### **Personal thought** 
As a performer it is my role to convey a meaningful and immersive experience to the audience. In order to realize such a performance, I must first commune with the composer through perceptiveness and sensitivity to the score. Then with instinctive curiosity driving my imagination, I ponder upon the feeling that caused him/her to write in that way. Every feature of a meaningful composition are symptoms and evidence of who the composer is at that moment. Every little passage and motif carry evidence of their feelings and encourage the provocation of human artistry. Upon identifying the emotional structure of the piece, along with the sounds that fully convey it, I can begin my own journey of finding my own voice in the music. “Have I ever felt like this sound?” and “where is this music coming from and where is it going?” are questions that I constantly ask myself during my exploration. Experimentations are prone to failure but upon finding the answer, I can convey a sound that is evidence of my own sincere feeling. 

# Melodie “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” by Chirstoph Willibald von Gluck 
From the opera “Orfeo ed Euridice”, Jascha Heifetz Arrangement 

*Gluck’s Melodie from his opera Orfeo ed Euridice is one of the most beautiful melodies out there. It is a sorrowful song played by Orpheus on the lyre for the spirits of the underworld to convince them to release his deceased wife Euridice. His playing was so heartfelt and sincere that it moved the spirits to tears, convincing them to release Euridice back to him on one condition…to not look back until he reached the land of the living. Regrettably, Orpheus was unable to resist his beautiful wife’s pleas to look at her, and she falls back into the darkness of the underworld. Leaving Orpheus broken and alone.*

This melodie was originally arranged by Fritz Kreisler for violin. After listening to a couple recordings, I came to like Heifetz’s arrangement a little more. There is only a slight difference in grace notes between the two arrangements, so it is hardly noticeable. 

I had a lot of trouble on bow changes and will need to continue working on finding ways for smoother bow changes that do not mar the intentions of my phrases. Despite my efforts, my pinky seems to float a little too much sometimes in my bow hand which takes away some of my bow control. Working on this little melody this past week was incredibly insightful and relevant. The feeling of having lost someone special or loved is a feeling that many of us are experiencing during this time. I think my intentions could have been a lot more intense and passionate, but I didn’t want to shatter the image of beauty that this melody exudes. I hope you enjoy it.  

https://youtu.be/cxlEh6_oCiY
>Cutting off my head was not intentional. The camera just decided to cut off a foot all around the frame.