Hey, how's it going?
Howdy-ho.
Welcome back to another episode of TwoSet Violin.
So I was scrolling YouTube the other day, you know,
- lying in bed as you do, - Mm-hmm,
at like, 4am in the morning 'cause I couldn't sleep.
- As you do, as you do! - As I do!
And then I saw this video from...I can't remember who,
it wasn't like a YouTuber,
it was just some...
...some random person—channel made a video called,
"If I could only listen to 3 classical pieces
for the rest of my life,
what they would be."
And I thought, that would be such an interesting question,
- Yeah. - to talk about. And so...
...thought today, we will make this video,
and share with you guys,
if we had to pick 3 pieces and nothing else,
and we can't listen to any other classical piece ever again...
And um...
I just had to up it to 5, 3 was too little.
Yeah, sometimes, you know,
- you need a bit more variety. - Yeah, yeah, yeah...
So, that is the challenge today.
Do you want to start?
My very first one!
- Mm-hmm. - It's just 'cause I played it and I know it, so...
Kind of makes it more enjoyable to listen to.
I think you have to really know the piece also to
- really enjoy it...fully as well, right? - Yeah.
Yeah, I was also thinking,
I also want to be able to play it.
So imagine you can't hear it.
- Ohh! I didn't think of that! Oh no! - You...yeah.
- So imagine... - Nah, nah, nah...
I was just thinking about listening,
I wasn't thinking about playing.
But technically you can't play
- if you can't listen to it, right? - Exactly!
If you never heard it you don't really know
what's it supposed to sound like!
So...I pick Tchaikovsky first,
- and yeah, it was a 2 mil subscriber one, - Damn.
that's probably the main reason why.
It's pretty epic.
It's got all the chops: scales, double stops,
3 crazy movements, slow parts, fast parts.
It is one of the best violin concertos out there.
It is, yeah.
- Yeah. - Next one!
Don't call me basic.
Sibelius Violin Concerto is really good.
Nah, it is.
And it's really hard to play.
I know it, trust me.
And you know it too.
The orchestra part is not easy.
You guys will be able to listen to it very soon!
So, tune in soon.
Yeah, Sibelius Violin Concerto,
okay, it's another violin concerto, but...
- Mmm. - ...it's very different to Tchaikovsky.
- Ohh, yeah. - Like,
- Tchaikovsky has this warm, graciousness in it. - Mm-hmm.
Sibelius' music is like, very cold and intimate...
I can't really explain it...
- I was like, "I wonder how he's gonna describe it." - It gives you the chills...yeah...
It gives me...okay, to be honest,
- Sibelius gives me more chills than Tchaikovsky. - Mm-hmm.
Also Sibelius was a violinist, so...
- He kind of wrote things that made sense to the violin. - No, no, no...
You're making Sibelius sound easier now,
- Okay, it's not easier! - that is so not true!
- It's not easier...yeah. - Sibelius is so hard.
But it makes more sense.
I mean Sibelius, for those of you that don't know,
- like Brett, he had dreams, Sibelius, - Yeah, I had dreams.
and he wanted to be a soloist.
- Basically he realised he couldn't make it as a violin soloist. - Yep.
I know how that feels like.
- Too many prodigies, even back in Sibelius' time. - Yes.
And so, he was like,
"Oh, I guess I'll just be a...composer."
But, thankfully he did,
'cause he's such a great composer.
Dude, I don't know if that's a blessing in disguise or not.
- Oh dude, imagine if he's a violinist and there was no... - 'Cause if he...if he became a violinist,
- I don't think he would be writing all this work. - Yeah.
What's your favourite part of the...concerto?
The development of the first movement, I think.
That's not the development!
- It's the second subject! - Oh, second subject!
- Oh, true! - Bro!
- It's the um... - Roasted!
- Okay, fine. - Someone needs to...
I mean, that's not really practice, it's more like...
