The Lost Ballad

“Non Non Non. Répéter”, said the teacher. Amy adjusts her posture and places the violin between her shoulder and chin, closes her eyes and starts playing. As the teacher hears Amy play, he can’t help but think of the potential and how he can mould her to be the youngest and the greatest violinist the world has ever seen. She will be spoken of in the same league as Mozart, Beethoven and so will I as her teacher. His thoughts were interrupted by the silence. He looks up and watches Amy writing something down in her diary.

“Qu'est-ce que c'est? What are you doing?”, he shouted angrily at her.

She was so involved in her writing that she didn’t hear him. He walks up to her and drags her to the chair and hands her the instrument, motioning her to play. She sighs and starts playing.

Amy Gifford was 15 and stayed with her mother in Paris. Her father died when she was 7, leaving her as an only child. He was a violinist in the Orchestre des Concerts Pasdeloup. He was an accomplished player and had a lot of potential, but let go of several opportunities to go on premier concerts around Europe to settle for monthly pay checks. His parents were old and he was the only support they had. Before he knew it years flew by, he was married and Amy was born.

When Amy was 3, he noticed she could recognize musical notes and so he started teaching her. By the time she was 6, she had mastered Mendelssohn’s violin concert and matched Jascha Heifetz’s record.

She showed great potential and her dad was determined to provide her with all the opportunities to become a great player, something he wished he had. He encouraged her and told her stories of all the great music maestro's-Mozart, Beethoven.

One day Amy comes up to her dad and asks,”Papa, would you like to hear a song I wrote?”
He nods and puts his violin aside to hear her. She then plays one of the most melodious musical compositions he ever heard.

He is surprised and asks her, “You wrote this?”

“Oui Papa, Tu aimes ça?You like it?", asks Amy

“Oui, Mon Cherie, Always play from your heart and you can never go wrong”, he says and hugs her.

Amy missed her dad a lot and whenever she was in doubt, she thought of him and she knew what she had to do.

Her mother was a simple woman who tried to provide Amy with all the love and opportunities that her husband wanted for her. Not knowing how to start she asked her brother, a concertmaster to help her after her husband died. Her brother, hearing Amy play decided to use her talent to his advantage. He started training her and got her to play all the classics in his orchestra and traveled all across Europe with her.

Amy was lonely and wasn’t happy with what she was doing. She loved playing but what she loved more was playing what she composed.

Her uncle finally managed to get his orchestra to play at the famous Théâtre Mogador in Paris. The concert had been completely sold out for months. It was a very important concert for her uncle and he wanted everything to be perfect. He made Amy practice the whole day to make sure her solo performance would be the best.

On the eve of the concert, her uncle caught her practicing one of her compositions.

“What the hell are you playing? Stop fooling around and get back to practicing. People are paying good money to hear you play”, her uncle roared.

“But uncle, I composed this for dad and was wondering if I could play this in the concert tomorrow”, Amy requested earnestly.

“What? No. I won’t have you jeopardize our futures by letting you play something as silly as that. It isn’t even worth the money you get to play the classics. So forget about composing dear, your not good at it. Just do what I ask of you and we can become famous and very rich”, said her uncle and closed her diary.

“Please uncle. I wrote this for dad. I am sure he would have loved to hear me play this, besides it’s his birthday tomorrow”, begged Amy

“Stop the nonsense and get back to practicing. You don’t want to get me angry”, he said and walked away.

Amy stifled her tears and started playing Tchaikovsky’s Serenade melancholique.

On the morning of the concert, Amy received a parcel. The note said it was from her mother. She opened and read it.

“How are you doing? Hope your doing well. I miss you a lot. I was clearing things from my room when I came across your father’s diary. I know you would love to have it, so I am sending it to you immediately. Your father will be so proud of you. Play well my love.”

Tears rolled down Amy’s cheeks as she opened the parcel to read her father’s diary. As she was browsing through it, she came across the page of her first musical composition that she gave as a gift to him on his birthday. Her father had written something below it.

“Mon Cherie, This is a beautifully written piece. You will grow up to be an amazing composer and player. Each of us has music within us and all of are trying to find and define it. When in doubt listen to your heart and you will hear the music within. Always play with your heart and you can never go wrong”

Amy started crying bitterly, wishing her father was here with her and desperately hoping she could play his song.

At the concert hall, Amy hears the announcer call out her name. Dressed in an elegant black dress, she walks to her chair, bows to the audience and sits down. The whole concert hall was buzzing with silent excitement in the anticipation of her playing. She sees the notes of Brahms' Fourth Symphony on the stand in front of her.

She rests her violin between her shoulder and chin, adjusts her posture, takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.

She plays for her dad. It was perfect.