The Cellist’s Notebook: Kittie Lambton on Music, Memory, and Storytelling

In this third episode of the Cello Museum Podcast, we celebrate International Book Day with a special conversation drawn from our Cello Book Club.

Originally recorded in July 2021, this episode features author and cellist Kittie Lambton, who joined us from Greece to discuss her novella The Cellist’s Notebook—a story that weaves together music, memory, and family history across generations.

The episode opens with a reading from the book, in which a young girl discovers a hidden cello in her grandmother’s attic. What begins as a moment of curiosity leads to a deeper mystery rooted in the Second World War, and to a reflection on how music connects us across time.

In conversation, Lambton reflects on the inspiration behind the story, including her own family history and her lifelong relationship with the cello. Together, we explore the role of music in memory, the experience of learning an instrument, and the creative process behind writing in the novella form.

The discussion also turns to music education, community, and the importance of nurturing curiosity—particularly in young musicians.

At its heart, this episode is about the enduring magic of discovery: how a single encounter—with an instrument, a story, or a piece of music—can shape a life.

Read the full show notes here: https://cellomuseum.org/the-cellists-notebook-kittie-lambton-on-music-memory-and-storytelling/

 Kittie Lambton — https://www.kittielambton.com/

The Cello Museum Podcast is the official podcast of the Cello Museum.

Explore articles, exhibitions, and upcoming events at: https://cellomuseum.org 

Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, and share this episode with fellow cellists and music lovers.

If this conversation inspires you to explore unaccompanied cello repertoire, join us in Delaware this summer at the Bethany Beach Cellofest (9–16 August). Find details here. 

Transcript

Brenda Neece 0:08

Welcome to the Cello Museum Podcast. In this, our third episode, we celebrate International Book Day, observed on April 23rd, by returning to a special Cello Book Club conversation from July 2021 with author and cellist Kitty Lambton, who joined us from Greece. We begin with a reading from her novella The Cello's Notebook.

