Bethena - Scott Joplin

My piano version of Scott Joplin's amazing "Bethena." If you enjoy, please hit Like and Subscribe! :)

[BFDT-]

Such a unique reading of this often maligned piece. Just looking at the graphic and listening to the music this morning gave me more than 100 readings from elsewhere.

You write below: "I see this piece as being very emotional and melancholy, but also hopeful."

That in itself makes my (now) second viewing more profound than ever.


Stunning.

[ChuckAbernethy]

To me, this is the best rendition of this Joplin piece that I have heard on YouTube. Evan did a great job of playing with feeling. Not too fast. He played it with a LOT of feeling. This music reflects the great love Joplin had for this woman who passed away not too long after they had tied the knot. I listen to this over and over again. I am determined to learn to play it. If I can play it half as well as you, I will be content. Peace.

[Kurrific]

Quite possibly one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard.

[goesfastandfar]

Now, this is the way to play Bethena. You've used your fingers to transmit your soul. And it shows. Bravo!

[mYththePoet]

Incredible rendition of Scott's masterpiece. The ocean washing up against the piano is an appopriate image as well, as I am sure that is how Scott must have felt when he wrote this piece given the series of events that he had to endure which inspired the music.

[marklund]

Excellent rendition, this was one of the songs I used to practice when I took piano lessons as a young teenager - today I remembered it out of the blue almost a decade later, so happy to find a good version.

[ragtimefan]

This is executed very well. It breaks my heart to hear people play Scott Joplin's compositions fast and with no feeling. Ragtime is not to be played in that manner. But you my friend execute this very well especially when you consider the circumstances surrounding this composition.

[eurekify]

This is a fantastic version of the song, slow and meticulous, just as it should be

[MrTehRave]

Wonderfully played. Finally someone who gets the slow emotional interpretation of this piece. Most people on youtube play it too fast or too robotically. Fantastic rendition man

[dfdhgtrss]

This has got to the best non professional recording of this piece i've heard. Nice and slow

[justify]

You are one of the few who play it very nuanced to capture all of the different levels of emotion in it rather than putting too much staccato or ragtime in it. It is a waltz and sort of requiem, after all. Thank you for a beautiful rendition. 👍

[mindpoacher]

Wow!! You sir I am certain that you have put smile on Scott Joplins face. The emotions that you are able to generate from this piece of music is amazing!! Thank You!!!

[evsponge]

Thanks for listening everyone!! If you enjoy please hit Like and Subscribe, it helps me out a ton =D

[alixam]

Since I heard it, you are definitely on many of my friends' playlist. Hope you don't mind🤪

[omar_rasidagic]

This is one of the best renditions of “Bethena” That I’ve ever heard!! Wonderful job!!

[Angel-twko]

Bravo! Well done.. you would make Mr. Joplin proud with this rendition..

[angelopastorini]

This makes me cry every time i heard It... Fantastic performance, bravo!

[ct]

Absolutely beautiful! This is definitely one of the best versions of "Bethena" I have ever heard and more like what Scott Joplin intended. Like other commenters have said, most people play his songs WAY too fast.

[Mortimer]

It is a curse that I compare every performance of Joplin's work with what I think of as the definitive version - the Joshua Rifkin version which is what I heard first in the early 1970s (yes, after The Entertainer was made popular in The Sting).

This version can hold its head up proudly: it passes "the Rifkin test" ;-) Slightly slower in places, which I think is an improvement over Rifkin. The minor section starting at 4:15 is almost painful to listen to - and that's a compliment: I mean that it perfectly captures the utter hopelessness and dejection that Joplin must have been feeling after the death of his wife so soon after their wedding.

Thank you for not doing what I've heard in other Youtube versions - either over-syncopating the initial melody so it starts to limp, or else messing around with the timing so as to delay the odd note and then have to play catch-up to recover the timing (as an eminent pianist did in his Youtube performance - it really did *not* work - if a pianist holds onto a note, he shouldn't rush the next note which is the thing I found really grating). But you didn't fall into either of those traps.

[duigiud]

Outstanding interpretation! Chock full of feeling. Excellent use of tempo, syncopation and timing to titillate the ears, bravo 👏 Exactly how Joplin wanted his music to be played.