I first started playing the violin 10 years ago. Back then, I thought I'd never be able to play this piece. 10 years later, I can now confidently say, I was right

Hilary: Where's the second violinist? - he called in sick today Hilary: Fine. I'll do it my self

I don't think you can fully understand how truly complex this piece is until you see it written on paper and you attempt to play even the first line xD

This is what happens when your second violin did not turn up for performance.

The cameraman must be in love with Hahn. He did not even show the other violinists.

Ernst didn't have friends so he had to play the whole thing by himself.

I've played violin for over 20 years and can confidently say anyone describing Hahn's playing as mechanical has been ingesting too much of the contemporary 'nutra-sweet' violinistic tendencies many players employ to conceal other shortcomings. She's one of the finest living players, period.

She makes it look effortless

Artificial harmonics while still playing normal notes? LH pizz while still bowing? Perfect double octaves? Notes that go farther than a tenth? Non adjacent trills while holding a note? Having 3 voices at a time? All I have to say is... da faq

Very well said. Hahn is often criticized for being "too perfect" or "unemotional" which of course just ridiculous. Her passion is in her perfection and dedication to transmitting the heart and mind of the composer to the listener.

The mad thing is she’s markedly better than this again right now. Truly one of the all time greats...and she can play while hula hooping. #linglingconfirmed

polyphony on a violin is so surreal

? and now please tell us the truth: where is the second violinist hiding ...

My favourite part is when it finish and you can press the replay button, and do it all day long.

When the rest of your quartet doesn't show up

Hilary Hahn should do an updated version of this piece now because I’m sure it would sound even better than this masterpiece

What’s amazing is that on top of the technical difficulties associated with this piece, she is able to perfectly express, the musical story. The boy sounds desperate, the father deep and concerned, the Erlkonig sweet and enticing... this is what makes Hilary truly great.

Amazing how she can pluck and bow at the same time.

What you have to understand about Hahn is that she delivers the composer's work. She steps aside from her ego and lets the music be heard. She does so with an exquisite sound, almost perfect tuning and nothing forced. She does not need anything sensational to prove what she is, and in doing so actually becomes even more sensational. The drama is in the music, not in the narcissism of the player. She must be every composer's dream.

"-I know, I'll compose a pice for four violins -Mr. Schubert, we have only one violinist -Well... make him play the four violins at the same time" That's how it happened haha.

I can actually hear the conversation, the talking, the rushing, the panic in their voices, the screaming and the griefing. BRAVO

I have scoured every source available to me for an Erlkonig performance as good as this, but nothing even touches a candle to Hilary here. It's actually insane how she maintains a steady rhythm, dynamics, and complete control over the melody all while playing these crazy complex chords. I only wish she would record this and release it properly!

who's here after watching her do it reversed

Did anyone else come here from TwoSetViolin? Just me??

Who's coming here after the recent twoset and like 🤯

Why the hell are there 1000 thumbs down?? bunch of ignorant people who have no idea how hard this piece truly is...

WOW. I studied this piece for a music history exam a couple years back and am only now hearing it on solo violin. Hillary Hahn is simply amazing

I almost forgot to listen to this today

It is impossible! what she did is unbelievable! This piece is difficult in piano, ... In Violin, Wow! Hilary! You are great!

I played this song. Right after the first measure, I failed miserably.

After listening to five different interpretations of this particular piece on spotify, I have to say this is the best one I have ever heard. The other interpretations sounded like violinists playing a difficult piece of music, but the result sounded very mechanic. Hilary makes it sound just like a beautiful piece of music, with the difficulty hidden underneath the music.

Concert organiser: I'm sorry Hillary. The other members of the string quartet can't fly out to the concert hall because of the covid travel restrictions. Hillary: I got this. Who needs them.

She's sooo talented..The human brain is such an amazing machine!

I appreciate how she demonstrates the conversation by moving to one side to ask and then the other side to reply

She is a Jedi for sure

It seemed like the piece was not meant for the Violin but when she was playing it she changed the fact that it was not meant for the violin. Music is Freedom. Music is a Journey. She was one with the music. I was minblowned by the fact that she was amazing. Every measure of the piece seemed easy when she played it!

How does she keep the flow that's incredible. All the other performances I've seen struggle to keep the same tempo going 👏 bravo I'm also glad she plays it a little slower than other performances, definitely sounds better

It sounds like a fucking entire orchestra of violins!😂

is she playing this alone ??? wow ... i hear like 2 violins !!!

she makes one of the physically hardest pieces ever written look so easy.

This piece is crazzzyyyy the first time I listened to it, I thought there were two violins!! I love Hilary❤❤❤

When you want to play a duet, but you don't have friends

Who else is here from TwoSet to hear what it sounds like

Jealousy looks for a single flaw. The joy of man hears none.

She’s playing the main melody and the accompaniment all at once. I swear to god, this woman is gold. This piece is typically vocal plus piano accompaniment. She played the whole thing herself . Damn good.

