Talk:Für Elise

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Contents

[edit] Difficulty

I erased a paragraph that claimed that the piece is considered technically difficult "even by advanced pianists," which is incorrect. Within the scope of the canonized repertoire, it is very technically easy (it is one of Beethoven's easiest bagatelles, which as a group, are considered some of the easiest things he wrote). It often is considered musically difficult because it is so overplayed that a performance needs something very special to stand out to most listeners. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.39.88.158 (talk) 05:16, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Popularity

The article doesn't mention the extreme popularity of the work. It would be very interesting if someone could research how and/or when it became so popular. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.39.88.158 (talk) 05:18, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Sampled

How about a section for songs in which it's used? I know it's used in a Nas song, "I Can" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.38.54.19 (talk) 22:12, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Garbage truck music

In some parts of Taiwan the tune is played by garbage trucks to notify people to bring their rubbish to be picked up.

This isn't vandalism. I've found it to be absolutely true. (This edit) :) — Stevey7788 (talk) 05:02, 6 August 2005 (UTC)

Garbage trucks? Coincidence? They also play this song in Bogota, Colombia. It replaced the theme from Love Story. Very nice choice but nobody wants to hear loud music at 5 in the morning! Femebo --aol

[edit] Ancillary

Why is one of the most famous pieces of music in history not given any fundamental, easy to understand musical analysis, but more focused on a discussion of the title? The primary subject matter is not linguistic. I advise anyone intent on making future edits to the page to please write about the music firstly and foremostly. --Knucmo2 13:36, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Malfatti

The medical doctor Johann Malfatti von Monteregio (1775-1859) wasn't Therese Malfatti's father. He was her father's cousin.--131.130.135.193 16:33, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

We need a link to some family history or an online reference to deter misunderstandings about the name. For instance, an anonymous user changed every instance of Therese to Elisa in this edit. Nfette (talk) 02:29, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Page title

Isn't it the standard policy on here to name a piece's page as the proper name of the piece and create redirects to it for popular names/nicknames? For example, a search for Revolutionary Etude redirects to Etude op. 10 no. 12, which mentions the "Revolutionary" nickname in the first sentence. So shouldn't this page be called "Bagatelle in A minor" or "Bagatelle in A minor (Beethoven)", including the opus number if it has one? The nickname "Für Elise" could be mentioned in the first sentence or paragraph. Lbark 17:14, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

From the stomache, I'd say no. The case is different, because "Etude op. 10 no. 12" applies to a specific piece, but "Bagatelle in A minor" might mean anything, maybe even several Am-Bagatelles by Beethoven. In this case, "Für Elise" is a specific as it goes. Sadly. — Mütze 01:27, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Block quote

[edit] I'm so proud of myself

I learned how to play it on my piano, and I'm 12!

Welcome to the crowd. Please take the line on the left and only one cross each. — Mütze 22:56, 8 October 2006 (UTC)
Way to goVeggieburgerfish 20:50, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
Good job, although please try not to fill Wikipedia with your personal acheivements, even though it is somewhat relevant :). 203.87.8.127 10:22, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ice cream vans playing fur elise

I added this to the introduction, since it mentioned garbage and gas trucks. While I do not have a citation, I know this for a fact, as in Israel, the ice cream van used to play the melody; It was the known sign that the ice cream van is near.

[edit] Spelling of Elise Musically

The notion that the piece starts off with the notes E - E♭ (flat)- E, transferring into ESE, thus spelling part of Elise should be looked into. It is stated that the Flat symbol (♭) represents the German S set symbol(β). First off the symbols are not the same, and the German S set symbol (β) actually is equivalent to a double S (ss) in both English and German. For these reasons, I would challenge the authenticity of this claim.

Where have you seen the connection between ♭ and β? I have never heard about that – as you say, they are very different symbols. But I don't really see the relevance of that fact here. E♭ is pronounced "E flat" in English but "Es" in German (just like it's pronounced "Ess" in Swedish etc). That's what makes it interesting, albeit a bit far-fetched probably. -- Jao 02:10, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cleanup

Regardless (above comments), it's all original research and must be left out until someone can cite something. Also, citations must be made for the definitive statements throughout, such as "The most reasonable theory" and "There is an apocryphal story". ALTON .ıl 06:42, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Fur Elyse"

There should also be redirects from "Fur Elyse" and "Für Elyse," as the title is sometimes spelled.

