Violin

 In the last two days of December I came into the long-term loan of a violin, an incredible gift.  It is owned by a close relative whose aunt and uncle bought it for her long ago. 

The story about the violin maker himself is quite interesting....

Matthew Hardie, of Edinborough, born in the 1700s, learned to make violins somewhere, perhaps London, but that bit of his life seems lost to history.  A well known French violinist, Alday, who had toured extensively with the still-remembered Viotti, found himself living in the British Isles after escaping the French Revolution.   He spent a handful of years in Edinborough, where it appears he hired Hardie to do some repairs on his Stradavarius violin around 1800.  Hardie apparently was quite taken with the instrument and began modeling his own builds after the Strad.  He was made two grades of instruments, as there was a split market for his products.  Better materials for the one, cheaper materials for the other, but both, apparently with the same fine craftsmanship.  The instrument on loan to me was part of his higher grade series, built in 1810.  I have wondered how many lives it has lived and where in its 216 years.

I knew when it was first offered to me that it was objectively a better instrument than the 1930 Paravinci I have been playing on for 26 years. 

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The Parravicini, though,  has become my entire violin personality and closest musical friend in that more-than-quarter of a century.  It is the one who has taught me how to create sound and has shaped my ear to what is possible.  Over the years I have considered replacing it with an upgrade (a formidable task, given the price of the tools of the trade!), yet I could never think too hard about it.  Contemplation felt like the sad and unfair task of replacing a dear friend.  And yet, I have run up against the Parravicini's musical edges many times,  not able to find more color, more clarity, and more sonority in its frame on many occasions....

The first couple of weeks after the package arrived, I alternated violins - the Parravicini feeling familiar, civilized,  and manageable - and the Hardie feeling vast, expanseful, and foreign, like a wild, untamable animal.  It was like trying to drive a very fancy sports car with touchy controls after a lifetime of tooling about in a dependable Ford.  My ears were so accustomed to gaging the reactions of the Parravicini that I didn't know at all what to listen for with the Hardie.

I played the instruments back to back for some family members in the first days, and the resonance and clarity of the Hardie stood out in the room.  One person, who is not himself a musician at all, described the sound of the Hardie as having "a deeper barrel" - very apt.

I knew the Hardie needed a bit of work.  The strings were high, meaning my left hand had to work much harder, and surely if nothing else, it would need a soundpost adjustment as it settled into its new climate and surroundings.   I had that work done in Seattle, while I played the Parravicini exclusively a couple of weeks.  The Hardie came back to me much clearer and easier to play, and ever more voluminous and resonant.

Since then I have been playing exclusively on the Hardie, because I wanted to give myself a good run in learning how to play such a different instrument.   I know there is more in it than I have yet accessed, but I am starting to feel comfortable with it.  I have listened to a recording of myself playing a bit of chamber music on it now, and I heard in my playing more color and nuance than I could hear when I played the same music on the Parravicini. 

I played a concert a week and a half ago (the one with the rats) - my first "professional" outting with the Hardie.  As it was, my standpartner's fiddle was in the shop, and she didn't much care for the loaner she was having to use.  I lent her the Parravinci for the set, and it was so fun to hear someone else playing it next to me.  She sounded quite nice on it.  I am missing the Parravicini a little bit and am thinking that I should set up an instrument rotation like what Jared does.  He has three cellos, and he plays each of them nearly every day to keep them in shape and keep himself learning and flexible.