What's more mischievous than a clever game of illusions? To celebrate April Fool's Day, here's a short compilation featuring our favourite cloned performances that we hope will put a smile on your face.
With strict rules on self-isolation and limited socialisation opportunities, the past year has seen many of us resorting to keep me, myself and I as our only partners in crime. But this hasn't stopped some very resourceful artists from trying to defy the laws of biology: thanks to clever technology tricks, they were able to create up to ten copies of themselves to deliver outstanding musical moments.
Here are our picks:
1 Mendelssohn - String Octet
Malin Broman, the Concert Master of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra performed all eight parts of Mendelssohn String Octet, op 20, 4th movement. Here you can see her play the violin, the viola and the cello, multiple times over.
2 Robert Lucas Pearsall – Lay a garland
Countertenor, conductor and keyboardist Andrew Leslie Cooper, also part of early music group The Gesualdo Six, is seen here multiplying himself to sing this popular English poem from the 17th century.
3 Beethoven - Ninth Symphony (Scherzo)
American multi-instrumentalist James Howard Young transformed himself into an entire recorder orchestra in order to bring to life this vibrant Scherzo from Beethoven's Ninth.
4 Gabrielli, Plog, Bach
Gary Farr, trumpeter in the BBC Philharmonic and co-founder of contemporary music ensemble The Vonnegut Collective, has created a multitrack trumpet video for the University of Manchester, where he is a trumpet tutor, featuring music by Gabrielli, Plog and Bach.
5 John Rutter – The Lord Bless You And Keep You
British musical director, singer and composer Bobby Goulder decided to take it upon himself to record his own arrangement of this piece for a memorial and ended up with enough of himself to be able to deliver an entire choral performance.
So, what are you waiting for? Grab your phone and your favourite instruments, and make all your teenage dreams of being in a band finally come true.
