I do like to hear Classics on piano

revamped

A good rendition indeed but, I fear the old diehard classic aficionados might be giving it a 'tut tut '

Yes, mash-ups of classics really divides musicians.

The original is still there, and will no doubt outlive contemporary variants.

But taking a classic as leitmotif, and re-expressing its themes in a totally different genre, does produce some interesting music. Not only with strictly classic:

Disturbed's 'Sound of Silence' (been on WW previously) and Stranglers 'Walk on By'

Why should anyone wish to deprive us of hearing the creations of these performers?

This is nothing new. Experimentation has been going on for centuries along with creativeness.
Whether the original version or an interpretation stands the test of time is only known by those who can be in the position to state it as a fact.
For example, many songs which the general public know well and many people like are not the original versions. For instance, Blue Suede Shoes was a big hit for Elvis, but was a cover version. House of the Rising Sun is not an original composition of The Animals. Tainted Love was covered by Soft Cell and although this version is still popular it is extremely rare to hear the original version on the radio. Most people who like 'Motown' and similar music will instantly think of Marvin Gaye when the classic 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine' is mentioned, but this is, again, a cover and not the first official release.
The list is very long, yet many people do not know the original versions and the radio stations rarely, if ever, play the original versions.

Playing around with a composition from a century or three ago is on the same level as playing around with science. After all, didn't Gary Brooker admit to coming up with 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' while trying to play a piece of music by Johann Sebastian Bach?

After all! Do we not take things from the past and try to revamp it to offer something which might be considered new?

Ena:

I thought that was magnificent. I have an LP which I bought many years ago called Classical Rock in which well-known classics were performed in a new style and it’s fantastic, giving a new dimension to the original in a more modern twist, but done with respect to the original. Haven’t played it in years now but, having listened to that, I think I’ll dust off my record player.

Ianp:

You are so right about the re-makes of songs/music from our more recent past. Blue Suede Shoes was originally written and recorded by Carl Perkins, but Elvis covered it and got a hit out of it. The Righteous Brothers re-recorded Unchained Melody in the 60s, previously recorded by Al Hibler and two others in the 40s, notably Jimmy Young in the 50s, also, Roy Orbison in the 60s, then Robson and Jerome in the 90s, the most recorded song in the 20th century.

I was brought up on classical music as a young child as my dad adored it but, in the 1950s when R&R became popular, he despised it, which wasn’t surprising, but I grew to accept and respect most forms of, what I call, music, which doesn’t include rap, or drum and base, garage, house, and those other strange recordings that today pass for “music”.

mollie m

I am glad you liked it. Sole reason for posting it is hope that someone will enjoy it.

Have you heard Ethan Ulsan play 'Für Elise' in Ragtime? I have posted it previously on here, but years ago. I will repost if you would like to hear it.

Thanks, Ena. I'd love to hear it, although not too sure about Ragtime, but I'm willing to have a listen.

My dad once bought my mum a musical jewellery box that played Beethoven's Fur Elise, and I played with that box just to listen to the music.

Girl with the Flacksen hair by Debussey cant spell but music is wonderful

Für Elise' in Ragtime

My front doorbell plays Für Elise.

I remember when I decided to learn piano, I told a friend, who said, "You'll be playing Für Elise then".

I shrugged. Nothing wrong with Für Elise, but I could see no reason why I would play that rather than any other piece.

How little did I know!

Soon was to learn what a rite of passage Für Elise was for the beginning pianist.

Not too difficult to play, but really shows up your playing faults. There was incredible competition amongst us to be first to play it to our tutor's satisfaction. That really meant practicing the piece against the metronome, an achievement in itself when you have not previously experienced it.

My sons first piano recital was Going home he was 9 and he nailed it

Ena, thanks for putting that link on. I'm afraid it's not really to my taste though, but I've never been a fan of ragtime or jazz.

Note to self: Must learn how to do a u umlaut!

You can get the character map (google for how to for your operating system/device) for all foreign symbols, but many will no longer work on WW since it had the re-write, so easiest to just google the word without the umlaut, and it will show it with, which you can easily copy and paste back.

