STRADIVARIUS, NO WAY

In a time of throwaway consumerism, when today's high-tech gadgets are yesterday's news by tomorrow, it challenges the mind to think that a handmade wooden instrument can still sing after three centuries or longer.

But such is the case, happily, with an amazing collection of violins, violas and cellos that has made its way to Redmond. Seattle Times music critic Melinda Bargreen recently detailed the stringed masterpieces, crafted by Antonio Stradivari, Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù and other 16th- to 18th-century Italian artists, that retired Eastside software magnate David Fulton has assembled.

Though the instruments are said to be worth millions of dollars, their value is almost beyond description. Can you imagine holding, much less playing, a violin that has brought beauty into the world for close to 300 years?

Like parchment books, or centuries-old cathedrals, or stands of ancient trees, these instruments provide a transcendent connection to the past and inspire a sense of awe and stewardship.

Fulton, an accomplished musician, earns plaudits for caring for the nine violins, three cellos and three violas he currently has — he has sold some others in recent years — and for producing a digital archive of their images and sounds for future generations.

It is hard to fathom that these tools of the ages might someday deteriorate. Surely, they still will be around when today's iPhone is remembered as a curiosity of the early 21st century.