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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Nicolo Paganini: His Life and Work + +Author: Stephen Samuel Stratton + +Release Date: April 29, 2012 [EBook #39571] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NICOLO PAGANINI: HIS LIFE AND WORK *** + + + + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Henry Flower and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 427px;"> +<a href="images/cover.jpg"> +<img src="images/covers.jpg" width="427" height="600" alt="Cover" title="" /></a> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> +<h1>NICOLO PAGANINI:<br /> + +HIS LIFE AND WORK.</h1> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> +<p class="p4 center"> +<small>PRINTED BY E. SHORE AND CO.,<br /> +3, GREEN TERRACE, ROSEBERY AVENUE, LONDON, E.C.</small></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a><br /><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 451px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_I_See_Appendix" id="Illustration_Plate_I_See_Appendix"></a> +<a href="images/plate_001.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_001s.jpg" width="451" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><i><a href="#Plate_1">Plate I.—See Appendix.</a></i><br /> <span class="smcap">Portrait of Nicolo Paganini by Maurin.</span></span> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></p> + +<p class="p4"> +<i>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. XVII.</i> +</p> +<h1>NICOLO PAGANINI:<br /> +<small>HIS LIFE AND WORK,</small> +</h1> + +<p class="p2 center">BY<br /> +STEPHEN S. STRATTON.</p> + +<p class="p2 center"> +"<i><span lang="it">Natura il fece, e poi ruppe la stampa.</span></i>"<br /> +<span class="sig"><span class="smcap">Ariosto.</span></span></p> + +<p class="p4 center"><i>WITH TWENTY-SEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS.</i></p> + +<p class="p4 center">London:<br /> +"THE STRAD" <span class="smcap">Office, 3, Green Terrace, Rosebery Avenue</span>, E.C.<br /> +J. LENG & CO., 186, <span class="smcap">Fleet Street</span>, E.C.<br /> +<br /> +New York:<br /> +CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 153-157, <span class="smcap">Fifth Avenue</span>.<br /> +<br /> +1907.<br /></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a><br /><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>The author of this work did not live to see the final +sheets in print. Although it has not received his revision, +yet the book has had careful editing. Mr. Stratton did +not undertake the Life of Paganini without adequate +preparation. He had during many years thoughtfully +studied the artist and his attributes, and became an +acknowledged authority on the subject. He gathered +from all available sources the most reliable information. +Almost his last journey was a pilgrimage to Paganini's +birthplace. This volume will exhibit his versatility, +particularly the chapter giving the analyses of Paganini's +compositions. It is therefore the most complete account of +the greatest virtuoso recorded in the annals of music. +Those who peruse this most interesting biography of +Paganini, will naturally desire to learn something of the +writer.</p> + +<p>Stephen Samuel Stratton was born in London on +December 19th, 1840. He began his career as a chorister +of St. Mary's Church, Ealing. He studied harmony and +composition under Charles Lucas. As an organist, he +held these appointments—St. Mary the Virgin, Soho; and +St. James's Church, Friern Barnet. On his removal to +Birmingham in 1866, he was organist at St. Barnabas +Church; Edgbaston Old Parish Church; St. John's,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span> +Harborne; and the Church of the Saviour (1878-1882). +In 1879 he commenced a series of chamber concerts in +Birmingham.</p> + +<p>From 1877 until the day of his death, Mr. Stratton +was the musical critic of the "Birmingham Daily Post." +In that position his influence was decidedly beneficial. +He was also a contributor to the London Musical +Press. He will be remembered as the joint author +(with Mr. James D. Brown) of "British Musical +Biography." His "Life of Mendelssohn" was written +for Messrs. Dent's "Master Musicians." Among other +items may be mentioned "Musical Curiosities," and +valuable papers read before the "Incorporated Society +of Musicians."</p> + +<p>In private life he was highly esteemed—an honorable +citizen—a genial, kind hearted man, with a genuine love +of his profession. He died, after a short illness, in +Birmingham, on June 25th, 1906.</p> + +<p class="sig"> +R. H.<br /> +</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.<br /></h2> +<div> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td>CHAPTER I.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="right"><small><span class="smcap">Page</span></small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Boyhood</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER II.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Early Triumphs</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER III.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Italian Tours</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER IV.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Tours on the Continent</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER V.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">First Visit to England</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER VI.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Final Tour</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER VII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Death</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER VIII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Paganini, the Man</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER IX.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span><span class="smcap">The Artist and his Contemporaries</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER X.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">His Methods in Playing</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER XI.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">His Compositions</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>CHAPTER XII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Memorials</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td>APPENDIX.—<span class="smcap">Notes on the Illustrations</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_195">195</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>BIBLIOGRAPHY</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_201">201</a></td></tr> +</table></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h1><a name="NICOLO_PAGANINI" id="NICOLO_PAGANINI"></a>NICOLO PAGANINI:<br /> + +HIS LIFE AND WORK.</h1> + + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + + +<p>There are some names, the mere mention or +thought of which conjure up distinct personalities; +such are Handel, Bach, Beethoven, Wagner; but not +one has the extraordinary individuality of that of Paganini. +Though few can be living who ever saw the +man, though his portraits are not now commonly to +be met with, the name of Paganini at once calls up a +picture—weird, uncanny, demoniacal; brings back the +faint echo of performances long lost in the corridors of +time; and excites the imagination in a manner altogether +unique. The last few years have witnessed the appearance +of an unprecedented number of wonderful young +violinists, whose achievements culminate in the marvellous +playing of the boy Franz von Vecsey. These manifestations +are almost enough to induce belief in the theory or +doctrine of reincarnation, and to make one fancy that +the great Genoese is once again in the flesh. These +violinists, too, are all playing Paganini's music; they +seem to glory in it, and so do the audiences, although<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> +to many serious and worthy folk it is mere clap-trap +stuff. This revived interest in Paganini and his music +seems to render the present an appropriate time to +restate the case of the man and the artist, notwithstanding +the extensive literature already associated with +his name.</p> + +<p>It is a curious fact that nearly every distinguished +musician, composer or executant, has his namesakes. +There was a constant succession of Bachs in Thuringia +for nearly two centuries; Beethoven's father and grand-father +were musicians; there were four Mozarts, +musicians; and more than twenty Wagners of some +standing in the musical world. No one seems to have +traced the pedigree of Paganini, but he was preceded and +followed by others bearing the same name, and such +particulars as can be gleaned concerning these Paganinis +may not be without interest, and at least may serve by +way of introduction to the greatest of them all.</p> + +<p>Dr. Burney, in his account of Italian Opera in London +during the last half of the eighteenth century, names a +Signor and Signora Paganini as engaged for the season +of 1760-61. They came from Berlin, and the Doctor is +ungallant enough to say that the lady, known as "The +Paganini," was not young. She made her <i>début</i> on +November 22, 1760, in Galuppi's "<span lang="it">Il Mondo della Luna</span>," +in a <i>buffa</i> part, and was very captivating. At her benefit, +when another opera by Galuppi was given—"<span lang="it">Il Filosofo +di Campagna</span>,"—such a crowd assembled as had never +been seen on any other occasion. Not one third of those +who presented themselves at the Opera-house were able<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> +to obtain admission. "Caps were lost, and gowns torn +to pieces, without number or mercy, in the struggle to +get in. Ladies in full dress, who had sent away their +carriages, were obliged to appear in the streets and walk +home without caps or attendants." "Luckily the +weather was fine," adds the Doctor, who witnessed this +uncommon spectacle. "The Paganini" thus anticipated +the extraordinary triumphs of the more famous artist of +half a century later. Signor Paganini, the husband, was +only "a coarse first man," and sang almost without a +voice. Next comes Ercole Paganini, born at Ferrara, +about 1770, the composer of several operas, produced at +La Scala, Milan, and at Florence, from 1804 to 1810. +A tenor singer named Paganini appeared in opera at +Florence in 1830, was decidedly successful and became +highly popular in Genoa in 1836. After Francesco +Lamperti was appointed (in 1850) professor of singing at +the Conservatorio, Milan, among the good pupils he +turned out was one named Paganini, of whom, however, +no particulars are forthcoming. In 1865, Cesare +Paganini, a theoretical writer, published a treatise at +Florence; and in November, 1898, Signora Franceschati-Paganini +was the Brünnhilde in a performance of +"Götterdämmerung," at Bologna. Then there was Dr. +Paganini, who was perhaps the brother in whose charge +young Nicolo was allowed to go to Lucca in 1798. +Whomsoever he may have been, this Dr. Paganini died +in 1835, which event gave rise to a rumour that the great +violinist was dead—a rumour happily untrue. This +Dr. Paganini was not a fiddle-player, but a fiddle-fancier.