Kittie Lambton 0:29

The room was blue and white in colour, with white porcelain vases, and what Nana has said was William Morris wallpaper. There were two huge sash windows which flooded the room in daylight, ideal for Nana's practice each day in piano lessons. She looked around, and apart from the baby grand piano, there were no other instruments in there. Curious, but not wanting to disturb her Nana's studies, she pondered whether she hadn't seen a cello or case anywhere else in the house. As she stood there, Babu walked past the door, and she followed him into the hall and up the staircase to the landing. He led her further up yet more stairs, which she had not really noticed before at the back of the house, and she walked quietly along the carpeted creaky floor. At the end of the landing, a small white handle was teased open gently, and with one tiny jolt, the narrow door opened, revealing a steep staircase which led up to what appeared to be the attic. Babu and Emily climbed the staircase on all floors. A small roof window meant that there was no need to switch on the lights, and heavy raindrops could be heard clattering against the glass. The door closed behind them and startled them both, and Babu sped across the attic floor and meowed. Shh, she said, knowing her Nana would not mind her exploring the house, but somehow creeping about a room she had never been in or knew about, felt a bit strange. Babu hopped up on an old wooden chest of drawers and curled his tail about his paws. Across from the cat, two large black cases lay on the floor. Both cases, although similar in shape, differed in size. Other than the two cases, the room was empty except for an old wobbly kitchen chair and some old velvet curtains Nana had removed some time back when decorating the sitting room. Eager to find out what was inside the cases, Emily placed her hand across the larger of the two. L.T.P., she read out loud under her breath, and her hand brushed over the three initials embossed on the top of the dusty case. She opened the latches, and to her absolute delight, she discovered the most beautiful instrument she had ever seen. The reddish brown, full sized cello had an ornately carved scroll with its four black oval tuning pegs. She touched each of the strings one at a time, with the big one first through to the thinnest one. They were loose, so she could not pluck them or hear them make a sound. Not wanting to lift the cello out because it looked so delicate, she rifled through the velvet pockets inside. She found a small glass bottle with an oily yellowish liquid inside, and what looked like a box with something like the amber which her father collected. Her father's amber contained fossils inside, but this piece did not. She didn't know anything about string instruments, but knew there were always lots of parts and bits of things needed to keep the instruments in good working order. Emily looked up quizzically at Babu and listened to his loud purring that was now seemingly even louder than the raindrops above them. Emily stood up to stroke him, and as he stretched out in appreciation, he knocked over a small pewter pot that stood up upon the drawers. The pot fell down and rolled under the chest of drawers, so Emily knelt down, placing her cheek on the floor, and stretched out her hand to retrieve it. As she did so, she noticed that something rectangular was wedged behind the chest. Sliding the heavy chest away from the wall with all her strength, she pulled out an old dusty leather satchel. L.T.P., she read aloud. These were the same initials embossed on the case, she thought. Emily hesitated to open the satchel, which was not hers to touch. Her hand moved over the catch and it clicked open unexpectedly. Emily hesitated, opened the satchel. Inside was a rather tall book. It was slender, dark green paper book, and when she pulled it out, she realized that it was actually a music manuscript book. Each page was filled with handwritten notes. Notes meaning music notes. She didn't know then that they were written as music notation for cello and piano. Beautifully scripted and not one error in the black scrawling ink, she flicked slowly through the pages. Apart from the music notes, there did not seem to be any words or titles or even signature to provide some clue as to who wrote the music. Conscious that she had been up in the attic some time, and a little bewildered about the cellos and the music book, with many questions flying through her mind to ask Nana, she returned the bottle and amber back into the pocket. She picked up the leather satchel, placed the music notebook back inside, and pushed the satchel under the chest of drawers. She knelt down beside the chair, closed up the cello case and clambered back down the steep stairs and onto the landing. Emily carefully closed the door after Babu was safely down. Nana was in the kitchen, preparing food and whistling to herself. On the table were utensils and paper, ready for Emily to draw fashion costumes, which her Nana knew she liked to do as a pastime. Nana, who was the man in the photo up there? Emily asked, pointing up to the shelf. Nana brought the potatoes over to the table to be peeled and sat down. Drawing in a breath, she smiled warmly at Emily with her kind eyes. That's my brother Leni. And he very sadly left home when I was about three or so years older than you. He was my older brother. I have only the one, and that's the last photo that was taken in this house shortly before he left. Emily listened intently, wide eyed and wanting to learn about everything. Why did he leave the house? Where did he go? Why haven't you heard from him? Well, Emily, you see it was a mystery for me, really. He was very bright and intellectual, and during World War II he would have enlisted as a soldier and been posted overseas. He was a marvellous mimic, who was also bilingual. In the photograph you can see that he was a young man and would have joined the military. We believe he would have spent the war in France due to his linguistic ability, but the circumstances of what happened during the war and his involvement is not something that we were able to find out about as a family. Where in France? Emily asked. Well, we presume Paris, maybe because this was the capital, and this city was under occupation by the Germans in the war. Due to his ability to be able to speak with different French accents, meant that he could take on a southern French accent or a part of Paris, for example, that most people couldn't imitate, and hide his English accent too. He would have blended in as if a Parisian quite easily. Having said that, he could have blended into any number of French cities or towns across France. We simply don't know. I was very young, but I remember my parents explaining that we could get little information about where Leni had gone, and everything seemed to seemed to be very secretive. Perhaps he was a spy. I have read many books about the war, and many spies were chosen due to their linguistic ability which would have been helpful to the British forces. Emily was transfixed by the story of her great uncle Leni, and tried to imagine where he would have been and what role he would have played potentially as a British spy. She also wondered why he would not have contacted the family. Surely he wrote to you during the war to tell you how he was, Emily asked. That is a very astute question. But we did not receive any letters. My parents would have told me if they had, but they did not. Again, maybe this was due to Leni having a special responsibility or the secrecy of his mission, but I have read about it and again never found to be any real needs to help me find out what had happened to my brother. Emily tried her best to think of a way to research his whereabouts in the hope of tracing him. Her Nana could see her worried facial expression and try to reassure her. 'Emily,' she said, 'For years I have tried to find the answers. I went to Paris myself a few times during my late twenties, meeting with officials, but there was so much confidentiality surrounding those times, and getting records and not knowing where to start was very difficult. My parents did receive a letter from the military stating 'Ultimate Fate Unknown' after the Second World War, which I later knew to mean that he was missing in action and presumed dead. I. of course, did not really settle with this as an answer and that is why I went to Paris myself.'

