Feliu Anibal Delargo’s mother’s first words after he was born were, “Let him cry...It’s the most beautiful music in the world.”

    His mother wanted to call him Feliz, but the notary* by mistake wrote Feliu instead. At an early age, when his father dies in Cuba, then a Spanish colony*, the mother receives a box of gifts from the dead father, and distributes* them among the children. Feliu gets a bow, the thing you draw across the strings of a violin or a cello to make music. It’s a source of pride for Feliu.

    One day, his Catalonian village is visited by a pianist. Justo Al-Cerraz is a former child prodigy* who still performs around the country. When Justo visits the village, Feliu is playing the violin, trying to learn it, but one of Justo’s collaborators* is a cellist*, and Feliu feels he must play that instrument too.

    In 1907 Feliu travels to Barcelona to take music lessons. He learns at the hands of two great music masters. So talented is he, that for a short time he becomes the favorite musician and friend of Spain’s Queen. He also becomes the partner of Justo. They meet with a third player, a violinist who’s an Italian Jew.

    Then the plot thickens with history, when they have to face Spain’s war in Morocco all the way through to Hitler and Goebbel’s desire for fine music. Feliu rejects* the use of music for political or romantic purposes, and the surprise ending of this novel makes the reader realize just how painful* such a choice was in reality.

    The book is a beautifully written, passionate, poetic story that helps the reader learn more about the life of a classical musician. (SD-Agencies)