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Steiner Street

Steiner Street was inspired by a visit to Yehudi Menuhin's boyhood home in San Francisco, which he described in his biography Unfinished Journey (Fromm International Publishing Corporation, New York). Menuhin has been my idol ever since I was five years old and living in Amsterdam. After I began my first violin lessons, my father handed me a photo of Menuhin as a young prodigy, with the suggestion that I should learn to play "like that little boy" (who was, at that time, already grown up). Oh, the dreams of parents! 

Steiner Street appeared in the Spring 2009 issue of Stringendo, published by the Washington DC/Maryland Chapter of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA). If you would like to publish a reprint, please contact the author.

We have yet to visit Chateau Tivoli, but it is on our list of exciting things to do in our future, and perhaps write about.....

Steiner Street
by Dorothea Barth  
Copyright 2009

Onto the street where music thrived,
Past boyhood park of glee,
With wonder we arrive to see
One thousand forty-three.

Steiner Street stands silent,
But when our car rolls in,
Glass breaks beneath a tire,
Reminder in the din

That everything must change and turn,
A biblical decree;
Whereto the spirit once within
Who played so splendidly?

Steiner house stands silent,
Victorian abode,
Mozart, Bach, and Schubert,
Gone from where once they glowed.

A chosen cherub blossomed here,
Fleet fingers, golden bow,
Sublime endeavor bearing fruit,
Beloved by Apollo.

Steiner house stands silent,
Soft lavender its hues,
Alluring are its secrets,
Bright boyhood and the muse.

Will you not share your story now?
Chimes curiosity;
In stillness comes the answer:
What can I offer thee?  

Stringful house stands silent,
As decades disappear,
Contemplation deepens,
Is that Chaconne I hear?

Enchanting old adjacent inn
Welcomes us to see
The history and fair façade
Of Chateau Tivoli  

Steiner house stays silent,
At last we must agree,
Discovery awaits us
At next door’s B and B.

A cup of tea, a music stand,
A flute, a violin,
A serenade across the fence
Where once lived Menuhin.

Steiner Street stands silent,
And we go on our way;
As neighbors we will soon return,
If only for a day.

Other music poems by Dorothea Barth posted on this website:
Rosewood to Redwood
Ancient Music for a New Day

This photo was taken in 2009, when we first visited Menuhin's boyhood home

The above  photo was taken on Dorothy's significant birthday, October 29, 2011. We booked at room at Chateau Tivoli,  located next to Yehudi Menuhin's boyhood home. Didn't get to meet the current owner....

Dorothy Barth, Solo Violin Home

Dorothea Barth, Freelance Writer- This is my dedicated writing website

Key words: poetry of Dorothea Barth, Dorothea Barth writing and poetry, Dorothy Barth Northern California wedding violinist, Yehudi Menuhin, San Francisco, Steiner Street