0:00 Introduction with Loki
0:36 This is one of the most unremarkable melodies
1:14 Bernstein’s showing off
1:31 Allegretto tempo
1:46 “It isn’t a good tune”
2:33 The primary element is rhythm
3:15 Schubert was obsessed with this material
4:00 "Do you like the melody?"
4:36 The chromatic drop
5:10 Is Beethoven a great melodist?
6:00 “There’s nothing there!”
6:21 "He spent his whole life trying to write a good fugue"
7:26 Comparison with Mozart
7:40 The late fugues
8:23 The Archduke trio
8:49 Simplicity is a hugely undervalued quality
9:31 The Russian tradition of melody
9:45 Beethoven learnt his compositional tricks from Haydn
10:08 "Beethoven was a nobody!”
10:49 An example from the Appassionata
12:24 Orchestration? The 8th Symphony
13:04 Beethoven’s deafness affecting his textures
14:21 Bernstein’s hyperbole
14:41 Mahler’s reorchestrations of Beethoven
14:59 Slightly old fashioned gestures in late Beethoven
15:24 Comparison with Berlioz and the younger generation
16:36 Lenny’s really going for Beethoven
17:14 "In Beethoven’s case, the form is all”
18:28 "No composer ever had that - even Mozart!”
18:41 “It’s so unpredictable and so right”
19:09 “He struggled!”
19:31 Works that Beethoven was planning when he died
19:58 A digression about Beethoven’s unfinished String Quintet sketch
21:12 Beethoven’s crazy life
22:28 Struggling with severe disability
23:00 “…phoned in from God!”
23:42 Berio and sculpture
24:02 "But he wrecked himself trying to achieve this inevitability”
24:43 “It could be no other way.”
25:01 Berlioz listening to Beethoven’s 5th symphony
In this video Matthew King reacts to an extract from Leonard Bernstein’s conversation with Maximilian Schell about Beethoven’s 7th Symphony. The focus of the discussion is the famous Allegretto second movement. Bernstein’s comments on the piece are characteristically brilliant and perceptive but also full of hyperbole and exaggeration. Matthew King analyses Bernstein’s remarks, using them as a springboard for a broader discussion about Beethoven’s life and work.
The original discussion between Maximilian Schell and Leonard Bernstein about Beethoven’s 6th and 7th symphonies can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuYY1gV8jhU
Matthew King's discussion about West Side Story can be seen here: https://youtu.be/Dd0Oso0Rplw?si=BBZHi82K6L3By-Ps
Bernstein can be seen conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in the Allegretto from Beethoven’s 7th Symphony here: https://youtu.be/mkRmjdik1Yo?si=G-arWfjFceiqAoVA
Beethoven's Allegretto can be hear in Carlos Kleiber’s superb performance (and tempo) with the Royal Concertgebouw orchestra here: https://youtu.be/2Sw97NzvvsE?si=57hOtkixzc8qL52Z&t=737
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