# Your opinion about this piece (Mertz's Elegie)?



## Philip

As a guitarist, I think it's a masterpiece. Now I'd like to get your perspective, preferably from a non-guitarist's point of view, on Élégie by J. K. Mertz (1806-1856):






Beautiful? Typical romantic? Well developed? Too long? Engaging? Boring?


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## HerlockSholmes

Premise 1: I only like fugues.
Premise 2: This is not a fugue.
Conclusion: This I do not like.


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## Philip

HerlockSholmes said:


> Premise 1: I only like fugues.
> Premise 2: This is not a fugue.
> Conclusion: This I do not like.


i used to be like you, my first crush was BWV 1000, for lute, which is also the fuga movement of the BWV 1001 violin sonata, and BWV 539 for organ as part of a prelude and fugue.


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## Praeludium

(sorry I'm just a guitarist  I'd like to hear the point of view of a non-guitarist too.)

I worked on it last year (it was definitely not anywhere near concert-ready when I finished it haha I just had cut my nails anyway).
Well, I don't know what to think about this Elegy and Mertz's music.
The melodies of his Elegy are good. He also is able to make the guitar sound very well with a quite unusual virtuosity (definitely not the same as Giuliani's or whoever).

Now, I think this is a very disappointing work. Mainly because there is no counterpoint, no great harmonies, the form is very simple, there is no construction, the unity of the work is very weak.
Its melodies are so promising, and there are so many parts which sound so well on the guitar. But that's pretty much everything to my ears.
For me it sounds nice and shallow. I would call it an "Elegie de salon" haha. And it works for nearly all the works of Mertz. Nice music but it doesn't go further. I'm in awe of profound, dense, immortal and deep music. That's why I want to play mainly Takemitsu and Ohana this year ! (or try to..)


If I had one favourite, it'd be this one 





Now I'd love to know what you love about this music. Could you explain it to me ?

Sorry if I seem rude, I'm quite clumsy with English language.


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## Guest

Try listening to this: a jazz pianist playing Bach. 

Sorry, I put the wrong link in here - so forget it!!


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## tdc

I've listened to some Mertz, as I bought a Gabriel Bianco recording with some of his interpretations of them....but they haven't really clicked with me yet. That is not to say he is bad...Koshkin is another great guitar composer, but very little of his music 'clicks' with me either.

As far as newer composers, lately I quite like this piece:


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## tdc

tdc said:


> The above piece for me seemed a little too old-fashioned for my tastes maybe? Maybe that is not the right word for it... it didn't seem that adventurous and reminded me of something by Fernando Sor.


I am embarrassed to confess, I had Mertz confused with another more contemporary guitar composer...that is why I withdrew this inaccurate quote out of my above post. Mertz's music does not sound old fashioned for its time. (For the record I do like Sor's pieces, I just inaccurately assumed Mertz was writing in outdated styles).

edit - On further listening the Mertz piece to my ears still sounds too much like Sor though somehow...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Kaspar_Mertz


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## Head_case

Philip said:


> As a guitarist, I think it's a masterpiece. Now I'd like to get your perspective, preferably from a non-guitarist's point of view, on Élégie by J. K. Mertz (1806-1856):
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Beautiful? Typical romantic? Well developed? Too long? Engaging? Boring?


Wow.

I'm not a guitarist at all, but I just loved that piece.

It exploits the range of the guitar and is seamlessly written from start to finish. With guitar music I find that it is mostly painful to listen to on a computer - the resonances and subtlety of the guitar are easily lost especially if you don't like/play guitar like me.

It does sound very romantic - wistful, yearning and pining, with a climax in the middle of the piece. Mostly, listening to it ... expressed what cannot be said in words for me. Suffice to say, that's why I love it.


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## vuong duc binh

Tôi không nghĩ mình đáng là một guitarist dù tôi sử dụng nhạc cụ này hầu như suốt cả đời. Tuy nhiên tôi thích tác phẩm này của Mertz. Bỏ qua những định kiến về cấu trúc của tác phẩm cũng như những vấn đề khác về hòa âm, tác phẩm này mang lại cho tôi một cảm xúc sâu lắng về những bi kịch có tính cách cá nhân trộn lẫn trong bi kịch xã hội cuộc sống. Nó ở đâu đó giữa (Adelita+Lagrima) của Tarrega và giao hưởng bi thống của Beethoven.
Xin lỗi khi tôi viết comment bằng tiếng Việt vì tôi không đủ từ vựng tiếng Anh. Phần dịch dưới đây là của Google. 

(I don't think I'm worthy of being a guitarist even though I've been using this instrument most of my life. However I like this work by Mertz. Ignoring the structural prejudices of the work as well as other issues of harmony, this work gives me a deep feeling about the personal tragedies mixed in the social tragedy of life. It is somewhere between Tarrega's (Adelita+Lagrima) and Beethoven's Pathetic Symphony.
Sorry when I write a comment in Vietnamese because I don't have enough English vocabulary. The translation below is from Google.)


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## Merl

It's a pleasant enough piece but it's not really developed enough. I'm a (poor) guitarist and enjoy plenty of guitar music but this didn't totally float my boat (even if it was Ok). 🎸


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## Viajero

Well, Philip,
It sounds like you're only attracting guitarists to your post! A masterpiece, indeed. For me, the Romantic Era and its composers/music are the perfect pairings for our beautiful instrument(Sorry, Bach fans). For me, music is visceral . . . not intellectual. It has to move me and this work by Mertz certainly fills the bill. I've only heard Carlos once before(GSI?) and he is a remarkable musician. Five stars for Mertz. Five stars for Carlos. 
Viajero


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