- ...music study. - Theory.
Yeah, guys, it's been 10 years since I've been...
Okay, well, the second subject.
- It's something about the chords that just hits home, like... - Oh...
- Ohh... - It hits home every time...
Except for when I play it.
In terms of violin, like, eargasm,
I think that's...
- Yeah, yeah, yeah… - One of…
- That's one of the best moments in the whole violin part. - ...one of the best moments in violin playing.
I agree with you on that one.
Third piece for me, would be…
…Mahler 5.
‘Cause when I was in QYS,
[it’s] one of the first ones I played.
It’s just such a big difference, to everything else.
- I never got to play Mahler 5, you know. - Oh, really?
But I love it.
- I love it a lot…yeah. - It’s so fun playing it.
Orchestras!
Invite me to play Mahler 5!
- I know! Let's go, guys! - Yeah!
But yeah, this is so broad and grandiose,
and there's so many different types of emotions in it,
it's just like…
…that's Mahler to me.
- You said you first played it in youth orchestra. - Yeah, I—
What was it like for you, then?
I had no idea what it was.
Okay, let's be really honest…
Some truth time.
When I first played it in orchestra, I was like,
- “What is this piece, it's all over the place.” - Yeah…yeah.
- “It’s too complex, it's not even enjoyable to listen to.” - Yeah.
I think I was like 13, 14?
- 14. - Yeah.
But now, it kind of grows into you,
the more you listen to it, you're like,
- “Damn, bro, - Yeah.
how did you write that?”
Do you remember the moment you started liking Mahler?
I think when I joined AYO.
That's when I started developing a…
- …relationship with symphonic works, to be honest. - Yeah.
Yeah, and I feel like it comes with age as well, you know?
I'll let you guys in on a secret, by the way.
Anyone that you talk to, and they say,
“I listen to Mahler.”
- They're legit. - Yeah.
- You know what I mean? - Yeah.
Like people that pretend to love classical music…
They go, “I listen to the…
…Four Seasons!”
- It's just… - No offence.
- I realised I just offended a lot of people. - I mean…
If you want to really join the elite,
- Of the classical… - you know, like…
- If you want to come across that you truly understand - As a pretentious...
the culture of symphonic repertoire,
name drop Mahler,
because noobs don't know Mahler.
But now that we've made this video, it’s too late now.
Everyone's going to be like, “I do Mahler.”
It’s like, “TwoSet?”
Hmmmmmmm?
Nah, but Mahler’s great, yeah.
Okay, next one! Let's keep going.
Bach!
The andante, from the second sonata.
‘Cause I played it,
- and I've always liked playing it. - Mmm.
- It's so hard, I can’t play it. - It's so hard to do,
- but I just love getting that melody and the bass line together. - Mm-hmm.
To me it's kind of quite a…
- …nostalgic movement. - Mmm.
Yeah, I think musically,
it's definitely one of my favourite movements,
but like, I just hate playing it,
- ‘Cause I can’t. - It's hard to play,
I spend so many hours on it.
- You played it for a competition though, remember? - Yeah.
- And that was like your piece that you used to - Piece…
- win like the Bach prize and stuff, right? - So clutch…yeah.
So clutch. Save me.
Back in the day,
where we used to win violin competitions!
- I know! All the prizes! - And it looks like we're just YouTubers now, you know?
- Bach prize, Sonata prize, Paganini prize, - Yeah…
Matilda Jane, Ronald [Davis] Clifford…
- I still remember, and the Brisbane Club Award prize…! - Yeah.
Oh, man.
Okay, and the last one is…
…my lo-fi.
Bro, that's not…
- I mean, I guess it's contemporary classical music. - Yeah, it's contemporary,
let’s just call it contemporary.
It’s got a viola line in it.
Just ‘cause it's there, and you know what,
life is too short, you gotta listen to it.
Let's go.
- Alright, my turn. - Your turn.
