Victoria – October 01, 2019

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mitten!The first timeI saw it,glistening ina

worngreenvelvetnestwithina dustyblackcase,

thehoney-hued violinwith its doublecurves,

suggesting two hearts, beckoned. My uncle

hadplayedit,butaftercominghomefromthewar,he

neverdidagain,anditlandedinourattic.I plucked

a loosened string, and a single plaintive note came

forth—theviolinwastryingtosing.

A nice violin, themusic teacher said, but much

too big for your daughter. Because I had passed a

basicmusictestand theschoolneededviolinistsfor

itsupper-gradeorchestras, theywould lendme,and

theotherstudentswhohadqualified,smallviolinsand

givefreelessons.

Struggle and heartache followed. Well before the

inspirederaoftheSuzukimethodofteachingyoungstu-

dentsdawned,myfirstlessonconsistedofpickingupand

settingdownthebowforfifteenminuteseverydayfora

week,asmymotherandI triedtorecallthepropergrip.

Tothisday,thoseremainthelongestminutesofmylife.

Then came placingthe bow on thestrings, and

myspirits soared,though only a mother could have

sharedinthescratchyjoy of those sounds. As the les-

sonsadvanced,sheinterrupted housework or cooking,

whichinourhometookplace on an unalterable sched-

ule,toperchinher flowered housedress on the edge

ofmybedand listenby the hour as I practiced. She

offeredboundless,quiet encouragement.

Itwasplainearlyon that I was not greatly gifted,

butmylovefortheinstrument and the music was never

inquestion.Seeingthelight in my father’s eyes when I

learnedhisfavoriteChristmas carol, “Adeste Fideles,”

wasjustthebeginning. He hummed along, fi lling in

ifI playeda wrongnote or forgot a phrase, and then

hebegantosingharmony with the Latin words as I

played.Motherwasquite overjoyed, and I was asked

toplayateveryopportunity for visitors, friends, neigh-

bors,andlaterwithmysister on fl ute and my brother

ontrumpet.Wemadean odd, if unforgettable, trio.

I neverguessedatthe doors the violin would fl ing

openor,justasfortuitously, close. The fi rst jaw-dropping

goodluckfrommytwelve-year-old viewpoint was to be

excusedfromhousecleaning. Although we had intermit-

tenthelp,noonelastedvery long because of our mother’s

WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE
CAROL RIZZOLI

15 Victoria October 2019

Harmonies