“If music be the food of love, play on.” ~ WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Dear Readers, Community, Friends,
We are woven together in mysterious ways. An act of love does not die with the recipient, but often takes on a life of its own.
Violins are like people in my family, and have outlived us all. We are built of rich, Michigan soil that we tilled, sowed, and hayed; and, of a wordless kind of love, where music is our life-blood – part of our very being.
My great-grandpa, Melvin {left}, had the opportunity to study for a year with the world-renowned virtuoso violinist and composer, Ole Bull, {right} who was touring in the northeast while my great-grandpa was a young teen.
How a farmer’s son had the opportunity to study with a man who played for kings and queens, and whose close friends were none other than Chopin and Longfellow, I will never know. But Ole’s gift of teaching Melvin would endure far beyond both of their lives.
Now, a grown man with a family, Melvin had a young daughter, Doris, {below} who had taken an interest in learning to play the violin. A neighboring farmer paid a visit one day, gifting Melvin a broken violin with hopes Doris could have a violin of her own. It was not a simple repair. The body was split in two, the neck with fingerboard also broken off, and the scroll where the tuning pegs go had a deep wound. Melvin hand carved wooden clamps to hold the broken instrument together as the glue dried to mend it. His endeavor was a great success. The violin, now 170 years old, still has the sweetest tone.
For many years, he and Doris enjoyed their daily lessons, and Doris grew to dream of becoming a professional violinist. Ah, but love has a way of derailing such things.
Melvin had composed a violin solo from an orchestral piece for Doris’s debut performance at the town hall. As she played, it is here that my grandpa would see her for the first time and proclaim, “Some day I will marry her.” (The song’s title? “Cupid’s Charms.”)
Time progressed as time does, and Doris and Harold had a family of their own. Her love of music remained, and as unusual as it was at that time (1930s), Harold would tend to the 4 children so Doris could play her violin for performances in town.
Enjoying the many years of playing their violins together, alas, Melvin grew old, suffering a stroke and paralyzing the left side of his body. But the love of playing music would not fade, and the gift he had given was about to take a turn.
Because, by teaching her, their bowing and fingering combinations were identical. This allowed her to play the fingering part of the violin (the left side), while Melvin could continue to bow with his right hand.
Doris went on to play her violin well into her 90s. It was the only possession listed in her will. {She gifted it to me.}
So, now it’s your turn. Please tell me. What do you love? Be sure to share, teach, gift or express it somehow, somewhere, and with someone. Because – the world needs you. Today.
This is the 32nd issue of Platinum News! Written by Julie Miles, her passion is to act as a liaison between the Platinum team, their wonderful clients, and the community – striving to tell their stories, and make meaningful connections that fuel everyone’s purpose.
Have a story to tell? Contact Julie here. | Want to subscribe to this monthly newsletter? You may do so here.
