A Quiet Reflection Before the Next Dawn: When Science Meets the Human Heart”

“A Quiet Reflection Before the Next Dawn: On Science and the Human Heart”

Dear Friends,

I could not sleep the entire night.

As I lay awake in the quiet stillness before dawn, I found myself wondering what subject I should write next in my blog. Many ideas came and went, but none seemed to settle comfortably in my mind.

Just before Chap Goh Meh ended at midnight, the final evening of the Chinese New Year celebrations — I took out my German violin, the one that cost me RM 65,000, and played ten different Chinese New Year songs.

To my ears, they sounded quite horrible.

I have not played my violin for at least eight months. When one loses daily practice, the fingers lose their memory. The delicate precision of fingering falters. Intonation suffers. The bow no longer glides with confidence. And with my poor eyesight, I struggled to read the musical notes on the sheet music, those little black symbols that look like “taugay” or bean sprouts to anyone without musical training.

In my younger days, I passed Grade 6 in violin performance and also in music theory under the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) in England. That foundation has always remained precious to me.

But a violinist rarely plays alone. A violinist is usually accompanied by a pianist — or better still, surrounded by fellow violinists within an orchestra, blending with violas, cellos, double basses, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. Music, especially orchestral music, is a communal experience.

Years ago, I was a member of the Symphony Club of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. I played together with other violinists in symphonic settings. The collective sound, the harmony, the shared breathing of the orchestra — that was music in its full glory. I have since lost touch for many years.

That is why, perhaps, it sounded so harsh to me, playing alone after months of neglect, without accompaniment, without the warmth of an orchestra.

I own four violins. This German violin is the most expensive of them all, almost the cost of a small car. Yet the price of an instrument does not guarantee beauty of sound. Only disciplined practice, sensitive listening, and musical companionship can do that.

If you ask me honestly, I would say I prefer being a violinist rather than being a research scientist or a doctor. Medicine and research were my profession. Music is my love.

Just like astronomy — another passion of mine. Even after retirement, I studied astronomy at Oxford, simply for the joy of learning and looking up at the heavens.

Perhaps life is not only about achievement, titles, or productivity. Perhaps it is also about returning, again and again, to the things that make our hearts quietly happy, even if, at times, they sound imperfect.

If you would like to read more about my reflections on music and the violin, do visit my earlier write-up:

“The Joy of Being A Violinist”

 

https://scientificlogic.blogspot.com/search?q=Music+and+violin+

 

With warm regards in the stillness of this pre-dawn hour