Added: 4 years ago
From: alvarezsosa
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  • This is amazing!! So beautiful!! Thanks for posting it!

  • a very interesting rendition for sure

  • Saw this in band class last friday. It's one of the best arrangements I've ever heard.

  • Bobby is singing Bach's prelude in C, a keyboard piece.

    They have combined it with the melody on the cello (Ave Maria? Not Schubert's, but somebody's) to make a new arrangement.

  • @daviddylanharris Gounod's Ave Maria

  • @basement... What about all 3 together? That was really cool

  • just shut the hell up

    and listen to this song

    if you're gonna hate on the song

    then go to another video

  • Bobby McFerrin is amazing... can't think of another human being with his vocal range and his ear.

  • Soooo amazing

    Absolutely GORGEOUS

    Will we ever again see musicians with such sincerity, intent, and pure TALENT as Bobby McFerrin?

    This music is pure beauty.

    Does anyone know what Ave Maria means?

  • @TheSoundOfMusic64 hail mary

  • @TheSoundOfMusic64

    What do you mean, what Ave Maria means? It's "Hail, Mary", a prayer to the mother of Jesus. I'm not even religious and I couldn't escape learning that. "Ave" is Latin for "hello", basically (also check the gladiators' greeting "Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutant." - "Hail, Caesar, the ones about to die greet you.")

  • if you like bobby... check out Terry Callier.

  • I could stay here all day being renewed with these melodious wonders here for Humanity to fill up their starving souls with such beauty. Love you Bobby and Yo-Yo Ma. Thanks for allowing us to partake of these beautiful gems on youtube without paying money to enjoy. <3<3<3

  • youre wrong.

  • you should all be ashamed of yourselves starting pointless arguments when your ears are being blessed by something so beautiful...shame on you all

  • Thia is so beautiful!

  • I see there are a few Wikipedia fans on here

  • is that really yo yo ma playing? first it sounds like either a viola or a violin to me, and since i never heard yo yo ma play anything else than a cello, i'm a bit confused.

  • @DreamerSymphony1 hes playing it high on the a string cellos do indeed go that high lol

  • @erikweldingmusician interesting... i never knew that. thanks for explaining!

  • @DreamerSymphony1 yes it's Yo Yo Ma!!! he is just an incredible musician - just like Bobby is. Virtuosic is the word :) You should have a listen to the CD sometime if you're in doubt :) ..

  • awesome!!!!

  • Ah, suggesting seems to be a fine idea. Listen how yo yo ma plays Danza brasileira (written by Camargo Guarnieri). Yet another good option for you, fans of good music, would be i've got a feeling performed by Bobby McFerrin (in the best version he's wearing a blue sweater, watch it and you'll probably laugh a bit (or a lot)).

  • And I was expecting the cello to play the arpeggios!! Gosh, he really knows how to control his vocal cords!

  • GREAT¡¡¡

  • Both gentlemen are geniuses!!!!

  • The sound is OK, but the picture has vanished. How does one get it back.???

  • bet he got really light headed

  • Too bad the sound quality is poor.

  • just beautifal

  • sounds like J.S Bachs praeludium.

  • youre right its the first prelude from j.s. bach taken from The Well Tempered Piano part 1 what bobby McFerrin is performing.

    Yo-Yo Ma is Playing the Ave Maria - over it, thats how Bobby McFerrin mostly does it.

  • OH MY GOSH! I JUST REALIZED THAT! *spaz* I love playing that on my cello. But other than my spazziness this is amazing. Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby are really in harmony with each other.

  • @AvatarOfBlues Yea Bobby sings the Bach and Yo-Yo Ma the Gounod.

  • thats exactly what it is...

  • @puggle7882 thats cuz it is!!

  • Five stars!

  • Debby from fortwilliam.... this is what you could do. Check it out. Mr. Smith

  • A French composer called Charles Gounod actually wrote the part that Yo-Yo Ma is playing as a melody to be superimposed over Bach's piece. :]

  • It is...Ave Maria was written as a 'vocal layover' to the prelude.

