Organist plays mandolin

We have an old mandolin that my mother-in-law gave me. It is decorated with ribbons that have German on them, so I wondered where it came from. During Christmas son-in-law, who's a professional musician and an organist picked it up, tuned it and started playing it. So I asked MiL where it came from.

Before the war, Rudi Hieak came over from Austria with it. He had been in the Vienna Boys Choir, and was a tenor singer in London, living up the road from MiL in Reigate Hill, and later moving down to Devon. When he died, about three years ago his widow gave it to MiL.

SiL has a musical sense of humour, not malicious, but fun, so for example, if you know what he's doing you might hear that rather than playing some solemn church music he's playing a some frivolous piece disguised underneath. Late husband had a school friend with the same clever sense of musical humour. Once at school, he tuned the school piano so that every seventh note was half a tone flat, then waited for assembly. Those who were tone deaf couldn't understand the laughter of those around them.