The Diary
of
Anne Ku

19 January 2001 Friday

RESTORING A PIANO, RESTORING A SOUL

We came across the topic of "pianos" by accident. Anybody who talks to me about pianos will have to endure my piano stories. My colleague mentioned he was restoring an upright as a project. A year later, I couldn't wait to see it.

The piano dominated the living room. It was an old rosewood upright of above average height. He had opened it up completely, cleaned every bit of it, tuned it, and most of all, mended the case. He had polished it until it shone.

It was no longer an ordinary, abandoned piano after nine months of labour. It was his baby.

I played some scales, some chords, and finally improvised to bring out the sound. It was the same make as my sister's upright, but infinitely better. It sounded like a grand piano.

His next project? restore another abandoned piano? Try a grand piano, I told him. But where could he put it? If I were he, I'd get rid of the living room sofas. The living room is for the piano to live, I told him.

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