We love it when we hear or read about the positive impact musical instruments have on the lives of people everywhere. True, instruments are inanimate objects but they have such magical powers. By “magical” we don’t mean “supernatural” or “mysterious,” but rather “meaningful” in the ways they touch and change so many lives.

A case in point is a 300-year-old Stradivarius that New York violinist Joshua Bell played last month during a concert at Lincoln Center. As New York Post told it, that prized instrument “saved dozens of people from the Holocaust.” This uplifting and inspiring story is worth telling, especially since the violin in question has a fascinating history of its own.

Once upon a time…

First of all, a little background: Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari crafted 1,116 string instruments during his lifetime. Of those, 540 violins, 50 cellos and 12 violas survive today. As the article relates it, Bell first saw the instrument in question nearly 15 years ago in a London shop where he went to buy some strings. “The shopkeeper emerged from a back room with a stunning violin in hand,” Bell recalled. “He told me it was the famous Huberman Strad, and I was instantly intrigued.” The violin was so named because it had once belonged to the virtuoso Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman. On Feb. 28, 1936, while Huberman performed at Carnegie Hall, the Stradivarius went missing from his dressing room. He never saw his beloved instrument again. As it turned out, the violin was stolen by a two-bit violinist Julian Altman, who sneaked into Huberman’s dressing room during the concert. Altman used shoe polish to disguise the prized instrument, which he played at every gig he had over the next 48 years. He finally confessed to the theft on his deathbed in 1985. On the day that Bell found the instrument in a London shop –restored to its golden varnish again – it was about to be sold to a German industrialist who wanted to add it to his collection. However, Bell purchased it himself for nearly $4 million.

A life saver

Thankfully, before Altman stole Huberman’s violin, it played – both literally and figuratively – a very important role in saving the lives of many musicians. Huberman, who was Jewish, performed – on his famous Strad, of course – at a series of U.S. venues in order to raise money to settle European musicians and their families in what was then Palestine (now Israel). With WWII just around the corner, Huberman recognized that getting Jews out of Europe was extremely urgent. As it turns out, Bell’s own Russian-Jewish great-grandparents were among the emigrants, so his connection to Huberman’s Strad is very strong. “When I perform in Israel with the Israel Philharmonic,” he said, “I am always touched to think how many of the orchestra members are direct descendants of the musicians Huberman saved from the Holocaust — with funds raised by concerts performed on the same instrument I play every day.”

Make your own history

At Hey Joe Guitar, we like all instruments, but we have special affinity for the ones that have a rich history, even if it’s a poignant one like Huberman’s Strad or these old cellos. But even if you owe just “regular” instruments, one of our teachers will be happy to come to your Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Riverdale home or office and give you a lesson. Because even an ordinary instrument can make extraordinary music!

Photo by unknown, available under Creative Commons Licence.

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As New Yorkers, we are always sad to see when a historic part of our city disappears. Last month, we were heartbroken when the last store on the famed Music Row had closed its doors. As New York Times reported, “in December, the last holdout, Alex Carozza, packed up his accordion store and 50 years of memories and moved off the block.”

In fact, music shops on the Row have been slowly dying for the past several years, closing their doors one by one, victims of raising rent prices and the competition from mega-stores that have been driving privately owned retailers away. “Now, all that is left of Music Row are the signs and awnings that beckoned to virtuosos and neophytes alike,” the article noted. “The block is haunted by empty buildings and the occasional tourist straining for some echo of its harmonious past.” And the past had, indeed, been “harmonious” – both literally and figuratively.

Gone, baby, gone!

Since the 1930s, the once thriving block of 48th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues used to serve as a one-stop music stop – a veritable mecca for musicians and music lovers from New York and beyond. Rock legends like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, The Beatles and the Rolling Stones, to name just a few, shopped there for instruments, sheet music, amps, and other tools of the trade. Before it closed, Manny’s, where many artists bought their first guitar, displayed personal notes of thanks from Bob Marley and Bob Dylan. There was also Rudy’s Music Stop guitar and repair shop, which opened in 1978 and closed last August; others, like We Buy Guitars, 48th Street Music, Colony Music Center, New York Woodwinds and Brass, also closed. “The Music Row’s demise,” the article points out, was “brought on by the soaring value of real estate and the conveniences offered by the Internet — those modern forces that have reshaped so much of New York City’s commercial landscape.” This once vibrant section of the West Side is now a ghost town of sorts. Where once there were music shops, “now there are demolition crews, ‘for rent’ notices and a construction office for the glass tower going up around the corner,” the New York Times writes. How can we not be sad at this turn of events?

We are here for you!

Some changes are obviously positive – we are all in favor of our city growing and developing for the benefit of all its residents. But we can’t help feeling sorry to see such an important and integral part of NYC’s music history gone forever. However, we are happy that Hey Joe Guitar remains a viable part of New York’s music scene. We are especially proud of our amazing teachers, who are always on the go – to give lessons in their students’ Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Riverdale homes and offices. May we serve you for many years to come!

Photo by New York Times.

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