Ponce Estrellita, Solo Cello - Tomsen

Manuel M. Ponce - Estrellita
Mexican composer, Ponce, wrote Estrellita, one of two Mexican songs, in 1912. The melody is believed to be an old Mexican folk tune and it is put to Ponce's own lyrics. It would become known world wide after Jascha Heifetz arranged it for violin and piano for one of his upcoming concerts and its usage in the film "They Shall Have Music".

Ponce's Lyrics

Little star of the distant sky,
you see my pain,
you know my anguish.
Come down and tell me
if he loves me a little,
because I cannot live without his love.

You are my star, my beacon of love!
You know that soon I shall die.
Come down and tell me
if he loves me a little,
because I cannot live without his love.

Transcribing it for cello was not that bad, I just had to lower everything down an octave. Finding the right mood and sound world for it was much harder. I wanted a sound that had a sense of poignancy that emanated the lyrics. A voice that yearned for something that could not be. I took it at a slightly slower tempo than the violin arrangement in order to find that sound, sacrificing a little bit of the brilliance that a star may have.