List of 1632 Characters (fictional) - Franz Sylwester

Franz Sylwester is a crippled down and out down-timer musician — and former maestro violinist introduced in "The Sound of Music" — who was victimized by a rival for his prestigious post as first violinist of the Cathedral of Mainz. His left (fingering) hand was deliberately and maliciously mutilated by his rival, such that he will never play the violin again. Sylwester makes his way eking out an existence writing correspondence for the illiterate. He gradually wends his way to Grantville, where he is exposed to modern Rock and Roll (which appalls him), but also to modern musical knowledge from "Master Herr Professor Wendell" (the high school music teacher), and a local girl, Marla Linder, a singer-musician that befriends him. From both he learns about the breadth and depth of modern musical instruments and the systematized musical theory available from these strange people from the future. He also becomes emotionally entangled with Marla, while fighting off feelings of unworthiness since he is crippled and cannot hope to support her. 1632 writer David Carrico brings the two sympathetic characters back in a succession of stories beginning with "Heavy Metal Music", in effect serializing stories told primarily from Sylwester's viewpoint, and uses the likable and sympathetic character with the help of the good natured Marla to explore interactions between the 1630s musical world and the intriguing blended culture coming into existence in central Europe.

The romantic dance between the two climaxes in "Command Performance" where Franz demonstrates his newly learned left-handed mastery of the violin at a triumphant debut concert. Hosted by the redoubtable "Dame of Magdeburg" Mary Simpson, the concert also features Marla and the expanding circle of her down-timer students. The same tale is used as background to introduce the Simpsons into the novel 1634: The Baltic War toward the conclusion of the events around the industrial accident and river set ablaze that begins the novel.