  • to wich prelude? suite no. 1?

  • Sorry to take so long, prelude in C major from The Well Tempered Clavier.

  • it IS a prelude he's "singing." Ma's playing the Gounod Maria, whose accompaniment is Bach's piece.

    BAKA.

  • yeah it sounds like cello suite no. 1

  • jk theyre different now that i heard the two right in a row

  • Whoah...I dont usually liek classically based music but this piece sent shivers through my entire body.

  • legend

  • wow that was amazing

  • Uniquely beautiful!

  • wow i cant believe that with such beautiful music that you all still found it important to have an argument about something as miniscule and unimportant as spelling. i started reading the comments knowing that i would find some people that appreciates this type of music and maybe even some suggestions of other things to listen too, but instead i came across hatred. lol. none of you love music!

  • thank you shanyet. you make a good point. if only others could tone it down also.

  • @Shanyet~Thank you! You couldn't have said it better. People have nothing better to do than focus their energy on the wrong things. That's not the way to live life.

  • @Shanyet I love music. Whether it be Bach, Bobby or Yo-Yo all three never cease to amaze me.

  • Geniale!!!

  • woulda been cool if the underline and aboveilne intercrossed, w/ bobby above and ma below --love the way it is too, though

  • after suffereing from 'atypical-depressive-disorde' my music helps me to get by each day. this one in particular is just so comforting. thank u for putting it n u tube.

  • Bobby , qué cool xDDDD y bueno Yo yo eres genial, eso todos lo sabemos xD! simplemente espectacular O.o

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  • wow! Absolutely Wow!

  • a really beautiful version, but what is most surprising is the talent of these two musical geniuses. a delight listen

  • LOVE BOBBY MC FERRIN BRASIL!!!

  • The convination is amaizing!

  • los amoooo!!

  • What Bobby can do with his voice and what Yo Yo Ma can do on the strings is paralleled excellence. Beautiful

  • yoyoma couldn't be more pitch perfect. :|

  • hijos de su pinche cola apestosa

    se la rifan.

  • bobby the bach yo yo the ave maria

  • all is the ave maria, bobby the bach, yo yo the gounod part XD

  • clave bien temperado . JS Bach=?

  • Mcferrin and Yo Yo Ma, both masters of their art, together in one place: Greatest idea ever conceived...

  • WoW.

    When does this guy breath. This is impossible!!!!

  • Gods don't need to breathe lol

  • lol you're right

  • He probably employs a circular breathing technique.

  • circular breathing while singing? im afraid thats impossible. listen to him sing this piece live, you can definatley hear him breath.

  • No such thing a circular breathing while singing. You can only use circular breathing on a wind instrument, I am sure you don't know EXACTLY what circular breathing is. It is as follows:

    1 Begin playing normally

    2 Fill your mouth/cheeks with air.

    3 Play the instrument by using your cheeks to push air into the instrument.

    4 In haled deeply while using your cheeks to blow air through the instrument and repeat from step 2.

    This technique is very difficult, even advanced players seldom use it.

  • let me correct you. it does exist. i myself have done it in college vocal classes. i was at a workshop with bobby mcferrin and he taught everyone there how to circular breathe. not only did bobby mcferin teach us but one of the members in his old band who also was very good at circular breathing did it and showed us his techniques too. im a music major in college and i have done extensive research on this and to make sure peoples theorys were correct, i took it upon myself to try it. it exists.

  • At what college are you a music major? Your grammar, punctuation, spelling, and general content make it a bit difficult to believe you as a potential PhD. It is hard to take anyone seriously who posts as if they were texting.

  • well DrSara i dont know if you know anything about technology, but this thing i u se is called a cell phone. so yes, technically speaking, i AM texting. SECONDLY, i also an very currious to know if you realize this is a friend based websight for sharing...not a novel... i dont focus my life around spelling and grammar like some loser do because i AM NOT an english major, nor will i ever be. i happen to be going into my masters program at University of Puget Sound.

