9- Salut D' Amour By Elgar

When I entered corporate America in 1981, I left behind a long career as a professional violinist and music teacher, not knowing when I would return. Seven years later I found myself face to face with my first boyfriend and the love of my life, Donald Tock, who was spending time “stateside” while living in the Netherlands. With our rekindled love affair, the prospect of living with him overseas was exciting...but what would I be doing there exactly? Returning to the violin offered an elegant “raison d’etre”: an avocation that could fill my time without the stresses of re-aligning my career to a new culture.  

The sound files posted here were made with cassette recorders, performed in living rooms and bedrooms during the spring of 1988. My intention was to resurrect and refresh my technique, and the process led me to a fourth chair, first violin position in a Dutch Chamber Orchestra. I was lucky to have a stand partner who spoke English and translated what the Director wanted! Some of the recordings highlight a skill level honed over many years of strolling at restaurants and other venues, including the Campbell House Restaurant in Kentucky and the Halekulani Hotel in Hawaii. As I listen now to the Franck Sonata, I remember Marcia Weiser in her small living room on a 7-foot piano. My daughter Paquita Lynn made the recording with her own daughter in an infant seat at the time. The Mendelssohn Violin Concerto was recorded with a pianist named Sharon, and while I wanted to delete this work at first, I decided to include it for its moments of grace - and the way that it serves as an example of the struggles I had overcome to reconnect with the violin and regain what was once mine. 

I’m delighted to share these snapshots of my musical life with my friends and family.

9- Salut D' Amour By Elgar

Paquita Calva