That evening he [Piatigorsky’s father] took me to the symphony concert, where I saw and heard the cello for the first time. I had never heard or seen anything nearly so beautiful before. / From that night on, armed with two sticks, a long one for the cello and a short one for the bow, I pretended to play the cello. Even the birth of my new brother, Alexander, did not interrupt my make-believe. Those magic sticks lifted me into a world of sound where I could call every mood at will.