7 insanely fast versions of The Flight of the Bumblebee
Want a mind-meltingly fast flurry of notes? You've come to the right place. Join the world's most nimble-fingered (and footed) musicians for this Rimsky-Korsakov extravaganza.
Presto. Let's begin
Before we do anything, let's check the score. As you can see, there are notes. Lots of notes. We all know how they sound. Actually, it doesn't look terribly impressive on the page (we were kind of expecting hemidemisemiquavers here), but do note the tempo...
Two pianos at once...
Flute version
Jaymee Coonjobeeharry on flute and pianist Frederic Bager play a fiendish arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov's most famous piece.
Astonishing virtuosity with 7-year-old Tsung Tsung
The nimble fingers and beaming smile of this exceptionally talented youngster have already racked up millions of YouTube views. His awe-inducing readings of the piano's most virtuosic pieces have to be seen to believed. This "Bumblebee" will leave you stunned.
Record-breaking David Garrett
The superstar violinist is here to kick things off. And he looks as cool, calm and collected as usual, but it all sounds as if Usain Bolt trod on a beehive, and now they're after him. You nailed it, David.
The sensational Yuja Wang
In this concert from the cult piano star, the audience were going crazy and there was only one encore for it: an incredible hand-blurring, double-octave tour de force. Whammy.
Russia's National Orchestra takes it on
Rimsky-Korsakov's stocking-filler is originally from an opera based on a poem by Aleksandr Pushkin (with the ever-so-slightly-wordy title The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of his Son the Renowned and Mighty Bogatyr Prince Gvidon Saltanovich and of the Beautiful Princess-Swan). We're sure it's a great two-and-a-half hours, but we're just here to see that fast bit.
Virtuoso expectations at the Los Angeles Guitar Academy
As if there hasn't been enough finger-crushing already, let's get some string-on-string and fret-on-fret action in there as well. Check out the ear-to-the-fretboard view for maximum wowgasm.
The feet of Dr. Carol Williams
Enough of fingers - time for feet. This organist brings the avalanche of notes to the pedalboard of a massive pipe organ, and gets quite a workout herself. Stamp on those pedals, Carol! Faster!
Phew.
So, if it's all been too much and you're yearning for an Adagio, there's always this. (We perhaps should say we love bumblebees, really.)
