Jules Massenet

On Friday I remembered to buy the score for this song.It's one of the songs for the grade 7 ABRSM violin exam. This may replace my second song. The teacher thinks this will be an "easier" piece to play than my current song. Generally, I do not like slow songs because you have to count accurately to keep in tempo and there is a lot of vibrato in most fingers. ( Not my strong point)  The tempo is Andante Religioso . I've done the first three lines so far. There is a lot of position change. I think it may be easier to hit the right notes because the song is more familiar. But we'll have to see the progress. The score together with the piano accompaniment cost RM40. ( ouch!)

Meditation is the music from the opera Thais. And it is composed by a french composer names Jules Massenet. Did you know that? ( I didn't but before you start feeling smug, composers aren't my thing...try testing me on the British Royal Family instead) It is the music played in between scenes in Act 2 and it's in the mood of deep reflection and decision-making. The famous violinists who have played this solo with an orchestra are Izhak Perlman ( large hands...the violin looks small when he plays..he has no problem covering all positions ), Joshua Bell, Sarah Cheng and Sophie Mutter.