will be familiar with is the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt (piano version). OH! take a listen to Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2, second movement too.
John Williams actually made a "Star Wars suite" out of the soundtrack of Star Wars. You can find recordings of it on RU-vid. And if you ever listen to The Planets by Gustav Holst, you'll hear where he got his inspiration xD.
I can’t tell you how many cartoons I grew up with watching during the 90’s (born in 1988), that had some form of classical music in it (the real classics/masterpieces, such as this one). Being exposed to such a powerful thing as classical music was only beneficial, because I know that I became absolutely in love with it - And I have an eclectic taste in music (varied)
He was spot on all three impressions. Rossini painted a musical picture of Switzerland. 1. Night and sunrise over the Alps 2. Forests, meadows, Birds, the Lake, Alphorns, and the thunderstorm on the lake. 3. And lastly the Cavalry chase. Great for motivating people! ^^ 😃😃😃 As for Herbert von Karajan, he was THE nr.1 conductor of the 20th century, not just a dud whom the girls liked! 😉
I just love how your friend reacted. And that shows how to get closer to classical music. Start easy and when that gets comfortable then you can move to more complex pieces. You are both awesome. Big thumbs up. No, not big, HUGE THUMBS UP.
I remember hearing other classical music in The Lone Ranger. One that stood out to me was the second movement of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony. That would a nice one to react to. Also, you might try Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik. It would probably be familiar, too, from modern usage.
Hi. Just for fun please react to Victor Borge and friend playing Hungarian Rhapsody no 2. for 4 hands on a single piano. This is Borge’s arrangement He was a talented pianist and comedian.
I'm 65 so I know what the Lone Ranger was hehehe Disney was a good classical music teacher, Leonard Bernstein with his Music for the youth tv show was an excellent teacher too. But my main teacher was my father, who loved to listen to classics... I hope you, MCA, become a good one for the youth too! People need to know good music! It's good for our souls and minds. Thanks!! Keep doing this good job! Ah! There was a time, here in Brazil, that a radio station played songs based or with part of classical music... it was very interesting! That time, e.i. I didn't know Barry Manilow's Ready to take a chance starts with a Mozart's piece. Edit: Wooow I've just seen the date you posted it! I thought it was recent!... good to know, I will watch all the videos... I met (and I've followed) you since you started to react to BTS, I didn't know you used to post this kind of videos!! wooow what a great surprise!!
I like Rossini too. The Thieving Magpie is also familiar from Bugs Bunny cartoons. What I like about Classical music is that it's complex and interesting, and it takes a few listens to become familiar with it. Also, this music was from a time when the only entertainment was singing, live music, plays, or books. Most pieces tell a story, and overtures are almost always from a play or opera (a play with singing). There is a 'storm' in William Tell, but Beethoven also has one in his Pastoral symphony. A favorite piece of mine that has crazy story (with an equally intense ending) is Berlioz' Symphony Fantastique. It's fun to see these reactions, and watch DJ start to groove with the music.
This was the first piece of classical music I was introduced to by my mother, I still have my mother's collection of classical music, somewhat over 300LPs This is the first time I have listened to this piece since my mother passed away in 2003. It brings back much memories of mum talking me through the piece and the story behind it. Thanks guys. I came here from listening to Nightwish :)
.I grew up with The Lone Ranger (a western in th 50's) and this opened and closed the show eatoch week. I can't hear it now without waiting for the Lone Ranger to yell, Hi-Oh Silver, away! (his horse) as they ride into the sunset.
It's A) a storm B) Dawn with birds and a pastoral scene and C) a horse regiment riding to the rescue. It's so clear, such a tonal poem no one has to tell you what it is.
William Tell was, in a way, Switzerland”s answer to Robin Hood. Hood lived in the late 1100s to mid 1200s. William Tell lived in the early 1300s. Tell was famous for shooting an arrow through an apple 🍏 that was sitting on his son’s head.
A few suggestions, respectfully given: "Ride of the Valkyries" and "Tristan und Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod" by Richard Wagner. "The Moldau" by Smetana. "From the New World, Symphony No. 9" by Antonin Dvorak. "Russian Easter Overture" by Rimsky Korsakov. The Dvorak symphony will be a longer piece than the others; they'll be more agreeable with RU-vid's constraints.
Back in the 50s this was the theme song for The Lone Ranger… with Clayton Moore… ok now I gave away my age lol .. he was my favorite tv hero … 😊ty for playing this one of the great composers in history….
Regarding the crazy hair, an even bigger sign is when the conductor can't stand still. There was a story a few years back (over a decade ago by now) where the conductor was literally swept off his feet, falling off the stage. After that it became common to have a railing behind the conductor...
William Tell overture never fails to bring me to tears of excitement in the end! You might have some fun sticking to overtures for awhile, since they are relatively short and yet complete and representative of a specific style. For some more bombast there's the 1812 Overture (of course) but also you could go with Mozart (I'm partial to Magic Flute, but Don Giovanni is also pretty cool), Beethoven's Leonora Overture #3, then you can throw in Bernstein"s Overture Candide for a little contrast.
