A fiddler on the roof...

Lot 175

A violin, probably by Georg Kloz II

(Mittenwald, b 1723; d 1797)

Mittenwald, circa 1780

labelled Jacobus Stainer in Absam prope Oenipontum 16** length of back 1315/16in., 35.4cm. info@ingleshayday.com

https://youtu.be/05eW9XR3NNc

Traditions remain when they are passed from one generation to another. Without them, “our lives would be shaky as a fiddler on the roof…” The value of moments spent with our parents and grandparents are engraved in our memories until the day we die. Expressions that were shared over and over or wise counsel given in time of crisis before making important decisions are recorded in our minds. Indelible and still playing as well as the instruments they played, for those of us who were brought up in musical circles. Images of expressions on their face when they played their favorite musical piece…how they placed their hands on the fiddle. Jerzy had so much love for fiddles: he owned 5 of them. From the day he left his native Krakow, through fighting and losing his right leg during the second world war and finally settling down with his wife and family in Switzerland, his love for music never weaned. The only time I have met him (he was the father of a dear friend of mine) and shook his hand, I felt such a sweetness in his touch: a touch that reveals a profound love for human beings and musical expression. I was moved. Too often people want to impress us with the space they occupy, their achievements, their position and influence: not by him. He had an incredible life story and did not mention anything about it except in a book he wrote towards the end of his life. He had an unsurpassable humility and one of his violins is looking for the next hands to touch other generations…