Air and Simple Gifts Yo Yo Ma Itzhak Perlman John Williams Live at the Inauguration

August 16, 2009 - 3:18 am

Link to a version without interruption http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsEMR75Bae0

For the first time, a classical quartet has been invited to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009.

It all began when the President-elect had asked Yo Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman to perform, and they, in turn called John Williams, a frequent collaborator with both artists, “to help them prepare something to play.” Mr. Ma chose the other two performers, clarinetist Anthony McGill and pianist Gabriela Montero to round out this unique and diverse quartet.

Duration : 0:5:22


[youtube 8GoRIQ9cwG8]

25 Responses to “Air and Simple Gifts Yo Yo Ma Itzhak Perlman John Williams Live at the Inauguration”

  1. CHRISTIANELLEGAARD Says:

    What a gorgeous …
    What a gorgeous live performance. W@@W!!!!

  2. 14274994 Says:

    Yo-Yo Ma is great, …
    Yo-Yo Ma is great, he looks so happy when he plays!

  3. quartercherries Says:

    itzhak, duh. haha
    itzhak, duh. haha

  4. KAshmir8915 Says:

    its one of my …
    its one of my favorite moments in American history.

  5. drummerjonathanp Says:

    they said that they …
    they said that they didn’t want to risk breaking strings or going out of tune (both happen easily at extreme temperatures)

  6. mattdre88 Says:

    Can you explain …
    Can you explain what the weather has to do with it? Was it for the intonation? because they still brought the instruments out and played them. I just don’t understand.

  7. AsianandBuddies Says:

    Not the real thing? …
    Not the real thing? Aw..
    Beautiful anyways.

  8. omyda365 Says:

    if dragons existed …
    if dragons existed even they would be calmed by this music it’s so ethereal (*o*)

  9. XxDemitelxX Says:

    i loved this song …
    i loved this song so calming and brings hope to me.

  10. EphemeralLight Says:

    Haha. During the …
    Haha. During the inauguration, they played a prerecorded version of this song.. because the weather was too cold for the musical instruments (since its made out of wood)

  11. RosaBillyBobJoe Says:

    nope i never heard …
    nope i never heard of them but it sounds pretty and thats alll that matters, but ill try and look them up later

  12. amirmot Says:

    u dont know izak …
    u dont know izak perlman?!
    Duh!

  13. RosaBillyBobJoe Says:

    yo yo ma was AWSOME …
    yo yo ma was AWSOME and everone else did a good job too (im not sayin yo yo ma was better i just dont know those other people) tat was lik the perfect quartet :)

  14. stugg161991 Says:

    very beauiful
    very beauiful

  15. yklueup Says:

    Can any one tell me …
    Can any one tell me why Brian Bowman was not invited in the performing program ?

  16. JMKoskey Says:

    Who is the man …
    Who is the man sitting behind Yo Yo Ma? It looks like Robert Gibbs, who is now Obama’s press secretary - but why would he be there?

  17. MasterIsh91 Says:

    Yeh I know I said …
    Yeh I know I said it was a shame.

    Was the use of “fucking” really necessary?

  18. vlhere Says:

    it was ing cold …
    it was ing cold……..

  19. MasterIsh91 Says:

    such a shame that …
    such a shame that it was mimed :(

  20. rttenniser Says:

    Being a classical …
    Being a classical musician, I saw this and thought “WOW! These ARE the greatest musicians in the world, keeping them in tune even in below freezing conditions.” Then I heard it was taped and it made more sense! Still beautiful and majestic! :p

  21. violent10dency Says:

    I think I actually …
    I think I actually started crying during the inauguration because of how amazing it was to see so many people come together and be so in tune with one another just like this song.

  22. Xone7 Says:

    spellbinding…
    spellbinding…

  23. branhs2002 Says:

    check out their …
    check out their humoresque duet. that gave me ear s like i’ve never experienced before.

  24. fernandoindogelin Says:

    esta muy bueno…
    esta muy bueno…

  25. fkm093 Says:

    They played it live …
    They played it live, but only the people sitting close could hear the live version the rest was pre recoreded.

Leave a Reply