Cruise Ticket Seller: Do you really mean that you won't join the "Free Breeze" Band, Signorina? If you were to join, I know the captain would be over the moon!
Cruise Ticket Seller: When we played him the song we recorded last time, he borrowed the tape on the spot and still hasn't given it back!
Cruise Ship Musician: Oh yes, please, Barcarola! Aren't you always talking about how much fun it would be to travel the world on a big ship?
Cruise Ship Musician: I'll tell you right now, I'd much rather have you join us than some random musician off the street!
More and more fervent invitations leap up to overwhelm the young girl sitting on the ground.
Barcarola: Hmm ... I'm thinking ...
Barcarola: Something's still missing. Oh! It's here!
Barcarola: Astrictus!
The subtle friction of the device's components forms a harmonious melody.
As if accomplishing some momentous feat, the little girl rises with a beaming smile and announces loudly—
Barcarola: It's fixed! The reeds inside the melodica were a bit loose, but I glued them up nice and securely!
Barcarola: Here you go. I think that I overcomplicated things at the start. I hope you didn't mind the wait ... scusa.
Cruise Ticket Seller: What does ten minutes matter? We're not setting sail until tomorrow anyway. This is downtime for us, and we can spend it however we want.
Cruise Ticket Seller: But, you did fix up the melodica up properly, no?
Barcarola: Certo, I'd say it's set for a hundred years now! Maybe you can pass it down to your children as a family heirloom!
Barcarola: Nothing else needs repairing, does it?
Cruise Ticket Seller: No, no, nothing at all. We thought about going around breaking everything on the ship just to keep you around, but if the captain caught us, he'd have us swimming with the fishes.
Cruise Ship Musician: Don't exaggerate. The captain is a kind man. Barcarola, don't listen to his nonsense.
Cruise Ship Musician: Will you accept that invitation? I really do hope that you'll join us!
Barcarola: I know—we could count the fishtails splashing out of the ocean together, listen to new songs in different ports, and earn the applause of passengers from everywhere in the world.
Cruise Ticket Seller: Not to mention sampling the specialties of each and every taverna along the way.
Cruise Ship Musician: We'll busk on the streets when the ship's docked to earn a little extra cash.
Cruise Ship Musician: We can come along to help you find new instruments! No more waiting around for us to come back.
Barcarola: But the "Free Breeze" sails so far away.
Barcarola: I worry for my parents. How would they feel if I was so far away where not even a postcard or phone call could reach me?
Silence.
Time after time, their invitations fell away to silence.
Barcarola: But maybe things will change. I haven't even finished my final exam! When I get first place, I'll be sure to let all of you know!
Cruise Ship Musician: Will you remember to tell me first?
Barcarola: Of course! You have the word of Cremona's number one up-and-coming music star!
Barcarola: I swear, after I pass the exam, I'll quickly gather my things, dash off to the port, and hop onto the "Free Breeze," just like—click
Cruise Ticket Seller: Hah! More like "boom"! When you finally do come aboard, the weight of your luggage might just sink us all!
Barcarola: Oh, no special treatment for aspiring virtuosos?
Barcarola: If you're worried my collection isn't compact enough, I'm close to solving that problem too.
Barcarola: Whether it's the violin, saxophone, piano, or melodica—anything other instruments can do, my new invention will do it better.
Barcarola: My Crackling Box is going to shake the world of music to its roots!
Barcarola: First things first. I believe you have a little something I requested.
Barcarola: Now hand it over!
She extends an open expectant hand to her friends, her eyes gleaming.
Cruise Ship Musician: I chose the one with the most beautiful tone, just for you.
Barcarola: A clarinet. Hmm ... the maestro of the ensemble, extremely popular. Wide application, with adaptable tone changes.
Barcarola: Grazie mille! The timing is perfect. I will incorporate it into my Crackling Box!
She grabs the clarinet and, with her other hand, offers a cassette tape.
Barcarola: All my best pieces I've come up with recently are all on here. Some are practice sessions, and a few melodies I composed myself.
Barcarola: Oh, and the sounds of footsteps on cobblestone streets, doves fluttering their wings, the waves on the river on a windy day, the sound of wood being polished in the bottega ...
Barcarola: This is the "essence" of Cremona. I even climbed the bell tower to record the breeze sweeping by from above.
Cruise Ship Musician: I'm almost done with mine. One thing I can tell you in advance—I recorded an especially unique performance on the streets of Sydney.
Vinyl records are slowly being phased out, and CDs are only now gaining popularity. This is the heyday for cassette tapes.
