Anna Maria's Gift

by Janice Shefelman

  “Sì, Maestro Vivaldi was like a father to me.” Paolina sighed. “If only I could be back in his class.”

  “Why don’t we ask him?” Anna Maria said. “He’s probably still here.”

  “But I’m not allowed upstairs,” Paolina said.

  “I won’t tell. We can sneak up there while everyone is at vespers.” Anna Maria put her violin back in its case.

  Then the two girls hurried along the gallery to the stairway door. All was quiet. They ran up the stairs to the music room.

  Anna Maria stepped inside with Paolina right behind her. The maestro did not see or hear them. He set his violin down on the table and began to write.

  The girls stood frozen by the door. At last he laid the quill pen aside and sat back. It was then that the maestro saw them.

  “Do my eyes play tricks on me?” he said.

  “I am sorry to interrupt you, Maestro,” said Anna Maria.

  “Dear girl, no one can do that. But tell me, is it possible that you two have made peace?” he asked.

  “Sì, Maestro,” said Anna Maria. “And we have come to ask you a favor.”

  “What might that be?”

  Anna Maria glanced at Paolina, then back at Maestro Vivaldi. “Paolina is truly sad for what she did.”

  “I am glad to hear it,” he said.

  Anna Maria took courage. “Would you let her return to violin class, Maestro?”

  He studied Paolina for a time.

  She looked down. “I am ashamed, Maestro Vivaldi.”

  “Very good. I will see what I can do.” He stood, put away his violin, and gathered up his papers. “In two weeks we shall perform my Concerto in G Minor. It is for two violins and cello. Silvia will play the cello part. And I think I know the two violinists.”

  Anna Maria gasped. Her first concert, and the maestro wanted her to play a solo!

  “You can do it—both of you—but it will be hard work. I shall hand out the music tomorrow.” He nodded and walked out the door.

  The girls of the orchestra filed into the chapel balcony. Anna Maria could see that every seat in the audience was taken. In the front row sat the doge in his robe and pointed hat. Senators sat on either side of him. Count Contarini, the countess, and Donata were just behind. Toward the back she saw Francesco.

  Anna Maria put her hand over her racing heart and whispered to Paolina, “I’m so nervous.”

  “So am I, but take deep breaths,” Paolina said.

  Silvia leaned close. “Think only of the music.”

  Maestro Vivaldi strode in and took his place. He raised his hands and looked at each of the soloists. Then he started the beat. On her cello Silvia began the deep, slow bowing. Dum—dum—dum—dum. Soon the violin section joined in. The four beats went on, rising and falling again.

  Now it was time for the two violins. Anna Maria could hear the maestro’s voice in her head. Together now, let your violins sing the melody.

  She glanced at Paolina, and they began. Anna Maria forgot the audience. She let herself be carried along on the music.

  When the galloping final movement ended, the audience began to make a racket. They scraped their feet on the floor and coughed. They blew their noses with loud snorts. Francesco swayed from side to side as he stomped his feet.

  “Clapping is not allowed in the chapel,” Paolina told her. “So all that noise means they loved us.”

  Anna Maria looked at Maestro Vivaldi.

  “Brava, dear girls, brava!” he said.

  Anna Maria felt her heart swell. Francesco was right, she thought. I can be happy in Venice. And Papa was right to send me to the Pietà. Here I can be a musician.

  No longer did it seem like a prison. It was a school and a home, with a mother, an aunt, many sisters … and a red-haired father.

  Glossary

  basilica [buh-SILL-ih-kuh]: early Christian church

  brava [BRAH-vah]: well done

  doge [dohj]: chief government official of Venice

  don [dohn]: title for a highly respected man

  gondola [GON-duh-luh]: long, narrow Venetian boat

  gondolier [gon-duh-LEER]: person who rows a gondola

  illustrious [ih-LUS-tree-us]: very famous

  lagoon [luh-GOON]: shallow body of water connected to a larger one

  largo [LAR-go]: slow part of a musical composition

  lire [LEE-reh]: monetary units of Italy

  maestro [MY-stroh]: title for a conductor, composer, or teacher of music

  Mass: church service that celebrates Communion

  Pietà [pee-ay-TAH]: name of an orphanage in Venice

  prioress [PRY-uh-russ]: head nun

  quill: feather writing pen

  sì [see]: yes

  signorle [seen-YOHR/eh]: mister

  signorina [seen-yuh-REE-nuh]: miss

  unfrock [un-FRAHK]: take away one’s priestly duties

  vespers [VES-purz]: evening worship service

  Historical Note

  It may seem odd that an orphanage would also be a music school. Indeed, the Pietà was one of four orphanages in Venice. They competed with one another to have the best music teachers, students, and performances.

  The Pietà began as a regular orphanage. There were classes in reading, writing, and arithmetic. The girls also learned embroidery, lace making, sewing, spinning, and weaving. Their work was sold to help support the orphanage.

  Venice was a city of music lovers. Someone realized that the orphan girls who showed musical talent could become musicians. They could earn money for the orphanage by giving performances. Most of the girls had no family name. So each was given the name of the instrument she played, such as Silvia of the Cello.

  The Pietà was fortunate to have Antonio Vivaldi. He taught violin and other stringed instruments. He composed music for the girls and conducted the orchestra. Because of Vivaldi, this group of young musicians became famous. People, even kings, came from all over Europe to see and hear the orphan girls perform.

  Although Anna Maria is a fictional girl, she could be real. The idea that her violin held her father’s soul and voice was inspired by the great violin maker Antonio Stradivari. He liked to keep each violin in his bedroom for a month before varnishing it. He believed his soul entered the violin while he slept. And he should know!

  This is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters with the exception of some well-known historical and public figures, are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Where real-life historical or public figures appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogues concerning those persons are fictional and are not intended to depict actual events or to change the fictional nature of the work. In all other respects, any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2010 by Janice Shefelman

  Illustrations copyright © 2010 by Robert Papp

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Shefelman, Janice Jordan.

  Anna Maria’s gift / by Janice Shefelman ; illustrated by Robert Papp. — 1st ed.

  p. cm.

  “A Stepping Stone Book.”

  Summary: In 1715 Italy, nine-year-old Anna Maria Lombardini arrives at a Venice orphanage with little but the special violin her father made for her, but when her teacher, Antonio Vivaldi, favors her over a fellow student, the beloved instrument winds up in a canal. Includes glossary and historical note.

  eISBN: 978-0-375-89828-0

  [1. Violin—Fic
tion. 2. Orphans—Fiction. 3. Vivaldi, Antonio, 1678–1741—Fiction. 4. Conduct of life—Fiction. 5. Schools—Fiction. 6. Venice (Italy)—History—1508–1797—Fiction. 7. Italy—History—1559–1789—Fiction.]

  I. Papp, Robert, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.S54115Ann 2010 [Fic]—dc22 2009004553

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