Yo-Yo Ma: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

[Music] [Applause] believe it or not this was the very first piece of music I started on the cello when I was four years old one measure at a time first day second day third day you get the idea now all of you do homework have done homework some days it's easier than others [Music] like yesterday slightly different right so so it's actually not painful to learn something if you do it incrementally so that's so I lived with this music for 58 years plus four that's my age now I'm gonna play you so I've lived with all of this music all my life so actually embedded in the way I play is actually in many ways everything I've experienced which is kind of interesting it's like forensic musicology you know you open up the cadaver you could see what happened what kind of bones they chewed on and whatever you know you can figure everything out so it's the same thing with music you can actually figure out timing what you're listening for what you're looking for what is was the purpose behind something so the next piece I'm going to play for you is a work that it's a sour bond from the sixth suite I just played the prelude of the first suite by BA and the Sarabande is very interesting because it comes from many places some people say came from Guatemala some people say came from Mexico it certainly came from Moorish Spain and so some people say it came to Spain through Portugal 12th century but it's and and in Morocco people say that was a Bedouin dance danced by women so this was it this sire bond is actually at the heart of the suite because it is the heart and and why do I say that because I play this piece at both friends weddings and unfortunately also at their memorial services so it has a dual purpose so think about that the sorrow by number six sweet [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you so for the last piece for the tiny desk concert I'm going to play a tiny jig so this is usually the last movement in the Suites and it's interesting because you know he goes from old dances to essentially folk or popular dances so here is this German composer taking in a jig and putting it in in this work the third suite [Music] [Music] [Applause]

Channel: NPR Music

Views: 2,035,255

Rating: 4.9745765 out of 5

Keywords: NPR, NPR Music, National Public Radio, Live, Performance

Id: 3uiUHvET_jg

Length: 12min 9sec (729 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 24 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/NPC3]

I love the Tiny Desk Concerts series.

The most unexpected one I watched was T-Pain without vocal synthesizing

[u/thrashgordon]

Weird, just watched a random episode of Mr. Rogers and it was the one featuring Yo-Yo Ma. Regardless, great video!

[u/Dr_Moose_Knuckle_MD]

To those musicians out there: how much better is Yo-Yo Ma compared to the average professional cellist? He seems a world apart.

[u/tigeryang]

My favorite time Yo-Yo Ma was on Tiny Desk: https://youtu.be/O7EcT5YzKhQ

[u/[deleted]]

my god, that man is talented.

[u/huffer4]

His watch strap isn't done up straight and it's all I can see. Fantastic video otherwise! Love this series

[u/KVYNgaming]

Wow. I’ve heard of him obviously but have never sat down and watched him perform. The way he gets so many different types of sounds and dynamics out of the cello is amazing. At certain points it’s almost like how a guitar starts to break up through a tube amp the harder you strum the strings.

Also, anyone else get instantly reminded of Civ IV or is that just me lol

[u/Yeelk]

The sound of his fingers hitting the finger board during the jig is awesome!