Beethoven’s 5th Symphony
Beethoven’s 5th Symphony
As
performed by Marcin Patrazalek
Beethoven’s
5th Symphony when played on the guitar may not actually feel as
magical as the original but it is definitely enthralling. The version I have
critiqued is a version presented by Marcin Patrazalek in a unique style called
the fingerpicking style. Finger style or fingerpicking style is a technique in
which the guitarist plays a rhythm along with a lead at the same time using all
the five fingers of the dominant hand (right hand for right handed guitarists).
The guitarist in this version fuses in a dual harmony of fingerpicking and
string slapping. While listening, I paid attention to the feelings that the
original composer (Beethoven) wanted to emote.
The intro
comes in with a bang and would definitely leave the audience ecstatic. It is
followed by a quick succession of notes which is quite evident in most of
Beethoven’s pieces like the Für Elise and Eine kleine Nachtmusik. It seems at
first hearing that the audience would just get lost in the music which is
jumpy, lively and energetic. There are few instances in the piece where the
music has a slow build-up. The music has successions of bars played at a
mixture of fast and slow paces. However, what really feels like an “explosion
of the mind” is the finale. It leaves the audience overjoyed after hearing a
musical maestro at his peak.
As I
continued listening to the piece, time and again, I felt the composer
delivering a message that connects will with his life that had its own series
of setbacks and disappointments. I began jotting down the various messages that
kept coming to me as I listened intently to the musical piece. The composer
tells is that our beginnings would be slow and maybe even sudden, but we should
never give up on our goal. We need to aim high and have our focus always in
mind. This can be seen in the intro with the sudden uproar of music and a break
and then uproar and then another break before a slow start to a musical master
class begins. Shocks and disappointments will come but hope must not be lost.
This is evident even in Beethoven’s life. He had to face many failures and
moments of rejection before he actually succeeded in life. This piece seems to
be a musical biography of him. While narrating his whole life through music he
also gives the audience valuable lessons that are hidden in his music.
One needs to
listen carefully and pay attention to the intrinsic details to decipher the
various messages that he wishes to present. He tells the audience to focus on
the goal always even amidst the moments of peace and moments of torrent. We are
called to live our life well in order to have a beautiful end. He describes the
various falls he had faced through the drops in notations and the break in
various parts of the piece. But like the harmony which gradually increases in
tempo and volume, we too need to get up from the fall and gradually move on.
The finale of the song emotes moments of glory, honor and success in life. It
goes to say that maybe Beethoven had just overcome a terrible setback and has
now moved on and achieved his goal.
The
strumming with the fingers is so clear and crisp that he almost gives the
effect of the wind instruments though it cannot be fully achieved. The dynamics
of the piece is spot on and he doesn’t seem to make a mistake when he needs to
control it while going through the piece. Though he is unable to play the whole
piece he does take a part of it and performs it to perfection. The timbre of
the guitar is what actually helps us differentiate this version from the
original which is played using wind instruments. Putting the guitar on
overdrive, which means to increase the sustain of the guitar’s notes, makes it
all the more beautiful as it gives the audience a chance to carry that emotion
even during the breaks in the piece.
The link to
the video is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUarhwho0f8
As
performed by Marcin Patrazalek
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