I DEEPLY appreciate the insight about the piece!!! I took the liberty upon myself to research the piece further and I can understand the piece sso much better, and THAT'S WHAT MUSIC'S ABOUT!! So thank you SSOO MUCH!!

I keep coming back to this recording of der erlkonig all the time it's just the best

ling ling could do it with right and left hand reversed

Violin is not monophonic

Try it with violin and bow switched

Hilary Hahn is legend of playing the violin ,this is the best recording i have ever heard of erlkonig.

I can't even find a C note on a piano...I can't comprehend how anyone can play this on only one violin.

I really appreciate the notes you have added in the video, to make it easier for us music noobs. The piece is inspired by Goethe's poem, here is the text: Who rides, so late, through night and wind? It is the father with his child. He has the boy well in his arm He holds him safely, he keeps him warm. "My son, why do you hide your face in fear?" "Father, do you not see the Elf-king? The Elf-king with crown and cape?" "My son, it's a streak of fog." "You dear child, come, go with me! (Very) beautiful games I play with you; Many colorful flowers are on the beach, My mother has many a golden robe." "My father, my father, and do you not hear What the Elf-king quietly promises me?" "Be calm, stay calm, my child; Through dry leaves the wind is sighing." "Do you, fine boy, want to go with me? My daughters shall wait on you finely; My daughters lead the nightly dance, And rock and dance and sing to bring you in." "My father, my father, and don't you see there The Elf-king's daughters in the gloomy place?" "My son, my son, I see it clearly: There shimmer the old willows so grey." "I love you, your beautiful form entices me; And if you're not willing, then I will use force." "My father, my father, he's touching me now! The Elf-king has done me harm!" It horrifies the father; he swiftly rides on, He holds the moaning child in his arms, Reaches the farm with great difficulty; In his arms, the child was dead.

I come back to this video every once in a while. Just as incredible as the first time, truly the best recording of this piece in my opinion.

all music, no show, no theatrics. love it. this remains my favourite interpretation of this insane piece. would i love to hear an updated version. the comments here saying shes playing it even better these days are killing me!

this is hands down the best interpretation of this piece. every note is soo clear and the part with two lines and harmonics you can hear a clear separation. like it amazes me that she does that so well omg

Hilary, I always appreciate how much care you take to articulate difficult pieces/passages. The composers' intent or musicality can so easily get lost, but by staying in control you're able to tell a difficult story well. Much appreciated.

I see nothing robotic. I see concentration on the important voice/technique of the moment, which is always changing, and ECONOMY. She has a baseline and stays to it.

Thanks so much for not only posting this, but adding the comments -- I really appreciate that.

An explanation of how each of the voices relates to the 3 characters of the poem and when they speak with timestamps: I wrote this as a response to another comment but thought others would want to see. It opens by setting the atmosphere At 0:20 is the first conversation between the father and son, the son is the squealing highs. 1:20 is the Erlkonig explaining his offerings of games, flowers, and robes. 2:02 "My father, my father, do you not hear what the Erlkonig promises me?..." At 2:14 it's easy to tell when the voice changes from the son to the father. 2:30 The Erlkonig returns to offer the son his daughters, dancing, etc. 2:49 - 3:04 "My father, my father, and don't you see there The Elf-king's daughters in the gloomy place?" Father replies at 3:04 3:24 Erlkonig explains his love for the son, and he wishes to take him by force 3:49 "My father, my father, he's touching me now! The Elf-king has done me harm!" The rest I'm not sure, but I assume its the father mourning over his son. 4:26 is the last time we hear the son's "voice" but it could be the father squealing I guess. If you're still lost it helps to listen to Schubert's original w voice.

ooohhhh she plays it flawlessly!! I literally love her so much. Saying that she is my favorite violinist is a bit of an under statement. If I had to listen to only one violinist for the rest of my life there would be absolutely no hesitation in choosing Hilary Hahn.

i just tried to add it to my watch later then realized it was already on there cause i've watched it so many times lol

Beautiful job! You maintained the momentum which is awesome! I love how you brought out the melodic lines amidst all of the constant repeated triplets! Also the varied touches and dynamics really captured the essence of each voice. I look forward to hearing more of your videos! Warmest wishes for your continued success, Diane

I really don't understand where comments about a lack of emotion comes. Hahn is hands down the only living person I've seen who can play this piece with emotion. Everyone else just plays it dry as a desert, presumably because of the piece's complexity.

Thank you Brett and Eddy ❤️

The 99 dislikes were from the Viola King's court.

Hilary is so cool. This is my comfort piece when i want to get rid of myself and not be here anymore, something i sometimes watch first before anything else 😢😊💖

The art of playing hard pieces is making them look playable!

Who the hell even think about disliking this???

came from twoset’s video with hillary :)

Every time I listen to this I am again amazed at the complexity of the piece and at Hillary's skill. It's just truely amazing!

Just amazing. I can’t put words.

Amazing performance, I can listen to it till morning without getting bored! By the way, it is not fair to say that violin is a monophonic instrument. It is true that violin is not as polyphonic as, say, a classical guitar, however, it is still not monophonic.

Eddy and Brett's senpai.

