A few years ago, I wrote a series tracing the history of the Haff Hospital in Northampton. It was a local hospital founded by Dr. Charles Haff, who became a medical icon in the community.

I also wrote about his love of music and the rare instruments he owned and performed on.

While researching another story, I found a rare photograph and writeup on Haff’s musical interests in the 1948 Northampton High School “Amptennian.”

Dr. Haff was more than a physician. He was a scholar, philanthropist and philosopher - and an accomplished musician who owned several of the world’s finest instruments.

The instruments exhibited in the photograph by the doctor’s son, Dr. Donald Haff, include a violin made by Antonius Stradivarius in Cremona, Italy, in 1699. Known as a “Lafont Strad,” it was named after a Frenchman who was a solo violinist to the Emperor of Russia in 1808.

A second violin was also made by Stradivarius in 1700. It is known as a “Russian Strad.” It is an undisputed fact that Stradivarius was the most illustrious violin maker of all time. Both violins show well-preserved wood and golden-brown varnish.

On the far right in the photo is a viola made by Pellegrino di Zanetto de Micheli in Brescia, Italy during the year 1540. At one time, it was owned by a member of the British Parliament.

In the foreground of the photo is a violin cello made by David Tecchler in Rome in 1711. It was used by Leonard Rose, a cellist in the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

Dr. Haff formed the Haff String Quartet, and many were the occasions where music lovers were able to thrill to the superb tones of superb instruments in the hands of excellent musicians. Both Dr. Haff and his son played the stringed instruments.

My friend Mrs. Doris Daumer was a graduate of the Haff School of Nursing and resided in the nurses’ home across from the hospital.

“We were invited to Haff’s home (presently the Reichel Funeral Home) to hear the quartet play,” she recalled. “It was grand to hear such beautiful music.

“Dr. Charles Haff would take one of the violins and walk across his backyard to the hospital on Sunday evenings,” she said. “He would slowly walk through the hospital, playing music, which had a relaxing effect on the patients who briefly forgot their ailments. Our nurses also looked forward to his visits, a memory we never forgot.”

When this writer drives past the hospital today (now the Northampton Area School District Administration Office), I recall the physicians and nurses who cared for the medical needs of our community and area. Oh, what stories the building could tell.

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See you in two weeks!