Alright, I gotta confess,
when I thought about this,
- I didn't think about playing. - Playing, yeah.
Because I was like,
- “Playing is different, I'm allowed to play.” - Yeah.
- So let's have that assumption, alright? - Yeah, okay.
- I’m still allowed to play, all the violin pieces. - Okay.
First one that came to my mind was…
- …Debussy, obviously. - Oh, I thought so.
‘Cause I have a, like…
…it’s basically like a musical love affair with Debussy.
The hard part for me, though,
was actually picking the piece.
You know, Rêverie is one of my favourites,
but I ended up choosing…
- …Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. - Ooh!
There’s a story to that, actually.
- This was back when I was first discovering orchestral music, - Uh-huh.
I think I was like...12…?
Maybe 13, 14.
It was during a time where I think either my dad or my sister,
bought me a little CD album of like…
- …orchestral classics, you know, and there was like… - Ooh.
There's always this one like,
Debussy Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun that
I never heard about.
- It wasn't a famous piece I recognised. - Yeah.
And I never really listened to it ‘cause…
I mean, if you listen to it,
the opening is kind of like…it's a bit strange.
- When you first heard… - It’s like…one flute, and it’s…
- …doing like a dissonant tritone, - Mm-hmm, yeah.
It sounds a bit weird, so I was always like,
“I’ll just skip it, right.”
But then I remember one day, I was like,
“You know what, I'm just gonna commit to listening to every piece.”
And so I listened to the Debussy, and…
…it blew my mind.
I…I can't even describe it,
I think it was a sound that I had never heard before.
I think this also had something to do with my perfect pitch,
because it was during a time
where I was developing my perfect pitch, and…
I was able to very clearly hear…
When I listen it's like,
- “Oh it’s C major, A major, whatever.” - Yeah.
And Debussy was like…
…it eluded that.
- I was just hearing colours. - It kind of took everything…yeah, yeah.
And I was just like, “Oh my god.”
You know how like music is…it's like 4/4, 3/4,
- you can hear the phrases and the beats, like…. - Yeah, yeah.
There's this one bit in the climax,
where the strings, and melody, and the accompaniment…
- …they're almost existing [in] two different times. - Mmm…
- And then I was like, I couldn't tell where the beat was, - Mmm.
- but it didn't sound like…random, either. - Yeah.
You know, ‘cause a lot of contemporary music,
it’s like they deliberately…
- …random or syncopate it, but it was like… - Yeah.
…I was like tripping out, but like musically.
- He confuses you with everything, but yet so… - Yeah.
- …beautiful, it makes sense, despite being so confusing. - Yeah…yes.
Ever since then though, I…I looked up the score,
and I knew what was actually written,
- and it ruined the magic. - Aw.
I wish I never did it,
but that's definitely one of my favourites I listen to.
Next one.
You guys can probably tell,
I'm a sucker for like, orchestral music,
- so for me, Sibelius Symphony no. 7. - Oh, oh. Ooh!
- Oh, yeah! Everyone gets like, that reaction. - Ooh-la-la!
7 is actually one movement,
because it's like four movements condensed into one.
- And so the kind of density of music idea is so…compact. - Yeah.
And Sibelius became known as a symphonist,
and 7 was his…in a way,
like his magnum opus.
Sibelius' symphonies, what he's so amazing at doing,
is kind of developing ideas.
I think the analogy that I once read is like,
when you listen to Symphony 7, you don't go,
“Alright, it’s the first movement,
oh this is first subject, this is second subject.”
It’s not clear, it kind of just feels like
- you're walking or driving along in a mountain. - Mm-hmm.
And you’re kind of always seeing like, the destination,
and before you realised, the view's changed so much.
- There's no like, defining moment of changes. - That’s true.
I never really paid attention to that.
From like, minute 2 to minute 6,
- it’s like one line, 4 minutes. - Whoa, that's crazy.