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> +He possessed a violin ornamented with mother-o'-pearl +and ebony, which had belonged to a Shah of Persia, the +favourite violin of Lord Byron (so it was said), one that +had belonged to Stanislaus of Poland, father-in-law of +Louis XV., one that had been played upon by Charles IV. +of Spain (the enthusiast who had quartet performances +at six in the morning, and who scorned to "keep +time,") and another, once the property of that monarch's +favourite, Don Manuel de Godoy, Duke of Alcudia.</p> + +<p>All the Paganinis mentioned above were eclipsed by <i>the</i> +Paganini (<i>pace</i> Dr. Burney), the artist who stood alone, +whose life was full of strange vicissitudes, who was +worshipped and calumniated, who was applauded as +perhaps never artist was before nor since, yet who was +laughed at, hissed—only once—brought before the law-courts—threatened +with imprisonment and mobbed +within an ace of being lynched. As a child of four, +Paganini narrowly escaped being buried alive; from +youth up he was a constant sufferer from physical disorders; +he had no real home till he was fifty-two; after +death his remains were refused burial for five years; and +when his body had rested in the grave for half a century +it was exhumed, apparently in order that his features +might once more be gazed upon. Truly, Paganini's story +is a romance, a drama, a tragedy. We may not look +upon his like again, nor is it desirable that we should; +for his life conveys a moral that few can fail to discern.</p> + +<p>The artist is the child of his age. What kind of age +was it that produced Paganini? A few years before he +was born there came into the world one who was to set<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> +Europe aflame. The age was the age of revolution. +Thrones tottered; armies devastated the Continent, and +Italy became a mere appanage of the French Empire. +The political upheaval was accompanied by a revolution +in art. The romantic school in music arose, and +Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, +and Wagner, were the psychic results of the turmoil into +which the world was thrown. Into such a world, already +feeling the premonitory tremors of the great Revolution, +was Nicolo Paganini born, at Genoa, on October 27th, +1782.<a name="Anchor-1" id="Anchor-1"></a><a href="#Footnote-1" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 1.">[1]</a></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 440px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_2" id="Illustration_Plate_2"></a> +<a href="images/plate_002.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_002s.jpg" width="440" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><i><a href="#Plate_2">Plate II.—See Appendix.</a></i><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Birthplace of Paganini.</span></span> +</div> + +<p>The Genoese—thrifty and industrious—bore no very +good moral character at that time; but they were then +perhaps not alone in that respect. Little information is +available concerning the family of Paganini. The +father, Antonio Paganini, kept a small shop in the +vicinity of the port; he is described as a man of extraordinarily +avaricious character, hard and brutal, but possessing +the redeeming quality of a love for music, and +showing some skill in the art; his instrument was the +mandoline, though Laphaléque says he was a violinist. +The mother must have been of a lovable disposition, +from what little has been recorded of her. The family +consisted of two sons and two daughters. Of the elder +son, mention is made but once; of the daughters, nothing +seems to be known. Little Nicolo must have given<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> +evidence of musical talent very early, but ere he was put +to his studies he was attacked by the measles, and that so +severely that he remained for a whole day in a state of +catalepsy. He was given up for dead and was wrapped +in a shroud, and only a slight movement at the last, +showing symptoms of life, saved him from the horror of +premature burial. Scarcely had he recovered, when his +father began his lessons in violin playing. The child's +evident disposition for the art excited the father's avarice, +which found little scope for gratification in his small +business undertakings. He indulged in golden dreams +of the future, and to hasten their realisation was unremitting +in his work of instruction. His method was +cruel in the extreme. The poor child was kept to his +task from morn till night; slight faults were punished +with rigour, even blows and starvation being resorted to +in order to force the talent which nature had bestowed. +This unnatural treatment must have wrung the heart of +the gentle mother, and doubtless by way of encouragement +she told the poor little fellow of her wonderful +dream. An Angel had appeared to her, and promised +her the fulfilment of any desire. She asked that her son +might become the greatest of violinists, and her prayer +was to be granted. This disclosure may have fired the +ambition of the child, for he was the hardest of workers, +and needed no spur. Already, at six years of age, he +was a tolerable player, and was even beginning to find +out new paths. His performances excited the admiration +and amazement of the neighbours, and even the +Maestro Francesco Gnecco visited the little house by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> +harbour to listen to the wonder-child. He introduced +the boy to the circle of his own friends, and made the +father understand that he had long outgrown his training. +In short, the germ of the <i>virtuoso</i> of later days was +already manifesting itself. Nicolo was now placed +under Giovanni Servetto, leader of the theatre band—a +man of slight attainments, with whom the boy did not +stay long. His next master was Giacomo Costa, the +foremost violinist in Genoa and maestro di capella of the +Cathedral, a genial man, who took a lively interest in +the boy. Under Costa, Nicolo made rapid progress, and +was introduced to a new world, though the pedantry of +the master frequently came into collision with the peculiarities +of the pupil. Young Paganini now had to play +a new concerto each week at one of the churches: that +was one of the conditions Costa imposed when taking +him as a pupil. Paganini's extraordinary powers as a +player at sight were in great measure due to this early +experience. The father still exercised stern oversight, +and there was little relaxation or youthful pleasure for +Nicolo. His health was already undermined, and, as +Dubourg touchingly puts it:—"the sickly child, incapable +of attaining a healthy maturity, was merged into the +suffering man."</p> + +<p>In his eighth year Nicolo composed a sonata for the +violin—since, with other works, lost. About that time a +very vivid, almost shamefaced, impression was made +upon him by hearing that Mozart, at the age of six, had +composed a pianoforte concerto, with parts for orchestra, +and so difficult that only a <i>virtuoso</i> could execute it. For<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +long Nicolo tormented himself with the thought of this +musical superiority, and strove day and night to remedy +his own imperfection in the art.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + + +<p>In 1793 Paganini made his <i>début</i> in the great Theatre +of Genoa (the Carlo Felice?). He was in his +eleventh year, and his reputation must have been +considerable, for the occasion was of some importance, +being the benefit concert of two singers of repute, Luigi +Marchesi and Teresa Bertinotti.<a name="Anchor-2" id="Anchor-2"></a><a href="#Footnote-2" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 2.">[2]</a> Marchesi was second +only to Pacchierotti among the male <i>soprani</i> of the time, +and sang at the King's Theatre, London, during the +season of 1788; in the "Musical Reminiscences" of the +Earl of Mount Edgcumbe he is highly praised as the +most brilliant singer of his day. It was a great compliment +to the talent of the young Nicolo that these +singers should apply for his assistance. Moreover, they +promised to sing for him when he should give a concert. +Both functions duly took place, and the boy-artist at +each played a set of variations of his own composition +on "<span lang="fr">La Carmagnole</span>"; an air then greatly in vogue. +That old melody "<span lang="fr">Malbrough s'en-va-t-en guerre</span>,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +pressed into the service of the French Revolution, was +appropriately associated with the young artist, himself +a revolutionist. His success was phenomenal, performers +and audience being thrown into transports of +admiration.</p> + +<p>It would appear that young Paganini studied with +Giacomo Costa for a period of six months only. He +must then have continued to work by himself, for it was +not until about 1795 that his father took him to Parma, +to place him under the "Pride of Italy," Alessandro Rolla, +to whom the boy had been recommended by Costa. +There was an affecting farewell between Nicolo and his +mother, for they were tenderly attached to each other. +Paganini has himself related the story of his interview +with Rolla, which, for the sake of completeness, must be +summarised here.