Role of the Performer: Yo-Yo Ma
Initial thoughts: Yo-Yo Ma has long been one of my favorite musicians. I was first introduced to his playing shortly after I began taking violin lessons at the age of 10. My parents were looking for classical music that my siblings and I could listen to, in hopes that it would supplement our music lessons and practicing. One of the first pieces that they found was Humoresque No. 7 (written by Dvorak) for symphony, violin, and cello. It was my first experience listening to Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman, two of the "greats", particularly in the world of classical music. After listening to the piece again recently, I was reminded of Yo-Yo Ma's (and Itzhak Perlman, as well) beautiful sound. He shows so much emotion and joy in his playing - I found myself smiling as I was watching him perform. I think that this is one of the reasons why Yo-Yo Ma is such an amazing musician. He cares a lot about people and is a very humble person with a positive outlook, which we will discuss in more detail later in this post. As a note, Humoresque No. 7 was originally written for piano, but was then transcribed for violin, cello, and orchestra by Oskar Morawetz (Morawetz and Morawetz, 2013).
Humoresque No. 7 in G-flat Major, Op. 101 - 2012, USA (as performed by Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Biography: Yo-Yo Ma was born in Paris, France to Chinese parents. Both of his parents were musical, as his mother was a vocalist and his father was a violinist, composer, and professor of music at Nanjing National Central University, which has since changed names to Nanjing University and Southeast University (Wikipedia, 2022). His parents were most likely eager for he and his older sister to begin their music studies at a young age. Ma began studying music at the age of three with violin, but then switched to cello at the age of four. Supposedly, he wanted to play the double bass, but it was simply out of the question, due to the size of the instrument. Cello seemed like the next best thing for Ma (The David Rubenstein Show: Yo-Yo Ma, 2017). Ma's family moved to New York when he was seven, and he has resided in the United States since that point. As a child, he performed for several American presidents, American television, and as a soloist with the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra (Wikipedia, 2022).
Ma wanted to study other subjects besides music, so he attended Harvard University, rather than obtaining a degree in music at Juilliard, another school of music, or a conservatory (Britannica, 2022). Since his graduation from Harvard University, Ma has performed across the globe and has collaborated with many different musicians, producing a total of more than 75 albums (Biography, 2022). As I was reading about the different projects that Ma has been involved in, it seems to me that he is an advocate of the arts in general, not simply music. In 1999, he was involved in a project to create a garden themed after Bach's Suite No. 1 in G Major for unaccompanied cello with several landscape architects (Wikipedia, 2022).
Presently, Yo-Yo Ma's performances continue to be in high demand across the world. He performs on a 1733 Domenico Montagnana cello that is nicknamed "Petunia" and valued at $2.5 million. (Wikipedia, 2022).
Musical Selections: Two pieces that I really enjoy from Yo-Yo Ma's performances are Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1 (Bach) and Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod). I specifically chose pieces without orchestra, so that it would be easier to hear his playing clearly. An additional piece that is definitely worth listening to is the Dvorak Cello Concerto in B Minor, 1st Movement. Though a bit lengthy, the themes in this movement of the concerto are really beautiful and inspiring! Click here to listen to Part 1 of the 1st Movement from the concerto. Dvorak is one of my most favorite composers, because of this piece and several others, including his symphony From the New World.
The Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1 is a very popular cello piece, and most people have probably heard it at some point in their lives. Whether on television, the radio, or in a movie, this piece continues to remain a favorite in the world of classical music. The two musical elements that strike me the most from Ma's 2011 rendition of this piece are timbre and how he emphasizes certain notes or patterns in the musical phrases. I think this is particularly evident in the low bass notes. As to the timbre, the sound quality and intonation in unaccompanied Bach pieces is especially difficult to achieve. To me, the sound quality of Ma's playing is so clean and it has a ringing quality to it, as well. For a string-player, this kind of intonation and timbre in an accompanied Bach piece is music to my ears (pun intended :) ). Ma's bow distribution in this piece is amazing! As a string-player, I struggled with bow distribution, especially in unaccompanied Bach pieces where there are notes that need to be "stressed" or accented. He seems to always seems to have the length of his bow subdivided into sections of just the right length to produce the sound quality that he wants the piece to showcase.
I would say that Ave Maria is a fairly well-known piece also. This piece is gentle and has a softer, sweeter tone than the previous piece. I really like the musical elements of articulation and dynamics, which contribute to the quiet, calming mood. Ma's vibrato enhances the other musical elements that are in action during the performance. The pianist is also very much in the background, which allows the cello's sound to rise above the accompaniment, even though it is quiet itself. One phrase peak is at 1:25, and the dynamics leading up to this moment (crescendo) really develop that high B. Planning out the subtle changes in dynamics really shows through in pieces such as this one, but are really valuable in any piece of music.
Suite No.1, Prelude by Bach - 2011, USA (as performed by Yo-Yo Ma)
Ave Maria by Bach/Gounod - 2015, USA (as performed by Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott)
I think that the role of the performer is to convey a message - to communicate something to the listeners that cannot be expressed completely in words. I have heard it said that music is a language, and I wholeheartedly agree. Many different people from all walks of life are familiar with classical music (although they may not always realize it), and musicians who do not speak the same language can still play the same music together, which is a fascinating idea. I think Yo-Yo Ma is very sensitive to this aspect of being a musician, and as I mentioned earlier, it is evident that he really cares about people. He has taken part in humanitarian causes and various projects that are centered around accomplishing something for people, which is much different than simply performing. I think that Yo-Yo Ma is very careful with the kind of sound that he creates from his cello and when I watch him play, I can almost see him "listening" to his cello.
Music has been used to carry traditions, stories, lore, and world history. Just recently, I was listening to some music by Prokofiev and was reminded of how cultural and political upheaval throughout history has contributed to many of the masterpieces that we enjoy listening to today. I think that the role of the performer is to perform these pieces, while staying true to the original context. For instance, not simply treating a piece of music as notes on a page, but rather, to understand why it was written and under what circumstances. Not every piece of music has an easily traceable story, but for so many of the classical works especially, there is a very interesting and meaningful history behind their origin. Exploring music history and learning more about the pieces that we perform or listen to allows us to play or listen to them as they were intended, to the best of our ability.
References:
"Listen & Discover." Yo-Yo Ma, 2022, https://www.yo-yoma.com/listen-discover/.
Morawetz, Oskar, and Claudia Morawetz. "Humoresque in G-flat." Oskar Morawetz, 2013,
"The David Rubenstein Show: Yo-Yo Ma." YouTube, uploaded by David Rubenstein,
"Yo-Yo Ma." Biography, 2022. Web. https://www.biography.com/musician/yo-yo-ma.
"Yo-Yo Ma." Britannica, 2022. Web. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yo-Yo-Ma.
"Yo-Yo Ma." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 1 Nov. 2022. Web.
Note: Images taken from https://www.bostonmagazine.com/2008/09/23/the-schwartz-factor-yo-yo-ma/ and https://www.axialmusic.com/index.php/learn-with-axialmusic/learn-cello/.
I can see that you're incredibly passionate about this performer. I can see why, even in the first video where Ma and Itzhack were playing together, you mentioned his joy but I could even hear it in the way they played at 1:45 in the video. The pure energy and joy he poured into the notes in that section were wonderful to listen to. I like classical music, but it's not the type I tend to seek out on my own, so it is nice being able to learn about it through this blog. Another wonderful post.
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