Hey guys!
Cello there.
Welcome to another episode of TwoSet Violin.
You might recognize who's here.
Oppa!
Eddy: Oppa Hyung!
Oppa!
Alright, so you guys might know Hyung from our
"Pro versus beginner cello" and "learning cello in 1 hour."
He's back again, but this time,
he has cello recommendations
- that you guys need to hear. - Mm!
Time to explore...
...the world of cello gang!
So the first one I got is the Le Cygne.
Le Cygne, by TwoSet.
Yeah, Le Cygne.
With John Williams conducting, actually, in this video.
And Yo-Yo Ma.
Oppa...
- Why did you choose this recording? - Oppa.
Well, I think this is like one of the...
you know, best recordings ever made.
And also, you know, normally it's, um...
...played with just cello and piano,
which is the original form, of course.
Or... cello and harp, sometimes.
But this is actually cello, and harp, and orchestra,
which makes it even more grand.
- Ohh... - And of course, it's Yo-Yo Ma.
You know, the...
The best cellist.
- He looks really young here. - Oooh!
That was a very definitive claim.
- Yeah, the best cellist. - Yo-Yo Ma.
Oh, maybe I shouldn't have said that.
One of the best cellists.
All the cellists out there are gonna get in a debate.
Actually, I wanna ask.
Why, why do you...
...think Yo-Yo Ma is one of the best cellists?
I mean, obviously, he's one of the most famous, but...
Well, I've played with a lot of different professional cellists,
both in the orchestra and also like, duets, ensembles.
But the way he plays is very much like storytelling.
Doesn't seem like he's having any technical difficulty.
And when we see a lot of cellists playing,
there's always a bit of...
...a bit of struggle, you know, when they play.
But when you see Yo-Yo Ma playing, it's just so easy.
Just so flawless, just...
Music just comes out of him.
Doesn't seem like he's actually playing cello,
it seems like he's... talking.
Talking through the cello.
Yeah, he looks...
...really into it.
Yeah, he's very expressive, both in the music and his...
- And his face as well. - ...face.
And his face.
Well, that's one of the, I guess,
most important part of the performance, too.
The face.
I know it's a bit of a meme in the classical world, to like,
copy Yo-Yo Ma's like, expressions,
'cause he's so expressive. But...
He does sound amazing here.
Oh, he does sound amazing. Yeah.
Yo-Yo Ma, yo mama.
The next one... Brett, you've played it.
I've played it??
On the cello?
On the cello, you have played this piece.
Dude, I didn't know my career was that epic.
Whoa! Whoa, yeah!!
I love it.
Is that the cellist's name?
He's a Scandinavian one.
I have no idea how to say it.
Truls Mörk.
- I've heard of him. - Yeah, I know him too.
Yeah, and he plays on a nice, nice Montagnana too.
Is that the cello?
- “Motiana”. Montagnana. - Yeah yeah yeah. Mo...
Montagnana.
How much are those cellos?
Oh, I'm sure it's like...
- Over 10 million, I'm sure. - Holy sh...
Yo mama!
I'm not sure, I—
I've never even touched,
I've never even seen one in person before.
Oi. Yo mama touched your Montagnana.
Yo mama be Haydn!
We're so immature.
- We're not even talking about music. Yeah. - Yeah, it's just good vibes.
That was like...
- So good. - It was... so much energy and so lyrical.
Yeah, I know!
Yeah. That's why I chose this recording.
As you also felt it, like, we were kind of...
You know, going along with the music.
with feeling the beat, and the groove.
It's got that, he's got the youthful energy from, um...
Haydn's early 30s,
'cause this piece was written when he was...
31, 32, I think.
And especially this movement, it's got that energy into it.
- Mmm. - And I think this recording portrays the energy so well.
And also, the first movement is a very famous,
you know, the...
- Yeah. - The very famous, um...
Energetic.
The second movement is very intensely lyrical.
And this last movement actually has both qualities in,
within it. Even though it's a very fast piece.
As you said, it's very lyrical at the same time too.
Mmm.
Well, he plays amazingly up there.
I wish I could play like him.
But you play epic, Hyung-oppa.
(both) Hyung-oppa.
I just remember back in, um...
...youth orchestra days, we had the competition.
And anytime a cellist came in—
Well, not any time, but they often played
- one of the Haydn concertos. - Yeah, concertos.
- It's like, such a staple piece. - Yeah. Mhmm.
Yeah, because we only have
two classical cello concertos.
Oh we only have like, four if you think about it.
Three Mozarts and...
- "Beethoven," if you want to count him classical. - Yeah, but... Yeah.
Did Mozart write anything for cello?
Nothing.
- Wow! - Quartets.
That's why they had to settle for Haydn!
Just kidding!
Alright, let's go to the next video.
Next one.
OoOOoh!
Let's go.
Who is this guy?
"Blysma."
(both) Bylsma.
What?
Do you know why they were laughing?
- Is the cello ... - Is it the spike thing?
No, it's got multiple strings!
- Dude, it's got five! - Multiple strings.
- What the... - Five strings.
- So this is the Bach Cello Suite, number 6. - Ohh!
- It was written for five, right? - It's written for five strings.
Five-string cello, yeah. So he's—
And he's using the piccolo cello, a little bit smaller,
so that the E, high E string speaks well.
Wow, okay! Ooh, I can't wait.
Have you played on a five-string cello before?
I've never actually touched five-string cello.
I was actually thinking to get one,
'cause this piece is impossible to play on four-string cello.
But... So how do normal people play it?
Well, it's...
Just a lot of thumb positions.
- Ah, okay. - So it's actually easier to play on the five strings?
Oh, much easier, I think.
- Ohh... - I see.
I haven't played it, but I'm...
