As a preliminary, I returned to the platform to give two recitals with William Murdoch in November 1939, playing on a T.M. viola made by Arthur Richardson – the first time this English viola had been heard in public. I also resumed broadcasting. Among the letters I received was one from ‘Uncle Tobs’ (Tobias Matthay, the famous pianoforte pedagogue). ‘My dear Lionel’, he wrote. ‘We heard you over the wireless the other day. It was as great as ever. And it was a great happiness to hear you again. The new instrument came through most effectively, too.’