‘Several of the hammers are warped and some of the tuning pins have become loose. It’s possible to repair them, but at this point I’ve just done a temporary fix.’

The young man kept his eyes to the ground throughout my explanation.

‘Would you like to try it out?’

There was a long pause and then he gave a faint nod.

I had doubts that a person who wouldn’t even look you in the eye would play in front of someone else, so was surprised when he tapped a note on the keyboard – middle C – with his right index finger.

That middle C was unexpectedly powerful, but you can’t tell how well an instrument’s been tuned from a single note. The man remained motionless, standing hunched over the piano. I was about to suggest that he try playing a short piece when slowly he turned around. His face wore an expression of complete surprise. For the first time, our eyes met for an instant, then he looked away again. This time he played middle C with his thumb, and then all the way up the scale – do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do. His left hand now fished around behind his back in search of the piano stool. He dragged it towards the piano, all the while facing the keyboard. Carefully, he at last sat down to play the whole scale from middle C with both hands.

Normally it’s hard to relax when a client is testing out a piano I’ve just tuned. I tense up, knowing my work is being evaluated right before me. But this time I felt calmer than before I’d started the tuning.

From his seat, the young man looked over his shoulder at me.

‘How is it?’ I asked.

I needn’t have bothered. He was smiling – the young man was smiling, just like the boy in the photograph. Before I had a chance to feel his delight properly in my heart, he’d turned back to the piano and started playing.

Decked out in his grey jogging bottoms and hoodie, his tousled locks sticking out in all directions, he leaned forward with his large body and began to play. His tempo was so slow I didn’t recognize it at first, but I soon realized it was Chopin’s ‘Little Dog Waltz’.