Clara's Secrets
A Violin’s
Continuing
Musical Tale
(by Ann Bray)
Introduction
The magnificent sound of a full symphony orchestra is the sum of the combined voices of its many individual instruments (string, wind, brass and percussion). And although to bring out the potential of any instrument depends greatly on the skill of the musician, the voice that you hear is still that of the instrument itself.
Dear MetSO Forté Readers – it is now well over a year since you were introduced to the story of one of our MetSO voices – Clara the Violin - who was traced right back to her original tree - with much of this story provided by Australian Luthier Bernard McLean.
For those who have not happened across Clara’s story thus far - the 2-Part Clara’s Voice series links are provided :
This article is about Clara the violin’s continuing musical adventures : travelling North after lock-down to reunite with her maker Luthier Bernard McLean, but also the surprising discovery of one of her most enduring secrets.
“
Six degrees of separation is the idea that all people on average are six, or fewer, social connections away from each other. As a result, a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people {globally} in a maximum of six steps. It is also known as the six handshakes rule.
“
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
It never fails to amaze me how close the musical connections are here in WA. I suspect that rather than the usual “six degrees of separation” operating, we are much closer to a level of only about “1.5 degrees of separation” locally.
A person’s day job may not show any apparent connection, but their musical passions are often the hidden key – the silvery threads between people’s heart strings across diverse walks of life.
Clara’s Secrets
Very soon after the original publication of the Clara articles, the following events unfolded.
One late afternoon, with the sun streaming in low through our family room windows, a friend was playing Clara. I was busy nearby, half absorbed in some minor household chores whilst listening to the beautiful playing, when they paused and asked,
“What are these violins on the back of Clara?”.
I foolishly responded with something like,
“There aren’t any violins on the back of Clara” – silly me.
“Yes, there are.”, they quite rightly insisted,
and started making jokes about Clara having tattoos “tats”.
Sure enough, there quite plainly in the afternoon sun were Clara’s Sunlight Violins. Several ethereal, but clear violin shapes, blinking in and out of existence as you turned the body of the violin in the sunshine. The Sunlight Violins appear to be subtle imprints in Clara’s jewel like varnish; so not strictly “tats” as such, as there doesn’t seem to be any “ink” or pigment imparted to the surface from whatever made the marks. They are spaced out and rotated, as you might find a repeated motif laid out on a scarf or wrapping paper.
I was dumbfounded - having handled that instrument for over a year, I was astounded that I had never spotted them before. Neither Nami nor I had seen the like on any other instrument - deliberate carvings yes, but nothing like these very subtle patterns.
Intrigued - questions quickly arose - How? Who? When? – Did anyone else know about them?
Why? – Were they a deliberate playful artwork from the maker, or were they a complete accident of unknown circumstance?
The next morning, before my movie-making younger son headed out for Uni, I consulted him on how to capture a good image of the Sunlight Violins - I was struggling to take a clear picture with my phone. The best morning light was now at the front of the house in the music room, so I was flitting up and down the stairs between photography attempts and the next consultation.
Also in the house that morning, was the delightful Toni Routledge. Toni is one of Perth’s top next-gen piano tuners, and who because of a personal connection through a long-time close friend, was now performing the annual tuning of our family’s much loved upright piano.
As I was popping in and out of the front music room with Clara trying to capture a clear shot, I explained what I was trying to achieve to my bemused musical guest. Turning the violin in the morning light, Toni saw the ethereal Sunlight Violins, and also became intrigued.
I gave Toni a brief precis of Clara’s back story, the recent blog articles, Nami’s discovery of the Sunlight Violins the previous evening, and of course that Clara’s maker was a lovely man who lived in Geraldton.
Now, in what is a very “Perth” experience – Toni intimated that - she was from Geraldton also, and perhaps knew him. I expressed doubt, knowing that the maker was not from Geraldton originally, and as I understood it, was not working full time in a musical space at present. I should have known better -
“What’s his name?”, asked Toni.
“Bernard McLean”, my reply.
“Bernie! Yes, I know Bernie – he’s the whole reason I’m a piano tuner”, says Toni. “I met Bernie many years ago in a TAFE computing course, and we somehow got talking about music, and …”. An extraordinary and inspirational story ensued, which seems to be typical of anyone who crosses paths with the remarkable Bernie, and culminated with the fact that they were now very good friends.
I was a little giddy with disbelief (that 1.5 degrees of Perth separation strikes again); Toni promptly grabbed her phone, dialed her unsuspecting old friend Bernie and brightly asked him -
“Guess where I am?...”.
A very excited and serendipitous three-way conversation followed, ranging over topics of lovely musical people in general, and many other topics
We resolved some key questions :
Who? – Not Bernie.
Bernie knew nothing about the Sunlight Violins – so they were not a deliberate artistic choice by the maker, nor did he think that they got onto Clara during his ownership of the violin.How? The theory was posited that the imprinting of the Sunlight Violins probably involved heat (a very hot day perhaps), and proximity to a patterned object. Maybe being wrapped in a violin patterned silk scarf or the like, and being left in a hot car for the varnish to have become tacky enough to have taken on the image.
