Here’s the clip below from a 1981 John Denver television special, “Music and the Mountains,” filmed in Aspen.

“What a charming example of Perlman’s musical approach. His primary goal: to communicate the meaning within the notes. Clearly, it works for music of any stripe, whether you play in concert dress or western wear,” wrote reporter Jon Pinnow for Colorado Public Radio’s website.

As Perlman once told Charlie Rose, “I like to talk to music. That’s the way I teach. After a while, when you know how to play the instrument, you should forget the instrument. It’s now time to talk the music, to talk the phrases. … When you hear a phrase that you feel is really meaningful, my God, you cannot just play it. You have to speak it.”