broken thing · 04 · back plate · winter 1956 · the radiator
the crack runs from the lower bout almost to the button. winter, a hot radiator, a violin left too close. wood does what wood does. it is still tuneable, still nearly itself, but a luthier will tell you the tone has shifted half a degree toward sadness.
the family did not have it repaired because the repair would have been more than the violin. it was played for two further decades, then put in its case, then brought out once a year for a child's lesson, then put back. the crack remains stable. a luthier called it a clean break — high praise, in his line.
what is kept is the sound the instrument can still produce, which is most of its sound, slightly bent.
field-note · in damp weather the crack widens by a hair, then closes again. it breathes.
clock · violin · orchestra · winter · small repairs