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Dudley Moore Beethoven Sonata Parody



Uploaded by: jondinerstein
Video Description:
In this clip from the 1950's-60s British comedy group "Beyond the Fringe," Dudley Moore plays a very funny but also very musically well-done parody of a Beethoven Piano Sonata, using the famous whistling tune from "Bridge Over the River Kwai" as a thematic subject.


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You need to ... ( 3 weeks ago by xxzosiaxx)
You need to understand a bit of music - like what sonata form is, how it basically uses keys in order to vary an initial motif or idea. And you need to understand a bit of Beethoven - that it's full of drama, contrast etc. Then you can see how well this parody works! Genius!
sorry, that was ... ( 3 weeks ago by xxzosiaxx)
sorry, that was meant to be a reply to pnkzrus' earlier comment
In the beginning ... ( 3 weeks ago by gwaur)
In the beginning when the piano's lid is opened, I didn't really understand why the audience laughed. But I realized it on the second watching. :P
I'm sure it's been ... ( 1 week ago by liveintheglory)
I'm sure it's been said before, but this is genius!
I didn't get why it ... ( 1 week ago by Decadoe)
I didn't get why it was funny but I liked it.
Beethoven liked ... ( 1 week ago by Hlektron)
Beethoven liked long endings. Here you get a never ending ending! That's the whole idea. Also, another funny thing is that here, a sonata is based on the "River Kwai's" theme and yet it sounds like Beethoven could have written it.
Beethoven didn't ... ( 1 week ago by jeffamarie)
Beethoven didn't like long 'endings', he liked long codas... and Beethoven's codas aren't ridiculous V-I progressions played over and over again. To me, the snobs who find this funny probably don't really understand or appreciate Beethoven as much as they'd like to think... picking out quotes from the sonatas makes them feel knowledgeable. And take a look at the audience; I think there must have been complimentary wooden shafts sticking up out of all the seats lol
GENIUS ! Wish ... ( 1 week ago by swdiva24)
GENIUS ! Wish there's some entertainers around here like this now, music endustry's been destroyed by MTV; but THIS, this is awesome.
I was lucky enough ... ( 1 week ago by OofusTwillip)
I was lucky enough to see Dudley perform this piece live, on two occasions. It's fiendishly difficult, and a brilliant parody. He actually attended Oxford University (Magdalene College), on a Music scholarship. The sheet music has been published (by Methuen books), in "The Complete Beyond the Fringe". If you're a very skilled pianist, you could try playing it. But for it to really work, you need to play up the pianist's panic, when he realizes he's trapped & can't get out of it.
The "whistling tune ... ( 1 week ago by astanhope)
The "whistling tune" from Bridge over the River Kwai is called the "Colonel Bogey March" written around the time of the First World War. The "Bogey" in Colonel Bogey March refers to the term as used in the game of golf.
Genius. ( 6 days ago by specialedition66)
Genius.
So he liked long ... ( 5 days ago by LiamE69)
So he liked long codas not endings eh?
Please remind us all what a coda is... or get a sense of humour. Or both.
A coda, especially ... ( 5 days ago by jeffamarie)
A coda, especially in Beethoven, can be a piece of music in itself... and I'd rather keep my sense of humor and not force myself to laugh at this crap. lol thanks.
This is one of the ... ( 5 days ago by koncertpianist)
This is one of the most funny cuts I have ever seen. And the funny thing is that Beethoven is like that! Dudley More is simpley a brilliant actor, combining his marvellous comedy talent with a pianistic skill and musicality on very high level. Musical humor at its very best!
A lot of people are ... ( 3 days ago by lukessummer)
A lot of people are taking this clip very seriously, I just see a very talented man entertaining us!...( He should have used Tierce de picardie at the end, WELL it worked for Classical Gas!!!!)
pure genius ( 3 days ago by SuperCelticFC)
pure genius
Wow, you need to go ... ( 2 days ago by nastasie)
Wow, you need to go get yourself a sense of humour, stat.
Sorry, do you mean ... ( 2 days ago by jeffamarie)
Sorry, do you mean a general sense of humor, or your sophisticated, esoteric sense of humor?
You're right. One ... ( 2 days ago by nastasie)
You're right. One needs an extremely sophisticated, esoteric, highbrow sense of humour in order to understand such a *subtle* parody of such an *obscure* composer like Beethoven.
Excuse me, but the ... ( 2 days ago by jeffamarie)
Excuse me, but the humor isn't in the parody of Beethoven. The humor is in the theme that's used, which is only laughable for those who A. Can recognize and discredit it as 'some obscure march', and B. Think they know what 'art' is and isn't for everybody. Very few people would assume as much.
Proof: he plays the ... ( 2 days ago by jeffamarie)
Proof: he plays the first few notes and everybody laughs... how the hell would they know he's doing Beethoven? All they know is that he's playing an 'illegitimate theme' in the style of 'legitimate' music.
I don't know what ... ( 1 day ago by nastasie)
I don't know what kind of insecurity is making you think that those who find humour in this parody fancy themselves some kind of intellectual elite because they get the joke. *shrug*
I'm insecure about ... ( 19 hours ago by jeffamarie)
I'm insecure about a lot of things, but that doesn't mean I can't criticize other people lol
In one of his last ... ( 4 hours ago by rathraven1313)
In one of his last interviews, he attemptted he missed playing the piano because of his disease.



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