Bound in leather, the pages were lined in staffs and bereft of notes when he had first bought it. Branded in the cover was a tree with a slim trunk and various branches covered in ovoid leaves. Beneath the Alder coat of arms the word "Lullabies" was branded.
It was a gift.
And always would be.
His father had always insisted that he and his sisters alike receive the best education they could. It had all started with Jacqueline and her love of the violin. Olivia soon took up the piano to keep the sibling competition constant. It skipped Victoria and Caroline. But the bug bit Liza hard, and being the sister closest in age to young Nigel, it was natural that he wanted to learn.
Out of all the things he did associated with an upbringing from old Welsh money; the polo matches, the rugby games, it was music that was his first love. When he was old enough it was the piano, like Liza. Not surprisingly, he took up the organ and joined the church choir. When the Church began to openly disapprove of the money the Alder family spent on the church band, he picked up the guitar.
He had bought it in the midst of the season. Beneath the light of falling snow reflecting the city's lamps through his window he scrawled the notes in a precise, neat, calligraphic hand.
The first tune started with an open G, plucking only the third and sixth strings in 1/8ths time. It moved through other open chords; Em, C, D, all plucked in that tempo with a lone voice that wept to echo the cello's sobs.
An old earth song from days before the war and his youth.
When finished, he inked the title and artist at the top.
The first lullaby.
The Crane Wife 1&2
The Decemberists
It was a gift.
And always would be.
His father had always insisted that he and his sisters alike receive the best education they could. It had all started with Jacqueline and her love of the violin. Olivia soon took up the piano to keep the sibling competition constant. It skipped Victoria and Caroline. But the bug bit Liza hard, and being the sister closest in age to young Nigel, it was natural that he wanted to learn.
Out of all the things he did associated with an upbringing from old Welsh money; the polo matches, the rugby games, it was music that was his first love. When he was old enough it was the piano, like Liza. Not surprisingly, he took up the organ and joined the church choir. When the Church began to openly disapprove of the money the Alder family spent on the church band, he picked up the guitar.
He had bought it in the midst of the season. Beneath the light of falling snow reflecting the city's lamps through his window he scrawled the notes in a precise, neat, calligraphic hand.
The first tune started with an open G, plucking only the third and sixth strings in 1/8ths time. It moved through other open chords; Em, C, D, all plucked in that tempo with a lone voice that wept to echo the cello's sobs.
An old earth song from days before the war and his youth.
When finished, he inked the title and artist at the top.
The first lullaby.
The Crane Wife 1&2
The Decemberists