  • There is always time for correct spelling and grammar.

  • if your going to try to be an english teacher do us all a favor and dont do it on a friend sight for blogging and sharing. cuz no one cares. its not a matter of having "time" for it. some people just have no lives and sit here and read the comments trying to fix and correct peoples spelling and grammar. this is not a novel being written, this is a sharing sight. if you dont like the way i type on a FRIENDLY SHARING SIGHT, then get the fuck off of it, or quit bitching.

    have a nice day.

  • Another thing DrSara, Music does not involve any form of spelling or grammar. it involves mathematical equations and science. but of course, you obviously have no knowledge of that or you wouldn't be making snide comments about my content. thanks for your input anyway!

  • I couldn't agree more.

  • obviously you must have no experience in vocals. it may not sound as pretty as a normal breathing exercise would but it does exist . do some research and try it ur self. easiest when done by whistling, do the same on a pitch of ur choice with the vowel o. i wouldnt reccomend circular breathing if you are trying to sound pretty unless you are highly trained and know how to controll your diaphragm and vocal chords. but it is possible people. this topic is what is going to get me my Ph.D. in music.

  • To label such a technique as circular breathing would be wildly inappropriate because there's really no circular exchange of air going on at all, in contrast to circular breathing with wind instruments.

    akm5176, I think laurielovesyou is talking about singing normally until your air runs out, then singing while inhaling.

    To call this circular breathing, however, is completely misleading.

  • yes. the term cirtular breathing is misleading by its name, but it is the "correct" terminology. thank you DrParkMD517. that is exactally what i am talking about and what akm5176 is talking about on a wins instrument. i have been with bobby mcferrin in one of his work shops in lionel hampton jazz festival and learned from him directly. its a very simple thing to do, it just takes practice, as using any instrument does. i do think they should come up with a more logical name for it though...

  • he does breathe, but its a technique known as circular breathing. excuse my language but i cant stand half of these idiots who have no idea what circular breathing is. the name is very misleading but i have learned from mcferrin myself at his workshops. try whistling while inhaling, keep whistling while inhaling. same concept with the voice. obviously a recording like this is altered to sound better. circular breathing does not sound that pretty. but is very possible :) (topic to get my Ph.D. )

  • Just don't call it circular breathing and it won't upset the brass players.

  • Can you really circular breath for singing? It's my understanding that circular breathing works with instruments by using a reserve of air kept in the mouth. Seeing as tones of the voice are produced in the throat, I don't see how one can circular breathe while singing.

  • yes drumstyx you can. but alot of people cannot because its difficult. ive done it myself at a bobby mcferrin workshop in lionel hampton. you are 100% correct that the tones od the voice are produced in the throat however, air passes in, AND out through the throat. therefore making it all possible. however, its not a pretty sound. this recording was obviously altered to sound better. its a very rough sound. try it. you sound like you have some musical background, you can probably pull it off(:

  • Ah, I see what you mean now, interesting, I didn't know that was actually a technique, used to do that for fun when I was a kid lol. I do indeed have a musical background, 10 years alto sax, 7 years guitar and 6 years piano, sort of my backup plan if engineering doesn't pan out :P

  • thats great! the world obviously needs more people who are musically inclined after reading some of the posts on here! haha. thats really great tho!

  • @laurielovesyou HEy I wanna learn but how do I accomplish circular breathing I mean how do I breath in and exhale through my mouth at the same time?!?!?

  • @zkira1 Sorry. Just noticed you asked about this! Try whisteling normally (exhaling) now breath in (DO NOT MOVE YOUR LIPS) and adjust the tightness of the muscels in your lips. You may have in inhale quicker than usual and tighted your lips but you should hear a faint whistle. Thats the first sign you are doing it right! practice that A LOT! It takes lots of practice to be able to continuously sing the way Bobby does, but it can be accomplished :) Good luck!! Hope that helps you :)

  • bobby meets so many amazing and wonderful composers he is very lucky but he is also a very great composer in his own way i wish i could meet him. And this is coming from my 13 year old son please if you agree with him and me give this a thumb up but if you don't then you have no taste in music what so ever.

