On Saturday, April 16, Kanye West and iconic German music composer Ludwig van Beethoven will come together in the form of “Yeethoven,” a mash-up concert put together by the Young Musicians Foundation as part of the Great Music Series.
The concert, which is scheduled to take place at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in Los Angeles, will feature six works by Beethoven and six works from Kanye West’s 2013 album Yeezus, all of which will be, “orchestrated, juxtaposed, developed, varied and spliced together” by a 70-piece orchestra.
“The purpose of the Great Music Series is to explore the commonalities between the music of our times and classical masterpieces of the past,” the YMF’s website says. “By highlighting the musical and cultural elements characteristic of all great music, the Series seeks to demonstrate that modern popular music is fundamentally similar to classical music. For its first installment, the series will compare Kanye West and Ludwig van Beethoven.”
Footage of the YMF’s Debut Orchestra performing Beethoven’s “Fifth Symphony” and Kanye West’s “Blood On The Leaves” can be viewed in the promotional video below:
“Kanye West is one of the most famous, albeit divisive, people alive in America,” the website continues. “Since his debut solo album in 2004, West has become increasingly prominent as a producer, rap artist, and cultural activist. Today, he is unquestionably one of the most influential figures in popular music and culture. Considering his larger-than-life artistic personality, there is no better comparison to him than Beethoven, the apotheosis of the classical tradition. M.C.’d by conductor Yuga Cohler and composer Stephen Feigenbaum, this concert will sonically illustrate the similarities between Kanye West’s latest album, Yeezus (orchestrated by Feigenbaum), and a variety of pieces by Beethoven. As the concert progresses, music by the two will become increasingly integrated, ultimately resulting in a total mash-up of the two. If you find this concert far-fetched, we invite you to come and listen – see if you can tell where Beethoven ends and Kanye begins.”
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Kanye West compared himself to Beethoven during a performance in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 2012.
“I am flawed as a human being,” Yeezy said. “I am flawed as a person. As a man, I am flawed, but my music is perfect. This is the best that you gon’ get ladies and gentlemen in this lifetime, I’m sorry. You can go back to Beethoven and shit, but as far as this lifetime though, this is all you got.”
“Yeethoven” takes place at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in Los Angeles, California on Saturday, April 16.
The concert is free entry and no ticket is required.
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The concert’s flyer can be viewed below:
