Beethoven, Late Style & Megalopolis

0:00 Apology for ‘impressionistic’ picture
0:05 Beethoven’s rarely performed late Bagatelle in G
1:06 Brief discussion of the bagatelle
2:01 Late Style poses more questions than it answers
3:24 Megalopolis
4:34 Empty cinemas
5:44 Late work is often judged harshly
6:43 We should have more respect for aging artists
7:12 What do you think?

In this short, one-off video, Matthew King plays a rarely performed late Beethoven Bagatelle and discusses the curious phenomenon of Late Style, when artists, in their later years, move beyond their own orthodoxy and embrace mystery and experimentalism in their final works. Matthew then reflects on his recent experience of watching the 84-year old Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis in an empty cinema, and asks some questions about the future of creativity and the curious deluge of hostility that has greeted the film, comparing this general critical negativity with similarly dismissive attitudes to late work in the past.

Beethoven: Bagatelle in G major (from the 1826 Diabelli edition of Op. 119)

Pianist: Matthew King

Edited by Ian Coulter

#Beethoven #Megalopolis #themusicprofessor

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[UtsyoChakraborty]

An immediate contrast I can think of is Elliott Carter. His ‘late music’ retains some of the character of his middle period works and yet is distilled with charming, easy-going grace. When this, along with his flowering productivity, was pointed out to him, Carter replied “I’ve just gotten better at writing Elliott Carter music”. Great response.

[shellw]

Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Eyes Wide Shut’, a movie he completed just weeks before he died at 70, took almost 20 years to get the recognition it deserves.

[alans]

Some 20th century composers like Ligeti, Lutoslawski, and Penderecki actually went in the other direction and became more traditionalist in their late style, and also faced criticism for that.

[edwardlloyd]

Critics can quite often lack humanity. They expect everything to fit a certain mold. And yet, how many musical critics could write something to show Beethoven how it's should be done!

[hunter_lite]

Sibelius noted there were no statues of critics.

[brianhanington]

Thank you, professor, for that thoughtful and inspiring essay on late style, a concept of which I had not previously been aware. I now think immediately of Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs, of which Beim Schlafengehen is so devastatingly beautiful that I can hardly breathe when I hear it. Like Coppola, Strauss was 84 when he created it.

[Django]

Louis Armstrong recorded a number of tunes 30 years after first being recorded in the 1920s - results that some critics were almost shocked at their superb qualities.

[Vextrove]

Thought-provoking stuff. I thank you for sharing your thoughts!

[theKobus]

This is how I felt about Miyazaki Hayao's most recent film.

[ccfliege]

man your playing of the Bagatelle was beautiful man

[OctopusContrapunctus]

Great video with a great message, I feel like the past decade there has been a kind of spree of coorporate production, from music to film, to cloths we put on that have drown the industry with a lot of cash grabs, and are succeding at it. It is almost like they are taking the name "industry" a bit too seriously

[acevaptsarov]

Great video! I'm very looking forward to seeing Megalopolis

[GreenTeaViewer]

Great topic. The late work of great artists, especially when they reach their 70s and beyond, is a fascinating topic for me. Starting point: take a look at Michelangelo's last unfinished work, a Pietà, and compare it to his famous youthful Pietà. I'm also fascinated with Bruckner's 9th symphony. Equally interesting are the artists who go the other way and lean into being grounded and even humorous as they reach old age, such as Vaughan Williams.

[cyberprimate]

Late Beethoven isn't easy stuff. I remember reading Dutilleux who admitted it had taken him years to understand and enjoy the late quartets, and only because a friend of his insisted. And it became the inspiration for his "Ainsi la nuit" quartet. Personally it's the opus 131 (string orchestra version conducted by Bernstein) that opened my eyes after some time.

[jacqueslapidieux]

"The second sad thing is I went with my wife..." 😆🤣 4:32

[noelleggett]

Mahler’s ‘Das Lied von der Erde’ and his 10th symphony, Tchaikovsky’s 6th symphony, John Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ and ‘Paradise Regained’, Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Frenzy’, Michelangelo’s ‘Rondanini Pietà’, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum.

[ThomasSimmons-ux]

Beckett certainly comes to mind...Joyce too.

[elmerglue]

It’s interesting as well to see Scorceses late career. They are much more introspective, long, meditative works, that play with structure in interesting ways. I am reminded of late Beethoven a little bit. They don’t seem to get the most love and attention, given their length, and ambitious nature. He shoots things more in a more simple/straightforward way but they never seem to go the way you think they will go.
By the way thank you so much for your videos!

[feraudyh]

Ah Bärenreiter, what a great publishing house!
As for Debussy's late works, I absolutely love Jeux.

[galeem]

I think anything Beethoven writes is fabulous, especially considering that he was completely deaf for a long time. The ability to hear it in his head and write it down is amazing. I can hear very well, and that skill is way beyond me, as is the piano I am finding out.