Monday
Oct222007
Four Cellists, ONE Cello
Bonnie GibbonsStringfever is a British band that combines string playing, humor and performance art. This hilariously impressive performance has been making the YouTube rounds lately. Yes, all four guys are playing “Bolero” (in four parts) on a single cello. Initially it was sent to me by Jacque.
Reader Comments (5)
I believe 1 blueman group is enough. This is total blueman group with out the blue. I understand that classical music is very much a slowly dying art form but silly groups like this are so obsurd.
Look, as a musician myself, I understand how many good musicians there are for so few jobs but for petes sake have some pride in your self and your art. It's bad enough that Ravel even composed Bolero and even worse that it has become such a popular piece (much to the shagrin or Ravel), but doing silly little acts like this with all of the contrived movements is so utterly pathetic. Maybe these four guys should practice more instead of screwing around. It's frightning to me to see the modern day groups like this doing all of this silly BS. Another group that bugs me is that family of Canadian pianists that all studied at Julliard and now have put together some sort of Concertizing piano trapazoid or something. With the amount of music artisits in the world who never really "make it", it sickens me to see these side show, silly acts. Not one of those pianists in that Canadian group is worth anything as a soloist or chamber musician, so they combine forces and get a carreer out of it because they are a freak show.
In someways, these silly groups show just how much Classical music is declining. I'm sure many of us remember Victor Borga. His shows were hilarious and actually served a positiive purpose in promoting classical music. What I always found interesting about Victor Borga was that he was actually a very, very good pianist with a beautiful touch on the key board. Nowadays, we get this cra_!
Generally speaking, Ry, I can agree with you. I myself don't have much of a taste for this sort of thing, but some people enjoy it, and we aim for variety on the site. Sure, it's kinda dumb, but it's not the end of the world, like Mahler's 6th. I seriously doubt that these jackanapes are taking jobs from real musicians. They couldn't, could they? That's too scary a thought. Keep practicing your clarinet and ignore idiot cellists, and the world will seem brighter to ya!
With 16 years of cello study, 4 years of voice study, one music major and two years of graduate study I'm probably at least marginally qualified to acknowledge that a) this isn't real classical music-making and b) as a longtime cello student it IS a clever piece of cello "orchestration." The fun of this video for me was in tracking the piece to see how they would handle the next passage on the cello. Not everyone will find a given piece of humor funny, but it's not taking anything away from hardworking serious musicians -- it's not the same audience. I completely understand how difficult it is to be a good classical music and the lack of professional opportunities. But part of the market problem might be the perceived elitism of classical music and there's nothing wrong with being a little lighthearted now and then. (Disclosure: as a counselor at music camp I have played the Mendelssohn octet... as a drinking game.)
Forget the game! Let's just drink!
I know I came down a little hard on this video. It's just that I don't find aything funny or interesting about it. Combine that with the fact that these types of groups are becoming more and more prevalent and I find that it really gets under my skin. Maybe I am closed minded and maybe I have been in the "trenchs" long enough that I am infected with a little elitism my self. One of the problems I have with it goes against your comment about tracking the piece. This video is not about the piece, it's about the guys playing the piece and that to me is a cardinal sin against any art.
Art has and should always speak for it's self and these types of groups really go far away from that concept. I would have found it a lot more interesting if they did a hack job on a John Denver song...but not Ravel.