Yesterday afternoon I heard an interview on NPR with Ma XiaoHui, an erhu virtuoso. It’s this amazing two-stringed Chinese violin that has a slightly nasal but amazingly rich tone. She plays Chinese folk music most of the time but has also adapted several pieces of classical music for the instrument. While talking about her transcription of Fritz Kreisler’s Liebeslied something she said really struck me:

“I don’t want to show people how great I am. That’s not the point at all. There’s the possibility [that] the famous melody played by my instrument can maybe give you another beautiful picture of this piece.”

What a beautiful understanding of what it means to perform and share music with others.