Für Elise, WoO 59 – L. van Beethoven | Harpsichord
Harpsichord transmutation of Für Elise, WoO 59 by Ludwig van Beethoven.
Für Elise is one of Beethoven’s most widely recognized piano works, composed around 1810 and published posthumously. Despite its apparent simplicity, the piece is built on sharp contrasts of register, articulation, and recurring gesture, giving it a distinctive character within Beethoven’s keyboard output.
Presented here on the harpsichord, the work is approached as a keyboard piece rather than a pianistic object, allowing its structure and recurring motifs to unfold through articulation and clarity instead of sustaining resonance.
Bruno Martins is a harpsichordist and contemporary musician based in Paris.
Transmutation is Bruno Martins’s practice of changing a work’s musical body through the harpsichord, not simply transferring its notes.
Further essays and notes on Transmutation:
➫ https://brunomartinsart.substack.com
Film by Kaoutar El Hammami.
Filming, editing and color grading by Kaoutar El Hammami.
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