Reacting to Pro Violinists Skipping IMPOSSIBLE MOMENTS in Classical Music?!

[@RAC-FER]

Let’s troll him and get to 50k likes to see him fail God save the King

[@ViolinMechanic]

Please don’t, I need time to practice…

[@Frankenstein-Kevin-Xaverius]

@@ViolinMechanic yes, please.

[@adroitwastaken]

nice alt account LMAO @@ViolinMechanic

[@SisselOnline]

​@@ViolinMechanicdon't worry, you may have a year to practice in this rate😊

[@mementomori7266]

The Erlkonig was originally written for piano and voice, so it makes sense that the violin transcription would be insainely difficult.

[@OphelyaGMS]

Came here to say the same thing. She's playing the whole piano part plus a solo voice part.

[@rykehuss3435]

that depends entirely on the transcription

[@RandomStuff15agerTEMP]

It was supposed to be a violin duet

[@soothingmoments2139]

Roman Kim be like.. USE THE THUMB.. You feeble humans..

[@RosyOutlook17]

Lol!

[@michalinasulkowska876]

I love how you actually tried to play the pieces, credit due! Amazing video, thank you!

[@ViolinMechanic]

I’m sure with a little more practice I could attempt them more decently, sorry for your ears

[@michalinasulkowska876]

@@ViolinMechanic I actually really enjoyed listening to your attempts, really does show how difficult those pieces are. But you should definitely attempt to see how they sound after a bit of practice!

[@rolfleiners132]

Ich bin auch vom " Erlkönig" fasziniert....... Es zu versuchen und das eine oder andere zu schaffen, macht Freude.....

[@rykehuss3435]

1:41 but I hear the pizz?

[@MishaTheElder]

I still think Hahn's performance is stunning to the extreme despite the missing pizz. Actually I think it's the best ever recorded performance of the Erlkönig... Also, I can assure you she practiced at least 40 hours a day before that...

[@ViolinMechanic]

No doubt! She is an absolute legend!!!

[@myrtillegrandesoreilles8275]

I agree. I listened to quite some recordings of that piece, and my criterium to like it is that I have to be able to sing along well

[@Y3llow_Submarin3]

it's just impossible to play with octaves & left hand pizz..... Only octopus can play

[@honeyyutong]

she makes it seem so effortless when playing - if i were to play it sounds super crunchy because of all the notes, but it sounds really light and the melody is so easily audible in jer performance :p truly one of THE violinists of our time

[@dudeforcaster8630]

The pizz is not missing because you can hear them.

[@Elijah24553]

11:39 "this looks like gibberish" Pianists: 😐

[@frédéricchopinFan.9479]

😂

[@Musicrafter12]

Something even more incredible that you overlooked: *Roman Kim is not actually playing what is written.* If you pay careful attention to his fingering, you will notice that it is rather anomalous. That's because not only is he playing the impossible double harmonics passage, he decided to *do forced harmonics instead*, something a vast majority of violinists haven't even heard of, let alone figured out how to do. That's also how his harmonic trills sound so clean. He does this a lot. For example, even more amazingly, if you listen to his rendition of Paganini's I Palpiti carefully, he plays some of it an octave *lower* than written. In perhaps the only known instance of playing something *down* the octave on the violin being even more impressive than the original, he plays passages at pitches which would be literally outside the range of the instrument using our conventional understanding of how harmonics work. But he found a way. Listen carefully to other works of his and you will see them: each of his three Romances again forces their use (low pitches, and chromatic harmonic scales and arpeggios!); he ups the ante and throws in double stop harmonic tremolos and harmonic arpeggios over left hand pizzicato (!!!) in I Brindisi. In the Beethoven 5 transcription he's even seemingly figured out how to play them as part of double stops with normal notes! I don't blame him for flexing his technique by using it in literally everything he writes or plays; since I also am among the few who have learned how to do it, so do I!

[@RaidenDisNots]

haha all this effort for the fame

[@StraussKeyboards]

In our time, Roman Kim is the best bro

[@ElsweyrDiego]

Roman Kim is the only compositor everyone skips not only some lines from his music, but literally all the pieces in their entirety, we just don't have anyone playing his compositions or arrangements... maybe you can be the first in the internet?