Speaker 2 10:39

Excerpt from the book. That's absolutely wonderful. You're a cellist, so it makes sense that you have a cello in the book. What is your connection with World War II?

Speaker 10:51

Well, I've always been fascinated by World War II. My grandfather, well, my parents, my grandparents' generation, went to war. They volunteered most often the notch with the forces, whether it be the army or the navy. And my grandfather in particular sort of stays with me. I remember a child, him tap dancing on the floor and whistling through his teeth. And I later, very recently came to find out a little bit more about him. And he was actually a chief petty officer in the Navy. And at any moment in his time or in the Second World War, he could have died. He was put into very dangerous situations. And there was one story that really resonated with me that comes through in the book where during the war, I think it was 1943, he was heading down the steps into London Underground, and there was a direct hit from bombing in London. Now, my grandfather, I thought was a sort of big weefer jacket he was wearing, but it was it was a sort of Macintosh, I believe. I don't quite know, but it protected him somewhat. And my father said to me that if you look very closely at his face, you wouldn't see these little scarrings on his face. That ultimately the jacket he was wearing protected him. Now, if you were to read the book, you hear about Lenny's story, and part of my grandfather's hearing was disrupted from that. He survived. But it resonated with me. And I was very conscious of this idea of memory and music and memory. And I played with this idea of how important music is encouraging memory. And I always remember my grandfather and his lovely whistling, and I often whistle to myself. And so it's these stories that sort of come out and come through my writing. It makes it very real.

Speaker 1 12:47

You're listening to the Cello Museum podcast. In this episode, author and cellist Kitty Lambton joins me, Brenda Nies, for a conversation about her novella, The Cellist's Notebook.

Speaker 2 12:58

It just brings it to life that you have this close connection because the connection is not always obvious. Uh, you're too young, been through it. And as I was saying to you earlier, I was fascinated to hear my landlady when I was at Oxford, was it Bletchley? She would always talk about the war, and she was closed-mouthed about the Bletchley part, but there were parts of everyday life that came through. And so I can see this connection in your book with Emily being fascinated and wanting to know more and having this family connection. And then she falls in love with the cello and she's seeing this instrument in the attic. Can you tell us how did you fall in love with the cello?

Speaker 13:40

Well, I fell in love with the cello at primary school. I was up in Scotland. I went to primary school in Scotland in five. It was at a time where a lot of children were provided music lessons for free as part of school encouragement and part of culture. And I remember at primary school, I don't really remember much about it, but apparently they said, Does anybody want to play the cello? And of course, I put my hand up. And I went for an audition, and that night I was given a cello. And I think from that moment on I fell in love with it, really. And it's been very interesting through my own lifetime, playing in ensembles, playing in orchestras, playing in string ensembles, the one-to-one tuition, the mentoring, the wonderful relationships you have outside of your family, and the wonderment, the exoticism that I experience learning the cello from these wonderful teachers. That one hour I would have would just make another place. And as I've gone through my life, and I've gone on to teach, and I've gone on to teach in schools as well as teaching the cello myself, I always it stays and it's been such a big part of my life. So from that moment on, I fell in love with the whole wonderment of playing the cello. And it's this lovely companion that stays with me through my life.

Speaker 2 15:06

And when in reading your story, I was just wondering why the War Office didn't also give Linny the cover story of being a cellist. Yes, he had the language skills, but it worked out that he had the cello was then in the attic, and then Emily could find it. But I was just wondering, because there have been so many spies who have been musicians, and including a book that just came out this week where one of the main characters is a cellist who is a spy. So I was just wondering what your thoughts were on that as well.

Speaker 15:40

Well, the wonderful creativity of a musician, learn from a young age, and link it with bilingual ability as well, and just this curious mind. I think it comes down to learning from a young age to be curious, to be inquisitive about everything that you're exposed to. And so in the book, the character of Lenny was obviously a wonderful, learned man, very cultured, etc., and had these many skills and was able to hone them during the war. But his love of composing, his love of music, the relationship that he with his sister, Nana Rose, this is all reflective of the lovely wonderment of such skill and love of learning and that that's developed from a very young age as a musician. So I'm sure Lenny, in different environments, one of the wonderful parts of Lenny's life is the fact that he could adapt and be flexible, be creative in different environments. So he would have tuned into bringing that forth at the opportune time if he needed to, within the prosthetic of the war, beyond. So it is part of his makeup. And of course, that learning, that idea of memory and music, we look at research now, we look at the importance of music in our everyday lives, and we were just starting to understand the mind and the brain and et cetera. But we know that for dementia, for example, the music that you learn, the understanding of melody and song, is it's still very important to people. And that again is an idea that infiltrates through the book that I'm very interested in. So that comes out. Yes.

