Music and magic

Nimue Brown

Jan 3

(Nimue)

As per the plan, I headed out on Saturday in pursuit of a new bow for the viola. This was a successful mission and I have something where the weighting is perfect for my awkward, hypermobile fingers. I can't do a proper bow hold because all my joints go the wrong way under pressure, so finding a bow that sits well in my hand will greatly improve my playing.

I was loaned a violin to test the bows with as I tried to pick one out. I haven't played violin in a long time after a shoulder injury cost me mobility on the left side and I could no longer get my hand on the neck.

Somewhat nervously, I picked up the violin to try the first bow. My fingers made it to the neck. After a few fumbling, out of tune misstarts, my hands remembered. Notes flowed out from under my fingers just like they used to. I didn't cry, but it was a close thing.

No doubt this is a consequence of getting to grips with the viola. A year of playing has made me stronger and more flexible. Much as I love the viola, I don't have the same depth of relationship with it, and it doesn't feel as magical to me as the violin did. But, up until recently I thought I'd lost all hope of ever playing the violin again. It's a wondrous thing to have that back.

What I don't have, is a violin I can play. I owned a violin for many years - a somewhat eccentric handmade instrument, probably about one hundred years old. The back came off it, repeatedly. A number of different violin makers tried to repair it over the years and the repairs never held. The last chap who fixed it gently suggested that if the fix didn't work, there wasn't really anything left anyone could do. It was like losing a friend. I still have the violin - unplayable though it is. I am nursing the hope someone might be able to use the viable bits and turn it into an electric instrument for me one day.

I'm not honestly big on manifesting as a way of getting things done. However, I need a violin, I need one to turn up by magic, or I need enough money to turn up by magic for me to be able to afford a good one. News when I have any!