Weird Wednesday: Canadian Librarian Finds Long Lost Norwegian Concerto

Sometimes two unrelated projects don't end up being unrelated after all. Such was the case for University of Toronto music librarian James Mason, who was simultaneously sorting through the donated belongings of a famous Canadian violinist and trying to clean up a troublesome database.

After noting that violinist Kathleen Parlow's name seemed to coincide with many inconsistencies in the database, Mason made his way into a basement he described as a "concrete bunker with no windows" and emerged with a handwritten violin concerto by Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen, which had only been performed once (with Parlow performing) and was thought lost ever since.

Sometimes it pays off to go through old stuff.

See the interview with Mason by the CBC, here.