Yo-Yo Ma: In his own words
Series: Musicians in their own words
From: David Schulman
Length: 00:03:24
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- Yo-Yo Ma: In his own words
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- David Schulman
Yo-Yo Ma's cello is fluent in the languages of Vivaldi and Dvorak. But lately, it's also been speaking the musical idioms of Brazil, and Appalachia, and of traditional styles all along the Silk Road.
In this first-person feature, Ma describes how his musical world travels have deepened his experience of music from Bach to Pixinguinha -- and back again.
This piece debuted on PRX as a special sneak preview of the first Musicians in their own words satellite feed to stations.This piece will fit ATC or ME cutaways.
As in all the pieces in David Schulman's CPB-supported Musicians in their own words series, the story is told through a mix of the performer's voice and music. There is no reporter's voice heard, allowing the feature to be seamlessly incorporated into station news, talk, or music programming.
Scripts for intro and outro are attached, and may be edited at will.
This piece also works well pegged to local performances.
An encore feature on Yo-Yo Ma's approach to Bright Sheng's "Drunken Fisherman" is available here.
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Related Pieces
Piece Description
Yo-Yo Ma's cello is fluent in the languages of Vivaldi and Dvorak. But lately, it's also been speaking the musical idioms of Brazil, and Appalachia, and of traditional styles all along the Silk Road. In this first-person feature, Ma describes how his musical world travels have deepened his experience of music from Bach to Pixinguinha -- and back again. This piece debuted on PRX as a special sneak preview of the first Musicians in their own words satellite feed to stations.This piece will fit ATC or ME cutaways. As in all the pieces in David Schulman's CPB-supported Musicians in their own words series, the story is told through a mix of the performer's voice and music. There is no reporter's voice heard, allowing the feature to be seamlessly incorporated into station news, talk, or music programming. Scripts for intro and outro are attached, and may be edited at will. This piece also works well pegged to local performances. An encore feature on Yo-Yo Ma's approach to Bright Sheng's "Drunken Fisherman" is available here.
2 Comments
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Review of Yo-Yo Ma: In his own wordsYo-Yo Ma is possibly the most congenial human being on the planet and it shows on this episode of In Their Own Words. I would urge classical stations in particular to find the three and a half minutes in their otherwise relentless walls of music to drop this in. |
Broadcast History
PRX debut.
Transcript
Keywords: Yo-Yo Ma, cello, Bach, Wynton Marsalis, Brazil, Paquito D'Rivera, Astor Piazzolla, Dvorak, Bright Sheng, Silk Road, jamming, vibrato, China, Argentina, Musicians in their own words, WUNC, David Schulman
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
Piece Title:
Yo-Yo Ma: In his own words
Piece Length:
3:50 (3:22 tape time + script)
NOTE: Fits new ATC cutaway.
TAPE IN: "Playing music that is not part of a supposed record-bin category ..."
TAPE OUT: Ends with :17 music tail Last spoken words: "... as inventive as one can."
Musical Works
All excerpts from Yo-Yo Ma CDs including:
Cello Suites nos. 1, 5 & 6 (Bach Prelude from suite No. 1 in G major)
Concertos from the New World (Dvorak Cello Concerto, Allegro)
Yo-Yo Ma Solo (Bringht Sheng, "Seven Tunes Heard in CHina."
Obrigado Brazil ("Brasileirinho")
Obrigado BRazil Live in Concert ("So Danco Samba")
Soul of the Tango (Astor Piazzolla: "Fugata")
Additional Files
- (description) (YoYoMaPRXscript)
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Dmae Roberts
Posted on May 22, 2004 at 08:08 AM | Permalink
Review of Yo-Yo Ma: In his own words
I could listen to pieces with and about Yo-Yo Ma all day. Not only is he a brilliant musician but he's a skilled and expressive communicator. Artists often have a difficult time explaining and their art. Not so with Ma. This is an excellent arts piece with intricately woven music and interview segments. Would work in any magazine show. Highly recommended...