Niccolò Paganini

Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini, (Genoa, October 27, 1782 – May 27, 1840 in Nice) was a violinist, violist, guitarist and composer. He is one of the most famous violin virtuosi, and is considered the greatest violinist who ever lived, with perfect intonation and innovative techniques.

Life of Paganini

Niccolò Paganini was born in Genoa, Italy, on 27 October 1782, to Antonio and Teresa (née Bocciardo) Paganini. According to his biographer, Peter Lichtenthal, Paganini first learnt to play the mandolin (from his father) at the age of five, and quickly moved to the violin by the age of seven, and began composing before he turned eight. He gave his first public concert at the age of 12. In his early teens he studied under various teachers, including Giovanni Servetto and Alessandro Rolla, but he could not cope well with his success; at the age of 16 he was gambling and drinking. His career was saved by an unknown lady, who took him to her estate where he recovered and studied the violin for three years. He also played the guitar in his temporary retirement, and his intimate violin/guitar sonatas and guitar string quartets offer a side of Paganini that is often overlooked.

He reappeared when he was 23, becoming director of music to Napoleon's sister Elisa Baciocchi, Princess of Lucca, when he wasn't touring. He soon became a legend for his unparalleled mastery of the violin, with a debut in Milan in 1813, Vienna 1828, and both London and Paris in 1831. Paganini was one of the first superstars of public concertizing. In fact, he was one of the first, if not the first musician to tour as a solo artist, without supporting musicians. He made a fortune as a touring musician, and was uncanny in his ability to charm an audience. For example, a pervading myth about Paganini is that he sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his fearsome technique, a rumor which he delighted in and may have started. During a performance his eyes would roll into the back of his head while playing, revealing the whites. His swaying stance, long unruly hair and thin, gaunt stature would add to this rumor. He played so intensely, women would faint and men would break out weeping.

Paganini's violin is known as the Cannone Guarnerius violin, its name given by Paganini to reflect the "cannon" sound it produced. Its strings are nearly on the same plane, as opposed to most violins, the strings of which are distinctly arched to prevent accidentally bowing extra strings. The stringing of the Cannone may have allowed Paganini to play on three or even four strings at once.

In Paris in 1833, he commissioned a viola concerto from Hector Berlioz, who produced Harold in Italy for him, but Paganini never played it.

His health deteriorated due to cancer of the larynx, and he died in Nice on the 27th May, 1840. The disease caused him to lose the ability to speak, but he played his violin until his final hours. The last night before his death it is said he could be heard improvising wildly on his violin. He left behind a series of sonatas, caprices, 6 violin concerto\violin concerti and numerous guitar works.

The orchestral parts of Paganini's works are polite, unadventurous in scoring, and supportive. Critics of Paganini find his concerti long-winded and formulaic: one fast rondo finale could often be switched for another. During his public career, the violin parts of the concertos were kept secret. Paganini would rehearse his orchestra without ever playing the full violin solos. At his death, only two had been published. Paganini's heirs have cannily released his concertos one at a time, each given their second debut, over many years, at well-spaced intervals. There are now six published Paganini violin concerti; the last two are missing their orchestral parts.

Paganini developed the set of concert variations for solo violin, characteristically taking a simple, apparently naïve theme, and alternating lyrical variations with a ruminative, improvisatory character that depended for effect on the warmth of his phrasing, with bravura extravagances that left his audiences gasping. It should be noted that there are no definite portraits of Paganini. All existing pictures may or may not be how Paganini really looked.

Paganini and the development of violin technique

The french violinist Ivry Gitlis once said, "Paganini is not a development ... there were all these [violinists before Paganini] and then there was Paganini." Though some of these violinistic techniques employed by Paganini were already present at his time, progression on violin technique was slow up to this point. Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) was considered the father of violin technique, transforming the role of the violin from a continuo instrument to a solo instrument. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), with his Sonate e Partite per violino solo (BWV 1001-1006) firmly established the polyphonic capability of the violin. The first exhaustive exploration of violin technique was found in the 24 caprices of Pietro Locatelli (1693-1746), which at the time of writing, proved to be too difficult to play (although they are now quite playable). Most accomplished violinsts of the time focused on intonation and bowing techniques (the so-called right-hand techniques for string players), the two issues that are most fundamental and also critical for violinists.

Paganini brought forth new techniques for violinists and composers. The writing of violin music, and piano music to some degree, were drastically changed through Paganini. His music often called for a wide range of advanced fingering and bowing techniques that proved sensational to audiences and challenging to colleagues of the period. His concert music often called for a combination of staccato, harmonics, pizzicato (on both hands), and wide musical intervals (as much as a major tenth). Though Paganini's composition was not considered truly polyphonic (Eugène Ysaÿe once criticised, that the solo/instrumental accompaniment to Paganini's music was too "guitar like", lacking any character of polyphonism), he expanded the timbre and colour of the instrument to levels previously unknown. Paganini was also a virtuoso guitarist, composing over 200 works for the instrument.

