Lots of busy days recently, but oddly many moments in which to reflect on the passage of time. Between remodeling the kitchen where we're trying to put in something new that reflects the past, and my oldest baby starting high school, I find myself thinking a lot about where we are now and how things used to be.
Last weekend I got to participate in a wonderful event organized through the VSA (Violin Society of America). They have
a large convention every year, and I will be returning to
Cleveland next month for this year's gathering. But lately they've also been doing smaller
regional events. This recent one happened to be in Detroit, so I jumped at the opportunity to go since I would also get to spend time with my mom.
The focus was the collection of instruments owned by Henry Ford. Apparently he was a fiddler, and since he was also rich he decided to fiddle on incredibly valuable instruments, including two Strads.
We were allotted time to examine eight important violins. There were armed guards and strict rules about not wearing any necklaces or rings while handing the instruments, and for some reason we couldn't take photographs, so I don't have any to share. I did get a shot of where the violins are usually displayed, so there's that:
The closest we get to studying with the old masters is to look carefully at what they did and try to emulate it when we can. It's always exciting to hold a Strad. There was an Amati in the collection that was stunning, and a Guarneri, and a curious violin played by Maud Powell who was the first American woman to be a successful international violin soloist. My favorite instrument at this viewing was the 1740 Carlo Bergonzi. That's not a name people outside of luthier circles usually know, be he was kind of a violin maker's violin maker. His work is beautiful and precise and rare.
