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
Maestro John Williams arranged a piece based on Aaron Copeland’s arrangement of the old Shaker Tune “Simple Gifts” as “Variations on a Shaker Melody”. Yo-Yo Ma performs along with Itzhak Perlman on violin, Gabriela Montero on piano and Anthony McGill on clarinet.
America’s book publishers are proud to debut a holiday video featuring Elmo, Martha Stewart, Jon Stewart, Barbara Walters, Dean Koontz, Maya Angelou, Mary Higgins Clark, Kathie Lee Gifford, Bill O’Reilly, Christopher Paolini, Frank McCourt, Arianna Huffington, Deepak Chopra, Julie Andrews, Cesar Millan, Carol Higgins Clark, Alec Baldwin, Deidre Imus, Jim Cramer, Nora Ephron, Dan Brown, Judy Blume, Jonathan Lethem, Scott Westerfeld, Rachael Ray, and John Lithgow sharing their reasons why books make great gifts.