Thursday 7 December 2017

I've been playing Violet's violin since September and it's wonderful. A deeper, richer tone.  Also wonderful is the gift Alan has given me, of having the violin case restored by master woodworker Illtyd Perkins, right here on Salt Spring Island.  Illtyd says I am not to use the case very much as it is still fragile.  The case actually belonged to Frank Welsman and I expect it dates to the 1890s, like the violin.  It's really beautiful now, and I will have to take it for an airing once in a while. Much of the rosewood veneer had split off the end of the case, but magical Illtyd had a stash of the rare Brazilian rosewood and honestly you cannot tell the old from the new. The violin is resting on my 1917 Gerhard piano with my equally ancient piano stool.