</p> + +<p>When Nicolo with his father arrived at Rolla's house, +the famous violinist was ill in bed. His wife showed +the visitors into an apartment adjoining, and went to +inform her husband of their arrival, but he was disinclined +to receive the strangers. On a table in the +room where they were waiting lay a violin, and a composition +in manuscript—Rolla's latest concerto. Paganini, +prompted by his father, took up the violin, and +played the concerto through. Astonished at the performance, +Rolla asked what <i>virtuoso</i> was in the next room, +and on being told it was only a boy he had heard, would +not credit the statement without the evidence of his own +eyes. To the father's entreaty Rolla replied that he +could teach the boy nothing; it would waste his time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +to remain with him. He must go to Ferdinando Paer, +who would teach him composition.</p> + +<p>There are several versions of this story, and much +uncertainty respecting some points. Rolla was chamber +<i>virtuoso</i>, and director of the concerts at the Court of +Parma. Paer, whose first opera was produced in 1789, +was at this time in great request at Venice, where he +brought out a succession of operas. In 1796 he may +have been in Parma, for his "Griselda" was produced +there that year. Paganini, at some time or other, doubtless +did profit by Paer's friendly assistance; but his real +teacher was Gasparo Ghiretti, chamber musician to +Prince Ferdinand of Parma, and the master of Paer. +Ghiretti was a violinist, as were nearly all the Italian +composers of that period. Under Ghiretti, Paganini +went through a systematic course of study in counterpoint +and composition, devoting himself to the instrumental +style. He must, about the same time, have received +violin lessons from Rolla, though he afterwards refused +to acknowledge that he had been his pupil. Fétis tells +of discussions between Rolla and Paganini concerning +the innovations the latter was attempting, for he was +always striving after new effects. As he could but +imperfectly execute what he aimed at, these eccentric +flights did not commend themselves to Rolla, whose +taste and style were of a more severe order. Of Paganini's +work in composition little appears to be known. +Anders states that Paer when in Parma devoted several +hours daily to Paganini; and at the end of the fourth +month entrusted him with a composition of a <i>duo</i>, in which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +Nicolo succeeded to the complete satisfaction of his +master. Paganini may also at that time have sketched, +if he did not complete, the Studies, or Caprices, +Op. 1.</p> + +<p>In 1797 the father took the boy from Parma, and set out +with him on a tour through Lombardy. Concerts were +given in Milan, Bologna, Florence, Pisa, and Leghorn.</p> + +<p>The young artist achieved an extraordinary reputation; +the father took possession of the more material rewards of +art. The "golden dreams" were in process of realisation! +Returning to Genoa, young Paganini finished the +composition of his Twenty-four Studies, which were +of such excessive difficulty that he could not play them. +He would try a single passage over in a hundred ways, +working for ten or eleven hours at a stretch, and then +would come the inevitable collapse. He was still under +the stern domination of his father, and his spirit must +have chafed under the bondage. His own ardour was +sufficient to carry his labours to the verge of exhaustion, +and he needed no spur as an incentive to exertion. In +all directions save that of music his education was utterly +neglected. The moral side of his nature was allowed +to grow wild. There was the restraining influence of a +mother's love, but there was little else. It might indeed +be said that, musically, Paganini was self-educated; but +that one of the world's great geniuses should lack the +intellectual and moral training that go to make the complete +man was sad in the extreme. Paganini's was a +nature warped; on the one side phenomenal power, +on the other bodily suffering, intellectual and spiritual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +atrophy. But more of this when we turn from his career +to the man himself.</p> + +<p>As the youth grew older the spirit of revolt arose. He +must and would escape from the tyranny of his avaricious +father. But how? A way soon offered itself. At +Lucca, the festival of St. Martin, held each November, +was an event of such importance, musically, that it drew +visitors from all parts of Italy. As the November of +1798 drew near, young Paganini besought his father's +permission to attend the festival, but his request was met +by a point-blank refusal. The importunities of the youth, +aided by the prayers of the mother, at length prevailed, +and in care of the elder brother afterwards Dr. Paganini +(?)—Nicolo was allowed to leave home.</p> + +<p>Free at last, the youth, now in his seventeenth year, +went on his way, his whole being thrilled with dreams +of success and happiness. At Lucca he was most +enthusiastically received, and, elated by his good fortune, +Paganini extended his tour, playing in Pisa and other +towns. Enabled now to earn his own living, Paganini +determined never to return to the home where he had +suffered so much. His father must have obtained +information as to the youth's whereabouts, for it has been +stated that he managed to obtain a large part of the +young artist's earnings. The money was freely yielded +to a certain extent, and the residue was obtained by +threats. But no threat or entreaty could induce Nicolo +to return to his paternal home. The bird had escaped, +and liberty was sweet. But young Paganini was scarcely +fitted for an independent, uncontrolled career. He had no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> +moral ballast, and much would depend upon what kind of +company he kept.</p> + +<p>One has to bear in mind that at the period now under +notice—1798—Europe was in a very unsettled state. +The very pillars of society were shaken, and there were +many dangers in the path of the young and inexperienced. +But that is a very trite observation, for it applies to all +times and places. However, Paganini seems to have +become acquainted with what Fétis terms "artists of +another kind," who encouraged "play" of a more exciting, +if less exalted order, than the young musician had +hitherto devoted himself to. With his ardent southern +temperament Paganini threw himself with the greatest +zest into the vortex of gambling, and frequently lost at a +sitting the earnings of several concerts and was reduced +to the greatest embarrassment. Soon his talent provided +fresh resources, and his days ran on in alternations of +good and evil fortune. Tall, slight, delicate and handsome,<a name="Anchor-3" id="Anchor-3"></a><a href="#Footnote-3" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 3.">[3]</a> +Paganini, despite his frail constitution, was an +object of attraction to the fair sex. Incidents in his +early manhood probably formed the foundation for some +of the stories told of him later. As Fétis puts it; the +enthusiasm for art, love and "play," reigned by turns in +his soul. He ought to have been careful of himself, but +he went to excess in everything. Then came a period of +enforced repose, of absolute exhaustion, lasting sometimes +for weeks. This would be followed by a display<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +of extraordinary energy, when his marvellous talent took +its highest flights, and he plunged once more into the +wildest bohemianism. Such a course of life was enough +to wreck the artist, and no friend seemed to be at hand +to save him from himself. Frequently he had to part +with his violin in order to raise money to pay his debts +of honour, and it was upon one such occasion that he +met with the greatest good fortune he had yet experienced, +and acquired a violin which became the instrument of +his conversion from the fatal passion for gambling.</p> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 398px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_III" id="Illustration_Plate_III"></a> +<a href="images/plate_003.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_003s.jpg" width="398" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><i><a href="#Plate_3">Plate III.—See Appendix.</a></i><br /> +<span class="smcap">Paganini's Violin in the Municipal Museum at Genoa.</span></span> +</div> + +<p>Arriving at Leghorn, where he was to give a concert, +Paganini yielded to his weakness for the other kind of +play and lost his money and his violin. He was in a +dilemma indeed, but was fortunate in meeting with an +enthusiastic musical amateur, M. Livron, a French +merchant, the owner of a superb Guarnerius violin. +This instrument M. Livron lent to the young artist, and +attended the concert. When Paganini went to return +the violin to its owner, M. Livron at once exclaimed, "I +shall take care never to profane the strings your fingers +have touched. It is to you now that my violin belongs." +A noble benefactor, that M. Livron. The Guarnerius +became Paganini's inseparable companion; he played +upon it throughout all his tours, and its subsequent +history will be duly related.</p> + +<p>Paganini acquired another instrument on the same +easy terms, but attended by different circumstances. +Signor Pasini, of Parma, a painter of some distinction, +and an amateur violinist, had heard of Paganini's wonderful +powers as a reader of music at sight, but refused to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> +credit the statements. Pasini one day placed before +Paganini a manuscript concerto, in which difficulties of +all kinds were brought together, and putting into the +artist's hands a splendid Stradivari violin, said: "This +instrument is yours if you can play that at sight, like a +master, without studying its difficulties in advance." "If +that is so," replied Paganini, "You may bid farewell to +it at once." His terrific<a name="Anchor-4" id="Anchor-4"></a><a href="#Footnote-4" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 4.">[4]</a> execution made the music +seem as if it played itself as his eye fell upon it. Pasini +was petrified with astonishment.