Albert Einstein’s 1894 violin is about to make history in Cirencester—and Cambridge music scholar Dr Paul Wingfield has confirmed it really belonged to the famous physicist. For locals, it’s a rare glimpse of Einstein’s private passion for music.
Wingfield, Director of Studies in Music at Trinity College, composed Einstein’s Violin, a musical drama exploring Einstein’s life as a violinist. His research into the show unexpectedly led him to verify the instrument’s provenance.
The German violin, bought by Einstein in Munich, was played through the years he developed relativity and received the Nobel Prize. Wingfield traced correspondence, concert records, and even Einstein’s handwriting to confirm ownership.
“I had collected details of everything Einstein is known to have said or written about music, as well as of the violins he owned,” Wingfield explains.
Wingfield’s journey began in 2024 at a family wake. A photograph of a boy playing the violin inspired him to write Einstein’s Violin, blending historical research with musical storytelling. After six months of work, the show premiered in April 2025 in Highgate.
Later, an auctioneer contacted Wingfield to authenticate a violin linked to Einstein. Months of research, document analysis, and historical sleuthing confirmed it as the 1894 instrument inscribed with ‘Lina’, a name Einstein gave all his violins.
“Along the way, I’ve learned about nineteenth-century varnish, Einstein’s hand measurements, even inter-War Belgian customs rules. I’m now as sure as anyone could be that this violin was indeed once owned by Einstein,” Wingfield says.
The violin, along with Einstein’s books and bicycle saddle, will be sold at Dominic Winter Auctioneers in Cirencester on 8 October. It’s a tangible link to the scientist’s love of music—and to Cambridge’s thriving research scene.
What started as a musical drama has become a historical revelation. Wingfield continues composing, proving that uncovering the past can be just as creative as performing it.