It is almost as quick as using the character map.

mollie, I believe that many musicians play around with music for various reasons: some play around with pieces of music just for fun, some for inspiration due to having difficulty to come up with new ideas, some to feel if they can do something with the song, some to pick up techniques.
Bands tend to play other people's songs to try and master that particular style and rhythm. These bands often choose a style which they like and which is the style they wish to adopt.

The analysis of this area is deep and wide.

With regard to Beethoven's 'Für Elise', it is possibly given to a music student/pupil as a progression from 4/4 time scale - introduction of a new (for the student/pupil) time scale - and this is why some music students/pupils may first face difficulty. It is considered that the 4/4 beat is a natural rhythm to many cultures and it has certainly been used often in beat music and rock music. The sudden introduction of a different time scale (3/8) may be difficult to immediately adjust to.
The same can be said of the time scale (3/4) which Johann Strauss (Strauß) used for his composition 'An der schönen, blauen Donau' (The Blue Danube) and which is another piece of music commonly given to students/pupils wishing to learn the piano.

Are these pieces of music difficult to play? A pianist only needs to adjust to the different time scale and maintain that time scale (rhythm/beat et al) to feel both comfortable and at ease with the piece of music.

When first playing Für Elise, one's counting tends to lose accuracy because of the considerable variation in cognitive demand: i.e. beginners tend to play it unevenly.

You will find whole websites just dedicated to playing the piece evenly.

ABRSM piano examination syllabus rates the whole work as grade 5, and the well known portion as early grade 3.

AT this point, a learner will have had plenty of exposure to all the common time signatures.

I have never heard of anyone experiencing difficulty moving from common time, but I guess if you are not receiving any tutoring, or pursuing recognised learning pathways, if depending on nothing more than your own familiarity with tunes, perhaps it is something you experience.

"When first playing Für Elise, one's counting tends to lose accuracy because of the considerable variation in cognitive demand: i.e. beginners tend to play it unevenly."
Is this not true of so many actions?
"...considerable variation in cognitive demand:" These words could be applied to many actions which are taken for granted and which are considered simple actions once a person has reached a certain level of achievement. Therefore, cognitive demand is not considered nor the considerable variation as the action is no longer considered to be one which is so demanding to the person. So, for the achievers, 'walking' is a simple action which does not need much thought - yet, this is not true!
ena, I stated that the analysis of this area (music) is deep and wide. When I typed my words, I was only touching the surface and chose not to go into detail. When I spoke of a new introduction to a particular time scale, I was referring to a piece of music of equal length to previously played pieces of music. Of course, stages are applied when learning to play an instrument, whether these stages are guided by a tutor or oneself.
To really go into the depths of this topic; to offer each opinion and discuss each opinion would possibly take a time period of considerable length. In other words, far too long.

"You will find whole websites just dedicated to playing the piece evenly."

You will find whole websites just dedicated to hammering a nail in to a piece of wood. Same can be said about applying make-up and many other actions.

Once upon a time, the library was a source of information. Today, it just comes down to this: Google it!
We are certainly living in different times and whether they are happier times or not is each individual's opinion.

Carry on believing what you want to, Ian. It's no skin off my nose!

Such a shame to see such an aggressive response filled with words to dismiss a member's post to this topic.
I posted to add a different perspective and to offer a direction which could be taken, which is a common practice of a percentage of 'Professors' and 'Doctors' at university.
I never stated that I believe any of the two perspectives.

What I do believe is that we are all different and with different strengths and levels of weakness.
One person finds learning a particular skill relatively easy while another person finds that particular skill extremely difficult to learn; sometimes, impossible to learn.

I post link to some music, hoping that another listener will enjoy.

I ignore your negativity in follow up post.

I reply to another poster with a personal anecdote.

Again you reply contradicting my experience.

I offer a simple explanation. The neuro-psychology of what is going on is well documented.

Again, you argue the toss, and bring in aspects irrelevant to what I had stated.

And you think I'm being aggressive!

I have no wish to spend my online time in petty argument. I will not reply to any further comment you might post.