Paganini Biography

Niccolò Paganini Biography

Niccolò Paganini (Taken from Paganini)

Niccolò Paganini, (Genoa, October 27, 1782 - Nice, May 27, 1840) was a violinist and composer. He was one of the most famous virtuosi of his day, and is considered to be one of the greatest violinists ever, with absolute pitch and perfect intonation, expressive bowing techniques and new uses of staccato and pizzicato techniques.

Paganini was born in Genoa, Italy. He was taught to play the violin from a very young age and was immediately recognized as a virtuoso after he gave his first public concert at the age of 11. In his early teens he studied under Alessandro Rollo and Ghiretti, but he could not cope well with his success: at the age of 19 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 easily overlooked.

He reappeared when he was 23, director of music to Napoleon's sister Elisa Baciocchi, Princess of Lucca, when he wasn't touring, and 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. In Paris in 1833, he commissioned a viola concerto from Hector Berlioz, who produced Harold in Italy for him, but Paganini never played it. Cancer of the larynx was beginning to take its toll, and he died in Nice on the 27th May, 1840, leaving behind a series of sonatas, caprices and 6 violin concertos.

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 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 naive 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. Paganini was one of the first superstars of public concertizing. As he became more and more famous, it was rumored that he acquired his incredible virtuosity in a pact with the devil.

One of the best known of Paganini's compositions are the 24 Caprices, written around 1817 for solo violin. They are among the most technically difficult music ever written for the instrument, calling for a very wide range of bowing techniques, extremely wide left hand stretches, double stopped trills and harmonics and left hand pizzicati. The last of these pieces, in A minor, is a set of twelve variations, and many other composers have taken its theme as the basis for a set of variations of their own.

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Paganini Piano Sheet Music
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    Sergei Rachmaninoff: Eighteenth Variation  Composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff, arranged by Hermene Eichorn. For solo piano. From "Rhapsodie on a Theme of Paganini". Format: piano solo single. Romantic Period. D Major. 5 pages. 9x12 inches. Published by Warner Brothers.
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    Nicolo Paganini: 24 Caprices, Op. 1 - Violin  (Violin Solo) Composed by Nicolo Paganini (1782-1840), edited by Harold Berkley. Opus 1. For violin. Schirmer Library, Vol.1663. Format: violin solo book. With introductory text and performance notes. Romantic Period. 46 pages. 9x12 inches. Published by Schirmer.
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    Sergei Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini  Composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff, arranged by Sharon Aaronson. For piano solo. Format: easy piano solo single. With easy piano notation and fingerings. Romantic period. C Major. Series: Simply Classics. 9x12 inches. Published by Alfred Publishing.
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    Franz Liszt: La Campanella - No. 3 In 6 Grand Etudes After Paganini  Composed by Franz Liszt, edited by Paolo Gallico. For piano. Format: piano solo single. Romantic Period. G# Minor. 15 pages. 9x12 inches. Published by Schirmer.
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    Sergei Rachmaninoff: Eighteenth Variation  Composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff, arranged by Cecily Lambert. For solo piano. From "Rhapsodie on a Theme of Paganini". Format: piano solo single. With fingerings. Romantic Period. D Major. 5 pages. 9x12 inches. Published by Warner Brothers.
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    Franz Liszt: Complete Etudes For Solo Piano, Series II: Including The Paganini Etudes And Concert Etudes  Composed by Franz Liszt, edited by Ferruccio Benvenuto Busoni (1866-1924). For piano. Format: piano solo book. With introductory text and performance notes. Romantic Period. 184 pages. 838x1114 inches. Published by Dover Publications.
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    RACHMANINOV Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (2 CD set)  For Piano. Includes an expansive, newly engraved 96-page music book with solo part and orchestral reduction, printed on high-quality ivory paper; and two compact discs containing the complete performance of the concerto in digital stereo; a digital stereo version of the orchestral accompaniment, minus the soloist; plus a special -25% slow-tempo version of the accompaniment for practice purposes. Published by Music Minus One.
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    Nicolo Paganini: 6 Grande Etudes - Paganini/Liszt  Composed by Nicolo Paganini (1782-1840), arranged by Franz Liszt, edited by Paolo Gallico. For piano. Schirmer's Library, volume 835. Format: piano solo book. With fingerings. Romantic Period. 54 pages. 9x12 inches. Published by Schirmer.
      Serge Rachmaninoff: Eighteenth Variation From Rapsodie On A Theme Of Paganini  Composed by Serge Rachmaninoff, arranged by Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962). For violin and piano. Format: piano/violin single (includes separate pull out performance part for violin). 20th Century and Romantic Period. 4 pages. 9x12 inches. Published by Carl Fischer.
    Nathan Milstein: Paganiniana Variations - Violin  Composed by Nathan Milstein. For violin. Format: violin solo single. 20th Century. A Minor. 6 pages. 9x12 inches. Published by G. Schirmer, Inc.

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