I've watched this performance on youtube dozens of times and it's always moved me. I didn't know the story behind it, though. Thanks for providing this with annotations.

It has been 15 years since recorded this yet I couldn't find any better version. Hilary Hanh is just too powerful...

Here after TwoSetViolin!!! She is surely from the Order of Ling Ling!!! 😍

Hello! I'be come for my harsh dose of reality XD In all seriousness, one of my favorite things about this is how both the composer and performer not only create something impressive technically, but also create drama by using different timbres associated with the characters and emotional context. I love the harmonics voicing the "Erlkonig" himself!

By far the best performance of this very difficult work that I've heard. Thanks for sharing.

thanks universe for see this concert on live, Hilary play it !!

played so beautifully all the different characters came out brilliantly and the story is portrayed crystal clear. Erkling got to the boy afterall

This is a good duet between Hilary and Ling Ling

Thank you Hilary for such a wonderful performance ❤

No one: Ernst: I'm going to write a piece that no one will ever be able to sight read.

This is just amazing! This is what talent looks like 😩👏🏼

Such an astonishingly difficult piece. I play violin to grade VIII standard but could never play this. To play artificial harmonics with another polyphonic part in normal notes is almost impossible. There are artificial harmonics with the little finger a perfect fifth away too which sound an octave and a fifth higher than the first finger and are extraordinarily difficult to stretch and sound.

This is incredible musicality in her playing. She captures the slight variants in the repeated bass line as well as the balance between the two lines and the characters.

Hilary Hahn, you are perfect! I can hear in this movie the perfect execution of the melodic line. Really well sung! Bravo!

also difficult to play it on piano even the original lieder version due to continously rapid repeated chord . nice interpretation !

Meanwhile I can barely get happy birthday to sound right. :(

Holy, this is the best version i've seen of this.

I'm absolutely addicted to it. What a grace ...

Erlkönig Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind? Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind: Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm, Er fasst ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm. „Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?“ „Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht? Den Erlenkönig mit Kron’ und Schweif?“ „Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif.“ „Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir! Gar schöne Spiele spiel’ ich mit dir; Manch’ bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand, Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand.“ „Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht, Was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht?“ „Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind: In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind.“ „Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn? Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön; Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Rein Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein.“ „Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort?“ „Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau: Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau.“ „Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt; Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt.“ „Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt fasst er mich an! Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan!“ Dem Vater grausets, er reitet geschwind, Er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind, Erreicht den Hof mit Mühe und Not: In seinen Armen das Kind war tot.

How does anyone even get those sounds out of a wooden box and some strings? Unbelievable.

Great rendition! Bravo! Thank you dear Gunter , for sharing.

People don't understand how astronomically spectacular this is. Just playing this piece at all requires complete mastery of the violin. BUT...BUT she even adds dynamics to her pizz and little subtle things like that which you take for granted, but imagine trying to do those things while frantically playing this monstrosity. The level required to do that is unfathomable. Not only that, her interpretation is excellent. In almost every other performance of this piece, the soloist plays it as if they were trying to a Rockstar or the reincarnation of Paganini, but this piece is based off of an old German fairytale. In that fairytale, The Elf King (Der Erlkonig, an evil spirit) is trying to lure a little boy into his clutches. Whenever you hear Hahn change into a light and playful sound, this is the part of the poem where the Elf King is speaking to the boy. He tries to deceive him into thinking he is friendly by offering him gifts and promising to play with him. Literally every other version the soloist is shredding these parts to show off how fast they can play it, but that is incorrect. THIS is how it is supposed to be played. It's supposed to sound playful and light hearted at those parts.

Who rides, so late, through night and wind? It is the father with his child. He has the boy well in his arm He holds him safely, he keeps him warm. My son, why do you hide your face in fear? - Father, do you not see the Elf-king? The Elf-king with crown and cape? - My son, it is a streak of fog. - "You dear child, come, go with me! (Very) beautiful games I play with you; Many colorful flowers are on the beach, My mother has many a golden robe." - My father, my father, and do you not hear What the Elf-king quietly promises me? - Be calm, stay calm, my child; Through dry leaves the wind is sighing. - "Do you, fine boy, want to go with me? My daughters shall wait on you finely; My daughters lead the nightly dance, And rock and dance and sing to bring you in." - My father, my father, and don't you see there The Elf-king's daughters in the gloomy place? - My son, my son, I see it clearly: There shimmer the old willows so grey. - "I love you, your beautiful form excites me; And if you're not willing, then I will use force." - My father, my father, he's touching me now! The Elf-king has done me harm! - It horrifies the father; he swiftly rides on, He holds the moaning child in his arms, Reaches the farm with great difficulty; In his arms, the child was dead.

Who’s here from two sets latest video

with HH you can tell how difficult a piece is by the frequency that her left eyebrow lifts infinitesimally. My goddess of the violin.

It is a divine blessing to live in the same time as one of the greatest of the virtuosi. An Angel speaks the unspeakable with her fiddle and her passion as she confers immortality on all of us, the living and the dead. Thank You, Hilary Hahn!