  • this is bach prelude #1 yep...i just love yo yo ma and bobby mcferrin

  • Well technically this is Ave maria by Charles Gounod. the melody line is written by him, but the part that bobby sings is J.S. Bach's C major preludium from the Wohltempiert klavier.

  • in that prelude, gounod put the ave maria lyric, is fantastic, i love this ave maria, i really don't like shubert

  • "Stifle"...no, not quite. They sought to carefully distinguish between sacred and forgery. If you want to call exempting the forgeries "stifling", fine.

  • I've heard that turning up the volume can help if something is too quiet.

  • this is the J.S. Bach Gounoud version of Ave Maria

  • i have a question. Is this Schubert's ave maria or is it something else? im really confused.

  • It is, indeed. But they only play the melody yet not cover the vocal part.

  • poo :( ah well, ave maria's an amazing aria, even without the lyrics :p

  • It is Bach I believe, not Schubert o.0 Bobby's part is in my piano book as a prelude o.0

  • hahha ya this is def. not shubert's ave maria. That goes much different tho they are both pretty. Im pretty sure this is bach prelude #1, but i could be wrong....

  • is Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C major, BWV 846 by Johann Sebastian Bach, and later Charles Gounod put that beatiful melody it becomes the "Bach-Gounod Ave Maria",IN MY OPINION MUCH BETTER THAN THE SHUBERT VERSION, SORRY MY ENGLISH, AND HI FROM ARGENTINA !

  • @alvarezsosa & @jiejingz (answer 1/2):

    The vocal part, performed by Bobby McFerrin, is the prelude in C major (BWV 846), the first of 24 pieces of the so-called Well-Tempered Clavier ("Das Wohltemperirte Clavier), Book I (1722) & Book II (1742), written by German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750).

  • @alvarezsosa & @jiejingz (answer 2/2):

    The string part, performed by cello player Yo-Yo Ma, is a popular and much-recorded setting of the Latin prayer "Ave Maria", composed in a melody which is superimposed over Bach's Prelude BWV 846 (see above) as "Méditation sur le 1er prélude de Bach". It was written in 1859 by French Romantic composer Charles F. Gounod (1818-1893).

  • @alvarezsosa & @jiejingz:

    Thus, the cello part is NOT "Ellens Gesang III" (D839, Op 52 no 6) - popularly also called "Ave Maria" - written in 1825 by German Romantic composer Franz Schubert.

  • Bach prelude no. 1. The cello portion is by Ground

  • @jiejingz i thought  bach wrote this originally

  • just heavenly! truely gifted both of them

  • Ah, how does mcferrin produce that mesmerizing sine-like tone...

  • until i stumbled across the videos by yo yo ma, i was under the impression that bobby mcferrin had dropped off the face of the musical world. This is fucking tight though. Anyone have an estimated date from when this happened?

  • Danny, this is was recorded in 1991. McFerrin is awesome (and Yo-Yo too) -- I would suggest going to McFerrin's website and see how active he still is in music. =) In my opinion, this rendition of the Ave Maria is one of the most stunning pieces of music that exists.

  • This piece is also known as 'The well tempered clavicord' luuv it and can play it.

  • so nice

  • Wonderful!!!

  • just amazing

  • klasyka...bravo!

  • Music transcends all cultural, religious, and political differences. It's simply the best form of communication amongst us all.

    This combination is calming and sublime.

  • oiga increible ! jajaja ..bno si creible pero... es que entona tremendamente !

  • the human voice, the most beautiful instrument of all. this is my favorite.