It takes a genius to do that, by the way.
- I think…oh, man. - Yeah, it's crazy.
Alright, this video is gonna go too long,
'cause I'm getting too like, nerd mode activated,
so the next three, let's go, let's go.
Alright, third one for me is…
- …Ravel. - Oh, yeah.
- Back to the French. - Mm-hmm.
For me, Ravel,
my favourite is the String Quartet.
Ohh, yeah, okay.
- Yeah, I'm with you on that one, that's like... - It’s…so good.
You can see, I'm more like,
I’m...I'm a sucker for like…
- Eddy doesn't like it when you make clear signals in music. - …late Romantic…
- Is that a good thing or a bad thing? - I don't know...
Um…
I’m a sucker for late Romantic/early 20th century,
like post-Romantic, but…
It was actually my introduction to chamber music.
I first heard it in AYO camp, and I just remember the colours,
and the sound that he was able to make,
- with just 4 instruments. - Yeah.
- He makes the viola sound good. - I know.
That's how good it is.
The one time that vio—
Nah, I’m just joking.
Alright, moving on.
Ooh, Strauss!
I never thought I would say this, but,
singer gang,
the Four Last Songs, especially the fourth one,
bro, like, you have to listen to it.
I had a friend, who um,
introduced me to the works, and,
oh my god, it’s…it’s…
…the most golden, warm…
…beautiful sound you'll ever get from an orchestra.
I'll link the…my favourite recording
in the description below too,
because that…lady who's singing it, just like…
- …I don't even know how you do that with the voice as well. - Yeah.
You know, how like some singers, it's like…
“Argh.”
- I mean, no…no offence to singers, it’s like… - Yeah, I know, yeah, it’s true, for some, yeah...
She sounds like another instrument that's
- blending with the orchestra, - Yeah.
- but she's the soloist, alright. - Yes.
- Oh, that's something. - Yeah.
That's something.
And the lyrics are very sad, too,
- it's about like, dying. - Oh, no.
So it's like…
Can't relate.
Oh my god.
- I’ll listen to it on my deathbed, like when I'm 80. - Yeah.
Last one!
I was tossing up between Beethoven 9, or Mahler 9.
Ooh!
I think for variety's sake, just so it's not like…
…everything is Romantic and post-Romantic,
I'll choose Beethoven 9.
I think if one piece for me was to
represent Western classical music,
it would be Beethoven 9.
- That's true. - Yeah.
- He's got everything in it. - He has everything.
And in a way, he represents—for me, at least,
perfect harmony between rationality,
logic, in music, and emotion.
And on top of that, he did it when he couldn't hear.
That's crazy too, yeah.
And he's also very sad as well,
- because he can’t… - Yeah.
…hear in the real world, this is all in his head.
Do you guys know the story about...Symphony no. 9?
- It's going from…suffering, his pure suffering, - Oh.
- to transcending, which is why the end is so glorious. - Yeah, oh yeah, yes.
It was his…finding his meaning of life,
from wanting to kill himself, because he was suicidal,
‘cause he was deaf, and he's a musician,
all the way to that victory, of knowing that…
- …he was on this earth for a reason. - Yep.
The story goes that when he finished conducting um…
…oh man, it's so sad thinking about it.
They actually had a fake conductor,
‘cause he couldn't hear.
- Oh, yeah. - So he’s just beating like that…
And they actually finished the piece, but Beethoven didn't know,
so he’s still conducting.
And so I think the concertmaster had to like, tap him,
and be like, “Oh, turn around.”
And the story goes,
he turned around and there was like,
- a standing ovation, - Yeah.
- and Beethoven just started crying. - Crying.
That man deserves everything.
Alright guys, it's been a very long video.
We hope we educated you.
What are your top five picks?
- Actually comment below, let us know. - Yeah.
Once again, if you say you know Mahler…
Sophisticated.
Got good taste.
- Alright, bye. - Bye.