</p> + +<p>The abandonment of the vice of gambling came about +in this way, his own words being quoted. "I shall never +forget," said he, "one day placing myself in a position +which was to decide my whole career. The Prince +De * * * * * had long desired to possess my excellent +violin (the Guarnerius), the only one I then had, and +which I still possess. One day he desired me to fix a +price; but, unwilling to part from my instrument, I +declared I would not sell it for less than 250 gold +Napoleons. A short time after, the Prince remarked +that I was probably indulging in banter in asking so +high a price, and added that he was disposed to give +2,000 francs for it. Precisely that very day I found +myself in great want of money, in consequence of a +heavy loss at play, and I almost resolved to yield my +violin for the sum he had offered, when a friend came in +to invite me to a party that evening. My capital then +consisted of thirty francs, and I had already deprived<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +myself of my jewels, watch, rings, pins, etc. I instantly +formed the resolve to risk this last resource, and if fortune +went against me, to sell the violin and to set out for St. +Petersburg, without instrument and without funds, with +the object of retrieving my position. Soon my thirty +francs were reduced to three, and I saw myself on the +road to the great city, when fortune, changing in the +twinkling of an eye, gained me one hundred francs with +the little that yet remained. That moment saved my +violin and set me up again. From that day I withdrew +from play, to which I had sacrificed a portion of my +youth: and convinced that a gambler is universally +despised, I renounced for ever that fatal passion."</p> + +<p>It would be interesting to know when these things +occurred, but dates are wanting; it is sufficient to find the +artist triumphant in one great crisis in his life. Gambling, +to which, however, he was not a party, was destined +to trouble the last years of his life, as will be seen +further on.</p> + +<p>Paganini's career, gambling apart, was by no means of +a conventional character. His irregular habits, fits of +extraordinary energy followed by langour and depression, +led to frequent disappearances from public view. One +such disappearance lasted for about four years, and only +the romantic aspect of it has been described; the prime +cause may have been overlooked. Here is one view of +the matter. Enter Napoleon; exit Paganini. In 1800 +Napoleon crossed the Alps; in 1804, he proclaimed himself +Emperor. He parcelled out Europe, providing for +his brothers and sisters, creating sovereigns at his own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> +sweet will. Italy, invaded by a foreign foe, shaken with +wars, "alarums and excursions," was not a happy hunting +ground for a travelling virtuoso. Paganini vanished from +view. In absolute retirement he lived for over three years +at the chateau of a Tuscan lady of rank, who was a performer +upon the guitar. Paganini threw himself with +ardour into the study of that instrument, and became as +great a virtuoso upon it as upon the violin. He composed +a number of pieces for guitar and violin. According to +Fétis, Paganini also devoted himself to the study of agriculture.</p> + +<p>But eventually he tired of a life of indolence and dalliance, +and in 1804—the country settled now under French +government—Paganini returned to Genoa, but whether +to the paternal roof is not clear. He was doubtless invigorated +by his long rest, and now resumed his arduous +course of study. It has been remarked that it was only +after Paganini had attained an almost perfect mastery +over his instrument that he began to investigate the +methods of other virtuosi<a name="Anchor-5" id="Anchor-5"></a><a href="#Footnote-5" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 5.">[5]</a>; even so, he had formed his own +style of composition before studying the works of others. +Now, he busied himself with the studies of Locatelli, +whose extravagances almost equalled his own. It is said +that he even gave lessons while in Genoa, and mention is +made of one pupil, Catarina Calcagno, who had a brilliant, +but brief career.</p> + +<p>In 1805, Paganini resumed his artistic tours, and arriving +at Lucca, played a concerto at an evening festival in +a convent church. So great was the enthusiasm of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +audience (or congregation), that the monks had to leave +their stalls to put a stop to the applause. At that time, +Maria Anna (Elise), sister of Napoleon, was Princess of +Lucca, and the Tuscan court was held in that Capital. +The fame of Paganini could not fail to have reached the +ears of the Princess, and it was but natural that the first +<i>virtuoso</i> of Italy should receive an official appointment. +So it happened that in the year 1805 he was offered, and +accepted, the post of leader of the Court orchestra, and +solo violinist. He also gave violin lessons to Prince +Bacciochi, the husband of Maria Anna. It was during +this period that Paganini began his experiments of employing +less than the four strings of his violin. He gave +an account of the origin of the practice to a friend at +Prague many years later.<a name="Anchor-6" id="Anchor-6"></a><a href="#Footnote-6" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 6.">[6]</a> "It fell to my lot," he said, +"to direct the opera whenever the reigning family visited +it, as well as to perform at Court three times a week, and +to get up a public concert for the higher circles every +fortnight. Whenever these were visited by the Princess, +she never remained to the close, because the flageolet +tones of my violin were too much for her nerves. On the +other hand there was another fascinating creature ... who, +I flattered myself, felt a penchant for me, and was +never absent from my performances; on my own side, I +had long been her admirer (Paganini was now twenty-three +years of age, susceptible, and possibly himself fascinating.) +Our mutual fondness became gradually stronger +and stronger; but we were forced to conceal it, and by +this means its strength and fervour were sensibly enhanced.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +One day I promised to surprise her at the next concert, +with a musical joke, which should convey an allusion to +our attachment; and I accordingly gave notice at Court +that I should bring forward a musical novelty, under the +title of 'A Love Scene.' The whole world was on tiptoe +at the tidings; and on the evening appointed, I made my +appearance, violin in hand; I had previously robbed it of +the two middle strings, so that none but E and G remained. +The first string being designed to play the maiden's part, +and the second (fourth) the youth's, I began with a species +of dialogue, in which I attempted to introduce movements +analogous to transient bickerings and reconciliations +between the lovers. Now my strings growled, and then +sighed; and anon they lisped, hesitated, joked and joyed, +till at last they sported with merry jubilee. In the course +of time, both souls joined once more in harmony, and the +appeased lovers' quarrel led to a <i>pas de deux</i>, which terminated +in a brilliant <i>coda</i>. This musical fantasia of mine +was greeted with loud applause. The lady, to whom every +scene referred, rewarded me by looks full of delight and +sweetness, and the Princess was charmed into such amiable +condescension, that she loaded me with encomiums—asking +me, whether, since I could produce so much with +<i>two</i> strings, it would not be possible for me to gratify them +by playing on <i>one</i>. I yielded instant assent—the idea +tickled my fancy—and, as the Emperor's birthday occurred +some weeks afterwards (August 15th,) I composed a sonata +for the G string, which I entitled 'Napoleon,' and played +before the Court to so much effect, that a cantata, by +Cimarosa, given the same evening, fell through without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +producing any impression on its hearers.<a name="Anchor-7" id="Anchor-7"></a><a href="#Footnote-7" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 7.">[7]</a> This is the +genuine and original cause of my prejudice in favour for +the G string. People were afterwards importunate to +hear more of this performance, and in this way I became +day by day a greater adept at it, and acquired constantly +increasing confidence in this peculiar mystery of handling +the bow." More of the "Napoleon Sonata" later.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 368px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_4" id="Illustration_Plate_4"></a><a href="images/plate_004.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_004s.jpg" width="368" height="600" +alt="Plate IV.—See Appendix. Caricature of Paganini published 1831." title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><i><a href="#Plate_4">Plate IV.—See Appendix.</a></i><br /> +<span class="smcap">Caricature published 1831.</span></span> +</div> + +<p>When the Princess became Grand Duchess of Tuscany, +the Court removed to Florence, and Paganini, as a matter +of course, was in the retinue. His official career, however, +came to an abrupt termination in the early part of +1813. When appointed Court Musical Director, Paganini +was accorded the rank of Captain in the Royal Guard, +and, as such, was permitted to wear a brilliant uniform. +Appearing in this garb at a State function at Florence, +in 1813, the artist was "commanded" to change it for the +ordinary dress suit. This request Paganini construed as +an insult, and refused compliance; whereupon there was +a sudden rupture, and instant resignation of office. +Paganini, at different times, obtained leave of absence, +and undertook various professional tours; and as he met +with some strange experiences, we will follow him in his +wanderings.