Proms & Yo Yo Ma: Bach Cello Suites & Anorexia Nervosa!

Yo-Yo Ma – a heartfelt, magisterial survey of Bach's cello suites

But that is what happened in this sold-out Prom, given by cellist Yo-Yo Ma in front of an audience who sat or stood in near total silence for close to three hours, with only a brief break in the middle.

Despite the size of the venue, Ma’s interpretation never sacrificed intimacy to the grander effect; instead, it drew the listener towards the sound itself. His varied tone – now grainy, now finely textured – sought out an individuality of character in each of the 36 movements while weaving each suite into an expressive whole.

During a magisterial survey of these complex, subtle compositions, Ma’s attention to detail was as notable as his grasp of the bigger picture. The playing was at times tender and introverted, at others bold and sonorous. Throughout, Ma held the measure of Bach’s organic, largely abstracted dance movements and unfolded them before the audience in a way that was intellectually satisfying and heartfelt.

• On BBC iPlayer until 5 October 2015

The Telegraph:

The Chinese-American cellist has lived with these pieces all his life, and already more than 30 years have past since his first, Grammy-winning recording of the suites. Like Pablo Casals, who first brought them to the world's consciousness through recording them 80 years ago, Yo-Yo Ma has played his part in popularising them, and few cellists today have the humanity and humility to inhabit this music with such expressive freedom.

Anorexia Nervosa & South Africa: Cello & Bach!!! -

Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of South Africa

 ©Am Ang Zhang 2005

The Cape Floristic Region of South Africa and South Western Australia are two of five areas on Earth with a Mediterranean-style climate which have been designated ‘biodiversity hotspots’ by Conservation International. The others are central Chile, California, and the Mediterranean basin.

In The Cockroach Catcher I got my Anorectic patient to play the cello that was banned by the “weight gain contract”:

                 Jane got on well with me.

          She had to, as nobody understood that to her achieving was not a hardship but something she secretly enjoyed. She was no longer allowed to pick up her books as she had not put on any weight since her admission.

         

          Cello would be banned too, if her nurse was to have her way.

          For the unit to function the nurse must have her way. After all I was not there all the time to watch her. To watch if she was eating, vomiting, exercising or whatever else they did to avoid gaining weight.

          But I was determined that it would be the first privilege she would get if she put on half a gram.  Or any excuse I could think of.

          Brutal confrontation is often what happened in many adolescent units dealing with Anorexia Nervosa. The brutality is not physical.

          But these patients are intelligent and have such strong will power that confrontation generally fails and the failure can be a miserable one.  Yet it is the kind of condition that hurts. It hurts those trying to help. It hurts because these patients deserve better for themselves. It hurts because they are not drop-outs of society. 

          Was it too hard for Jane to keep at the top academically? Someone offered that as an explanation. Perhaps she should be moved to a state school.

          The idea horrified me.

          A fourteen year old non-smoking, non-drinking, non-drug taking, intelligent Audrey Hepburn look alike virgin turning up at your local comprehensive.  It sounded like a major disaster to me.

          I had to take the matter into my own hands. She did put on some weight and at the earliest opportunity I decided she should get back to the cello which had always been by her bed at the unit.

          She missed the cello, the only thing she could use to shut out her worries.

          Fourteen and carrying the burden of the world.

          Then she started playing.

          “Ah. The Bach G-major!”

          “So you know it.”

           Of course I do. The hours I spent listening to Yo Yo Ma and it was such amazing music, melancholic and uplifting at the same time.

          For a moment I forgot that I was her psychiatrist and she forgot she was my patient.

          “My grandma gave me Casals.”

          I knew Casals was even more emotional than Ma, but Ma is Chinese and he was less affecting, allowing the listener to tune in to his own mood.

She played from memory. What talent! What went wrong?”

          “I wish my dad could hear me.”

          It was the first time she could talk about her father. They had a very comfortable life in South Africa when father was alive. It was very difficult to imagine what he would have looked like. It was never clear what he did but he was involved in a number of ventures. The plantation Jane’s grandfather ran was sold when apartheid came to an end. He was involved in some private reserve and he was a photographer of sorts but my junior told me that mum started to cry when she talked about him so she did not pursue too deeply.

Read more:

NHS: The Way We Were! Free!
FREE eBook: Just drop me a line with your email.

Email: cockroachcatcher (at) gmail (dot) com.

A Brief History of Time: Anorexia Nervosa

Lohengrin: Speech Disability, Design & Hypertension 

Bayreuth: The Ruling Class & Photography

Sadness & Songs: Superstition & Mahler

South Africa:

Photography: Garden Route, South Africa.

Enron, South Africa and Carbon Trading

South Africa & Safari: NHS & Netcare&

Bach - Cello Suites:  Yo Yo Ma