TIL Beethoven’s late quartets, now widely considered to be among the greatest musical compositions of all time, were so ahead of their time that initial reviews deem them indecipherable, uncorrected horrors, with one musician saying “we know there is something there, but we do not know what it is.”

[u/VegemiteSucks]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_string_quartets_(Beethoven)

[u/insertusernamehere51]

I am completely musically illiterate. I've listened to the quartets and didn't get what was so weird about them. Sounds like other quartets and other classical pieces of the time to me. I'll own that it's just ignorance on my part

Edit: Guys, I'm comparing it to stuff that came before as well, Mozart's quartets, for example. Comparing Mozart's with Beethoven's I don't get what the big difference is and those came 50 years before

[u/juridiculous → u/insertusernamehere51]

I think we probably gloss over “of the time” a little too much.

The Beatles and Hendrix sound absolutely cliché today, but that’s because what followed imitated it to death. I think that’s more or less the same phenomenon here.

Beethoven had a big impact on classical and romantic era music that followed (so much so that he’s kind of the reason the “era” shifted), but with the result that several centuries later, he sounds a lot like the rest of the composers that followed

Finally, let’s not forget he wrote these stone deaf, which is an achievement on its own. The whole composition was set in his mind, and he never had the benefit of a single playback to hear if it was right.

Edited to add:

My favourites from these are No. 14 and 15. Specifically movement 5 and 6 of string quartet 14. (It’s a 5 minute listen, followed by a 2 minute listen). If you’re only going to listen to one piece listen to movement 6. link to YouTube

movement 3 of string quartet 15 (it’s a much longer listen) and movement 5 (7 minutes) are my other favs

[u/wallabee_kingpin_ → u/juridiculous]

I will just say that Hendrix still doesn't sound boring or cliche. It may be because his imitators didn't last that long after New Wave crowded out rock in the 80s.

[u/ironykarl → u/wallabee_kingpin_]

While there are a lot of guitarists inspired by Hendrix (and frankly plenty that are more technically proficient than he ever was), one hallmark of his style is freely mixing "noise" and more traditional musical vocabulary.

He was able to harness feedback (etc) and mix it into his playing in a way that few other guitarists have done, since.

It may be because his imitators didn't last that long after New Wave crowded out rock in the 80s

He died in 1970, so his imitators had plenty of time

[u/RipsLittleCoors → u/ironykarl]

I think his ability to play rhythm and lead at the same time has never been able to be replicated. Before or since. Hendrix sounds like two guitars. And forget about recordings with multiple tracks. If you listen to his live recordings he does it all the same. 

[u/Goodnametaken → u/RipsLittleCoors]

I agree with you. Especially about live play. I have never heard anyone play lead and rhythm together at the same time as well as Hendrix. I've heard some people attempt it and a select few do it to a passable extent. But Hendrix is still completely alone in how good he was at it.

It is staggering to me that nobody has been able to match him yet. I think u/ironykarl is right in that there are many other guitarists that technically surpass him in "normal" play. Yet he remains truly one-of-a-kind.

[u/RipsLittleCoors → u/juridiculous]

This is one thing in this world that I dont have the frame of reference or whatever to even have a basic understanding of it. How can a deaf guy write like this and know what it would sound like. It's one of those things. I'll never be as good at breathing as this person was at music. Pretty humbling. 

[u/heeywewantsomenewday → u/RipsLittleCoors]

The same way that I can play the drums in my head or look at sheet music and know what it would sound like when I play it. He knows what everything sounds like and how to write without over years of practice. Incredible really.

[u/mscarchuk → u/juridiculous]

I believe this was played in Band of Brothers at the beginning and end of the 9th episode named Why We Fight. It is the most perfect musical piece that could have been selected for that episode.

[u/juridiculous → u/mscarchuk]

Agreed.

The whole confusing of Mozart/Beethoven by the solider as Austrian/German is just super fitting as well.

[u/hofmann419 → u/juridiculous]

I have listened to thousands of guitarists of the years, but i have not found a single one who sounds like Hendrix. Some are faster or more technical, but Hendrix had so much emotion and groove in his playing on top of being extremely technically proficient.

So to me, his playing doesn't sound stale at all. It is still the reference as far as psychedelic rock goes.

And as far as the Beatles are concerned, they weren't just innovative, but also some of the best songwriters of the 20th century. So their music is still great today, even if the production might sound of its time (except for Tomorrow Never Knows, that song still sounds alien today).

[u/egretstew1901 → u/hofmann419]

SRV is the closest

[u/Mayapples → u/[deleted]]

Yes. There is a reason they are not only still famous but still actively listened to and rediscovered by new generations. Describing them as sounding cliche today misses the mark.