The Swan - Cello, Age 15

[Vilaries]

Very nicely played from the both of you. :)

[Schtofenbach]

Very nicely  played!!!

[AnimeFreak9910]

hey hey november 4 is my birthday!!!

[kalilover1]

Hehe, My Private Teacher Gave Me This To Work On :)

And I Play Bassoon! :)

[absolutlystunning]

i can now play this piece at the age of 13, its fabulous to play it, im grade three and have been practicing the swan for three weeks now and its already sounding gorgeous...!

[pacer521]

are these the same guys that did Dance of the Elves for the NJ Governor?

[fushion83]

yes it is...a clearer better audio version is in the video response (though there is no video on that one)..thanks for listening!

[ImanaEeeChooLecha]

Congrats, I'm playing it this year for my solo, and I'm a sophomore too, so that's pretty cool. :) You play good, hope you still play.

[kungfoo47]

in 1998???

[ginia1226]

this i sbeautiful! i had to play this solo in school 2day for a last minute performance! i hsd 10 MINUTES to learn it! scary, right?

but i id good =)

[jrloser]

would do like to upload ur 10 minutes preparation of the swan on youtube? i would like to see how good it is =)

[nikitannenkov]

and intonation...lol

[InBuddhaiTrust]

wtf are you saying

you obviously dont play

[nikitannenkov]

um, I do play cello for 8 years... and it was just my opinion.

[nikitannenkov]

crappy bowings...sorry

[nikitannenkov]

i think its boring

[Lydz3731]

then don't listen to it :)

[nikitannenkov]

your crazy man

[Lydz3731]

nope you're just acting stupid

[nikitannenkov]

whatever..get a life

[ginia1226]

ur a loser for sayin that! this is beautiful!

[LoneWolf247]

Oh~! Pretty ^^

[LozzaCullen]

hmmm better then i said be4 but still crap!!!

[foxyjohnuk]

who exactly is crap? and what at?

[LozzaCullen]

u play heaps betta then me...but Freakle22 was rite...this is a kinda crappy video

[KRnaruto]

well done!

you play way better than me!

[lionharp820]

Yea. Umm. I play the harp, so I can assure you that a cello is NOTHING compared to a harp. Don't complain. If you do have something to complain about, always remember that other have more to whine about.

[Freakle22]

your a fag

[williluvmycello]

yeah well i've been playing the cello for 4 years and the harp for 2 and the harp is a LOT easier than the cello.The harp is just a differently shaped piano.

[wace423]

that's a kinda odd thing to say...:S

just a question though...have you ever played the cello?

[Cello1209]

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but harpists tend to be isolated to wedding and insignificant backup parts, while cellists can become immortal. Look at DuPre, Rostropovich and Yo-Yo Ma. Gosh, Yo-Yo Ma has a Rolex sponsorship. What could a harpist get? A sponsorship by a floral shop?

So, remember- while you are plucking away at your strings creating music devoid of emotion, us cellists are instilling passion into our music.

[lionharp820]

Oh Well. Just goes to show how biased some people are. I don't think the cello is a "bad" instrument, just that the harp is more complex. And, also, people are in awe of the harp. You don't see people going up to cellists going "ooh Mama! I love that cello!" So just don't underestimate the harp is all I'm saying. Different people have their own opinions; who are you to say that the harp is devoid of emotion? You don't even play it!

[FRYN]

I don't want to hurt anyone but I think it's hard to play the harp with a lot of emotion, isn't it? It just has its don't know how much strings (or do you say chord in this context? Sorry for my English...) so you just can play directly the notes. A cello for example has lots of different techniques that all have a different feeling so you maybe can variate more. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[jellybabyeater101]

my sister plays the harp, and having like, 48 (more?) strings is NOT a bad thing. yes, you can just play directly the notes, but the way you pluck--hard,soft,long,short,ki­nd of vibrating, all these sorts of things can impact. harpists can give their emotions to the music just as well as a celloist can. they have the same amount of techniques, only different ones, obviously. it depends how much the harpist is into the music as well. there are pedals as well, which the cello doesnt have.

[sigur90]

This is beautiful, great job! ^^

[CapricornPhantom]

This is fantastic. <3

[hrslucifer]

the comment was meant for teooo

[YourCellist]

I like this ;)

[syren345]

nice performance. lol i'm going into my sophomore year and I'm playing this piece at a recital, among 6 other professional level pieces. :D

beautiful!

