"Rothschild's Violin" (russian: Скрипка Ротшильда, translit=Skripka Rotshilda – also translated as "Rothschild's Fiddle") is a
short story by
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...
.
Publication
"Rothschild's Violin" was first published in ''
Russkiye Vedomosti'' Number 37, in February 1894. In the same year it was published in the collection ''Novellas and Stories'' (Повести и рассказы).
After the idea was proposed to him by
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...
,
"Rothschild's Violin" was made into
an opera by
Veniamin Fleishman
Veniamin Iosifovich Fleishman, (russian: Вениами́н Ио́сифович Фле́йшман, July 20, 1913 in Bezhetsk, Tver Governorate – September 14, 1941 in Krasnoye Selo, Leningrad Oblast) was a Soviet composer.
''Rothschild's Viol ...
.
Synopsis
Yakov Ivanov (nicknamed "Bronze") is a seventy-year-old coffin maker in a small village, where there are not enough deaths for his business to flourish. To make ends meet, he plays the violin for a Jewish
klezmer
Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for l ...
orchestra when called upon by its director Moisey Shahkes. Yakov is
anti-semitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
and dislikes
Jews, especially the flutist in the orchestra named Rothschild.
Yakov's wife Marfa becomes ill. Her illness makes him regret his flippant conduct, his coldness and indifference towards her. On the eve of her death, she reminds him of their shared past, but Yakov does not remember. He starts to build her coffin before she dies. Yakov eventually succumbs to illness as well. After grieving for his wife, and then facing his own mortality; Yakov's attitude changes. He eventually gives his violin to Rothschild before dying.
References
Further reading
*Livak, Leonid. ''The Jewish Persona in the European Imagination: A Case of Russian Literature.'' Stanford University Press, 2010.
*
External links
Rothschild's Fiddletext, translated to English by Marian Fell (copyright 1915); Eldritch Press website of literary works in the
public domain
{{Authority control
Short stories by Anton Chekhov
1894 short stories