Bernie was certainly keen to have a look at them in person, and in general to have a happy reunion with his original Newark violin – Clara. Plans were made to take Clara on a holiday up to Geraldton in the new year.
More Detective Work
In the mean time we continued with the detective work, contacting Clara’s GP - Trevor West at West Violins. Trevor had never previously spotted the Sunlight Violins either, but once illuminated by bright sunshine there they were - Trevor and Hildy were hooked into the mystery now too.
The question of :
When? – Still unclear, although Trevor had handled Clara many times over the years, there was no way of knowing when these subtle violin images may first have appeared; as they only become clear in bright sunlight, they could have been there unobserved all along - under ordinary lighting.
How? Trevor also agreed with the heat theory, whilst wrapped in a textured scarf / cloth - being the most likely scenario. Whatever it was needed to have a raised image to leave that kind of imprint; which seemed to rule out wrapping paper. Trevor also confirmed that there was no pigment associated with the image, it was purely a varnish imprint (doubly ruling out paper as the source - as it was more likely to bleed colour onto the surface).
Who? – Not Trevor.
Clara had not been stored wrapped in anything with a violin pattern during her times with Trevor and Hildy at West Violins.
Clara Meets Her Maker
Clara continued to sing during lock-down last year; for many weeks solo at home, and then when the MetSO was lucky enough to be one of the first community orchestras to return to regular rehearsals, we were thrilled to be joined by several WASO players for some of our early run throughs. They were missing their regular musical camaraderie, and we were honoured to provide a temporary community musical home.
Once restrictions were eased, and it was possible to travel beyond the Perth area back out to the regions, Clara travelled up to Geraldton to reunite with Bernard McLean – her maker.
The highlight of her year was an evening spent with the inspirational Bernie - making music for his ears again - amongst friends and family.
Music means so much to so many people. Whether a rock concert, a symphonic extravaganza, or a musical family gathering – the shared experience of sight and sound binds us.
As to the Sunlight Violins : on indoor inspection, Bernie even knowing of their existence, could not find the mischievous little violin images, and was understandably somewhat dubious. However, walking out into the beautiful late afternoon sunshine - there they were - winking at him. He was puzzled, delighted, and now drawn into the mystery like the rest of us.
Reunited
Photo taken at the home of Bernard McLean in Geraldton WA.
I think one of the best ways to introduce you to the wonderful Bernie is to hear him speak about music directly. To experience a little snippet of the musical magic that captivated Toni Routledge, and draws others to the genuine love of music that Bernie expresses so beautifully.
An extract from the ABC Mid North - Christopher Lewis interview (which you can listen to in full below) - a snippet of the wonderful Bernie :
“
Is it Art?
High Art!
What’s not artistic about …
Mate, this is the most beautiful form of art - to my eyes really.Wood -
taking blocks of wood -
creating an instrument that’s going to be around for a minimum of 300 years -
and could potentially be played on for every day of those 300 years.And it will be in the same condition potentially, if it’s cared for.
Don’t forget that 300 years ago these were carried around by horse and cart.
Another delightful treasure from right back at the beginning of Bernie’s musical journey is provided here by courtesy of the Bendigo Advertiser {thank you Astrid for fielding our questions}.
Another interesting MetSO connection to Bendigo - Ben Clapton one of our senior violinists, who served as Concert Master for our first 2021 MetSO Concert (back in March), was himself a previous Concert Master with the Bendigo Symphony.
The following is a souvenir from Clara’s trip North - Bernie gave a beautiful gift to Clara / The MetSO - a piece of flamed maple tone wood. This remarkable un-treated timber looks jewelled in the sunlight even in its natural state. Ah - the wonders of natural wood!
Flamed Maple Wood
Returning to Clara’s Secrets
Back to the ethereal Sunlight Violins.
A last effort was made earlier this year to solve the puzzle, by contacting Clara’s previous family. However, once again we drew a blank – there was no obvious “scarf”/alternate object, or event that came to mind that could explain their coming into being here either.
Apologies dear readers, but where and when Clara acquired her unique Sunlight Violins is still an enduring mystery. At the behest of several Clara fans, I have been encouraged to publish this next Clara instalment, even though the puzzle is not yet fully solved.
Our musical lady is still keeping her secrets for now – maybe one day… on a further adventure.
Many thanks to
Australian Luthier Bernard McLean for his continued kind participation, and his wonderful enthusiasm .
The whole McLean family and friends - for their generous hospitality up in Geraldton.
Trevor and Hildy West - West Violins for their expert advice and support.
The ABC - Christopher Lewis ABC Mid North for his great interview .
The wonderful staff of the Bendigo Advertiser.
Elizabeth Aaron for her unwavering support and love for the Clara articles.