The person remembered mom used to play cello for them in their childhood, and they were yearning to hear her play the instrument again.
Losing a loved one is heartbreaking, but realizing that you can’t get back the moments you spent with them, shatters the heart even more. A Redditor who goes by the moniker OpenMindy (u/traditional-rock-921), recently stumbled upon a cherished time capsule from 1976: A short footage of their mom playing cello. They had grown up listening to their mom’s cello before she passed away at a young age. So, the discovery of this footage was a heart-wrenching moment, but the nostalgia soon turned into grief as they realized that the footage was “silent.” There was no audio in the film. Unable to play cello themselves, the Redditor turned to the internet to help them decode the song their mom could be playing in this footage. And the internet proved to be more supportive than they might have even expected.
On September 29, the Redditor posted this clip in the Reddit group r/classicalmusic with the caption, “I found a silent film of my mother, who died young, playing the cello. Can anyone help me identify what she is playing? I remember her playing for me as a small child and would love to hear what it sounded like again.” The clip showed a gorgeous young woman with black hair, playing notes on a cello. The clip was silent.
The Redditor desperately sought to decipher the audio behind the footage and re-sync it to the video to experience listening to their mom’s cello once again. In the comments section, people gathered together to share inspiring messages and guesses about the cello song in question. “What a beautiful mystery. I hope a cellist finds it and can resync the sound for you,” commented u/oncemorewithgusto.
Others offered their suggestions after analyzing the visual cues in the footage and deciphering the video’s frames. u/mrfunkyland said, “Man, it’s hard to tell. The rhythm and the fingering make me think it could be from the introduction of the Elgar cello concerto.” u/james_dude suggested, “First 4 notes look like F# E D# A” A trained classical musician suggested that “I do believe she's playing something in C major here, which I've noted a couple of others across subs have guessed as well,” and also shared a set of music notes. u/jolasveinarnir chimed into this comment and wrote, “As a cellist, I agree with this transcription!” However, the mystery wasn’t solved quite yet.
Tons of people suggested that the user post the clip in the Reddit group r/cello. So, they posted it in r/cello group where over 1,300 people upvoted his post. Here too, in the comments section, people tried their best to help but were confused by what the song could be. u/annathesia44 and u/thethunderXI thought that it was “Brahms cello sonata,” which is in E Minor. In a comment, the user revealed a hint that their mom usually played well-known classical pieces like Bach's Suites and Elgar.
After about three days, on October 3, the Redditor posted an update on r/classicalmusic. “Following some excellent suggestions in the comments to reach out to professional cellists who could reproduce the playing on the film, I got in touch with several and have some great results back,” they wrote in the caption. They added that a cellist named Joanna (@celloendpinfem) had worked hard to recreate the footage's audio and also wrote a beautiful accompaniment. Beneath the caption, the Redditor reposted the clip with Joanna’s improvised rendition added in the background audio.
UPDATE: I found a silent film of my mother, who died young, playing the cello. Please help me identify what she is playing... I have new audio!!
byu/Traditional-Rock-921 inclassicalmusic
The user appealed to people to keep showing their support and help them re-construct the song their beloved mom might have been playing while this footage was being recorded. In the comments, people showered praises for social media and the internet's power. “This is one of the best examples of the internet creating fellowship and collaboration,” commented u/780266.
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