</p> +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + + +<p>In 1808 occurred the first of these excursions. Paganini +went to Leghorn, the scene of his early triumphs. +He had not been there for seven years, but his first +concert, this visit, was attended with some unpleasant mishaps. +He had run a nail into his heel, and came limping +on the stage, whereupon the audience set up a titter—an +incident quite enough to upset a sensitive artist. Then, +just as he was commencing his concerto, the candles fell +from his music-stand, and the laughter was unrestrained; +after a few bars of his solo, the first string of his violin +snapped, and the merriment became uproarious; but he +finished the performance upon the three strings, and the +artist soon converted the audience to a demonstration of +a more grateful character. Thus his "one string" experience +served him in good stead.</p> + +<p>At Ferrara something worse befell. For his concert +there, Paganini had engaged a vocalist, Signora Marietta +Marcolini; but at the last moment, the lady, either from +indisposition or caprice, refused to sing. Paganini went +to his hostel boiling with rage, but was somewhat mollified +on being told there was a lady occupying an apartment +in the same house, who might perhaps take the place of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +the recalcitrant singer. This was Signora Pallerini, the +principal dancer at the theatre, who had a very agreeable +voice, but who made no pretension to being a singer, +although she was not without training and talent. Paganini +lost no time in seeking the young dancer, and by dint +of perseverance obtained her consent to his wish.</p> + +<p>But when the Signora came on to sing she was seized +with stage-fright. Her voice failed her, and her song +produced no effect. Paganini offered his arm to conduct +her behind the scenes, but just before they reached the +wing, a shrill whistle was heard—equivalent to a hiss in +England. This was too much; the poor <i>débutante</i> lost +consciousness, and fell into the arms of her friend. Pale +with rage, Paganini promised himself a signal vengeance. +The concert was drawing to a close when the angry artist +whispered to Signora Pallerini, "Come! Listen!" He +rushed on the stage, and announcing to the audience that +he would conclude the concert with a musical jest, proceeded +to imitate the cries of various animals, the chirping +of birds, the howling of dogs, and the crowing of cocks; +then, with a stolen glance towards the wing, as if to make +known the carrying out of his revenge, he advanced to +the footlights, rested his bow on the "chanterelle," close +to the bridge, and with a single stroke brought it violently +on the "G," producing distinctly the sound of the donkey's +hee-haw! "This is for the man who whistled," he exclaimed, +with an air of triumph, and for the second time gave his +imitation—with added energy. Then he awaited the shouts +of laughter that should assail the poor whistler, but something +quite different happened. The pit rose to a man,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> +and howling, whistling, and stamping, the audience proceeded +to storm the stage; and only precipitate flight by +means of a private door, saved the unlucky artist's life.</p> + +<p>The explanation came to Paganini later. The inhabitants +of the villages around Ferrara had from time immemorial +a strong prejudice against their Capital. The citizens +they alleged were stupid in their nature, and deserved +the sobriquet "hee-haw." If a countryman, returning +from Ferrara, were asked where he came from, he replied +by throwing back his head and braying like an ass! Paganini +had no knowledge of local history; he was not a reader, +he never even glanced at the papers, except when they +contained something concerning himself. His revenge +caused quite a tumult, in what way can be well perceived: +and the magistrate, to restore quiet, advised Paganini +not to give his second concert in the town, so that the +offenders were really punished all round.</p> + +<p>It is not necessary to enter into details concerning all +Paganini's tours. It appears to have been in 1810 that +he wrote the "Napoleon Sonata," and he performed it in +public at a concert given by him at Parma, August 18th, +1811. His fame was spreading beyond his own country, +and Schilling states that from 1812 the German musical +journals bestowed much attention upon him. He was at +Milan in 1813, and his success there was greater than +ever. For that city he appeared to have a predilection, +for he was there, with the exception of a short stay at +Genoa, until the autumn of 1814. At that time he was +by no means a recluse. He visited the theatre, La Scala, +and witnessed a performance of Vigano's ballet, "<span lang="it">Il Noce +di Benevento</span>," to which Süssmayer wrote the music; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +from a certain scene he took the theme of his variations +known as "<span lang="it">Le Streghe</span>." At a theatre he was inspired +to write one of his finest movements. He went to hear +Demarini, Italy's greatest tragedian, and was so affected +by one scene that he could not sleep, and his emotion +ultimately found expression in music. This will be dealt +with when noticing his compositions.</p> + +<p>In October, 1814, Paganini went to Bologna, and there +met Rossini for the first time. Rossini, nine years the +junior of Paganini, had already produced a dozen operas—two +in Milan that year. By Court favour Rossini had +just escaped the conscription, and had hastened away to +Bologna. The meeting of these artists was of importance +to both. Meyerbeer went to Italy in 1815, and was there +for some years, producing several operas. Laphaléque +tells a story to this effect: Meyerbeer was on the eve of +leaving Florence to proceed to Naples to bring out one of +his works. He did not yet know that place, and it offered +a double attraction; he wanted to enjoy the beautiful blue +sky as well as his artistic triumph. But he went to hear +Paganini, and dreamt no more of Naples, nor of his opera. +Paganini travelled all through Tuscany, and Meyerbeer +followed; and not until he had heard Paganini eighteen +times could he tear himself away from him.</p> + +<p>Within the period of five years, Paganini returned to +Milan five times, making a long stay on each occasion, +and giving a great number of concerts. He played at +Verona, Padua—where the "prison" stories seem to have +originated—returned to Milan early in 1816, when he met<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +the French violinist, Charles Lafont, with whom he played +and of whom more will be said. Then to Venice, Trieste, +and back to Venice in time to hear Spohr (October 18th), +on whom he called both before and after the concert. +Spohr greatly desired to hear Paganini play, but the +latter excused himself.</p> + +<p>Paganini must ere this have received invitations to +visit other countries, for Spohr in his diary remarks, when +referring to Paganini's first visit, that he had apparently +abandoned his project of going to Vienna. In 1817, Paganini +visited Piacenza, where he met the Polish violinist, +Karl Joseph von Lipinski, who had gone to Italy expressly +to hear Paganini. The Italian treated his Polish brother +artist generously, and played with him at two concerts. +Paganini was also again at Milan that year and paid a +visit to his mother at Genoa. According to Anders, his +father died in 1817. At the close of the same year Paganini +was in Rome, where Rossini's opera "<span lang="it">La Cenerentola</span>" +was produced at the opening of the Carnival season, +December 26th. It is related that Meyerbeer was also +in Rome at this time, and that Rossini's "Carnovale" +was sung in the streets by the composer, Meyerbeer, and +Paganini, who disguised themselves for the frolic. Paganini +in the Palace of Prince von Kaunitz, the Austrian +Ambassador, was introduced to Prince Metternich, who, +charmed with his talent, pressed him to visit Vienna. +But the violinist's health was in a precarious state. He +suffered from an intestinal disorder, aggravated by his +addiction to some quack remedy. He gave concerts in +Rome, of which Schilling, who gives the date, however,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +as 1827, gives a very curious account. The first concert, +though held in a Palace—such buildings being met with at +every step—was in a room like a hay-loft. The orchestra +consisted of some half-dozen shabbily dressed players, the +singers were mechanics, members of the chorus of the +Teatro Argentina, and the audience scarcely numbered +fifty. Rome, professedly the first musical city of Italy, +and of Europe, was ignorant of Paganini, the greatest +violin virtuoso of Italy and the world. But his extraordinary +genius kindled coldness into enthusiasm. At his +second concert the attendance increased tenfold; at the +third the success was even greater.</p> + +<p>In 1818, and the following year, he gave concerts at +Verona, Turin, Florence, and other towns. At Verona, +the conductor of the theatre orchestra, one Valdabrini, +persuaded himself that Paganini was little else than a +charlatan, one who might play the pieces of his own +repertory very well, but who could not execute a work +such as a concerto of his, Valdabrini's, composition. +Paganini was informed of this estimate of his abilities, +and hastened to assure Valdabrini that he would be happy +to reproduce the inspirations of the <i><span lang="fr">chef d'orchestre</span></i> of +Verona; and as this trial would be a powerful attraction, +he would reserve it for his last concert. The day of +rehearsal arrived, and Paganini was in his place. Instead +of the music of the concerto, however, the artist improvised +all kinds of fanciful passages, insomuch that the +astonished orchestral players, lost in admiration, forgot +to go on with their own work. The disappointed Valdabrini +exclaimed: "My friend, this is not my concerto<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> +you are playing, I can recognise nothing of what I have +written." "Don't distress yourself," replied Paganini, +"at the concert you will recognise your work well enough, +only now I claim a little indulgence."