ALONG THE STEPS OF A LIFETIME

32 - Letter to Maddalena Lombardini

“Practice and principal study must be the bow in general, so that she is the absolute mistress of any soundable or singable use”. Thus begins the letter that Tartini sent to his pupil Maddalena Lombardini. This letter draws together a whole series of tips comparable to a technical lesson. The validity of the teachings is so great as to mean it is still relevant after more than two centuries. The story of Maddalena Laura Lombardini Sirmen is different from those of the other Tartini students. Maddalena studied music in one of the Venetian orphanages, the so-called “Hospital of the beggars”, where young people learned music and crafts, but were at the same time almost prisoners. Tartini noticed her for her skill, and took her among his students and wrote her the famous letter. Later the Master of the Nations also worked to find her husband, the only way to free her from the hospital. Thus Maddalena married the violinist and composer, Lodovico Sirmen, and together they travelled Europe as esteemed composers and concert performers.”