Speaker 2 17:26

It also struck me that Lenny's great ear for languages was very much related to his cello playing and making music with his sister. So it all fits together extremely well. I had another question for you. I read in an interview online that you got your start writing when you wrote a fictional letter to Oscar Wilde. Can you tell how that relates to the cello?

Speaker 17:54

Yes. Well, when I was a youngster, I was very interested in music and very interesting cello, but I used to write a lot of poetry. In fact, I used to stand up for audience school assemblies and read out poetry. And writing has been very close to my heart. And I remember entering a competition, and it was the only sort of theme was green. And I came up with the idea of Oscar Wilde coming from the green emerald aisle. I loved Oscar Wilde. I was sort of interested in his lovely stories he wrote for children in particular. And I loved this whole idea. Now, when he went to the opening of the Grove McGallery, he wore a cello coat. He had a cello coat made for him. So, of course, a young person fascinated by the cello reading about such things, setting off my imagination. So I wrote as though a young male admirer attending the opening of the Grove McGallery, and that was the submission. And I came second in a national competition for that. And and so, in a sense, that doesn't really relate to the music, but it does relate to this lovely expression that comes through music, comes through writing. And it ignited this the ideas, this wonderful world that you can escape into and dream about. And it's ignited by this wonderful imagination of imagine him being at that Grove McGannary and wearing that joke. And why did he wear that genocide? How did he have that made? What was it like? Apparently it doesn't exist anymore. They'd lost it, they don't know where it is. So it just really intrigued me. And that was the idea that came through.

Speaker 2 19:34

It was fascinating. And I have to admit, I didn't know that Oscar Weld had a church coat. So I found that absolutely fascinating. One thing that I found about your book that it's please take this as a compliment rather than a criticism, but I was frustrated that it wasn't longer because I wanted more, really enjoyed it. The story is excellent. But having said that, I think it's that I'm not used to reading the format of the novella. Could you talk about writing a novella rather than a full-blown epic 500-page novel?

Speaker 20:08

Well, I've thought about this and not myself. I like the form of a novella. And I feel that in the modern times, in the busy times, the hectic times we live in, it's lovely to escape into a world that that isn't a lengthy novel. And I thought to myself that the pace of the story worked for this particular book, but I am conscious of that being the case. But at the same token, I've started looking into myself. And it's fascinating to read stories like The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Old Man in the Sea, or Mr. Hemingway, and Animal Farm. They were all novellas. And it stays with me, and I don't know whether precisely facts with this, but um yeah I thought those stories are so much a part of understanding, literal understanding, and part of what we understand here when we read books in literature. But I also went on to read that a lot of writers would write in the past, they would write for like newspapers, and they would write stories and they would see if people liked them, how they felt about them. And I thought about this and I thought, what an interesting idea. Because a short story or a novella or the transformation of a novella into a novel, I mean, there are opportunities to do that. But I quite like this idea of the novella revival. I like the idea of there being a place for a novella. And a lot of my readers who have contacted me have said, I like the fact that, especially if they haven't read a book in a long time, or they didn't want to go through the commitment of reading, but they thought, well, actually, let's try this, staying up all night, sort of reading it, to knowing that they could maybe get to the end of it within a few hours. But at the same token, I think there's a place for it in these in these modern. Times and I'm quite intrigued by that. And my second book, The Rescue, was again a novella. So I it's not that I dismiss the idea of a novel, but I quite like it. And I bought and read novels, I have to admit, particularly when I was younger, where I'd gone, there's too much description going on here. There's too much long-winded explanations of things. I quite like the imagination taking place here. I love the idea of in the Chinese notebook stepping into that house and the setting of that story and really feeling those generations, feeling those various generations walking through those doors at different times in history and how they feel leaving it to your imagination. So I quite like that idea of not everything being said, but setting a scene in which a little bit like a film, if the scene is given to you, and you are then able to say, I know what's happening, I know how that character feels in that space, and leaving it to the reader to work that out. I quite like that.

