TwoSet Violin take a bow

After 11 years of posts, YouTuber violinist duo TwoSet Violin have officially retired from social media on Dec. 25, commemorating their departure with a series of parody music videos.

Brett Yang and Eddy Chen have become trailblazers in the classical music community for their ability to bring classical music to younger audiences. Through the duo’s comedic commentary videos, classical music shed its reputation as a pretentious musical genre of the past, becoming a style of music with rejuvenated relevancy. Their YouTube channel, TwoSet Violin, focused on recognizing and reacting to up-and-coming classical music talents, like child prodigy Chloe Chua, and finding ways to keep the genre fresh through challenges and skits featuring their violins. TwoSet Violin announced their retirement from YouTube on Instagram on Oct. 14, revealing a final project of six music videos as B²TSM, a musical group in which they pose as famous classical composers. 

Yang and Chen are familiar with the music video medium, having released their first B²TSM video, “Duh Duh Duh Dum,” in 2022. This BLACKPINK parody of “DDU-DU DDU-DU” featured the duo portraying composers Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Dmitri Shostakovich and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In October 2022, two months after their first B²TSM video, the duo alluded to BLACKPINK as being sellouts through “Sell Out,” a song performed by Chen as Niccolò Paganini, following the K-pop group’s sampling of Paganini’s “La Campanella” in “Shut Down.” 

Although B²TSM had been featured as an occasional comedic feature on their YouTube, seemingly meant to poke fun at K-pop culture and BLACKPINK fans, TwoSet Violin decided to give their final goodbyes to their fans as B²TSM nearly two years later.

“I would much rather give all of you our best in these music videos than give you a nice, kind, seems-authentic video,” said Yang in an interview with the New York Times.

The series begins with Chen as Bach in the aptly named “I’m Bach,” released Dec. 3. The title is a play on “I’m back,” referencing B²TSM’s two-year hiatus. The video is a tongue-in-cheek commentary on current-day music where Chen’s Bach critiques musicians of today for having meaningless and “uninspired” songs and a “lack [of] dedication.” 

The song makes references to both modern artists and Bach himself, starting with Chen playing a rendition of Bach’s “Ciaccona” and other motifs. It includes the slogan “Bach in your era,” a riff on BLACKPINK’s catchphrase “BLACKPINK in your area,” and references Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red” with lyrics such as, “Pitch, I said what I said.” The video’s plot has Bach time-traveling to 2024, surrounded by scientists and dancers, blending a strange mesh of Baroque music references and contemporary pop elements.

The video is eye-catching, opening with a solo Bach performance in an ornate cathedral, an example of dramatized Baroque architecture. The serene image of Bach playing the haunting “Ciaccona” is soon interrupted by the arrival of his time-traveling device — a sleek silver box that transports him to a scientist’s lab. With the device’s arrival comes a stark change in sound: the violin piece is replaced by a simplified piano rendition, which transitions into a hi-hat and bass-heavy beat reminiscent of a trap beat, accompanied by violin backings. 

The song juxtaposes classical and rap music, with Chen in full Baroque Bach attire, white wig and all, while rapping about how his music is better than contemporary music. He argues that his songs have emotional complexity and respect for God with lyrics like, “The reason of music is God / I see you right through your facade / Making music with no disregard.” Bach’s constant mentions of God are a reference to his strong religious faith. 

In true TwoSet Violin fashion, the music video leans into the absurd irony of Bach’s hatred of current-day music while using a contemporary genre to do so. The portrayal of Bach is an over-the-top exaggeration, complete with haughty lyrics. The video ends with Yang, dressed as Mozart, letting out a giggle — a reference to the common comedic imagery of Mozart and the movie “Amadeus,” where Mozart, played by Tom Hulce, shares the same iconic laugh as Yang’s Mozart and feuds with composer Antonio Salieri.

Mozart’s cameo at the end of “I’m Bach” teases the next song in the series, “Papa Wolfgang Style,” released Dec. 9. Referencing PSY’s 2012 K-pop hit, “Gangnam Style,” the song uses the same chorus phrasing alongside the melody of Mozart’s “Turkish March.” Unlike Bach’s “I’m Bach,” which focuses on a comparison between classical music and music today, Mozart’s song is a braggadocious celebration of his many accomplishments, including being “a prodigy at three years old.”

“Papa Wolfgang Style” references Mozart’s fabled rivalry with Salieri in both video and lyrics. Bassist and YouTuber Davie504 plays the composer, attempting to conduct an ensemble in the music video while Mozart taunts him through the lyrics. The song heavily emphasizes Mozart’s mischievous personality, with lyrics referencing “Leck mich im Arsch, K. 231” as he skips around a serious Salieri in the music video. Just like “I’m Bach,” “Papa Wolfgang Style” embraces absurdity as an enthusiastic Mozart and a deadpan Salieri have a dance battle. 

In the final song, “Forever Symphony,” released Dec. 22, all five composers make an appearance as the song shifts from silly to sentimental, serving as the best semblance of a goodbye to viewers. Once again, the song makes many references to classical pieces from all of the composers, though not as overtly as in earlier songs of the series. The music video’s final scene, in which B²TSM steps through a portal-like door in an expansive wheat field, evokes the duo’s short film “FANTASIA” from their album of the same name. In the film, Chen approaches a mirror on a grassy hill where he’s able to imagine a world without TwoSet Violin. Similarly, in “Forever Symphony,” the duo seems to take a step towards that changed world as they walk through the frame.

The duo’s sudden departure faced widespread backlash from fans after their abrupt deletion of videos and announcement of retirement. This led to an apology from TwoSet Violin during a livestream.

“I guess it’s one of those things where, maybe looking back in hindsight, [it] might not have been the clearest move or the smartest move,” Chen said in response to criticism. “In our heads we pictured this six-MV arc, like [a] six-movement symphony, that would eventually tell the story, but we were completely wrong on that, and so you’re right. We’re sorry.”

While their final series is by no means perfect — featuring rough vocals and cheesy lyrics  — it marks an important time for both TwoSet Violin and classical music. The series underscores the impact of two influential figures who have played a key role in bringing classical music to new audiences as they move on.

Corinna Chin is an Arts & Entertainment Apprentice for the winter 2024 quarter. She can be reached at corinnac@uci.edu.

Edited by June Min and Jaheem Conley.

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