When having a musician as a father, picking up the violin at three may not so much show the child to be a genius - (all children of three are geniuses) - as showing a sense for survival.   A father’s love for music leaves little room for anything else - the muse is a demanding lady - but father’s infatuation can be deflected towards oneself.  Just take up any instrument of music.

And how my father did love music ! This gentle, patient man.  Professional trombonist (principle in The Hague Philharmonic), writing arrangements, composing, conducting, playing the viola and teaching, teaching, teaching.

At eight, I start playing the cello (nobody else in the family does that) and join the chamber-music now for real, sometimes finding myself singing in the streets the youthful tunes of Beethoven’s op. 9 … memories …

Later, conservatory.  My teacher : Carel van Leeuwen Boomkamp.  How lucky we music-students are - even to this day - to learn in private lessons from a person of quality.  Boomkamp writes in the last war-winter (when everyone goes underground) a book about baroque performance-practice which, certainly, would have become a classic, had it not been written in Dutch.

After study come the trophies, which adorn biographies (even when they are forty years old) : prix d’excellence from the conservatory, first prize in Casals-contest (1959) and some more of those things, which I forgot.  And then work …. And doubts.  Is this really what I want, spending my whole life running up and down this small plank of ebony ? Would I not, rather, prefer some “decent” profession ? But what ?

I become first cellist of the Concertgebouw-Orchestra.  Fine orchestra, good position - but not an adventure.

Luckily, also in these same sixties, arises the quest for the sound of “authentic” instruments.  Picking up beauties form the dust, so to speak.  Quite hard to do, interesting.  A bit naughty too, showing up big shots of music …

Goodbye position.  God helps who helps himself.

And with a rekindled love for music - all music - there happens to be adventures enough : Chamber groups; myself alone with the Bach-suites; a 20^th century music group; “normal” recitals with piano; as well as “normal” solos with orchestra; all kinds of duos, trios and bigger “o”s as well as records, records.  Plus (I almost forget) years of teaching in conservatories.

Hobbies pursued, like playing music by latter-day famous cellists : CD’s of Dotzauer, Servais, Franchomme (title : Duo Concertant), Duport and Romberg (title : the King of Prussia).  The 17^th century cello revisited and, of course, lots of Boccherini.  The cello piccolo is another hobby.

Archibudelli - gut strings in the chamber-music of the 19^th century.  Making “ensemble” with period pianos is another one and now the latest thing : writing a book, “Bach, the fencing master”.  (1998)  Help ! The suites must be practised, as if I never saw them before.

And still people ask “What actually do you do for a living ?”