Speaker 2 23:13

It grew on me, and it's not a criticism to want more, it just means I really liked it. I heard hint of a sequel.

Speaker 23:22

Are you writing a sequel at the moment? Yes, I am. I have a sequel in mind, and I am continuing writing that, and it is a sequel to the Channel's notebook. So I'm very excited by that.

Speaker 2 23:33

Well, please keep us posted when it comes out. You really bring to life Emily's passion, and she just falls in love with the cello. Can you tell us about your own cello training and people who inspired you growing up as well?

Speaker 23:50

Yes, I've mentioned it before, the sort of impact of those one-to-one lessons. And I still remember the impact of particularly one, I don't know to mention the name, but there was the one particular teacher who really had an amazing impact on my life at that particular age. And it was about I used to take my cello and I used to go to the house, and it was a very exotic house speaking a Dutch language, not the Dutch, but no voice, the intonation of the voice, the new not speaking in Dutch, I wouldn't have understood, but this beautiful voice. So I didn't know anything like that in my life. I had my parents and my family and my school friends, etc. But when you stepped into this house that was so warm and so welcoming with this wonderful lady who was just a wonderful musician and still teaching the channel, we're still in contact to this day. And the inspiration and the influence of that in that hour of her time, once a week, I would just spring away from those lessons. It doesn't matter what you're going through in your life, where you are, what is happening, but that wonderment of that one-to-one that I really wanted, and I wanted to my readers to if they're thinking about picking up an instrument, embrace the instrument and go for it because it really is this wonderful discipline. No matter the instrument, no matter your passion, actually. But that is it. I think when you're eight years old, your imagination is flying over the place, and you suddenly have this wonderful piece of equipment that you in your own time can try to figure out and understand, and you're inspired by, and the musicians you hear, and you go to a concert and you'd hear them, and you'd see sitting there looking up, listening, you go, Well, that is I know how hard that is. I know that is incredible. How do they manage to do that? The idea behind the book as well is I I really would love that young people remain curious, inquisitive, and have that opportunity to go through similar what I've experienced. And no matter you take music on for the rest of your life, no matter you study music or don't study it, it really is. And I'm sure being musicians together is there is an understanding of that. But that inquisitive, that little emily really, I would hope, takes you to that moment where you just figured it out and thought, yes, he is great. I really want to try this, and that's what I wanted to recall in the writing.

Speaker 2 26:42

And I think it you show the magic that it is for Emily. I do also want to open the floor for questions from the book club members. So if anyone would like to either come online and ask the question or just type in a question and we'll read it, please feel free to do so. I do have another question while we wait for people to come forward. But have you read Helen McClellan's Time and Again? This is the pin name for Margaret Moncrief, the cellist. She was a great teacher as well, and she wrote novels, particularly in retirement. I didn't know.

Speaker 27:24

Have you read Time and Again? I haven't, but I just noted it down and I would certainly pick up the book and give it a read. Yes. Lovely. Yes, I will. Great recommendation.

Speaker 2 27:35

I the reason I ask is that it that it's a story of a girl who plays the cello and she goes off to a school. In the novel, there is this supernatural element of time travel where a young boy comes back from the time of World War II and he's a composer. And so there's this connection between the cellist and the composer. I can't remember if she's a pianist or a cellist. Her friend is a cellist and a pianist. And I think actually she's a pianist. Anyway, there's a connection by this piece of music that she finds in an attic. So there's some parallels there that I thought were fascinating. It's not at all the same story, but there's some similarities. I think also if people have enjoyed your book while we're reading for your sequel, this Helen McClelland book, time and again, might be something else like our reading reading list. And does anybody have any questions? I'm not seeing any come in yet. There's so much to talk about. Can you tell us a little bit about your other book, which has music in it but not cellos?

