Fur Elise but looks like Elise is running late for her homework assignment and cheated by copying some very familiar classical themes from certain composers. I've put all the references in the description, but see if you can guess them all without looking!
This was written for Day 25 of Ryan Leach's "2022 Theme of the Day Challenge" where I'll compose one piece per day for the entirety of June. The prompt for June 25th was "Cheater". I thought of doing a "intertextual mashup" parody of already established (public domain) classical music. Sort of like how Luciano Berio's Sinfonia 3rd movement uses Mahler 2's Scherzo as the basis and piles a bunch of quotations on it. The idea of using Fur Elise as the basis for the work came from my youtube recommended feed occasionally giving me videos like "Fur Elise but Elise said no" from Mingchi or "Jingle Bells except it's terrible and made me fail music theory" from Parker Meek. Anyways, for this one I started with Fur Elise, then branched out with different Beethoven quotations. As I modulated into C# Minor territory in Moonlight my mind instantly thought of Fantasie Impromptu, and then it derailed into Clair de Lune and kept going on and on until Liszt comes in bringing the entire house down with a mammoth of Totentanz and the B Minor Sonata. Surprisingly, I'd say it was harder to get two themes to blend together, though when it finally did it was hilarous.
Although full disclosure that for the 30-Day June Composition challenge, I wrote around 1:30 mins of Fur Elise blending with Waldstein and Moonlight Sonata before I ran out of time, hastily writing an ending. However, earlier today as I was preparing to upload this I thought I'd extend this piece even though the challenge is over as it's pretty hilarious. I guess you could say I... cheated a bit.
0:00 Für Elise Theme - Beethoven. The basis for the entire composition. I initially imagined Elise starting her homework 5 mins before class.
0:09 Symphony 5 - Beethoven. I thought it would be funny to "shock" Elise with that BA BA BA BAM realization that the homework is due rather soon. Had to change the melody a tiny bit to fit the harmony (0:13)
0:18 Waldstein Sonata - Beethoven. The part where Fur Elise briefly touches upon C major instantly made me think of Waldstein (in C Major as well), and surprisingly superimposing both themes worked relatively well. I had to remove a few notes in the right hand in order to make it playable for a pianist.
0:34 Für Elise in Ab Minor. That trill-like gesture in Waldstein was able to nicely transition into the beginning of Fur Elise thanks to both of them sharing the semitone interval.
0:38 Symphony 5 - Beethoven.
0:41 Moonlight Sonata - Beethoven
0:43 Fur Elise mixed within Moonlight Sonata
0:55 Fur Elise hidden in the chords of Moonlight Sonata, with changing meter
1:07 The Lick in Octaves
1:10 The Lick in Sixths
1:13 Syncopated Fur Elise Motif hidden in sixteenth notes
1:16 G# pivots Moonlight Sonata into Fantasie Impromptu - Chopin
1:21 Fur Elise Motif mixed with Fantasie Impromptu
1:33 Fur Elise Motif in inner voice
1:41 Fur Elise Motif in syncopated upper voice
1:46 Full statement of Fur Elise Motif
1:51 Pivot of G# /Ab common tone into Clair de Lune - Debussy
2:02 Fur Elise motif repeated twice Clair de Lune
2:10 Pivot into Sonetto 104 del Petrarca - Liszt. Clair de Lune's left hand accompaniment is maintained as to not disturb the pulse.
2:23 Revolutionary Etude Op. 10 no. 12 - Chopin
2:30 The Lick in C minor
2:31 Ocean Etude Op. 25 no. 12 - Chopin
2:41 Fur Elise (Middle Section Theme) on top of Chopin Revolutionary Etude Accompaniment
2:54 Ballade no. 1 in G Minor - Chopin. Fur Elise motif is hidden in LH middle voice, then later in octaves for LH.
3:07 Fur Elise motif in RH, followed by syncopated version in LH Octaves
3:25 Happy Birthday in LH while RH is Chopin Ballade
3:30 Flight of the Bumblebee - Rimsky Korsakov
3:35 Totentanz - Liszt. The fugato variation is slightly modified in a way that the subject is no longer Dies Irae, but Fur Elise (as they both have a repeated minor second, both themes are easier to mix)
4:04 Violin Partita No. 3 - Bach.
4:07 Rondo Capriccoso - Mendelssohn.
4:10 Megalovania - Toby Fox (I just had to do it)
4:13 Two to Tango - Nicholas Ma (I did a bit of self quotation from one of my previous compositions I wrote on this 30-Day composition challenge)
4:16 Double statement of Fur Elise - Augmentation of the theme in the left hand, while right hand plays a dotted note rhythmic variation of Fur Elise.
4:35 Sonata in B Minor - Liszt. The Sonata's climax is played with the left hand, while the right hand plays the Fur Elise theme in full phrase, not just the head motif. Slight change in intervals but contour is the same due to it being in major key.
4:53 Fur Elise Middle Section theme is played over the Liszt Sonata in B Minor. I changed the time signatures a bit to make it more lyrical and Liszt-like. Eg. at 5:05.
#fürelise