Carmen Fantasy, Opus 25

after Bizet's Opera

By Pablo de Sarasate

Fun music, and not written for beginners. Even skillful musicians will struggle with this one. I am a Conservatory student myself, and I can barely play a few lines here and there. I have played Zigeunerweisen by Sarasate in the past and found it fun to play. Carmen Fantasie is...

hell compared to Zigeunerweisen. You need perfect technique, and if you don't have it you can't play it. Simple as that. Left hand pizzicato, minor and major thirds, difficult bowing techniques and the fact that it is supposed to be played like it is the funniest thing in the world, makes everyone with less technique fall through. For those who fall through, it contains enough technical problems to be used as an exercise. Those who are lucky enough to have proper technique, will have a blast and I shall envy them forever.

This score is sublime, challenging, and complicated. But the ability to master even some parts of it gives the musican the greatest feeling of accomplishment.

This is truly Bizet's most famous piece. The musical differences between the three movements are just absolutely outstanding. This piece compares with other violin concerti, such as Bruch, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, etc. in level of difficulty. Don't let this rating fool you; if you are passionate about violin, and...

are willing to put the time and dedication into learning this piece, then go for it!

THE ultimate solo violin piece. The themes are just outstanding. [...] NOT for starters.

This is one of the all-time coolest songs ever written for violin. It is, unfortunately, very difficult to play with the exception of the 3rd movement. This edition is very good, too. The only thing I should warn you about is about the 2nd movement (habanera). After the main...

theme, when most violinists play 2 very pretty notes that are easy to play, this edition has a more difficult version of the main theme with chords and triplets. For a good recording of this edition, I suggest Joshua Bell.