The Lost Stradivarius

A young Oxford musician discovers a hidden Stradivarius violin and an ancient suite of music that summons the ghost of a 17th-century nobleman. His obsession with the instrument and the supernatural force behind it leads to his physical and moral decline, the neglect of his wife, and a tragic end, all revealed through his sister's posthumous letter.

John Maltravers, a gifted musician at Oxford, buys an old wicker chair that creaks mysteriously when he plays a particular gagliarda from a manuscript by Graziani. He and his friend Gaskell witness a ghostly apparition in the chair, and later John discovers a hidden Stradivarius violin in a secret cupboard. He keeps the violin secret and becomes increasingly obsessed, playing the gagliarda alone. He marries Constance Temple, but his obsession leads him to neglect her, and he is drawn to the portrait of Adrian Temple, a 17th-century ancestor who was murdered in Naples. John's health declines, and he abandons his family, traveling to Naples where he finds Adrian Temple's skeleton in a ruined hall. He returns to England, deteriorating physically and mentally, and dies on Christmas morning after sleepwalking and playing the violin. His sister Sophia writes to her nephew, revealing the family's dark history and the violin's curse, which she fears may affect the next generation.