Embrace the Dissonance

Piano Sonata In B-Flat Major, K.281 - II. Andante Amoroso

By Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

me: 

the original tune is not this. the original tune is, however, public domain, so they’re not wrong. it’s francisco tárrega’s gran vals - check 0:12.

but THIS, what he’s playing, is the Valse Irritation d’après Nokia, also known as the ringtone waltz, written by Marc-André Hamelin, who is a terrific canadian pianist and who wrote this as a snap reaction to having people’s fucking cellphones go off at concerts.

here’s hamelin talking about it. and playing it himself.

and the instant i first heard the valse irritation, you know what i had to do, immediately, and what at least three other people i know also did?

a particularly unusual and rare example of an 18th century music book. 

Entirely hand written by Ralph Thomson started playing the Violin in 1776 and he bought this book in 1777