Speaker 28:40

Well, the rescue that I wrote. Yes, I mean that I entered a short story with competition, Westgate Your Tree Festival, and uh I was awarded second prize. It was a short story, and I went on to then write a novella from it. And again, music is very popular through the scrollary. And I'm I think back again to my Dutch channel teacher and her lovely history and culture. And I also think to friends, I lived in a seaside town in Scotland, and how welcomed I was when I lived there, and how welcomed in particular, again, by the absolutely wonderful musicians, which have a wonderful Jewish history, again the Second World War, again the Isle of Man, and fascinating history. The musician, uh she's a fiddle player who runs the fiddle band, very much encouraging young people to pick up fiddle and play in a group ensemble. And uh her uh wonderment, her way she was with me, of welcoming me into the community, her endless, how can I say, just within the community being that bright shining light of music making and getting events organized, arts events, cultural interest, that really came into my writing and this idea of community spirit, and not only what I went through and how uh welcomed I was, but this idea of music across culture and music, Middle Eastern music, lots of music features within this, and the crossing of paths and the fact that somebody can sail into a community as such, a stranger. Now, how do we embrace that stranger? You know, that was a sort of curious idea to me. But if you embrace the stranger coming into your community, as we move around or we visit a new town, or we have to move job, we could be going to another place. How do we want to be received into a community? And again, this idea of if you do the sort of reward of the welcome, that embracing that community spirit, that that one community embrace that really I wanted to explore in my book. And this is what I did within the rescue during the current climate, where we have immigration, we have cultures coming together, a lot of fear, worries, colliding. If somebody comes to you and they can play a musical instrument or they have a skill that that is lacking in the community, and they say, Oh, I can do that, I can run that for you. And suddenly the familiar becomes familiar, and there is a welcoming, and it's for the betterment of everybody. That was something that I wanted to say. That social responsibility, that lovely wonderment of what it, what skills are coming forward that we weren't sure about before. And I felt that when I was in Scotland, I went there, I had nothing really. I went myself and I was welcomed in as part of the family who provided with beautiful cuisine, given the keys to a wonderful home, which the home and settings feature a lot of in my book. That was the setting of my book. That particular period in my life where I was alone, but actually, through the generosity and the love of others, there I was. How wonderful to be welcomed in such a way that I was able then to flourish in my own way, and then give back one would hope in my own way in the longer term. They could easily have closed the door and not shown that commitment, that love, but they didn't. And in taking that slight risk somehow, in welcoming me, they've never forgotten it. And for me, I've tried to put this into my book again, settings are very important to me, the houses I've lived in, the people that I've met. So that I would hope comes into the book, and maybe helps goes some way into helping people to understand how cultures can come together and how musical culture is significant to that too.

Speaker 2 33:23

I think it's such an important message, especially today, starting to come out of the pandemic. Just what has helped bring people together all around the world has been music. And I see that with the Cello Museum, and we have Cello Museum family members all over the world. And it's just a great pleasure to me to see how music connects people. And I love in the cellus notebook how you connect the past with the present as well as people within the present and across the channel from England to France, but we see it globally. And then in your other book, I feel like you have this theme of connecting people through music. It's wonderful. And I love the way you capture the spirit of place really well. I'm very aware of that when I go different places. And I know when I moved to England and I didn't know anyone, I had met my supervisor there, and that was it. And I didn't know anyone else. And people welcomed me as a cellist. It opens doors because it creates a sense of community. And I think you make that really clear in your writing. I want people to read about and think about. And you were talking earlier about music education as well. It's just something that is so important. And I know that it's going away in the US on in some places. In some places, it's getting stronger. And I hope that as a result of the pandemic, people are more excited about learning instruments and continuing it and funding musical activities. But I do fear that if people don't value it as much as STEM subjects, STEM subjects help us to stay alive, but music and the arts give us a reason to be alive. And in the education part, what do you do have some comments about what's happening? You came through a system where there's a chill and you could take it home and you didn't have to pay for the trello and you had music in schools. Can you comment on what the current situation is in England or where you are now if you're involved in music in Greece?

