Jon Batiste Reimagines Beethoven

Those who remember me from Facebook know that I tried to post jazz pieces once a week. This one is from Jon Batiste’s new album “Beethoven Blues” (Release date Nov. 15, 2024) Fur Elise (German for “For Elise,” was composed in 1810 but published in 1867, 40 years after Beethoven’s death. The best guess is that it was written for Therese, a woman Beethoven sought to marry in 1810.

Beethoven was a spontaneous improviser as a composer and Batiste believes that if he were around today he would surely incorporate elements of the blues, jazz, hip hop, R&B and gospel into the music. Batiste comments that “There’s an underlying human condition at the foundation of who we are. And the greatest artists reach and grab hold of that and express that, even before we even sometimes have a name for it.”