I guess it's much easier.
So, why did you pick this particular recording?
It's because it's one of my...
Actually favorite movement in the whole Bach suite.
There are, um...
I think 36 movements.
And this is actually my favorite movement
in the whole piece.
Why is that your favorite movement?
I think I just like it. I used to actually...
When I first started playing cello,
I used to fall asleep while listening to this piece.
Like literally, every single night. So nerdy thing to do.
Would you say this is one of your favorite interpretations?
The favorite...
- Ooh. - ...interpretation.
Can you tell us a little bit why
- you think it's your favorite interpretation? - Well...
This recording has more...
I guess it's more sincere, like in a way.
And if you look at his face, it's very sincere too.
It's all about the face.
Next video.
Something different.
Nice.
Ay!
- Whoa! - Dude...
Holy...
That would hurt!
Wouldn't it?
Man, there was so much technique.
- New technique I haven't seen before. - Yeah.
- Guitar gang, step aside! - Yeah.
Cello gang is here to shred some.
Like, he... It's so much energy, like...
Yeah, I know. Well, I think...
I think he's actually all about that.
He's the composer himself.
- Oh, he's a composer! - Ohh...
His name is Mark Summer, he's the cellist of the...
This string quartet called
Turtle Island String Quartet.
Save the turtles.
Yeah, save the turtles.
Saving the turtles. They're the jazz quartet.
I see!
How would you describe this, uh...
genre of music?
Jazz classical, I guess? Well, I...
It's got a bit of classical... you know, side to it too.
And I think this piece is a very good piece for...
purely classically trained cellists...
...into a jazz world.
- Oooh... - Mhmm.
Yeah, this was the first jazz,
jazz cello piece I've ever heard.
And I really got into it, I played it all the time.
I still play it,
as an encore whenever I play concertos, or recitals.
I think you heard it, Brett. Right? When I played it.
- I think you came to that performance. It was an encore. - Oh yeah, you did play an encore! Yeah!
And it was this piece.
- I totally forgot. - Totally forgot.
Now I remember! I remember.
I love music that...
...challenges and broadens the mind,
- of people. - Mhmm.
I mean, I'm sure people watching this,
since there's probably people from all different backgrounds,
- but I know when you study classical music, - Mmhmm.
in like, a music university...
It's easy to just see that narrow...
- ...path of like, - Yeah.
- the Haydns, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn. - (both) Yeah.
- They forget there's... - Mhmm.
- There's so much more out there. - ...all these other ways to express.
- And like, all the techniques he showed us. - Hyung: Exactly.
Sul ponte.
And he used a lot of those jazz guitarist techniques too.
Oh, really?
- Like, and the slapping, like... - Yeah.
- Oh, yeah. - The slapping. - "Bak," the pizzicato...
Harmonic pizz, too.
Yo mama like that?
I just have to throw one in every single video.
All right, time for some...
...sadness.
GG, am I gonna cry?
Ohh.
That was like, next level.
That was so good.
It's so good, yeah.
The sound, the expression, just everything is there.
And it kept going.
- Just... - Yeah. - Mmm.
Have you guys heard the whole piece? As a...
Have you heard this piece before?
I've listened to it, but not intently.
- Like, just playing on YouTube in the background - Yeah, yeah.
type of things, so.
As a cellist, as a soloist...
You can't hear yourself.
Because the orchestra part is so huge,
- Yeah. - And the, and...
As a soloist, the projection,
- the balance is always a problem for this piece. - Yeah.
And this is like, the only moment
when cello is just singing, singing, singing.
And this is the last movement of the piece, too.
This is called The Death of Don Quixote, and...
He dies, and...
There we've got a cello, the Don Quixote's...
...crying.
- Oh. That's so sad. - Yeah...
What do you think about, in this recording, um...
Rostropovich's playing?
It's superb. It's like, legendary playing.
- Yeah. He's a legendary cellist too, right? - Yeah.
Yeah. And especially this recording, it's just... the top.
Didn't Rostropovich learn like,
a concerto in two days on a train or something?
Oh, I didn't know. What's the story?
I heard from my old Russian teacher,
I forget the details, I think it was with Prokofiev.
- And they were on a train trip. - The cello concerto, you mean?
Yes.
- No! Two days? - I think so. No?
Or Shostakovich. No. I think it's Proko—
I can't remember. Some cello concerto. And then...
They're all just like, drinking on the whole ride,
as Russians do, you know the stereotype.
And apparently, the guy was like, "Oh...
I should probably look at the concerto now."
And the composer was like,
"What?! You haven't learned it?"
And he's like, "Nah, it's fine."
And then he took like, two days,
- and he learned it. - Pffftt.
Of course. Yep.
- Well, that's the legend, anyway. - Yeah. - Sounds like us.
Yeah.
Two days is too much for me man,
I rock up on the first rehearsal,
- Nah, I rock up on the car trip. - and sightread...
Yeah yeah, like...
That's always my nightmare, though.
Always my night—
I just have like, nightmares
like I'm at the concert, and it's like,
"Oh ****, I haven't learned my part."
I've done it once.
A solo concert?
- Nah, in orchestra. I sightread a concert once. - Nah. Yeah.
You never know which one it was!
Guys, did you enjoy some of these epic cello pieces?
If you've never heard it,
we encourage you go check it out.
Thanks to Hyung, for recommending us these...
cello pieces.
Thank you guys.
Hyung-oppa.
Hyung-oppa!
Guys, if you like this,
hit the like button, share it,
- and if you guys like it, - Yeah.
we'll get Hyung-oppa in for a part two!
Exact— How do you say "subscribe"?
- In... Korean? - Korean.
구독.
(both) 구독!
구독.
Yeah.
(both) 구독!
Wow!