Beethoven’s 5 Secrets
by wagnerv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ_fkw5j-t0
Please take a few minutes and watch this video – you won’t regret it! It was done by “The Piano Guys,” who, if you don’t know, do some pretty incredible music. (Check them out on Youtube if you have a chance!)
The piece in this video is a fantastic hybrid of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony and One Republic’s “Secrets” (hence the name “Beethoven’s 5 Secrets” – nice, huh?). They incorporated 5 different melodies from the four movements of Beethoven’s 5th into “Secrets.” If you know the music, you can easily recognize the mixed in melodies, but they actually blend very nicely. Apparently the director of a youth orchestra came to the Piano Guys with the idea to mix the classic and contemporary pieces and this was their final product. Take a closer look at the musicians in the orchestra. You’d never know from the sound, but they are all between 13 and 18 years old. It’s incredible.
I think listening to this piece will help us have a greater appreciation for the “classical” orchestra music we hear in class. I know that orchestra’s make great music and I can hear the beauty in the sound, but it’s often hard (at least for me) to really connect with the piece. This video is different because it combines the dramatic sound of the orchestra with a contemporary song that I’m familiar with. I can really FEEL the power and beauty in this piece – It’s more moving because it is music I know: music from my generation.
Perhaps listening to this piece will change the way you feel about the orchestras we hear in class. It certainly adjusted my perspective. Listening to this gives me a better understanding of how audiences of the past may have felt when listening to Beethoven’s symphonies because for them, Beethoven was a contemporary composer. It’s not hard to see how music like this became so popular.
The Thousand-Year Ears 
I absolutely LOVE The Piano Guys! I love the fluidity and mixture of music in this piece. Instead of a “mash-up,” it truly feels like one melody and one song. I wonder how this kind of “hybrid” music will evolve over time, and if similar pieces of music will exist 20 or 30 years into the future. It’ll be interesting to see how music and sound innovators play with melodies and tunes and genres of music to produce new and exciting novelties within the world of music.
I’m also a fan of the Piano Guys! I find that they make classical music extremely accessible to those who aren’t necessarily experts in that field. I find it extremely fascinating that they both renovate older pieces and “classic-ify” newer pieces. In that way, they make the music of composers like Beethoven seem a lot closer to our modern day music. It’s interesting to me that the same instruments can be used to represent a piece from 200 years ago and also a hip-hop song from within the decade.
Wow thank you so much for introducing me to the Piano Guys. This Mash up is beautiful. You are right that this piece made me appreciate orchestra more. It was serene and complex at once. The multiple instruments enhanced the melody of the song.
This was fascinating. Lately, I’ve been considering music as a slow evolution from older forms of music. This piece clearly demonstrates that by incorporating a symphony from two centuries ago. I think people will continue searching deeper into music history to find inspiration.
That was quite a performance; it is difficult to believe the musicians are between the ages of 13 and 18. It was interesting listening to the combination of contemporary and classical (Beethoven and OneRepublic respectively). Thanks for sharing the Piano Guys- I will definitely keep an eye out for them from this point forward.
This was a really neat video. I thought that the Piano Guys incorporated the two types of music really well. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t notice the slightest of transitions as the orchestra moved from OneRepublic to Beethoven. I think I might just go check out more of the Piano Guys’ videos after viewing this one. Thanks!
I am sure I had heard this particular work of the orchestra and Piano Guys at least a dozen times because I have had this video on one of my Youtube playlists and because my high school physics teacher who loves contemporary music also had this work on his music playlist for our class time. Listening to this once more might have been just another click for replay but your post definitely helped me look at it with a different perspective. It reminded me once more that music is timeless.
Wow! thanks for introducing such a wonderful this piece. I did not know that classical music can be meshed with such an upbeat song. I totally agree that with these kinds of meshes, people can relate to them more and start appreciating them more. Having some familiarity with the kind of music you’re listening to will definitely help to understand and relate to the piece better.
This is a great video and it does a nice job blending these two musical works together. I never really considered the possibility of applying instruments of an orchestra to a more contemporary song and this mix gives a really nice sound. This blend of two entirely different types of music seems to fit extremely well. It is a different side of the orchestra and I think it is amazing how these two works seem to complement each other. This is a great new look at the type of music we have been listening to in class.
I’m always very impressed when people are able to combine several songs together in a way that compliments each of them individually. It definitely takes someone with a good ear for what melodies will blend and go together nicely.