Well now there's a little explosion of coverage of the struggle to understand the genius of Stradivari. Live Science reports that researchers have discovered that tonewoods in the violins made by he and Guarneri were probably bathed in chemicals to kill worms and fungus. Little word on the recipe.
This is just after visiting my folks at home in North Carolina, where my mother had Stradivari's Genius by Toby Faber in the back seat of her car. I was just getting into the incredible Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, so I didn't start it. But I've added it to my Amazon Wish List, should anyone care.
Violins and my folks will always be wrapped up together. They launched me into music via the violin at age seven. I've always been grateful. Sure it got me ridiculed and labeled a weenie, but I genuinely enjoyed playing after the monumental struggle to get a decent tone out of the squirrely wooden box. Mostly, the folks showed me what it meant to truly love and live with music. They are fervent frequenters of concerts of all kinds, as long as they're classical. Oh, but I kid. They've been known to seek out jazz and they made a point once of seeing Del McCoury. They say that's my influence, and I'm glad for that. They took me to see great violin soloists when I was really young. Some were dull. Some were electrifying like rock stars. I never outright lusted to play the violin but I knew a few people who did. The Folks certainly opened me up to the whole idea of caring about music and loving it more for the understanding of it. And as we enjoyed each other's company near the hometown of Durham, NC last weekend, that was one of the many things I had to be thankful for.
Comments