[@Vlad-vb8lo]

@@StraussKeyboardsmaybe if he was playing with a standard violin he would be, but his is fretted, which makes certain things like these passages significantly easier

[@phantasmal914]

@@Vlad-vb8lohis recording of God Save The King has no frets, so that means he can do it with or without them.

[@TheSenateOrder66]

Acutally in the standard version of the Erlkönig the left hand pizz doesn't exist in the octave place! I played this piece many times so I wonder what edition shows left pizz there?

[@healingvision91]

That part

[@myrtillegrandesoreilles8275]

I really liked this, it's nice to hear again that playing the violin IS painful, but you don't get depressed over it and that really gives me motivation bc sometimes I really wonder if I'm just not physically able to play. It's encouraging. So thanks.

[@chriss6356]

Am I crazy? I swear I'm hearing the pizz on Hahn's recording.

[@jgunther3398]

i hear it too. the notes are there but i hear pizz, most clearly on the g note. i can think of examples in the repertory where if it sounds like what it's supposed to be it's good enough. also i've seen at least one video of her's that was obviously edited, so here the pizz could have been put in post processing

[@alejandronarvaez9806]

Yeah, she clearly plays the pizz

[@Deadbushfan1618]

I do not see her pizzing for the two notes in question, but the two notes before that are pizzed. look at her bow lol

[@SomeOne-px4up]

i was tots expecting you to be a pretty big youtuber with the quality, imagine my shock seeing a bit under 15 k subs!!!!

[@ViolinMechanic]

Thanks for the compliment, I appreciate it lots!

[@RAC-FER]

Let’s all subscribe so he can get more subs

[@C_Madrid]

I've subscribed

[@randomyoutuber8814]

As a pianist, God save the Violinists.

[@lehrmandavid10]

What a fascinating blend of courage at trying the pieces, and the chance to hear interesting curios of pieces that are virtually unplayable. I hope you will continue your exploration of the impossible repertoire, esp the Ernst's Last Rose of Summer and Variations on the Austrian National Anthem, by Wieniawski. A few comments: I had always heard that thinner strings enable better execution of double stop harmonics; to my recollection Ruggiero Ricci and Leonidas Kavakos also performed the Pag Caprice # 5 with the ricochet bowing; and to my ears Ernst is a one syllable name (like Urnst). I am happy to be corrected. Mostly, though, your posting points out that just as tennis players execute and train feats not imagined a half century ago, violinists now record repertoire the likes of Heifetz or Milstein, might have tried in lessons but never performed. (I have read that Heifetz first played Ernst F# Minor concerto for Kreisler, dazzling him, but did not include the piece in his standard repertoire.) Again, thanks for a thoughtful and amusing exploration of this fascinating subject.

[@ViolinMechanic]

Thanks for the thoughts! I took a look at the National Anthem... first time hearing it, y hands were shaking just by listening to it lol

[@emmyyang4339]

Just putting my two pence in: in later recordings Hilary does play the LH pizz! Not sure why she doesn’t do it here, but in others she does :)

[@MissTwoSetEncyclopedia]

She was quite young in that recording (can't remember how old exactly since Hilary has always looked much younger than her age 😄). So it's natural that her skills weren't as developed as they are today, even though her playing has always been exceptional.

[@Killerbee4712]

I think Hahn actually did play the sauret cadenza in one of her Paganini recordings, so just... more badass for her I guess lol.

[@lluje2612]

As a violist and violinist, I understand the pain😭😭

[@ViolinMechanic]

hahaha yes this video was painful to make

[@Ifailedmyself]

Imagine playing Viola💀💀💀

[@MissTwoSetEncyclopedia]

​@@Ifailedmyself Imagine playing an underappreciated and yet wonderful instrument.

