Nicolo Paganini Research Paper

Nicolo Paganini was born October 27, 1782 in Genoa, Italy. He was considered by many to be the greatest violin virtuoso to have ever lived. He began studying the mandolin and violin at the age of 5 under the instruction of his father and was already composing at the age of 7. He gave his first public violin performance at 12 and by 13 he was already known through Genoa as the “wonder-child.” Paganini quickly outgrew each and every one of his teacher’s abilities. His father quickly realized Nicolo’s potential and realized that money could be made from young Nicolo’s talent. He put his son to work good and hard; so hard that it took its toll on his health. The relationship became complicated. If the boy failed to practice for long hours,
he was beaten and given no food. At the age of 15, Paganini began touring Lombardy with his father and by the age of 19, the Minister of the Interior Adriano Mancarelli, appointed young Paganini as the solo violinist to the court in Lucca; where he started his compositions of his famous “24 Violin Caprices.” Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, younger sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, Dutches of Lucca, heard and immediately fell in love with Nicolo Paganini’s music and appointed him Music Director of Italy a year later. His fame as a virtuoso violinist grew as he continued to tour Europe from 1810 onwards. He enjoyed tremendous success in the years that followed.

Paganini was credited with bring about radical modern violin techniques, and his innovations in this area bordered on the miraculous.
In 1829, the German music director and violinist, Carl Guhr was asked to publish an account of the differences between Paganini and all other violinists. He indentified the following principal innovations and techniques: 1) His method of tuning his instrument. In some works, Paganini raises the pitches of all 4 strings by a semi-tone. And when he plays on the G-String alone, it is tuned a minor 3rd high. This had a surprising and magical
effect. 2) His method of bowing. Paganini’s unique bowing gives his playing the greatest vitality and variety. His subtle nuances give his singing melodies a sweetness which words cannot express. But the chief difference is his astonishing staccato. He throws his bows on the strings with a whipping action and plays scales with incredibly speed, while the sounds of his violin roll as smooth as pearls. 3) His use of sustained melodic notes with accompaniment tremolo all played by himself. 4) His use of fingered octaves 5) His practice of combining bowed notes with left hand pizzicato. 6) His use of harmonics. This included natural harmonics and artificial harmonics. 7) His compositions for the G-String alone. In these, the G-string is tuned a minor 3rd high; and sometimes a major 3rd, while using a much thinner string. 8) His use of Double, Triple, and Quadruple stops where chords would be played on two, three, and even all four strings at once.
Nicolo Paganini wrote many compositions during his life. Among them were his 6 Violin Concertos and his famous 24 Caprices Op. 1 for solo violin. In performance, Paganini would enjoy playing tricks with the audience. He would intentionally break the 3 upper strings and just play the performance on the G-String alone. The genius of Paganini lied at the source of the contemporary art of the violin. All the giants of the nineteenth and twentieth century; we are now dealing with here chamber music, jazz, or the gypsy violin, were all in one way or another, descendants of Paganini. His mastery of the bow and violin and his ability to create effects and sounds never heard before influenced major composers that followed, to try and mimic the styles through his music. The following will be music examples taken from Paganini’s 24 Caprices and one of his 6 Violin Concertos. This will be contrasted with composers and compositions that followed Paganini’s style and techniques. I, myself, will be playing some of the works.
Caprice #1.
Nicknamed “L’Arpeggio,” is a match chordal playing with ricochet bowing across all 4-strings.
Caprice #5. This caprice uses saltato bowing, which is a combination of ricochet and spiccato bowing. Usually played in Allegro-Agitato or Presto tempo.
Caprice #6. This caprice exploited the use of left-hand tremolo on the violin by quickly alternating between different notes in the chord in one of the voices. A primary melody is played in one line with a tremolo accompaniment on the other.
Caprice #17. This caprice exploits the use of fingered octaves in descending or ascending fashion in rapid pace.
Caprice #14. This caprice displays the violin’s ability to voice chords. It contains, double stops, triple stops, and quadruple
stops.
Concerto in B Minor. The full extent of Paganini’s techniques was used within this concerto. Within this concerto. The artificial harmonics along with natural harmonics and the left-handed pizzicato were the showcase in the 3rd movement.
Caprice #24. The most famous of Paganini’s compositions. It inspired many composers, such as Liszt, Schumann, Brahms, Rachmaniov, and many others. The work is in the key of A Minor consisting of a theme, 11 variations, and a finale. It is widely considered one of the most difficult pieces ever written for the solo violin. It requires highly advanced techniques: * Thirds, Sixths, Octaves, Tenths * Extremely fast scales and arpeggios * Left Handed pizzicato * High, quick position shifts and string crossings. * Double and Triple stops.
I have prepared here 2 works from composers who were highly influenced by the techniques of Paganini.

Nicolo Paganini forever changed the way composers view music. Issac Stern and Itzhak Perlman were quoted in an interview during the documentary about Nicolo Paganini.
“The evolution in the style of contemporary violinists in the era of Paganini as compared to violinists in the past has to do with what they did with the music and how they shifted.” - Perlman
“The whole writing of music has been changed because of Paganini. There was before Paganini and after Paganini. Paganini was nota development, in the sense that it was Vioti, Coreli, Mozart, etc. It was just music before Paganini and music after Paganini.” – Stern.

Because of Paganini’s physique, physical ailments, and his ability to play the violin never heard before, caused a lot of people to speculate that he may have formed a pact with the devil. Paganini worked that myth towards his advantage and exploited it. Unfortunately even after his death to cancer of the larynx in May 27th 1840, his reputation pursued him and he was denied a catholic burial. His body was embalmed and carried back and forth by his friends for 2 years before being buried unofficially on a private estate. It was then exhumed 3 times before being laid to rest in the Parma cemetery 36 years later in 1876. It was then exhumed yet again to be reburied in the new Parma cemetery a further 20 years later in 1896. What did Paganini achieve in his 57 restless years? He cherished his gift and polished it with intelligence, enthusiasm, and tireless hard work. He composed a great range of original and memorable music. He changed violin playing decisively and created the age of the romantic virtuoso.