cello

In 2012, a couple contacted the Musical Instrument Fund. The husband is an amateur musician and turned out to be the owner of a rare cello built by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume in Paris around 1845. The cello came with an appraisal stating a considerable value. Everyone at the Musical Instrument Fund fell silent for a moment. While instruments are often donated to the Musical Instrument Fund, this was a truly exceptional donation. As always, we had a new appraisal conducted to verify the value. Just under two weeks later, we received word: the instrument was now worth twice as much. An even longer silence falls over the office. We share the news with the potential donor. He doesn’t hesitate for a moment. “It doesn’t change my intention to donate the instrument,” he writes. Later, he sends us a brief history of his instrument.

“In 1945, my father was able to acquire the cello at a bargain price. As a clueless 13-year-old kid, I received that cello with the message, ‘It’s a very beautiful one.’ I’m afraid it didn’t make much of an impression, and I didn’t play it very well either. I do remember my mother shouting from the kitchen, ‘Don’t play so out of tune!’ I then took lessons from a cellist affiliated with one of the radio orchestras. I kept playing until I moved out, around the age of 20. After that, the cello didn’t leave its case until the Naarden Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1966. A friend had read the ad and said, “If you’re going, I’m going too.” At first, it was a sorry state of affairs until a new conductor took the helm of the orchestra. This conductor wanted us to study our parts. That was one of the reasons I started taking lessons again. In Naarden, I also played a lot of string quartet with a seasoned group that had a firm grasp of the quartet repertoire. I’d lag behind a bit and make sure I was back in time for the “1.” This came to an end when we moved to The Hague in 1975. There, I began playing in the Collegium Musicum Haganum, which was then led by Jules van Hessen. I started taking lessons from a cellist with the Residentie Orchestra. In addition, I also began playing in the Bellitoni orchestra, which was then conducted by Jules van Hessen and later by Alexandru Lascae. After a few years, I left that group and made things easier for myself by joining the daytime orchestra Carpe Diem (for housewives and retirees). I’ve also played a lot of chamber music.”

“Owning the Vuillaume has caused me some pangs of conscience on several occasions. Shouldn’t a professional musician be the one playing it? I let those around me persuade me to keep playing it myself. Now, however, the time has come when my physical and mental decline is beginning to set in, and the instrument needs a better player. The way to achieve this was through a donation to the Musical Instrument Fund. The problem, however, was finding a replacement instrument that I could still enjoy playing. Through various connections, I now own an instrument built in 2011 by the Romanian Alexandru Gavaller.”

“The Musical Instrument Fund was very pleased with the donation, especially when it turned out that the value kept rising according to various appraisals. For my wife and me, however, that didn’t matter. You don’t actually own an instrument like this. You have it on loan from a gifted luthier. That imposes an obligation to play it beautifully. You really shouldn’t sell such an instrument for financial gain. My wife and I feel that the instrument is now in good hands and that it will be played well.”

The cello was loaned by the Musical Instrument Fund first to Mette Seidel and then to Alexander Warenberg. Since late 2023, Kalle de Bie has been the player.