Castelnuovo-tedesco’s

Sea Murmurs

This short piece for violin and piano takes its melody from one of the composer’s 1920s Shakespeare Songs (‘Arise’, from Cymbeline). Before his move to the US, Castelnuovo-tedesco had already made connections with American orchestras and high-profile soloists. It was

Jascha Heifetz who asked for a recital piece in 1932 and Sea Murmurs was the result – co-credited to Heifetz, who was given free rein to make it his own. The violinist played the piece for the next 40 years, even including it in his final public programme in 1972.