[itsydogcello]

ive played cello for 4 years,im only 12, but i want to play this for my solo next year,i turned it down for bach suite number one this year.....oh well next year!

[Jake0688]

This is a beautiful piece.

[nintendan97]

sooo awsome. i just started playing this piece...my teacher couldnt even play this! hey pplz my teachers called mr qin and if u know Leiwei Qin, ma teacher's his father

[atakarategrl]

I've been playing the cell for 11 years and I could never get the sound that you can.

Very well done.

[cant3kid]

man I wish I played the cello. It's sooooo beutiful!!! But I play the stinkin viola!

[ZutroyPeter]

You could just start playing the Cello anyway. Playing the Viola will give you a jump start since the tuning is identical, just one octave higher.

[benjerrylover]

excuse me? as a violist myself, i can ensure you that the viola is definitely the best instrument... much better than the cello (less to carry)

[fullmentaldude]

I play both, and I don't think I could choose one over the other. Both instruments rock.

[Counterten0r]

The Viola has it's own unique and wonderful timbre, just like the Cello. Stick with it and I'm sure you'll find beauty in your instrument.

Lovely interpretation by the way, the pianist got abit too enthusiastic and lost the romance at some points, but hey, it still sounded lovely and on the whole it was a good job.

[micheniche]

I love guys who play strings. =P

Man, this piece is nice. Has that expression. You know, that sort of voidness.

[sweetestmocha]

excellent interpretation! your vibrato was impeccable!

[Oeshoagus]

*drool*

[iwitchhunter]

beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. beautiful. i've heard so many interpretations of this piece and they can hit all the notes perfectly and sound professional but totally miss the expressive quality that can be reached with it. you nailed it.. very moving.

[happy6356]

nice m8. u really have talent. =)

[red3pants]

Nice job! I've played the swan and it never sounded as good as that (i don't take cello lessons but..) it was in tune and musical. I loved it!

[jrnemanich]

i always wanted to play the cello and in the 4th grade i quit and now i am kind of mad at my parents letting me quit i want to play again

[Stargirl11000]

my parents didnt let me quit the violin!

im so glad they didnt because sometimes i just wanned to throw my expensive violin out of the window! lol

[malboro112]

you are amazing! i love it ! well done!

[thehighschoolprinces]

hot hot hot! I could hear you play all day!

[loopybabe92]

omg thats amazing i jus did that for my grade 7 i gt distinction wooo but omg well done!!!!!!!!!!!!ure sound is amazing n ders total silence in audience!!

[fushion83]

good luck on your cello studies!

[AAMLfan]

You must be a lady killer. ;)

Gorgeous performance...Wow...

[fushion83]

haha..i usually don't tell girls about cello..i'm afraid they will fall madly in love with me to the point of no return ^_^..though i do make exceptions here and there

[altosaxophoneash]

true id fall in love. so beautiful..

[InfernalPurge]

I don't see the second piano (for the water waves arpeggios) in any of the swan pieces around. But this is a great piece of music, also performed on a professional level. Keep on playing, guys :-)

[kteh104]

i'm actually studying this peice right now..i love it! it is absolutly beautiful!

you played it very well.

[Sindegra]

Nice smooth transitions. Definitely a better chellist than me (age 16). The transitions are still kind of sloppy for me. But in all fairness, those transitions are ridiculous! From the second note to the third note in this piece... sheer craziness.

Props for getting it up to such a level.

[nathan87]

they're called shifts ;)

[Sindegra]

eh, I'm dutch so I am not familiar with the english lingo.

[nathan87]

oops, wasn't obvious, sorry about that! Well, yep, shifts they are :p

[kteh104]

yea its actually spelled "cellist" too.

[fushion83]

thanks..this is a very high compliment..nice observation..most people don't notice that..the shifts/slides and vibrato are perhaps the most difficult aspects of this piece..i actually feel the slide to the high notes are the most challenging..best of luck practicing..if you need any tips, i'd be glad to help

[piano6861]

Beautiful!

[ilovenewsies]

this is one of the most beautiful pieces ever written ... and u played it wonderfully <333

[UpcomingJedi]

Where is he now? Is there a more recent video?

[Cecilie2nd]

waaw. You're really great. That's my only comment right now

[hsgualekili]

absolutely bueatiful,

[Natalejo]

El cisne no es original para violín,como dice uno de los comentarios, pertenece al carnaval de los animales de Saint Saens y es original para cello, no es una transcrición. felicitaciones, lindo sonido.