</p> + +<p>The concert night arrived, and Paganini commenced +with pieces of his own choice, reserving the concerto for +the end. All were attention for the great event. Paganini +came on at last, holding in his hand a Malacca walking +cane. Everyone asked himself: What will he do +with that? Suddenly he seized his violin, and, employing +the cane as a bow, played the concerto (thought by +the composer to be practicable only after long study) +from beginning to end, not only rendering the most difficult +passages, but introducing charming variations, never +failing for an instant to display the purity, grace and +verve that characterised his art.<a name="Anchor-8" id="Anchor-8"></a><a href="#Footnote-8" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 8.">[8]</a> This pleasantry was +not to the taste of Valdabrini, we may be sure; but it +was a rebuke to his presumption. Such amenities are +scarcely possible now-a-days.</p> + +<p>Paganini visited Naples in 1819 for the first time. +When he arrived he found the local musicians badly +disposed towards him, and he had something like a repetition +of his experience at Verona, only he used the cane no +more! These musicians affected to doubt the reality of +the marvels fame attributed to Paganini, and proposed +to amuse themselves at his expense. They engaged a +young composer, Danna (Dana?)<a name="Anchor-9" id="Anchor-9"></a><a href="#Footnote-9" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 9.">[9]</a> fresh from the Conservatorio, +to write a string quartet, filled with difficulties<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +of every kind—for the first violin—persuading themselves +that the great violinist could not overcome them. When +all was ready—no doubt the other parts had been well +practised—Paganini was invited to a musical réunion, +where he found the violinists Onorio de Vito, Giuseppe +Mario Festa, the violoncellist Ciandelli, and the composer +Danna. Hardly had he arrived, when they placed +the music before him, and invited him to play it at sight. +Perceiving that they had set a trap for him, Paganini +cast a hurried glance at the music, and played it off as +though it had long been familiar to him. Confounded +by what they heard, his assistants were prodigal in their +admiration, and declared him incomparable.</p> + +<p>Paganini's health now gave way to an alarming degree, +and his landlord, fearing the malady was consumption—infectious, +according to current opinion—proceeded to turn +the violinist and his belongings into the street. Medical +science has confirmed the views of the Neapolitans in +respect to the contagious character of consumption, and the +open-air treatment is now considered the proper method +to adopt; but the landlord's rough and ready application +of the remedy was highly objectionable, and so thought +Ciandelli, who chanced to be passing at the time. He +gave the landlord a severe thrashing, and conveyed Paganini +to more comfortable lodgings, where he was carefully +tended. Paganini repaid this act of kindness, as will be +seen. These little scenes throw curious side-lights on life +in Naples at that period.</p> + +<p>In 1820, Paganini returned to Milan, where he founded +an Amateur Society, <i><span lang="it">Gli Orfei</span></i>, and conducted its concerts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +for a time; but the roving habits he had acquired rendered +a settled life irksome, and he was soon again on the move. +The winter found him once more in Rome, where he +must have stayed on and off for another year; for he was +there in December, 1821, when Rossini was about to +produce his opera, "<span lang="it">Matilda di Sabran</span>," at the opening +of the Carnival season. On the day of the last rehearsal +the conductor fell ill, and Rossini was in despair to replace +him. Paganini, hearing of his friend's dilemma, offered +to conduct the rehearsal and the first performance—his +operatic experience at Lucca must not be forgotten—an +offer Rossini gratefully accepted. Without a moment's +preparation, Paganini set to work to communicate to an +unskilled orchestra—it was at the <i>Teatro d'Apollone</i>—the +composer's intentions and the manner in which they +should be interpreted. Having no time for verbal explanation, +he did everything by example, playing the first violin +part an octave higher than it was written, and making +himself heard above the strongest <i>fortissimo</i>. At a glance +he penetrated the meaning of every movement, and he so +worked upon the executants that they obeyed him as if +by enchantment. This single rehearsal sufficed to bring +about an irreproachable performance, the orchestra +undergoing a veritable metamorphosis, to the astonishment +of everyone, Rossini included. So far Laphaléque. +Sutherland Edwards<a name="Anchor-10" id="Anchor-10"></a><a href="#Footnote-10" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 10.">[10]</a> says Paganini conducted the first +three performances, adding, "Never, it is said, did the +band of the 'Apollo' play with so much spirit before."</p> + +<p>For the next two years Paganini was constantly travelling,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +and in the year 1823 we have the first glimpse of +him through the medium of an English musical journal.<a name="Anchor-11" id="Anchor-11"></a><a href="#Footnote-11" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 11.">[11]</a> +This first reference is quite incidental. Giuseppe Rastrelli +was playing in Naples in 1822 (or 1823), and was +well received, "although his predecessor, the celebrated +Paganini," was still fresh in the public remembrance. +This assumes that Paganini was well known to English +readers. He had indeed been mentioned in books published +before this date. On his way to Pavia in 1823, +Paganini was attacked with illness, and his life was +despaired of. At that time he had again intended going +to Austria, but a long rest was needed to restore his +health. This repose he enjoyed at Genoa, and recovered +sufficiently to give two concerts in the <i>Teatro da Sant'Agostino</i>, +in 1824. The second concert introduced two +youthful claimants to public favour. The first was a +Signora Bianchi, under twenty years of age, who was +characterised in the bills as the little <i><span lang="it">virtuosa forestiera</span></i>, +and who sang three airs; the other was a Signora Barette, +who played a <i>Pezzo Cantabile</i> and a <i>Sonatina</i> upon the +violoncello. They both experienced a flattering reception.<a name="Anchor-12" id="Anchor-12"></a><a href="#Footnote-12" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 12.">[12]</a> +The young violoncellist was not more than fourteen +years old, and there is no reason to suppose that she +was the first of her sex to appear in public as a violoncellist.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +The other "little guest" or stranger was to play +an important part in Paganini's history.</p> + + +<p>This concert afforded another proof of Paganini's +power of attraction. A certain M. Bergman, a (Swedish?) +traveller and passionate lover of music, reading accidentally +the evening before in the journal at Leghorn, an +announcement of Paganini's concert, lost no time, but +instantly set out for Genoa, a distance of a hundred +miles, and luckily reached the spot just half an hour +before the concert began. He went with his expectations +raised to the utmost, but, to use his own expression, +the reality was as far above his anticipations as the +heavens are above the earth. Nor could this enthusiastic +amateur rest content with once hearing Paganini, +but actually followed him to Milan, in order to hear him +exercise his talents a second time. Now-a-days the +enthusiasts are young ladies, who mob their favourites +in the artists' room!</p> + +<p>In 1824 Paganini gave two concerts in <i>La Scala</i>, Milan, +which was crowded to excess. At the first he played a +concerto, and three airs with variations—all on the fourth +string, so said the report. A surfeit, this, even for his +fervent admirers. In the same year at Pavia, he gave +two concerts, the bills being headed:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>PAGANINI</p> +<p><i lang="it">Farà sentire il suo Violino.</i></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>(Paganini will cause his violin to be heard.) He was +received with no less enthusiasm than at Milan. Paganini +then returned to Genoa, but soon left for Venice.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +There he formed an union with Antonia Bianchi, the +young singer he introduced at Genoa, who became his +companion, sang at his concerts, and shared his triumphs.</p> + +<p>In 1825, Paganini was again at Naples, where he gave +a concert, causing his name to be announced in the bills +as—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p><i lang="it">Filarmonico</i>,</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>a term which gave rise to much discussion, some considering +it as indicating modesty, others just the reverse; +but at all events it savoured of affectation. In the +summer of 1825, Paganini went to Palermo, where he +also gave a concert. The delicious climate of Sicily had +a great charm for him, and he remained there for nearly +a year, giving concerts at different places, but enjoying +prolonged intervals of repose. His health strengthened, +Paganini again entertained the idea of leaving Italy, but +determined upon one more tour before carrying out his +intention. In 1826, he visited Trieste, Venice, and +finally Rome, where he gave five concerts. In April, +1827, Pope Leo XII. invested Paganini with the order +of the Golden Spur, a distinction so rare that it afforded +a topic for conversation for some time. From Rome +Paganini went to Florence, and as "Il Cavaliere Paganini" +gave a concert at the <i>Teatro Pergola</i>, which was +attended by all the rank and fashion of the place. He +was detained for some time at Florence owing to a +disease breaking out in one of his legs. As soon as he +was able to travel he set out for Milan, where he was +received with every demonstration of affection. He +gave four musical soirées at the close of 1827, and in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +the early part of 1828, two concerts in <i>La Scala</i>, when he +appears to have played for the first time the concerto +with the "Rondo ad un Campanello;" the piece created +a great effect. Paganini had now traversed the whole of +Italy at least three times, giving hundreds of concerts, +building up an ever growing reputation and exciting +universal admiration, despite those detractors whose +machinations have been exposed. At last, on the 2nd +of March, 1828, Paganini started on his long projected +visit to Vienna.