That evening after I’d finished my prep and done my practice sessions on violin and viola I took my new acquisition downstairs to meet the family and to treat a very appreciative audience to an impromptu recital. If you can’t play the violin then picking up a Stradivarius won’t suddenly turn you into a virtuoso but if you can play then holding a superior instrument simply demands that you give your best and that’s what I did. I think that was the moment I truly began to be a violinist rather than simply a boy who was learning to play and a spontaneous round of applause left me feeling like a real performer. I did the only thing that seemed appropriate, gave a deep bow and thanked the family for their appreciation. Full of happiness and achievement I retired to have my bath and then to come back down in pyjamas and dressing gown to have my supper and chatter endlessly about my new violin.
The bow, of course, still needed sorting out so Dad offered to take me into Haslemere on Saturday so that the music shop could give me a price which I was worried would be beyond my means. For all it was in terrible condition the bow belonged with the violin and having to use my old one just didn’t seem right. As a way of saying thank you I offered to wash Dad’s car at the weekend which I didn’t usually do, he didn’t pay me like the other people did.
When we got to the shop I was told that all together the work was going to cost me about £20 which was not only a lot of money, it was more than I had left in the Post Office so it was time to negotiate with Dad again. I wouldn’t actually need the money for about two weeks but I was clearly going to be washing cars and mowing lawns for practically nothing for about a month. I decided it was worth it though, the deal was struck and the bow stayed in the shop.
At the end of my next lesson a strange and rather wonderful thing happened just as I was putting my violin away. My teacher was a rather bohemian lady who wore a lot of flowing silks which gave her a romantic and somewhat gypsy sort of look. I’ll always remember her rather battered but fairly serviceable Renault Dauphin which had ferried me to all my grading exams and would soon do the same job for my audition with the County Youth Orchestra. 2 years earlier one of my birthday presents had been an Airfix kit of a Dauphin and as a small tribute to a wonderful teacher I’d painted it the same colour as hers, sans rust of course. She’d been quite touched when I summoned up the courage to take it in and show her. I never understood that everybody had said she was a fearsome old dragon and they were all scared of her, she never treated me with anything but kindness, she was just very demanding.
As I was carefully putting the violin away she took off one of her several silk scarves and handed to me to use as a protective wrapping for the violin with the comment that a fine instrument deserved to be well dressed and that the scarf was mine to keep. When that violin and I eventually parted company, for complex and legitimate reasons, the scarf went with it as was fitting.
Love
Had you been the young Quentin Crisp, of course, you’d have put the silk scarf around your neck, as a cravat at least, and told everyone up to the Head Master that it was on the orders of your music teacher – perhaps to keep your throat warm against the cold winter winds (you could, and did, still sing just then, I hope?)
Heart-warming story – thanks!
Even by my standards thet would have been outrageous! I did indeed still sing then and continued to do so until I left school at 18 by which time I was a tenor, at 14 I was still a soprano, being a late developer was just one more thing target for the teasing and bullying. In those day I “proudly” wore my school scarf fro protection.
hi mac
I find comfort in knowing that you are enjoying some pleasant memories from your past to help offset some of the less than comforting ones.
>>” I’ll always remember her rather battered but fairly serviceable Renault Dauphin which had ferried me to all my grading exams and would soon do the same job for my audition with the County Youth Orchestra.”
>>
Hi Andy
Yes, the good bits are worth remembering as an antidote to the bad stuff and that woman was probably the most important person in my whole school life. The car was a real mess though
memories are great when your feeling blue or whatever sometimes a memory is just want a person needs to put a smile on there face.
you said holding a superior instrument omg that brings up a memory for me hehe!
kisses
Oh Ryan! I guess someone had to say that, thanks