Paganini was capable of playing three octaves across four strings in a hand span, an impossible feat even by today's standards. His flexibility was believed to be a result of Marfan Syndrome or Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. His almost inhumanly-possible fingering techniques such as harmonic double-stops, parallel octaves (and tenths), and left-hand pizzicato, are now routine exercises for aspiring violinists. Such leaps in the evolution of violin techniques are only paralleled by the likes of Joseph Joachim, and Eugène Ysaÿe, almost half a century later.

It was also believed, that virtuoso pianists and composers like Liszt and Chopin are themselves influenced by Paganini, in performance and composition. Johannes Brahms considered a complete masterpiece. A number of virtuoso pianists, including Franz Liszt, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Brahms himself, paid homage to Paganini by composing variations on the last of his caprices (theme and variations in a minor) for the piano.

Listing of compositions

24 capricci, for solo violin
- Op. 1, no. 1 in E major (the arpeggio)
- Op. 1, no. 2 in B minor
- Op. 1, no. 3 in E minor
- Op. 1, no. 4 in C minor
- Op. 1, no. 5 in A minor
- Op. 1, no. 6 in G minor (the trill)
- Op. 1, no. 7 in A minor
- Op. 1, no. 8 in E-flat major
- Op. 1, no. 9 in E major (the hunt)
- Op. 1, no. 10 in G minor
- Op. 1, no. 11 in C major
- Op. 1, no. 12 in A-flat major
- Op. 1, no. 13 in B-flat major
- Op. 1, no. 14 in E-flat major
- Op. 1, no. 15 in E minor
- Op. 1, no. 16 in G minor
- Op. 1, no. 17 in E-flat major
- Op. 1, no. 18 in C major
- Op. 1, no. 19 in E-flat major
- Op. 1, no. 20 in D major
- Op. 1, no. 21 in A major
- Op. 1, no. 22 in F major
- Op. 1, no. 23 in E-flat major
- Op. 1, no. 24 in A minor (tema con varizioni)

Concerto for violin no. 1, in D major, Op. 6 (1817)
Concerto for violin no. 2, in b minor, Op. 7 (1826) (la campanella, 'the little bell')
Concerto for violin no. 3, in E major (1830)
Concerto for violin no. 4, in d minor (1830)
Concerto for violin no. 5, in a minor (1830)
Concerto for violin no. 6, in e minor (1815?) - last movement completed by unknown authorship.

12 sonate, for violin and guitar, Op. 2
- Op. 2, no. 1 in A major
- Op. 2, no. 2 in C major
- Op. 2, no. 3 in d minor
- Op. 2, no. 4 in A major
- Op. 2, no. 5 in D major
- Op. 2, no. 6 in a minor
- Op. 3, no. 1 in A major
- Op. 3, no. 2 in G major
- Op. 3, no. 3 in D major
- Op. 3, no. 4 in a minor
- Op. 3, no. 5 in A major
- Op. 3, no. 6 in e minor

18 Centone di Sonate, for violin and guitar

Arranged works
- Introduction, theme and variations from Paisiello's 'La bella molinara' (Nel cor più non mi sento)
- Introduction and variations on a theme from Rossini's 'Cenerentola' (non più mesta)
- Introduction and variations on a theme from Rossini's 'Moses' (Dal tuo stellato soglio)
- Introduction and variations on a theme from Rossini's 'Tancredi' (Di tanti palpiti)
- Maestoso sonata sentimentale (variations on the Austrian National Anthem)
- Variations on God Save the King

Miscellaneous works
- I Palpiti
- Perpetuela (Sonata Movimento Perpetuo)
- La Primavera
- Sonata con variazioni (Sonata Militaire)
- Napoleon Sonata
- Variations, Le Streghe
- Cantabile in D major
- Moto Perpetuo in C major
- Romanz in a minor
- Tarantella in a minor
- Grand sonata for violin and guitar, in A major
- Sonata for Viola in c minor
- Sonata in C for solo violin

Works related to Paganini

Franz Liszt - the last of his six Grandes Études de Paganini for solo piano (1851)
Johannes Brahms - Paganini Variations (1862-63), two books of pieces for solo piano
Sergei Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (1934), a set of twenty four variations for piano and orchestra
Witold Lutosławski - Paganini Variations (1941), originally for two pianos, later arranged in a version for piano and orchestra
George Rochberg - Caprice Variations (1970), fifty new variations for solo violin
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Variations for cello and orchestra, originally written for cello and rock band
In 1989 German actor Klaus Kinski portrayed Paganini in the film Kinski Paganini

Life of Paganini

Paganini and the development of violin technique

Listing of compositions

Works related to Paganini

See also