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + + +<p>Paganini arrived at Vienna, March 16th, 1828, +and gave his first concert in the Redouten-Saal<a name="Anchor-13" id="Anchor-13"></a><a href="#Footnote-13" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 13.">[13]</a> +on the 29th of the same month, creating a <i>furore</i> the +like of which had never been witnessed. It must be +borne in mind that Paganini was now no romantic-looking +youth to move the feelings of sentimental or hysterical +young ladies. He was in his forty-sixth year, and his +face bore the marks of suffering; he wore his long hair in +ringlets falling over his shoulders, but physically he was a +wreck. Yet no youthful artist of to-day has made a more +sensational <i>début</i> than that of Paganini in the Austrian +Capital in 1828. To repeat the oft-quoted account given +by Schilling: "At the first stroke of the bow on his +Guarnerius, one might almost say at the first step he took +into the hall, his reputation was decided in Germany. +Kindled as by an electric flash, he suddenly shone and +sparkled like a miraculous apparition in the domain of +art."</p> + +<p>Another account, if less familiar, is equally interesting. +In a letter from Vienna, addressed to the <i>Literary Gazette</i>, +the writer says:—"The great novelty and prodigy of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +day is one M. Paganini, an Italian performer on the +violin.</p> + +<p>"This is the first time he has left Italy; but I heard +him previously, about five years ago, at Milan, in competition +with M. Lafont, whom he beat fairly.<a name="Anchor-14" id="Anchor-14"></a><a href="#Footnote-14" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 14.">[14]</a> He is, without +contradiction, not only the finest player on the violin, but +no other performer, upon what instrument soever, can be +styled his equal: Kalkbrenner, Rode, Romberg, Moscheles, +Jew and Gentile, are his inferiors by at least some +thousand degrees; they are not fit, as we say in Germany, +to <i>reach him water</i>. He is Mathews of the violin, performs +a whole concert on a single string, where you are sure to +hear, besides his own instrument, a harp, a guitar, and a +flute. In one word, he is a necromancer, and bids fair to +beat <i>la Giraffe</i>. We have here hats, shawls, gloves and +nonsense of every description, <i>à la Giraffe</i>; but yesterday +I actually ate <i>Auflaufy</i>—a very innocent, rather insipid +sweetmeat—<i>à la Paganini</i>.... He has already performed +twice to crowded houses in our great masquerade-hall. +The beginning of the concert was, as usual, +advertised for half-past eleven [in the morning]: at eleven +o'clock not a pin dropping from the roof would have +reached the ground; people were already there at nine +o'clock. He came hither with six florins in his pocket; +now you may style him a warm man. From Vienna he +intends to proceed to Paris, and thence to London."<a name="Anchor-15" id="Anchor-15"></a><a href="#Footnote-15" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 15.">[15]</a></p> + +<p>Here a brief digression is pardonable. The Pasha of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +Egypt, a short time before Paganini's visit, had presented +to the Emperor of Austria a Giraffe, an animal then new +to Europe. That interesting quadruped, a superb specimen +of its kind, created such a sensation, and so completely +absorbed public attention, that as seen in the +letter just quoted, everything was <i>à la Giraffe</i>.<a name="Anchor-16" id="Anchor-16"></a><a href="#Footnote-16" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 16.">[16]</a> Paganini's +phenomenal success gained him a popularity that +quite eclipsed the poor Giraffe, and now the mode was <i>à la +Paganini</i>. All kinds of articles were named after him; +a good stroke at billiards was a <i>coup à la Paganini</i>; his +bust in butter and crystallised sugar figured on every +banquet table; and portraits, more or less faithful, adorned +snuff-boxes, cigar-boxes, or were carved on the canes +carried by the fops. Paganini himself went into a shop +one day to buy gloves. "<i>A la Giraffe?</i>" asked the +salesman. "No, no, some other animal," said the +<i>maestro</i>, whereupon he was handed a pair <i>à la Paganini</i>! +It is said that a certain driver, whom Paganini had +once engaged, obtained permission to paint on his +vehicle the words <i>Cabriolet de Paganini</i>, by which means +he gained notoriety and enough money to set up as a +hotel-keeper. Paganini was much sought after by the +leaders of society and fashion; but Prince Metternich +alone received the favour of a visit.</p> + +<p>It may be remembered that Franz Schubert gave his +first, and as it turned out, his only concert, in the hall of +the Musik-Verein, Vienna, on the 26th of March, three<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> +days before that of Paganini. Schubert cleared over +£30—the first piece of luck that came to the poor composer. +The money flowed freely; he paid his five Gulden +(something over six shillings) to hear Paganini, and went +a second time, not so much for his own sake, as to take +his friend Bauernfeld,<a name="Anchor-17" id="Anchor-17"></a><a href="#Footnote-17" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 17.">[17]</a> who had not five farthings, while +with him (Schubert) "money was as plentiful as black-berries." +Generous, simple Schubert! Did he and Paganini +ever meet? What a pair they would have made!</p> + +<p>Paganini's Vienna concerts were so successful that +he increased the number from six to twelve. It is said +that poor musicians actually sold their clothes to raise +the needful in order to hear him; and that no halls were +large enough to contain all who wished to attend his +concerts. Paganini's last concert was given by express +command of the Emperor of Austria, who honoured the +occasion by his presence. Among other things, Paganini +introduced the National hymn "God preserve the +Emperor," which he performed with a truth and fervour +of expression that seemed to impart a novelty even to so +familiar a theme. He did some wonderful things on the +G string, astonishing and delighting all present, especially +rivetting the attention of the Emperor, who led the +applause.</p> + +<p>The Court Gazette announced that His Majesty, as a +testimony of his admiration, had sent Paganini a diploma, +appointing him one of the Emperor's chamber musicians, +and exempting him from the usual fees of office; this +was accompanied by a splendid gold snuff-box set with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +brilliants. The chief magistrate of Vienna presented +Paganini with the gold medal of San Salvador; and, to +crown all, a medal was struck in Paganini's honour. +This, the work of J. Lang, has on the face a portrait in +relief of the violinist, with the inscription:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>NICOLAO PAGANINI <span class="smcap">Vindobona</span></p> +<p><span class="smcap">MDCCCXXVIII.</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>and on the back the words:—</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Perituris Sonis non Peritura Gloria.</span></p></blockquote> + +<p>surrounding an open music book with the theme of the +"Bell Rondo," upon which lies the famous Guarnerius +wreathed with laurel. This was the city's parting gift +to the great artist.</p> + +<p>These doings were too good to escape the notice of the +caricaturist, and a two-act piece was produced at the +<i>Theater an der Wien</i>, entitled "The Counterfeit Virtuoso; +or, the Concerto on the G string," the music by Kapellmeister +Franz Gläser. The overture was ingeniously +made up of the principal subjects of Paganini's concertos, +ludicrously contrasted with counter subjects of a popular +kind. Several of the <i>quodlibets</i> were full of humour, and, +with the <i>bon mots</i> and anecdotes, tended to make it a +very amusing production for the moment.</p> + +<p>It was at Vienna that the rumour spread abroad of +Paganini being in league with the Devil, which accounted +for his marvellous performances. The great violinist +was much disturbed and annoyed by these calumnies, +and had to appeal to the press for aid in refuting them. +It may be that his estrangement from the world, his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +love of solitude, morose temper, and the avarice which +displayed itself, all had their origin in the hostile attitude +assumed by a section of the public during his foreign +tours, for when in Italy Paganini seems to have lived +much as others did. Paganini was accompanied by his +companion Signora Bianchi, and the son born to them, +when he visited Vienna.