A few years back I drove a worker from my job to my house to make a small repair. I had been playing Rossini in my car and told him he was going to like and recognize this piece. Time went by and we were almost all the way to the house when the last part started playing and the guy suddenly lighten up and was happy to recognize the Long Ranger theme. Who would have thought.
I don't know if your in Ohio or not, but after almost 20 years in Columbus as well as Akron, and Dayton and Cleveland talk radio, it is exciting to see young...oops people somewhat younger that me broadening thier musical horizons as much as you obviously are. Oh and it started growing up with "The Lone Ranger" and I built from there with a love of the classics as well as Jazz, Rock, Blues , Funk and soul music. Yours truly Steve Cannon known as "Boomer" to some folks!
There is a part of this overture that has a similar taste to the symphonic poem of Rimsky Korsakov Sherezade. Love it! Both pieces are so amazing! Nice reaction. People should listen to this music more often.
Herbert von Karajahn was a scholar from the great Wilhelm Furtwängler, one of the best conductors of the 20th century. Great peace of music. It was used in in the movie Clockwork Orange and was very disturbing because of the pictures schown to the music... Another great Overture is Leichte Kavallerie from Franz von Suppé ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MhWRmtsPCdM.html
My dad was a high school music teacher for almost 30 years. During concerts you could sometimes see the spot of sweat grow on his back, not crazy hair, but still. (Also we were in the Amazon, so it was hot to begin with, but still.)
The guy on the left is my spirit animal. I also listen to music with my body. It's just so jarring to see someone listen to this and move his body as little as the guy on the right did LOL
The growing lack of culture that characterizes our modern societies makes millions of people miss out on major as well as masterful works... Rediscover great composers, rediscover great music!! Save your souls, become human again and feed your amnesic hearts and brains with the most subtle and essential nourishment there is!
It's clear that this young man's only exposure to classical music has been through film and cartoons. Something I loved about the cartoons I grew up on in the 50s and 60s was their use of classical music. I wonder where kids today are getting their exposure. Maybe since schools have cut the arts they are not. Another great exposure was to hot jazz via Heckle and Jeckyll.
Herbert von Karajan is probably the eminent conductor of the last half of the 20th century in my opinion. He also designed the auditorium that piece was recorded in. He originally went to school for architecture and moved to music. I'm basing this off my dad's own lectures so memory may be fuzzy, correct me below
Siamo nella fine '800 immaginate l'ispirazione per creare uno spartito per un orchestra, evidenziando ogni strumento, è semplicemente folle inimmaginabile. Sarebbe difficile oggi e 200 anni fa sembra incredibile. Oggi ci esaltiamo per delle canzonette orecchiabili ma tutto viene da questi geniali giganti delle musica
Mom & Dad took me to see Arthur Fiedler & the Boston Pops when I was little & the biggest thing I remember about it was the conductors glorious mane of white hair that was completely messed up by the time he was done, lol. Since then, if a conductor doesn’t have long white hair, he’s not a real conductor, lol!
Given that you keep mentioning the Star Wars theme, maybe you should find a video of John Williams conducting his orchestra playing that piece of music and review that?
im a rocker and love classical music especially , verdis, puccini, rossini, and dont forget pietro mascagni whose music is used in a lot of commercials. before i forget listen to verdis dies area that will wake up the dead.
Karajan was an amazing conductor. It would be really cool if you guys reacted to Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. Good chance parts of it will be recognizable. That piece is jaw droppingly awe inspiring. I got to watch it performed live and you could feel the music in your bones.
I've sometimes speculated what classical composers would be like if they were Rock and Roll musicians. For instance, Mozart would either have been Freddie Mercury/David Bowie style Glam or Ramones/Clash style Punk. Bach would have been a Rick Wakeman type flamboyant Prog guy.
If this was unbelievable, which it is, try the Mahler 8th symphony finale.... Simon Rattle at the proms is a great video, makes one understand why it is coined as Symphony of a thousand. HvK played the piano and could play the harpsichord at a quite good level. His brother was an organist. HvK was one of the conductors Maria Callas worked with.
The moment where he realized he'd definitely heard the "Lone Ranger" part of the overture was priceless. As far as I know, the full William Tell opera doesn't get performed all that often. This song though? Everywhere. Way overtook it in popularity. And it's not like Rossini was a slouch when it came to full opera composing, either. The Barber of Seville is a perennial classic.
When The horns started I wanted to yell "Hie Yo Silver, Away!!" . I grew up listening to the Lone Ranger on Radio then watching it on TV when it moved to there. Check it out Intro and outtro: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-p9lf76xOA5k.html
I’m very late to the game here. Just stumbled across this vid. You guys should check out Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah by Saint-Saëns. Dudamel conducting is fun to watch!
Love your videos. Keep it up. Get more people to listen with you--musicians. Some other classical pieces that became popular: Vivaldi (Four Seasons), Tchaikovsky concerts, Ravel, Edward Gregg and of course any and all Mozart and more Rossini.
My wish for future videos: Paganini's God Save the King performed by Roman Kim (violin) or alternatively Mozart / eine kleine Nachtmusik performed by Roman Kim (violin).
I personally think it’s helpful, when listening to opera, to have some idea what the story is that the music is describing. If I’m listening to an opera for the first time, I like to know the story and ideally have the libretto at hand. But that’s just me.
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