Hanns’ Blog

THE SOUNDS OF LOVE

Hanns F Skoutajan

There was a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat as I watched the movers edge our piano away from the wall where it had been resting for the past fourteen years. Then covered with a heavy protective cloth it was wheeled down the hall to the elevator on the first leg of its journey. It was a short trip, only across the city to Westboro where our eight year old granddaughter Sophia awaited its arrival with eager anticipation. When visiting us she always  gravitated to the instrument, touching the keys and giving signs of a desire to learn to play.  Thus when enlarging their house last year they made sure that there was a place for the piano. Now that it has arrived and in place it looks very much at home in its new abode.

This instrument has had a long journey beginning in 1927 in the Heintzman factory in Toronto. We acquired it in 1962 when we were living in Kingston. Marlene had a great desire to continue her piano studies.

It was the second instrument we looked at. After exposing the works inside the case to the consternation of the salesman she discovered a crack in the sound board, so out it went. A few days later a replacement arrived, an upright grand costing us an extra $100. An upright grand has a larger sound board and thus produces a richer sound. She loved it instantly.

The piano has travelled to numerous venues where we lived and I ministered including Toronto and Owen Sound. It was often quite hair raising to see movers trying to leverage it into these new homes.

Both Marlene and I had studied piano, she more intensely than I . Both our children took piano lessons . Karla diverted to clarinet and Stephen percussion.

My introduction to the instrument began in Czechoslovakia  when I was six year old with an amazing blind teacher. I always wondered how he could tell I was using the wrong fingering although he could not see my hands. 

My lessons were interrupted in the fall of 1938 when our family was forced to flee the German invasion of our homeland leaving behind all our possessions except what we could carry in a couple of suitcases and backpacks. No piano.

Only until six years later and one ocean away, in a wartime village called Batawa near Toronto did mother decide to buy a piano. She loved music and was an excellent sight reader. Her ability was soon discovered and she  was invited to play for the Sunday School and later the church services. 

Church music was quite unfamiliar to her so she played the hymns in three quarter time which made for lively singing. The congregation loved it. Our services were held in the recreation hall lounge room and was undoubtedly the most comfortable venue for worship I have ever experienced. Early Sunday we went to the hall to arrange the couches and easy chairs and  always brought along our ferns to decorate the place. Mother’s favourite introductory music was Handel’s Largo which made for a wonderful atmosphere for worship.

Marlene began her study of piano in PEI  and travelled by steam train to her teacher in Summerside, then later at Mount Allison University and finally at the Toronto Conservatory of Music when we lived there.

It seems now that an era has passed and hopefully another has begun, one in which small fingers will find their way over the keyboard . We feel that among other things she is musically gifted. 

My tears quickly dried and the lump was swallowed as we contemplated the arrival of this beautiful instrument in its new home.

We were deeply saddened when the mover told us that he moves quite a few pianos but often not to someone’s home but a dumpster. There often is little room for a large instrument and electronic keyboards have improved in sound quality , even touch sensitivity. A piano like many other musical instruments is not an inanimate object to decorate a home but possess life.

I admit that this is a bit of a love story. The wall where the piano stood is bare and tells of the absence of sound. On its last night with us Marlene sat down to play some of her favourite pieces , and yes brought tears to my eyes. She plans to visit our son’s home with her portfolio of music. Also a piano teacher has been found for Sophia only a few doors from their home.

Nothing will give us more joy than hearing Sophia find the keys to make familiar and beautiful sounds.

For us this love story, like our own has lasted  a lifetime and undoubtedly will follow us, as love does, beyond our own lives. We have been richly blessed and hope that the piano will bless others to come.

Spirit Quest, June 2015