Speaker 35:29

Well, I've seen the study economy over the last 20 odd years. Just as you've commented on, when I was a child, I grew up in Scotland till I was about 10. So I was trifled in a fight where I grew up. There was access to instruments. People would pick up an instrument, they would learn to play, they were playing a group, etc. But then I went through an experience where we moved to England. And I remember very distinctly my parents saying to me, We have to pay for your lessons now. Do you really get a channel? I remember my mother carrying the cannot in the front seat of the car all the way down from Scotland to England. And it was like, Do you really want to do that? Do you really? And so from a very young age, suddenly there is a payment for it, and then you're paying for that, and then you join the ensembles and things. But then from that period, what I've noticed in school, having been a teacher myself, is that steady decline of the investment, it being subsidized, for example, when I was eight. When your imagination is flowing and you are restricted to everything, that spark, that little capturing of that sparkle, it just breaks your heart when really that isn't maybe there for as many kids as it should be. Whether your family are musicians or not really interested or anything. I mean, you could do it, even if you just had that curiosity by putting your hand up. And it does break my heart. And I think there is a way forward, which is for the schools to subsidize it. Maybe parents could be a little bit, but the majority of the local authority, etc. pay for it. But how important it is, because we know in science, we know that helping just with dexterity with the hands, with left and right, the coordination. I mean, I don't know all the complexities of it, but like any discipline, whether it be sort of athletics or what it is, if you start from a young age, it really instills that sort of a discipline to self-determination, with dry, the creativity that is so important in your life, no matter you go into whatever career it is. And it's very upsetting to see the sort of small-mindedness that is happening, where that investment just it's short term, it's not long term. And I don't quite know the fallout from that in in 10 years' time, in five years' time. I really don't know. I know that people will still continue to be creatives, I know that young people will still find their outlets and their mechanisms, their little ways of going about and dropping about things, but that one-to-one, that instilling how to go about forming a craft is so important. Just as I remember my grandmother showing me how to knit and how to crochet, and learned some skills, you know, that nobody was paying for them. But I learned and then I would knit and knit gloves or knit a jumper. Those things are so important to be passed down, not only for generations, but through schooling as well. And those opportunities should really exist for everybody.

Speaker 2 38:38

Well, I'm hoping that the pandemic has brought more of a spotlight on how important music is to the world. We have Yo-Yo Ma and the Canon Masons, and so many musicians who put out videos during the pandemic just to share comfort and hope. Yes. But question that's come in, it's either Mark Tennant or Jill. This is an excellent question. Has Kitty ever found an instrument in an attic herself? Is the question.

Speaker 39:06

No, I haven't found an instrument in an attic. It's a very lovely question. I suppose I could liken it to the fact that finding the cello at the age of eight and having the same slight wonderment, that the same experience as trying to look through the eyes of when I was at that age and going, wow, look at this. You know, what is this? And let's just make and hold it this way. And how does this work? And so that that finding of something at that particular age was so vital. And what happens if I had gone into school that day and I never would have put my hand up? But yes, I've never gone into monastic and found such a thing, which would be wonderful. Absolutely.

Speaker 2 39:49

It's such a great element of your story, though, because attics are quite a magical place if you think of C.S. Lewis and the Lion Language in the wardrobe. And there was a novel by Hart, 19th century, about finding a violin, not in an attic, but in a hidden panel. Something about this finding of something that has been put aside or lost or hidden for a while. It's just a magical thing, and it helps bring the reader to that place of an eight-year-old girl seeing a cello for the first time. For those of us who have played cellos for so long, it's possible to forget the magic. I think most of us don't because we love the cello so much. But I think that's a lovely question. Are there any more questions? And Kitty, is there anything else that you would like to add about your books or anything for our book club?

Speaker 40:41

I don't think so. I would hope that this idea of, like you say, the magic behind learning instrument comes out. And I would hope that young people, no matter what their interest and passion is, that they find at that age, that they have that curiosity. And it's just retaining that through your lifetime. So the last point I'd like to say is just that one would hope that continues in our lives beyond that young age, that magic and curiosity about all sorts of wonderful things.

Speaker 2 41:12

It's lovely talking to you, and you really bring this magic to your writing.

Speaker 1 41:17

I'm looking forward to your sequel and your future book.org for links to Kitty Lambton's book and website. If you'd like to explore unaccompanied cello repertoire with us this summer, join Jennifer Kletzel, Erica Lesi, and me in Bethany Beach for the Bethany Beach Cello Fest, August 9th through 16th. Details and registration can be found at Cellomuseum.org. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it with a friend. Thanks again for listening.