[Celloman4044]

no the piece by tchaikovsky was actually swan lake, not the swan =)

[missh0rt]

no..kellybeans27 was right it was written by camille saint-saens...but it WAS originally for cello =]

[finnywinny]

i agree with you max!i hate prodigies.. and no it is not because im jealous. i just think that its stupid that a 15 year old cellist is seen as more talented than a 30 year cellist who is around the same level, merely because hes younger!very young musicans often have very little understanding of what they're actually playing anyway..it drives me crazy!!who cares how old a player is??music is music, regardless of age!however i did enjoy this video,hes young but stil plays with emotion

[musicaldreamer]

surley, just because they are prodigies you shouldn't hate them. Also, being able to understand what you play comes with musical maturity. Maturity doesnt necciserily come with age. so just because a 30 year old man is older, doesnt mean he has more understanding about what hes playing.

[mimib1230]

Do you think he is a prodigy?

[fushion83]

yes..good point..musical maturity is the difference between a student cellist and a true artist..i've actually been playing the swan since 3rd grade..but sounded like a robot..and also never video taped it..til high school when it sounded more "mature"

[strawberryxlollipop]

I agree, too! I'm 17 and I've been playing piano for 3 years and on grade 7. But I have a 'friend' who is also on grade 7 aged 14 been playing since she was 8 - what's more impressive?

Although, I think Marc Yu is very impressive...

[Max3851]

Big problem with classical music...who cares age 15 or 108...or 3...or perhaps a cat or a rat playing the bloody swan for the umteenth time age 0...the whole idea of the prodigy makes me want to spew...Du Pre aping away like a maniac while the rest of the orchestra are almost dead...Rostropovitch with a face like granite sawing away..this is not music it is performing ape tea party for adults....

[9o8i]

isnt the swan by tchaikovsky? hmm actualyi dno how u spell it ^^;; sumthing lyk that

[sismael]

Simply beautiful.

[KellyBeans27]

Its The Swan - a violin piece transposed for cello - by Saint-Saens.

You did a very good job with this. :oD

[blin11592]

Actually, it was originally written for the cello- not transposed.

[KellyBeans27]

Oh my goodness you're right. Sorry guys! I was thinking of a different piece! -_-

[ElinPihl94]

I think you play the swan perfect, nearly.

I play the cello too, and you will not play it faster.

[dewinmoonl]

if you play it faster it losts it's verve. It's perfect the way it is.

Musicians are prone to rush a piece, don't do it!!!

[teooo]

why do you play it so slow? :> I play it like 2x the speed

You have nice tone and emotion though

[hrslucifer]

um its supposed to portray a graceful swan. your swan is swimming as fast as it can to get away from a hunter.... at least thats the feeling i get after i 2x the speeded the song.... not trying to offend but yeah its perfect the way it is

[chessmastermack]

Wow, very nice expression and vibrato ^_^.

A little more body language, and it's perfect ^_^

[tony4moroney]

are you guys twins? nice song whos the composer?

[turidoth]

That is the perfect tempo! So many people insist on taking this piece faster, for who-knows-what reason. Well done!

[luvinfused]

How many instruments do you play?

Very talented!!!

Piano, violin and cello!!!

[jycarlisle29]

Well done. I actually did this piece for a "talent show" audition once so its good to hear this piece again.

[CellissimA]

marry me! :D no, seriously. very well played!

[plasticseraphim]

I love this song. I have a recording of it but you sound far better than the recording I have.

[theogler22]

although i wish you could have sped up the tempo a little bit

[theogler22]

thats really nice.

[silverlament]

You two do absolutely gorgeous work. Please promise me that you'll pursue your instruments as fully as possible; even though it seems your most of the way there already!

Good luck in all of your future endeavors; you will certainly go very far :).

[fuckthepain]

For the ladies? Why not for the lads? Can't we appreciate lyrical pieces too. Ouch!

Very well played, by the way. But yer fweekin' me out wid yer gender politics! :-)

[kieque]

This was really good . Lots of expression and sound intonation and shifts.

[dzpm210]

really great job! i just performed it myself and you definitely did way better.

[imbrd]

Oui Oui- Le Cygne! im not sure if i spelled that right :) anyways, love this piece by Saint Saens- you play it very well- SUPERBLY WONDEROUS :)