  • Done Daniel 15:55, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Singing Harmonics

I doubt I'm using the proper term. But I'm referring to the phenomenon of hearing a woman singing when this piece is played on a decently tuned piano. Something lacking when it played using other instruments or electronically synthesized. What information is available on this effect?--Zerothis 06:36, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

It's covered rudimentally on Harmonic, though not the specific "singing tone" to which you refer. You can also find information at overtone. Pay particular attention to the psychoacoustic use in barbershop quartets.
As for the lack of overtone on synth instruments: even modern electronics have a limit to the number of harmonic overtones that can be played. And if the tones aren't just right, the "singing sensation" is lost. I guess this also applies to "other instruments", although the guitar rendition has a similar effect.
-- trlkly 07:23, 19 July 2007 (UTC)


[edit] The Starship Enterprise

Some spoon decided that beethoven married on the enterprise. I reverted Veggieburgerfish 20:50, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fur Elise in Popular Culture

Apparently this information got separated out, and then deleted. [1]. While I concur this information does not belong in the main article, I personally think some of the information is useful so listing here instead. ♫ Cricket02 17:01, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

"Für Elise" (German: "For Elise") is the popular name of the "Bagatelle in A minor", WoO 59, a work for solo piano written by Ludwig van Beethoven in about 1810. The work is widely familiar and has been frequently adapted for use in works of popular culture. This article is a listing of such uses.

For information about the work itself, see the article Für Elise.

Music

  • Nas sampled Für Elise on his 2002 inspirational rap song "I Can."
  • Für Elise was also used as a sample in the song "Same Script, Different Cast" by Whitney Houston and Deborah Cox which appeared on Whitney's Greatest Hits album.
  • It also makes an appearance in John Zorn's arrangement of Ennio Morricone's "The Big Gundown" on the album of the same title.
  • The melody (albeit faster tempo) forms the basis of Eason Chan's song "給愛麗斯", which is a direct translation of Für Elise in Chinese.
  • The melody is used by Heavy Metal band Accept on their track Metal Heart.
  • Pianist Bradley Joseph introduced his arrangement of "Für Elise" on the 2005 album, For the Love of It.
  • The melody is used by Visual kei band MALICE MIZER on their track Baroque, from the EP memoire DX.
  • Tenacious D used the melody for the song Classico off the album "The Pick of Destiny".
  • In 2006, Smooth Jazz artist Gerry Aire released a modified arrangement of it (in 4/4 time) entitled "The Fur Elise Jam".
  • The Uruguayan band El Cuarteto de Nos said in their song "Ya no sé que hacer conmigo" (I don't know what to do with me), "I've already played on the piano Für Elise".
  • Guitar player Eddie Van Halen would sometimes play it during his solos.
  • Dance Dance Revolution Extreme features a song called "Speed Over Beethoven" which features samples and melodies from "Für Elise"
  • John Cale quotes it in "Chinese Takeaway (Hong Kong 1997)" on 1985's Artificial Intelligence.
  • Technical Death Metal band Necrophagist used the main melody of the song well hidden in the complex middle section of their song "The Stillborn One" ( exact time: 02:17) .

Film

  • Für Elise is played both in the trailer for Elephant and is played by Alex Frost's character during the film. He plays most of the piece well but makes a mistake towards the end, causing him much frustration.
  • Für Elise is also played on the movie IT, based on the novel with the same title by Stephen King.
  • In Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure Beethoven is seen playing Fur Elise right as Bill and Ted pick him up to take him in the future for their history exam.
  • In Are You Afraid of the Dark?, episode "Watcher's Woods," Silvy can be heard playing the piece horribly.
  • This melody was played at strategic points during the movie Rosemary's Baby
  • The tune is used as a significant plot device in the film "Grand Tour: Disaster in Time" (1992) with Jeff Daniels and Ariana Richards.
  • In the 1998 film Patch Adams, Larry is playing the song on his piano (at a slower than normal tempo) when Corrine visits him at home.

Television

Misc

  • Played by a pc when CPU fan is failing or has failed. [2] —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alaning (talk • contribs) 23:15, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

Category:Classical music in popular culture

Hello Cricket,
There's an intensive campaign going on now to kill off all the "in popular culture" articles, so you might look around further.
I'm happy to have this stuff on the Talk page. However, I wouldn't want any of them put into the main Fur Elise article, since they don't cite reference sources. The deletors are right on that score.
Lastly, I'm curious - how did you retrieve the article's content after it had been deleted?
Yours truly, Opus33 17:46, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
Hi Opus. I am somewhat aware of the deletion campaign going on, yes. Although I agree this really doesn't belong in the main article, I do find the information useful and thought about starting a list article, but instead thought it couldn't hurt just to put it on the talk page. Even when it gets archived at some point, there would still be some history of it anyway. And I was watching the debate and seeing that deletion was inevitable, I copied the article into Word before it got deleted, which is how I still had the info. Good Day to you! ♫ Cricket02 18:12, 31 July 2007 (UTC)