History Lives Again for VE-day75
A while back I got a request from a friend of a friend’s cousin. He had a violin that was his and it came to him via his late father and he asked if I could help him make it playable again. Initially I did not think there was anything special about this, as this does happen fairly often. But there was something about the background that made this a very interesting project.
The violin arrived wrapped in a blanket, locked in a blue imitation leather case. With it came a violin bow in poor condition and a note which reads:
The note is unsigned, so I have no idea who might have written it, but it contained sound advice.
The instrument and bow needed a lot of work. I installed a new set of pegs, the fingerboard and bridge had long deep grooves from lots and lots of playing, and the soundpost had fallen over from the long years hanging on the wall as a decorative piece of history. I ended up adjusting the topnut and the saddle as well and I installed a new bridge and a new soundpost (the old one I kept with the instrument for historical reference). I upgraded the chinrest and the tailpiece as well as they were both due an upgrade. There were a few offensive scuffs to the varnish I filled and retouched as well, leaving a few minor ones as testament to the instrument’s age.
When the instrument was ready I contacted the ‘friend-of-a-friend’s-cousin’ to bring the instrument back to him. I knew there was more to the story, so I asked if he could elaborate on it.
I had no idea what I had been working on!
When I met Peter in London he handed me a note on which he had typed this amazing story:
Because Peter never heard his father play this violin, I played the “Theme from Schindler’s List” for him on the violin that evening. It was my contribution to the memory of his father and a respectful nod to the invaluable work his father, Alfred William Wall, had done to help end the war in Europe. I am very honoured to have had a part in bringing this piece of history back to life.
(I didn’t have the heart to tell him, that it was a German made violin that his father had played).
As I write this, on this day, exactly 75 years earlier, the long and fierce period of Nazi occupation ended as the Netherlands was liberated by the allied forces, lead by Canadian and British troops alongside with Polish, American, Belgian, Dutch, French and Czechoslovak armies.
The violin and bow have now been re-homed and have started their next chapter with a wonderful new family!
The violin of German origin has been sold with a robust case of an Italian brand, with British rosin. The Violin is set-up with a French bridge and I used Alpine-Austrian tonewood for the Soundpost. To top it off: the restoration was performed by a Dutch born Violin maker. The fact that this was possible at all, makes this project one of the many true symbols for the achieved Victory in Europe.