ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Maya Beiser - Cellist
Maya Beiser commissions and performs radical new work for the cello.

Why you should listen

The founding cellist of the Bang on a Can All Stars, cellist Maya Beiser is a frequent collaborator with artists across the spectrum of creativity -- visual artists such as Shirin Neshat, video artists such as Irit Batsry -- to produce groundbreaking multimedia concerts.

Composers who write for her follow her passion for melding influences -- Middle Eastern sounds, classic and modern tones. Her newest project, Elsewhere, is described as "a CELLoOpera." Elsewhere is an imaginative retelling of the Biblical legend of Lot's wife, created by the "dream team" of Maya, director Robert Woodruff, composers Missy Mazzoli and Eve Beglarian, writer Erin Cressida Wilson, and choreographer Karole Armitage

More profile about the speaker
Maya Beiser | Speaker | TED.com
TED2011

Maya Beiser: A cello with many voices

Maya Beiser e seu violoncelo

Filmed:
991,353 views

A violoncelista Maya Beiser toca um esplêndido estudo moderno para octeto de violocelo com sete cópias de si mesma, em um meditativo e híbrido vídeo musical -- usando a tecnologia para criar infinitas possibilidades para um som transformador. Música "Cello Counterpoint" de Steve Reich, com vídeo de Bill Morrison, seguido de "World to Come" de David Lang, com vídeo de Irit Batsry.
- Cellist
Maya Beiser commissions and performs radical new work for the cello. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

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(Applause)
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07:27
Thank you.
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Obrigada.
07:29
Imagining a solo cello concert,
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Imaginem um concerto de cello,
07:32
one would most likely think of Johann Sebastian Bach
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alguém poderia normalmente pensar em suites de Johannes Sebastian Bach
07:35
unaccompanied cello suites.
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para cello solo.
07:38
As a child
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Quando criança
07:40
studying these eternal masterpieces,
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estudando estas eternas obras primas,
07:43
Bach's music would intermingle
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a música de Bach se misturavam
07:45
with the singing voices of Muslim prayers
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com as vozes cantadas das orações muçulmanas
07:48
from the neighboring Arab village
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da aldeia árabe vizinha
07:50
of the northern Kibbutz in Israel
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do Kibbutz ao norte de Israel
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where I grew up.
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onde eu cresci.
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Late at night, after hours of practicing,
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Tarde da noite, após horas de prática,
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I would listen to Janis Joplin and Billie Holiday
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eu ouvia Janis Joplin e Billie Holiday
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as the sounds of tango music
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enquanto os sons do tango
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would be creeping from my parents' stereo.
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crepitavam do estéreo de meus pais.
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It all became music to me.
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Tudo tornou-se música para mim.
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I didn't hear the boundaries.
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Não havia fronteiras.
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I still start every day
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Eu ainda começo todos os dias
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practicing playing Bach.
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praticando tocando Bach.
08:14
His music never ceases
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A música dele nunca deixa
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to sound fresh and surprising to me.
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de soar fresca e surpreendente para mim.
08:18
But as I was moving away
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Mas enquanto eu estava me afastando
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from the traditional classical repertoire
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do repertório clássico tradicional
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and trying to find new ways
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e tentando encontrar novas formas
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of musical expression,
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de expressão musical,
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I realized that with today's technological resources,
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eu percebi que com os recursos tecnológicos atuais,
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there's no reason to limit
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não há razão para limitar
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what can be produced at one time
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o que pode ser produzido de uma vez
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from a single string instrument.
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a partir de um único instrumento de corda.
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The power and coherency
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O poder e a coerência
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that comes from one person hearing, perceiving and playing all the voices
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que vem de uma pessoa ouvindo, percebendo e tocando todas as vozes
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makes a very different experience.
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torna a experiência muito diferente.
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The excitement of a great orchestra performance
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A empolgação da apresentação de uma grande orquestra
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comes from the attempt to have a collective of musicians
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vem da tentativa de se ter um conjunto de músicos
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producing one unified whole concept.
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produzindo um conceito unificado.
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The excitement from using multi-tracking,
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A empolgação de usar multi-tracking,
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the way I did in the piece you will hear next,
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da forma como usei na peça que vocês escutarão a seguir,
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comes from the attempt
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vem da tentativa
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to build and create a whole universe
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de construir e criar um universo inteiro
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with many diverse layers,
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com diversas camadas,
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all generated from a single source.
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todas geradas a partir de uma única fonte.
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My cello and my voice are layered
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Meu cello e minha voz em camadas
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to create this large sonic canvas.
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criaram está enorme tela sônica.
09:17
When composers write music for me,
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Quando os compositores escrevem música para mim,
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I ask them to forget what they know about the cello.
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eu peço a eles que esqueçam o que sabem sobre cello.
09:22
I hope to arrive at new territories
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eu espero chegar a novos territórios
09:25
to discover sounds I have never heard before.
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descobrindo sons que eu nunca ouvi antes.
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I want to create endless possibilities
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Eu quero criar infinitas possibilidades
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with this cello.
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com este cello.
09:32
I become the medium through which the music is being channeled,
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Eu me torno o meio por onde a música está sendo canalizada,
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and in the process, when all is right,
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e no processo, quando tudo está certo,
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the music is transformed
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a música é transformada
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and so am I.
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e eu também.
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(Music)
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(Música)
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(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Translated by Christine Veras
Reviewed by Wanderley Jesus

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Maya Beiser - Cellist
Maya Beiser commissions and performs radical new work for the cello.

Why you should listen

The founding cellist of the Bang on a Can All Stars, cellist Maya Beiser is a frequent collaborator with artists across the spectrum of creativity -- visual artists such as Shirin Neshat, video artists such as Irit Batsry -- to produce groundbreaking multimedia concerts.

Composers who write for her follow her passion for melding influences -- Middle Eastern sounds, classic and modern tones. Her newest project, Elsewhere, is described as "a CELLoOpera." Elsewhere is an imaginative retelling of the Biblical legend of Lot's wife, created by the "dream team" of Maya, director Robert Woodruff, composers Missy Mazzoli and Eve Beglarian, writer Erin Cressida Wilson, and choreographer Karole Armitage

More profile about the speaker
Maya Beiser | Speaker | TED.com