Musical Memories

The story opens with a vivid portrait of two women who shaped the narrator’s early world: a mother who gave him life and a great‑aunt, Charlotte Masson, a bright, resourceful woman from an old legal family. After the upheavals of the Revolution stripped her relatives of wealth, Charlotte turned to teaching piano, French, and even embroidery to survive, eventually adopting the narrator’s mother. Their fragile household, punctuated by loss—his father’s early death and his own precarious health—creates a tender backdrop of resilience and affection.

In the quiet rooms of their Parisian home, music becomes a language of its own. A tiny, long‑unused piano sits in the corner, and the child, rather than banging the keys, learns each note with uncanny precision, guided by his great‑aunt’s method. He finds wonder in everyday sounds—the ticking clock, the kettle’s rising “oboe”—and hears echoes of great composers like Berlioz in those simple melodies. This early immersion sets the stage for a lifelong devotion to the art of sound.