[HN Gopher] Show HN: Live Program Notes for Schubert Sonata in B...
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Show HN: Live Program Notes for Schubert Sonata in B-Flat
Author : zweinz
Score : 18 points
Date : 2020-04-04 18:27 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (liveprogramnotes.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (liveprogramnotes.com)
| Bud wrote:
| 2nd movement of this sonata (the Andante sostenuto) is one of the
| most perfect things ever created by humans.
| jancsika wrote:
| They completely skip over Schubert's patented "quick-cross-over
| to flat-VI" in the first theme. It's even followed by-- you
| Schubert fans already guessed it-- a German sixth to sneak back
| to B-flat. So smooth.
|
| Highlight reel.
|
| Listen to the famous third movement of the String Quintet in C
| major. Where does it first modulate? You guessed it-- flat-VI.
| And after he stops on that German sixth chord, where do we go?
| Well, to G here, but that's just prep for the repeat signs back
| to-- you guessed it-- C major, baby! Yeah, Schubi ftw!
|
| How bout the Unfinished Symphony in B minor-- where's that 2nd
| theme? Well ok, it's _regular_ VI there but still... Schubert
| likes going to VI. It 's his signature move. And if I start
| reading through one of his Lieder at random I bet I don't go 4
| pages before hearing another such moment.
|
| I like the idea of realtime notes, but you gotta have a pretty
| wide context for them to be anything more than an arbitrary
| collection of trivia for newcomers. That's a nice way of saying
| if you're a newcomer, you _got_ to listen to _a lot_ of music
| before things make sense. Just like you can dribble in one square
| meter of a basketball court and understand the game.
|
| I mean, what could F# minor as a "distant key" possibly mean to a
| newcomer who hasn't had music theory? Without the context it's
| the musical equivalent of talking about some new software
| including "blockchain" technology. Maybe it means something
| significant. More likely in the context of mid-19th century
| harmony, it doesn't.
|
| But if put on your Schubert jersey and get a season ticket, ask
| yourself-- how exactly _is_ F# minor related to anything? Well,
| we started changing keys earlier by quick move to a sublime
| melody G-flat major. Any musician will tell you F# is just
| another way to spell G-flat. Wait a sec: Schubert took us to the
| _minor_ version of that same key for the second theme. _Minor-
| flat-VI_. Holy cow!
|
| Austria wins the championship! Austria wins!
| lamby wrote:
| Mitsuko Uchida.
| zweinz wrote:
| This is in my opinion one of the greatest piano pieces ever
| written, but it can be difficult to engage with for the first
| time, since it really needs careful listening. I wanted to help
| people unfamiliar with the music to find a way into it, because
| it's so easy for it to just become background music.
|
| Originally I wrote this to accompany my own live performances,
| but I think it's perhaps even more useful for helping people stay
| present with the music when watching online. Would love feedback!
| rowan_mcd wrote:
| This is so successful. Great choice of piece + performance. IMO
| there are really cool things you could do with the UI. (Like
| being able to skip back to sections that you reference to
| remember what they sound like. Also, would be cool if all
| sections were displayed all the time instead of only showing
| the current movement.)
|
| Props, I really enjoyed this!
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(page generated 2020-04-04 23:00 UTC)