They can carry many things—a speech, pre-recorded music programs, sounds from around the world.
Some even faithfully record the heartbeat of a city, becoming gifts for cherished friends.
Cruise Ship Musician: Next time, no, the time after that, which place would you like to hear next?
Barcarola: Melbourne or Perth, Brisbane, Fremantle ...
Barcarola: I can contrast their sounds and try to add their unique characteristics into my songs.
The friend accepts the gift, placing it into her pocket.
Cruise Ship Musician: Alright, next time, I'll bring you two tapes—Sydney and Brisbane.
Barcarola: Deal! You must make it back in time. If I get them before the exam, I should have time to prepare.
Cruise Ticket Seller: Rest assured. The captain is familiar with this route. There won't be any mishaps. Don't worry.
Cruise Ticket Seller: As for that exam, what was it again? Making a violin by hand and then performing on the spot—shouldn't that be a walk in the park for you?
Barcarola: It's not as easy for me as you think. Even though I've been putting most of my time into preparing for it.
Barcarola: I plan to perform my own music.
Cruise Ship Musician: You mean like the practice pieces on your tape?
Barcarola: It should be even more beautiful than them. I've been layering sounds from different instruments and places all around Cremona, arranging them meticulously into a complete composition.
Barcarola: Violin and clarinet, French horn and timpani, saxophone, harp, even oud, tin whistle, pan flute ...
Barcarola: The Crackling Box will be able to emulate the timbre of each and every instrument in the world!
A bold and steadfast vow.
Barcarola: There are pieces suitable for recording and others for live performance. Just as the music played in the piazza is quite different from what one plays in a church.
Barcarola: Some sounds are more beautiful when heard in specific environments, and some are hard to reproduce even with the finest instruments.
Barcarola: My dreams are larger than just playing the violin.
The words come out rehearsed, and they have been many times; still, they are not ready to be heard by the audience that matters.
On the grass by the river, though, her true wishes flow out more easily.
Cruise Ship Musician: Then you absolutely, positively have to join us on the "Free Breeze"!
Cruise Ticket Seller: With this invention of yours, you'll be an entire one-woman orchestra. Tickets will sell like gelato on a hot day!
Cruise Ticket Seller: Forget about being in the band. We might just make you captain!
Barcarola: Then my first order of business as capitano shall be to turn the ship into a maritime concert hall, and we'll return only three times per year—make that twice!
Barcarola: But before that, I need to pass my exam.
Barcarola: Until next time. I have to rush home before rehearsal ends so that I can lie in my room pretending to have a stomach ache.
Cruise Ticket Seller: As you wish, capitano!
Cruise Ship Musician: You'll do great, Barcarola!
The young musician runs off but doesn't forget to wave a heartfelt goodbye to her friends.
Barcarola: Made it! Looks like no one's back yet.
Barcarola: Perfect! My new recording's theme will be "A Day in Cremona."
Barcarola: After all, they're always saying they appreciate a little soothing music from home to help them sleep while at sea.
The tune she plays is a familiar lullaby. According to her mother, everyone in the family has hummed its gentle melody to her at some point.
Barcarola's day used to begin with it.
She sets the instrument, now both a violin and clarinet together, in her hands and sits at the window, looking out down the river to the sea that lies far beyond the horizon.
She breathes deeply, allowing the air to flow evenly and smoothly from her chest.
Barcarola: On the sea glitters the silver star.
Barcarola: Gentle the waves, favorable the winds.
One more time.
Barcarola: On the sea glitters the silver star ...
One more time?
Barcarola: Forget it. "Repeated failure leads to success" is too easy a trap to fall into.
Barcarola: Somehow, it never sounds as good as when I was little.
Barcarola: Perhaps the timbre has changed. Just as violins made from wood with different grains sound different.
Barcarola: Or maybe it's because her environment has changed. Where did I use to sing this song?
She slides her hand up fluidly from the wooden cabinet's edge to rest against her forehead.
The corners of the furniture bear splashes of paint marks. Back then, she had to raise her left hand high and stretch out the brush to reach it. Now, she has to squat down to see her graffiti clearly.
Barcarola: Varnishing violins is an art. How could a child possibly understand it?
Barcarola: And naming things. Sigh, in the future, when they introduce me, they'll have to say, "This is the great musician Barcarola, and her treasured instrument, the Crackling Box."
Today is the same as countless other afternoons in the past.
Another lonely afternoon spent with her Crackling Box.
