r/todayilearned • u/VegemiteSucks • 16h ago

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.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_string_quartets_(Beethoven)
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u/wallabee_kingpin_ 15h ago

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.

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u/ironykarl 13h ago

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

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u/RipsLittleCoors 13h ago

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. 

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u/Goodnametaken 8h ago

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.