| Fannie talks about herself
Gregory Horowitz, Fannie's cousin
[Q=Len]
Q. Let's talk about Gregory. (Photographs) Did he live in the same town as you did?
A. Yes. And they lived...they had a nice...a nice home, but it wasn't very big. They had a living room, and they had a bedroom, and they had a kitchen.
Q. He was the only child, right?
A. Well, he had a brother, but he died.
Q. How did they find out he was a good violinist?
A. Well, you see his grandfather, his father's father, used to sing in shul so beautifully cause I heard him. I happened to be at my aunt's house, and they had, you know, connection at the houses. So I could hear him down...from the window. He used to say his prayers, and, oh, they were just beautiful. In the shul, I mean. So he was a beautiful singer. I think he [Gregory] takes after his grandfather when it comes to talent cause my aunt Bessie couldn't sing. My grandfather sure did love him. His father was an only child too. Redhead.
Q. So did a lot of children study violin in those days?
A. Well, there were...the child that studied music studied violin because there were no pianos. How could they bring a piano down there? And I don't think there was even one piano in Odessa. I really don't. They didn't go in for expensive things. A violin. If a girl wants to play, let her have her violin. If a boy ...
Q. So who were the teachers in a little town like Chon?
A. Oh, there was a musician that, you know, used to play. He was a good player too. I don't know if it was Gregory or somebody before too...and he wants to make his violin cry, he does. He was a musician who used used to play at weddings.
Q. Gregory was good enough that they sent him to the conservatory.
A. Well, they had to move away from there in order to send him to...so they went to Warsaw ... maybe they went to Odessa and then to Warsaw. But they went. They had this just one child so they might just as well.
Q. What kind of work did they do?
A. Oh, they had a store...dry goods. Stuff like that. They had good stuff too. They had broadcloths and everything.
Q. Tell me again about Gregory’s life.
A. He used to like...you know, strong things like, you know, they take a big radish like they like that. They rub it on the grater and they put a little schmaltz in it. It was good, too. That's the kind of stuff he used to like. He didn't really care for other things like meats. Maybe he did, but I didn't think so.
Q. Was he fat when he was a boy?
A. No, he was very skinny.
Q. Because he was so fat when he got older.
A. I know he was. No, he was skinny. As a matter of fact, we have a picture in the album when he was in...where there was school...when he learned how to march or whatever he did. So he...he used to...he learned how to play the violin in Chon, but when he turned out to be so good, so they moved away...I don't know whether he moved to Odessa first or to Warsaw.
Q. [Inaudible]
A. One little girl in Chon about my age then at the time. I don't know, maybe I was nine, maybe I was eight. So she says, “Oh” she says, "I stand behind his window, and I listen to him play." And her father was a chazzan so she must have had talent. She says, “I just stand behind his window, and I listen. He plays so beautifully.”
I never heard a child describe anything like that, but now I know. She must have been terribly talented. She liked the way he played. He was a good player. I don't know whether she played. I forgot now whether she played the violin or something. So Gregory was present and says, “She has no talent. No talent.” [Laughs]
Q. Well, he would have known.
A. Yes... There was a young woman here in Elsinore. I don't know if she lived in Elsinore, but she used to come here. And she'd play for the Pioneer Women and for Hadassah. He heard her one time, and he says, "No talent. No talent." |
