Death Waltz

Electrophonic Tonic · 02-10-2012, 10:42 PM

I came across this today on the Youtube. Apparently John Stump is the Rube Goldberg of classical music. Just writing insane music that he never expected to be played, just because he could. Think of him as classical music's mid 1960's troll. Thanks to midi technology, we can hear what his pieces would actually sound like. This is his Faerie's Aire and Death Waltz Other people have played versions of this, but not the original version.

With the actual sheet music

A better view of the midi, just so you can practice.

Have fun

**Janszoon** · 02-10-2012, 10:54 PM

That was absolutely fucking amazing. I think I need to change my pants.

Thom Yorke · 02-10-2012, 11:08 PM

Someone needs to line up a bunch of pianos and have a bunch of pianists play this live. I'd pay top dollar.

One of the comments on the second video:

"Asian dad: Good son! Now, play it backwards!"

Blarobbarg · 02-11-2012, 12:27 AM

Holy crap.

Electrophonic Tonic · 02-11-2012, 10:42 PM

I found another composition of John Stump. This one is called The Last Hope. Personally I prefer Death Waltz more, but this one is still pretty damn amazing.

What I still can't get over is he had no way of actually playing these, so he had to compose these entirely in his head and make sure they still sounded good. The fact that while it is still incredibly complicated and hard to play; these songs are actually are good, well written songs. That takes talent in my book.

ThePhanastasio · 02-11-2012, 11:04 PM

That is so goddamned pretty.

**Janszoon** · 02-11-2012, 11:06 PM

Has he written other stuff? I can't seem to fin to much about him.

Electrophonic Tonic · 02-11-2012, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

Has he written other stuff? I can't seem to fin to much about him.

I've been looking all over the internet too. I haven't found much.

But I found this blog post by his nephew. It has some general background on his life and a few more pieces of sheet music, including some stuff for strings.

**Janszoon** · 02-12-2012, 07:36 AM

Sorry to be a party killer but I've discovered that the song in the OP isn't by John Stump and isn't "Faerie's Aire and Death Waltz". This is what the real sheet music looks like:

Spoiler for Large-ish image:

It's clearly not the same thing, and if you look at some of the details you can see it's literally just a joke, never intended to actually be played.

The song is really called "U.N. Owen Was Her?" and is the music from some Japanese video game called the Touhou Project. Still a cool piece of music though.

~~Rubato~~ · 02-12-2012, 08:17 AM

it starts at around 3:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electrophonic Tonic

What I still can't get over is he had no way of actually playing these, so he had to compose these entirely in his head and make sure they still sounded good.

What I can't get over is why he didn't just write it for orchestra like everyone else rather than write it as a solo piece for someone with 5 arms, it seems overly gimmicky.

02-10-2012, 10:42 PM	#1 (permalink)
Electrophonic Tonic Your Ad Here Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: The Twilight Zone Posts: 876	Death Waltz I came across this today on the Youtube. Apparently John Stump is the Rube Goldberg of classical music. Just writing insane music that he never expected to be played, just because he could. Think of him as classical music's mid 1960's troll. Thanks to midi technology, we can hear what his pieces would actually sound like. This is his Faerie's Aire and Death Waltz Other people have played versions of this, but not the original version. With the actual sheet music A better view of the midi, just so you can practice. Have fun

02-10-2012, 10:54 PM	#2 (permalink)
Janszoon Mate, Spawn & Die Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Rapping Community Posts: 24,593	That was absolutely fucking amazing. I think I need to change my pants. __________________ A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man Time & Place 25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die last.fm

02-11-2012, 11:04 PM	#6 (permalink)
ThePhanastasio Killed Laura Palmer Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Ashland, KY Posts: 1,679	That is so goddamned pretty. __________________ Phish: Studio Discography Reviewed 100 Albums I Heartily Recommend My last.fm It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken Perhaps they're better left unsung

02-11-2012, 11:06 PM	#7 (permalink)
Janszoon Mate, Spawn & Die Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Rapping Community Posts: 24,593	Has he written other stuff? I can't seem to fin to much about him. __________________ A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man Time & Place 25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die last.fm

02-12-2012, 07:36 AM	#9 (permalink)
Janszoon Mate, Spawn & Die Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Rapping Community Posts: 24,593	Sorry to be a party killer but I've discovered that the song in the OP isn't by John Stump and isn't "Faerie's Aire and Death Waltz". This is what the real sheet music looks like: Spoiler for Large-ish image: It's clearly not the same thing, and if you look at some of the details you can see it's literally just a joke, never intended to actually be played. The song is really called "U.N. Owen Was Her?" and is the music from some Japanese video game called the Touhou Project. Still a cool piece of music though. __________________ A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man Time & Place 25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die last.fm

02-10-2012, 11:08 PM	#3 (permalink)
Thom Yorke Music Addict Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 1,848	Someone needs to line up a bunch of pianos and have a bunch of pianists play this live. I'd pay top dollar. One of the comments on the second video: "Asian dad: Good son! Now, play it backwards!"

02-11-2012, 12:27 AM	#4 (permalink)
Blarobbarg Do good. Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Posts: 2,065	Holy crap.

02-11-2012, 10:42 PM	#5 (permalink)
Electrophonic Tonic Your Ad Here Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: The Twilight Zone Posts: 876	I found another composition of John Stump. This one is called The Last Hope. Personally I prefer Death Waltz more, but this one is still pretty damn amazing. What I still can't get over is he had no way of actually playing these, so he had to compose these entirely in his head and make sure they still sounded good. The fact that while it is still incredibly complicated and hard to play; these songs are actually are good, well written songs. That takes talent in my book.