[@octopuszombie8744]

@@Ifailedmyself Twosetter :S

[@SantiagoDrumond-mh5zh]

I have found a recording of Gil Shaham playing the Paganini 1st concerto cadenza I believe and he did it perfectly, even though I don't think it was live, it's still very impressive. Just listen to it. Imo it's almost perfect if not perfect, and it sounds pristine clear.

[@xdavidliu]

4:50 "that sounded angelic" LMAO

[@Hadriandidnothingwrong-z8c]

1:34 I have played the piece, I can play the left hand piz, and so can Hilary. The reason why this is not how it's played is because it's not loud enough next to the double stop, especially when playing in a large hall. Stop being so smug about it, there are far more difficult things in the piece anyway.

[@rebeccalouisewillson]

I think the point is that we shouldn’t hold ourselves up to ridiculous standards. Seeing incredible musicians doing tiny variations reminds us to give ourselves permission not to strive for unachievable perfection.

[@Mathemusician3141]

6:53 As a drummer this made me feel even worse about struggling with double kick pedal and fast double stroke rolls. I've got it easy compared to this! Mad respects to all violinists for not just giving up. Seems nightmarish to play.

[@giftdonation2619]

Meanwhile Otoha (She was 12 years old when she plays Erlkonig) did the left hand pizz and used a pinky place holder. Her skill is actually unreal.

[@itsleonwu]

if i'm not mistaken Tatsuki Narita also does the 3 down 1 up bowing for paganini 5 (it's on youtube under "Tatsuki Narita, 24 Paganini Caprices" kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y4jWc4x4qd-oo5Y where he played all 24 in one concert LOL) that video is also notable for his ridiculously fast staccato in caprice 21 around the 1:14:39 mark

[@ALoonwolf]

If music is too difficult to play I SIMPLIFY it instead of just skipping it entirely. Several notes in different octaves are basically the same note, different versions of the same chord are basically the same chord, and different ways to play a note are basically the same note!

[@nicholaslarson3778]

I think this is the right approach!

[@LightPixel420]

i would like to say ray chen also used the original bowing for paganini's 5th caprice when he performed it in the menuhin

[@Tei_022]

I literally play bass clarinet and clarinet, I cannot imagine even attempting to understand having to worry about the sophistication & precision of these pieces 😭

[@SkeletonHands6969]

funny video lol The way Roman Kim plays the double stop harmonics is with forced harmonics which I think is even harder but lets him do the double stop harmonic trill. I don't know how to do the double stop harmonic trill if you are using the 1-4 fingering for the double stop harmonics I wish I did

[@ViolinMechanic]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@andrewzhang8512]

You do fingered harmonics (1-3)

[@Musicrafter12]

Generally for harmonic trills you can just fake it by just lightly tapping the note above. It does the job, though Roman's way actually allows the pure tone to speak and is obviously cleaner and better.

[@prakhyatpandey5341]

For Pag 5 and Pag violin concerto, you must review Maria Duenas. She is out of this world...

[@pagophilus]

As far as I remember Leonidas Kavakos played the harmonics section.

[@liamnevilleviolist1809]

1:18 (circling that "bass" B) - as it is - place your first finger for B, second finger for the G above, and the fourth finger for the G an octave above? That leaves your third finger to pluck the bass B. I don't know if I'm missing anything here..

[@randylazer2894]

I liked this video as you really know what you are talking about, and had the courage to play as many of us would when trying to practice these incredibly difficult pieces. Actually many of us couldn't even attempt to play what you did. Yeah, Paganini's God Save the King seems to be written in a different language. I didn't think there was much that makes Ysaye seem easy, but that one does. Also, to play double harmonics likely helps to have a very good violin, and to be a virtuoso. You really have great knowledge and a very good sense of humor. I look forward to seeing more of your videos. If you pull off God Save the King......hats off to you.....I looked at that music, and said.....no way!

[@nocreative4990]

for god save the king, you can also find on youtube a video of kavakos playing it with the harmonics, which is also really impressive! (to me, thoses harmonics looks harder then roman kim's 'forced harmonics' because while it is true that this is a thing most violinist don't know how to do, it feels like once mastered, it can be more easily executed then the regular harmonics, where even if you know exactly how to produce it, it would still be very hard controlling all four fingers simultaneously. but i am not even a violinist, so i might be wrong about this.)

