“Life without playing music is inconceivable for me. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music; I get most joy in life out of music.” Albert Einstein
( Albert Einstein playing the violin- 1930 )
By a stroke of undeserved luck,
I knew a very nice lady
Who had known this man—
At whom we all wonder
For how he made such good use
Of the mind God gave him.
And it has had its effect on me
To have been so close to knowing him,
For he is realer to me, I suppose,
Than to most,
And it is easier for me to see
The possibility that I might make
Good use of my mind, too.
And I, I regret to say,
Did not ask the dear lady
Nearly enough questions
Before she was gone, too.
And this, too, is a lesson learned.
She was my own dear voice teacher in college, Janice Harsanyi. Her husband, Nicholas, had been the conductor of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, in which Einstein had played second violin and had served on the board of directors. They all had dinner together on occasion, along with other notable guests, such as Robert Oppenheimer and Josef Stalin’s daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva. It was my honor to know her, even as little as I did.
