Fun with YouTube
A young man named William Zauscher has created several entertaining videos available at YouTube. In the most memorable ones, he sings all the parts of the "B Minor Mass" (Dona nobis pacem, Sanctus, and Cum sancto spiritu) simultaneously, in split-screen, a rather impressive feat, especially the 6-part fugue in the Sanctus. The screechy soprano part in the Dona nobis pacem, eventually surpassed by a soaring violin track, can drive my cats from the room. Zauscher's facial grimaces (he sings on "noo" basically, without the syllables of the original text) and wild conducting are a stitch: the multiple versions of himself even interact with one another, which must have taken some planning. Besides Bach, he has strange takes on an excerpt from Puccini's Turandot (with a hilarious guest soloist), Death and Transfiguration, and the Chorus Mysticus from the Symphony of a Thousand. In the latter, the soundtrack is sequenced to corresponding snippets of the score and semi-orgasmic facial expressions (totally appropriate).
All videos by wzauscher at YouTube
Many thanks to Anne-Carolyn Bird for bringing this to my attention.
5 comments:
The logical outcome of the one-on-a-part Bach performance-practice movement, methinks.
Charles, you left out my favorite part of introducing this to you! In your email reply, you said, "If they had YouTube when I was his age, I would have probably done something like this, but not nearly as well as he has."
Hahahaha! I love it. Seeing young Mr. Ionarts goofing around in the ultimate display of music geekery. And you know how I feel about music geekery! Too bad Mr. Zaushcer isn't about 20 years older; he'd have my heart!
Yes, Joshua Rifkin will probably love this. ;-)
ACB, my music geekery is evident enough without YouTube to document it!
William Zauscher is brilliant, period. This is from a professional orchestral violinist, now. Does he have an agent?
He should have an agent if he does not yet, I agree.
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