[@IgarashiDai]

Omg, all the little jokes killed me lol. The “help me” and the claw marks had me rolling 😂

[@Punch_is_thinking]

Well, Chloe Chua nailed that cadenza lol

[@kiseryo]

Wait, in the edition of the elkonig that i own it's written without the pizz, maybe this is more well known than the editions with pizz so that's why musicians dont play it

[@aldoingermany]

LOVED LOVED LOVED this video! Props to you for even attempting to play excerpts from these pieces... I look at them and think: Yeaaaaaaahhh...Sure.

[@kostasmponis1042]

On Paganini's you MUST check Kavakos:)

[@HellNoNotKerry]

Erlkönig, Ning Feng played the octave and pizz on Spotify recording!!

[@von0312]

it seems that hadn't only plays the pizza at certain moments. there are recordings of her (outside of professional recordings/performances) where she does the pizz only in certain parts.

[@agnidas5816]

Really cool stuff. You know what helps me with the trills ? Practising specific hand and finger strength. Doing those reverse opening finger resistance excercises, lots of forearm stretches and massage. Hard hand massage. It all helps a lot. Even lat massage to allow for good posture. Just being strong at lifting heavy things doesn't help. Specifics ... like arm wrestling...

[@norbertschanne1943]

Erlkönig: there is only left hand pizz in bar 2/3 and, 4/5 (and later in 33/34 and 35/36), but no left hand pizz in bar 9/10 and 11/12 when you play the G in octaves (at least in the sheet I have)... and I believe that that's the easiest part of the Grand Caprice (compared to the harmonics section starting in bar 58, or the trills starting in 117).

[@Hannah-CatLady]

The "If you can play it slowely you can play it quickely"😂👏👏

[@marksands1861]

I really like your videos. Keep up the good work. Oh and by the way, I agree with you as to who is the greatest violinist alive today and Roman Kim is his name.

[@mihaesculucamihai493]

Instantly recognized kogan s playing the sauret cadenza=D

[@Applebutter52]

Ning Feng does the left hand pizz in die erlkonig. Ning Feng fans rise up

[@SantiagoDrumond-mh5zh]

Doesn't Ning Feng do left hand pizzicato in the moment you said, in his recording of Der Erlkönig in 2012? Definitely check it out because I am not a violinist, I am a bassoonist, but I think he did left hand pizzicato in the part you said no one did.

[@ViolinMechanic]

Bro you’re right! I know that in a later arrangement he didn’t include it.

[@saulright5089]

Hey man, do you answer questions on here? Will you be playing the „can you hear the music“ piece from oppenheimer like YOU PROMISED???? The theme on 9 violins was beautiful btw

[@ViolinMechanic]

Hey! Yes I haven’t forgotten! I’ve been really bombarded with other projects. It takes a lot of time to make an arrangement for 9 violins haha

[@evanjones9602]

The triplet octaves in Erlkonig is a problem regardless of which version you're playing; it's notorious on the Liszt solo piano version and original version by Schubert.

[@susanbryant6516]

Watching you, a perfectly good violinist, attempting to get through these tricky bits really showcases how difficult they are to perform.

[@georgiag851]

Really fantastic video

[@thedynamicsolo4232]

So how many world venues have you played at ViolinMechanic?

[@malachimarasigan]

this guy is really funny and entertaining!

[@h.e.a311]

silliness mode won't build us...The firmer the more fruitful the result is.

[@burburchacha]

8:15 that's the most blatant cheat I have ever seen, my goodness 🤣

[@beloved9]

Music college students 100 years from now will probably be forced to practice Roman Kim's pieces as part of their repertoire. 😂 Just like Ernest's pieces once did. God save the violinists!

[@שמעון-ק2ח]

It's famous, how Zimerman plucks the last g, as if with a guilt feeling that it is so easy, which it is. So he pauses as if to say, "neither me nor you came here to hear me play that last g, but all right then .... and then plucks that last g string!".