  • Simply sublime and beautiful, just close your eyes and let this fabulous melody wash all your cares away...I have... love it and all of Bobby's music, totally unique and brilliant.

  • I'm in my happy place :-)

  • OH!! What a wonderful music, I forgot all my unhappy things with the music...I cry for this music...

  • Lovely...

  • y' damned yanks and your religious spouts, just shut the fuck up and enjoy the music for *beep's* sake eh?

  • Really just spine chilling. So beautiful. The infusing of two amazing talents... I adore it.

  • Wow! When I saw the title, I imagined the opposite - Bobby singing the melody accompanied by Yo-Yo's cello - and went "Yeah it must be beautiful but kinda expected and banal." How wrong was I! Just amazing, both of them.

  • BEAUTIFUL!

    I saw Bobby in Norway, and sang with him on stage and all, he is just fantastic!

  • peaceful

  • that is the coolest thing I have EVER heard!

  • Saw them perform this in NY.

    Twas magical.

  • coventrygardens, bible existed A LOT of time before the time that is believed that Jesus Christ came.

  • Actually, the first Bible was composed and cut down at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. So youre wrong. And coventrygardens, I understand you point about that but Baptists, like most Protestant denominations (with the exception of the Calvinist type denominations) do not believe in pre-destination and believe in salvation through the Bible AND works of good faith. I'm a Baptist by the way. Thanks.

  • Just to nitpick, but the entirety of the canonical (and even the apocryphal) Bible was written far before 325. It was at the Council of Nicaea that the canon was simply formalized. By then, all of the books of the New Testament were well in circulation and already considered authoritative and God-inspired.

    Also, proper Christian soteriology states that salvation is through faith alone, in Christ alone. (sola fide, sola Christus). Good works do not cause salvation, salvation causes good works.

  • well, bible wasn't copied from Babylon? :)

  • Actually the council of Nicaea sought to stifle the books of the bible. the new testament has a lot more books than what the council ordained as the authoritative God-inspired books. If you are at all interested research it from the ethiopian books, via the library of congress. the ethiopians are the most authoritative and "true" keepers of all jewish/christian works i.e. queen of sheba and the solomic line, keepers of the arc of the covenant.

  • i clicked this and expected the cello suite to be played by Yo Yo Ma, it was a nice surprise

  • i'm not religious at all, but I still love this piece

  • Agreed. You don't have to be a certain religion to like certain music.

  • yes, you right

  • kakoFATus:

    DUH.

  • My alltime favourite of Yoyo Ma and Bobby M. is definitely Vivaldi - Andante. If you appreciate this amazing duo, I suggest you check it out. Enjoy

  • Who could not love this?

  • simply perfection...no other way to put it

  • My God........simply breathtaking!

  • If you like this check out Celtic Womans version of this sung by Chloe Agnew.

  • these guys are amazing together!!!

  • If your lucky enough to see him in concert, you will get to hear how splendid this sounds in person!

  • Bobby or Yo-Yo?

  • Both?

  • Instrumentally precise.

  • I have had the honor of briefly meeting Bobby Mcferrin (even got a hug!). His version of Ave Maria never fails to soothe and uplift.

  • Oh man I would love to talk to him. I'm so excited for you!

  • sublime

  • this is such an innovative take on this song... i love it! from a fellow cellist bravo!

  • bobby mcferrin is teh god

  • there are some things so sublime that it is impossible to say how beautiful they are. how can you express how fully your heart opens up to allow joy to fill you up so that tears flow and your heart wants to burst?

  • Funny that Bobby is doing the Cello part, and Yo Yo Ma is doing the vocal part.

  • that's awesome! love both yo yo and bobby, great stuff! please upload more of their collaboration material! =)

  • ok i was being totally ignorant (excuse me)...very beautiful piece anyhow

  • ok my mistake...it is some form of ave maria...but the ave maria i had in mind is the composition by schubert

  • There are bound to be more than a few pieces of that title, considering the origin of the subject matter.