One Old Violin Case (and the secrets within)

Each time I pick up an old violin, I can’t help but think of the tales it could tell… the pubs and dancehalls, the kitchen table sing-alongs. The hands… work-worn, and with soil embedded so deeply as to never clean up. The beautiful (and maybe the not-so-beautiful) music that Stradivarius, Guarnari or Amati violins play over their years of life.

This story is not of a violin, or a viola or cello, but of a violin case that held those tales. It came into my shop thanks to Ab Gamble of Regina, Saskatchewan. Ab is a guitar luthier and, like me, is having a ball learning a new art.

I’ve had many wooden ‘coffin cases’ in my shop over the years and have to admit never paid them much attention. Usually around eighty years old plus, they always sport cracks, bruises and missing innards. This one was no different.

Except this one had a name inside that I was able to identify. The label pasted inside is that of violin maker Sophus Emmeluth of Regina, Saskatchewan. I was able to find him in a Regina obituary, and though it did not refer to violin making, it appears he had quite the life! I also found a violin for sale online with his label inside. From the obituary of Sophus Emmeluth (1883 -1959):

‘Sophus was a musician and while in his youth, was sent by the Danish government to study percussion instruments at the Gottschalk Orchestra school in Berlin. From 1907 to 1914 he played drums in movie theatres in Winnipeg and Regina, later touring with the Pawnee Bill Show. He also served as a tympanist with the Regina Symphony for 27 years. He died in Regina.’

Also, handwritten in the case are the names CB Adams and C Beatty, though these players are unfortunately lost to time.

The case came into my shop with little monetary value. That’s unlikely to change regardless of where it ends up, but I sincerely hope that somewhere, years from now, my name too may be lost to time…

And maybe, just maybe, someone else will pause to speculate on the people who also loved to make music.