[@That1Violist]

And why do I want to be professional Violist and Orchestra teacher again??

[@RosyOutlook17]

Keep liking it so it shows up in more people’s recommended, so they can like it too, so it gets 50k!

[@megaalphavulcan8036]

Kinda sad that Ernst, Last Rose of Summer or Liszt/Milstein, Mephisto Waltz didn't make it in the video.

[@quest-cequecesttonvisage]

nice editing!

[@hremiko]

🙌🙏 Appreciated

[@cosminbrad4966]

" Balada " de Ciprian Porumbescu , e greu de interpretat ? 🤔😉😊

[@jamesrahe5287]

could you do a video where you spend a week trying to learn one of these pieces?

[@ViolinMechanic]

Haha sure that would be a great idea, and a painful one. Which one do you have in mind?

[@EllieJin]

@@ViolinMechanic I'd say the Paganini Cadenza! Have at it maybe?

[@_.Sir_Isaac_Newton._]

@@ViolinMechanicgod save the king pls 😮

[@Kyujar.png49]

You should have shown the Kavakos PAG 5 😂

[@ellybargmusic]

I fall into the trap of writing impossible parts sometimes but wow that Sauret Candenza... that's not creativity anymore, that's just cruel

[@bobdagranny7431]

Hey, great video, i think your mic glitched out when the video got to god save the king

[@gabbleratchet1890]

It's not impossible. I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home...oh wait. Wrong video.

[@jettdoesrandomstuff4892]

Me: i wonder what the piece will be? (Approximately 4 seconds later): ah, erlkönig, of course

[@PointyTailofSatan]

It's like Godowsky's Passacaglia & Fugue for the piano. So difficult, even a giant like Horowitz considered the piece impossible. Yet, for the technical elite, such as Marc Andre Hamlin, it becomes a work of genius.

[@da96103]

5:38 Flute players: First time?

[@Lui.mahuiz]

I play the cello so I'm watching this for fun 🗿👍🏼💣💥

[@ViolinMechanic]

I am very mediocre at the cello. Welcome to the channel!

[@Lui.mahuiz]

@@ViolinMechanic thank you!💛💛💛

[@lazychickenugget]

Same!!!

[@RiaS825]

Hey, i also skipped some stuff in my Suzuki concert (I messed up lol) but I just continued and acted like nothing was wrong and no one even noticed!

[@_.Sir_Isaac_Newton._]

well maybe no one gives a fuk because your a beginner suzuki player…

[@Mns_87]

Did Roman Kim play the harmonics part of God Save the King?

[@ViolinMechanic]

He used his forced harmonics techniques

[@heifetz14]

Ernest. Nice one son.

[@ViolinMechanic]

🤣 gets more people to comment

[@changen4125]

I mean it's like all Rush E renditions being made as skipping of parts. The piece is written to be impossible to play. Violinists have the same pieces also. Unless, the composer has played it, I am assuming the piece is actually just impossible, rather than difficult.

[@vladimir_violin]

I like you) keep doing what u do

[@ViolinMechanic]

Appreciate it:)

[@miemie635]

Roman Kim : nah I'm the one saving the King

[@alejandronarvaez9806]

Ning Feng clearly plays the written pizz in the octaves section in Ernst's (not "ernest" 💀) der Erlkönig in the very same 2012 recording which is the tumbnail picture you put when you said you listened to almost every performance 1:24 (which you clearly didn't) You can listen better he clearly plays them in the album recording Also, I think Hillary Hahn does play those left h pizz notes, sound isn't as clear because it is a large hall and notes keep playing suspended in the air, but you can definitely hear the last G pizz

[@eddieandmaxie]

Im lookinf at all these pieces so i can make the hardest violin concerto ever only for no one to listen to it LOL

[@alexrayvanth9619]

Whats the background music playing in your video

[@hremiko]

Which one? There are 1. Tchaikovsky - Waltz of Flower 2. Bach - Tocata in D minor 3. Beethoven - Symphony No. 5

[@xandraxandra1437]

A classical music video or a violin video without a bit of Twoset, isn't a real video. 😂👍

[@kinorspielmann4649]

If you're saying Hahn ducks difficulty, you're talking out of your...

