Nevertheless, I took it around town (Boston) having it examined by various strangers who were the famous reputable luthiers willing to help me. Second, I made myself numb to the financial impact it would have on me, being a student with basically a zero-sum bank account. The department head was willing to give it a tryįirst, I was petrified at how stupid I had been to let this happen. The sound it made was shocking, with the wood splitting, and my heart breaking. This is a terrible thing to do and don’t you ever do it! In the morning when I was stumbling around in the dark only half awake, I bumped into it and it came crashing down on the antique tile floor. I left the violin hanging on the edge of the stand. Here is where I did the thing that no violin learner or player should ever, EVER do. Living in a tiny studio apartment which had a little foyer when you opened the door, I had my music stand in this space. The first time it happened I was 21 years old and I had just been admitted by Roman Totenberg to the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts for my undergraduate diploma. The damage was truly horrifying on both occasions. Both were accidents, and each time seemed as though they would be the kiss of death. I have broken my dear, lovely baroque violin twice in my adult life, quite severely. (I am admitting to my innate clumsiness and am sharing some of my most humiliating moments here, so please cut me a little slack.) We learn to take loving care of our dear violins, to wipe them carefully, to change strings regularly, to have the sound post adjusted from time to time or the fingerboard planed, and little dings cosmetically enhanced. Let’s just say that while a violin is certainly breakable, it is not as delicate as a glacier lily. I suppose it may depend on the instrument itself, whether its glue and components are of the highest quality or not. Really there are myriad ways to damage a violin enough that it would need to be repaired by a luthier or possibly given a proper burial. Of course, violins will be broken if you drop them on a tile floor or if something heavy like a car or a human smashes down on top of them. The fragility of violins is something of a myth.
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