[@isleofdeath]

Missing Ysaye in there...

[@nmsland426]

Even though I don`t play violin, those technique make me painful

[@ElsweyrDiego]

the whole reason Caprice 5 exists is for showing the power of ricochet, if you play it with sautillé you are just playing a form of moto perpetuo like many others, it loses all the magic!

[@antonyroach6802]

Review Ernst's Last Rose Of Summer pleaseeeeee

[@HellBlade-od2mf]

Actually speaking of Paganini, would it be interesting to make a video on how he held it? When I was learning the violin I really wanted to learn more about it but the seniors in my string ensemble discriminated against me for "breaking tradition"

[@Highlander515]

This video cracked me up!

[@heifetz14]

Ruggiero Ricci never skipped anything. He was a made guy.

[@nicolassantos3362]

Man, I can hear Hans doing the pizz and I can see her finger moving wtffffff

[@thecatfromoregon]

Well, I feel less bad about what I can't play. As a violinist with disabilities, my technical skills are limited. 😅

[@myrtillegrandesoreilles8275]

This is the first video I see from this channel and I feel like I'm gonna see a lot more Edit: you got my like. I'll be part of the 50k mouahaha

[@glenmouat7250]

Something about this guy just infuriates me. Although, calling out Hilary Hahn takes some balls.

[@ViolinMechanic]

Sorry to hear that, I’ll be more gentle next time

[@healingvision91]

The second time those two notes come up in the erlkonig they aren't marked as left hand pizz in the score. Any of the world class soloists could play those notes easily I'm sure.

[@535Salomon]

That's why you need 7 fingers to play this instead of 5💀

[@Deadbushfan1618]

The erkonig pizz is in no way impossible, keep the fingered octave fingers solid, perhaps tense, then put the first finger onto the b natural (easy), and for the lh pizz the trick is to keep your finger on the string then pluck, letting the third finger simply pull with speed, not force (otherwise it plain hurts). Then it is playable and perhaps fun. The sauret cadenza in this video was not the original, it is the kogan edition NOT the original 1 or 2 versions played by many other violinists. The original is far harder but slightly less musical imao. There are more difficult runs and extra sections that can be considered redunadnt and unmusical but are nonetheless extremely difficult. Immediately after having played the concerto, I found the kogan cadenza sightreadable but the first edition extremely hard to sightread. It was criminal of you not to include kavakos's pag 5, it is perhaps the fastest and would probs get this video like 3k more likes. Please know that there is a surge in popularity in playing the original bowing, so it is not being forgotten. Double harmonics are not that hard if you think of the harmonic fingers not as fingers being pressed on the string but instead fingers that are dropped by the curvature of the relaxed hand on the string imao, just think of the contact as just about tangent to the string. Then move the bow (slightly less rosin than usual helps but is definitely not necessary) slightly faster than normal, though with slow bows it works (your preference). In god save the king, most violinists skip the fifth variation. It is not necessarily because the section is too hard but maybe because the concert conditions make it hard to perfect. Consider the lightness of the harmonic fingers, shakey or sticky hands could instantly ruin it. The difficulty is not in the piece but in the conditions of playing it, and roman kim's non-studio 'kim harmonics' (far easier to nail than original double harmonics as they require pressure) non-live recording of it is therefore incomparable to such a performance as Zimmermann's. Also how could you leave out the last rose 😢

[@marlowejacques5625]

Erlkonig is hard but mostly because of the repetition and tension. The notes arn't too bad if you chill and relax. but yes the first part mentioned is basically impossible

[@LingLingWannaBeLah]

Cries in violinist* 😭

[@apoi__7607]

13:42 just realised a godlike violinist has the exact same last name as me (really bad "violinist" idk if i can even call me that yet lmao)

[@jakehu]

Again, he keeps on missing Roman Kim’s psycho ricochet

[@ShakerGER]

You used WAY TO MANY chapters! :D