</p> + +<p>It was in May the little party left Vienna. The concerts +had quite prostrated Paganini, and the family went +to Carlsbad. After resting there some time Paganini +departed for Prague, but an abscess in the face kept him +a prisoner for three weeks. Here is a contemporary +account which is interesting. Paganini was obliged to +place himself under the care of two celebrated medical +men, Krumblholz and Nusshardt, and they were the only +visitors he received during his lonely residence up three +pair of stairs. After a successful operation on the jaw-bone, +one of his physicians expressed a desire which was +cherished in vain by the whole city—that of hearing some +notes from the hitherto silent instrument of the great +master; and he entreated him to try if he could rest his +violin on his hardly healed chin. Paganini confirmed +what has long been said, that even before friends he was +very niggardly in the display of his talents. He took his +instrument, played one stroke with his bow, and said, +"<i><span lang="de">Es geht schon</span></i>" (that will do). "For eight days before +the first concert," continues the writer, "every place was +engaged. When I reached the theatre at four o'clock in +the afternoon, it appeared as if the house was about to be +stormed, so great was the throng on the outside. Many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> +magistrates and people of the first rank were amongst +the crowd, and shared my anxious expectation. At last +I found myself, I scarcely know how, in the pit, and +there awaited for two hours and a half the opening of the +concert." The writer then goes on to describe the violinist, +his appearance, his smile that made everyone shudder, +and the extraordinary performance which roused the +audience to the wildest enthusiasm. He then quotes the +saying of a Vienna critic: "Paganini has nothing in +common with other players but the violin and the bow," +and regrets that his friend will not for some time have +the opportunity of hearing the superb performer, for he +learns that Paganini does not yet intend to visit Paris or +London.<a name="Anchor-18" id="Anchor-18"></a><a href="#Footnote-18" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 18.">[18]</a></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_5" id="Illustration_Plate_5"></a><a href="images/plate_005.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_005s.jpg" width="400" height="600" +alt="Plate V.—See Appendix. Portrait of Paganini from a contemporary German picture." title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><i><a href="#Plate_5">Plate V.—See Appendix.</a></i><br /> +<span class="smcap">From a Contemporary German Picture.</span></span> +</div> + + +<p>Paganini's first concert only was well attended. There +was then a reaction. Some attributed the falling off to +the high prices charged for admission, but there was, in +fact, a traditional hostility in art matters between Prague +and Vienna; that which was praised in Vienna must be +condemned in Prague, and what was approved in Prague +must not be tolerated in Vienna. It was at Prague that +Paganini actually published this letter from his mother +as proof that he was not the son of the devil!</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Dearest Son</span>,—At last, after seven months have elapsed since I +wrote to you at Milan, I had the happiness of receiving your letter +of the 9th current, through the intermediary of Signor Agnino, and +was much rejoiced to find that you were in the enjoyment of good +health. I am also delighted to find that, after your travels to +Paris and London, you purpose visiting Genoa expressly to embrace<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +me. I assure you, my prayers are daily offered up to the Most +High, that my health may be sustained, also yours, so that my +desire may be realised.</p> + +<p>My dream has been fulfilled, and that which God promised me +has been accomplished. Your name is great, and art, with the +help of God, has placed you in a position of independence. +Beloved, esteemed by your fellow citizens, you will find in my +bosom and those of your friends, that repose which your health +demands.</p> + +<p>The portraits which accompanied your letter have given me great +pleasure. I had seen in the papers all the accounts you give me +of yourself. You may imagine, as your mother, what an infinite +source of joy it was to me. Dear son, I entreat you to continue +to inform me of all that concerns you, for with this assurance I +shall feel that it will prolong my days, and be convinced that I +shall still have the happiness of embracing you.</p> + +<p>We are all well. In the name of your relations, I thank you for +the sums of money you have sent. Omit nothing that will render +your name immortal. Eschew the vices of great cities, remembering +that you have a mother who loves you affectionately, and +whose fondest aspirations are your health and happiness. She +will never cease her supplications to the All-powerful for your +preservation.</p> + +<p>Embrace your amiable companion for me, and kiss little Achille. +Love me as I love you.</p> + +<p><span class="signoff"> +Your ever affectionate mother,</span></p> +<p><i>21st July, 1828.</i> <span class="sig">TERESA PAGANINI.</span> +</p></blockquote> + +<p>From Prague, Paganini went to Berlin, where he +remained four months. He was received with the utmost +enthusiasm, and on the evening of his first concert he +exclaimed: "I have found my Vienna public again." +Wherever Paganini stayed for any length of time it +suddenly became the fashion to learn to play the violin; +and the fair members of the aristocratic families were +among the most eager to become pupils of the famous +man. Paganini made a great deal of money in Berlin. +The critics were divided in opinion as to his merits; but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> +Rellstab, whom Schumann once called "Wretched +Berlinese reviewer," was favourably impressed. Paganini +is said to have received a challenge from Baron +Sigismond von Praun, to a public contest for supremacy +in performance, but as the would-be opponent was a +youth of seventeen, Paganini disdained him. Perhaps +he thought of his own presumption in his young days!</p> + +<p>Paganini's tour was one continual triumphal progress. +At Königsberg his first concert realised about £330, an +unprecedented sum in that place; at Frankfort his four +concerts produced something like £1,000. A critic wrote +of him: "One striking peculiarity of his playing is the +extraordinary effect it produces on persons wholly devoid +of musical cultivation. Most <i>virtuosi</i> play only for the +learned; not so Paganini. His performance is alike +appreciated by men of business and connoisseurs, by +children and grown persons—it is felt and understood +by all. This is the distinctive characteristic of all that +is great in art."</p> + +<p>He was at Leipzig in 1829, and was among the visitors +at the house of Abraham Mendelssohn—the pleasant +garden-house in the Leipziger Strasse—and his portrait +figures in Hensel's collection. In June, 1830, Paganini +was in Cassel, when Spohr heard him for the first time—of +which more later. In Hamburg the same year Heine +heard him, and his vivid and extraordinary notice of the +artist must be briefly quoted. "I believe," said Heine, +"that only one man has succeeded in putting Paganini's +true physiognomy upon paper—a deaf painter, Lyser by +name, who in a frenzy full of genius has with a few<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> +strokes of chalk so well hit the great violinist's head that +one is at the same time amused and terrified at the truth +of the drawing. 'The devil guided my hand,' the deaf +painter said to me, chuckling mysteriously, and nodding +his head with a good-natured irony in the way he generally +accompanied his genial witticisms.... The +Hamburg Opera House was the scene of this concert, +and the art-loving public had flocked there so early, and +in such numbers, that I only just succeeded in obtaining +a little place in the orchestra." Then he goes on to +describe the audience and the entrance of Paganini. +"Is that a man brought into the arena at the moment of +death, like a dying gladiator, to delight the public +with his convulsions? Or is it one risen from the dead, +a vampire with a violin, who, if not the blood out of our +hearts, at any rate sucks the gold out of our pockets? +Such questions crossed our minds while Paganini was +performing his strange bows, but all those thoughts were +at once still when the wonderful master placed his violin +under his chin and began to play. As for me, you already +know my musical second-sight, my gift of seeing at each +tone a figure equivalent to the sound, and so Paganini +with each stroke of his bow brought visible forms and +situations before my eyes; he told me in melodious +hieroglyphics all kinds of brilliant tales; he, as it were, +made a magic lantern play its coloured antics before me, +he himself being chief actor.... A holy, ineffable +ardour dwelt in the sounds, which often trembled, scarce +audibly, in mysterious whisper on the water, then swelled +out again with a shuddering sweetness, like a bugle's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> +notes heard by moonlight, and then finally poured forth +in unrestrained jubilee, as if a thousand bards had struck +their harps and raised their voices in a song of victory." +Thus, a poet on a poet in tones.</p> + +<p>In 1829 Paganini was in Warsaw, and Chopin was +among those who heard him. As he was leaving, in +July, he was stopped some distance from the city by a +numerous company who had met together in a garden. +They drank the health of the artist, and Joseph Xaver +Elsner, Director of the Conservatoire, handed him a +costly snuff box, bearing this inscription: "<span lang="it">Al Cavaliere +Nicolo Paganini, gli ammiratori del suo talento, Varsovia +19 Luglio 1829.</span>" Paganini pressed it to his lips, speechless +with surprise, and affected almost to tears. At +Munich he gave three concerts in November of the same +year; and at the close of the last <i>soirée</i> the artist was +crowned by Stunz, the Kapellmeister, while thousands +of laudatory poems were showered from different parts +of the hall. At Stuttgart, the King of Würtemberg presented +him with 100 <i>louis d'or</i>, and it is said that before +leaving Germany Paganini sent over £6,000 to the Bank +of England for safe custody, a proceeding which showed +his good sense, and perhaps revealed a mistrust of his +continental friends.</p> + +<p>Paganini's tours, extending over three years, embraced +Bohemia, Poland, Saxony, Bavaria, Prussia, and the +Rhine provinces. Many more details might be given, +but they are really needless: it was always the same +story of the artist's success, excepting, indeed, at Augsburg, +where the criticisms were adverse, as at Prague.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +An anecdote may fitly close the narration of Paganini's +long stay in Germany, as it reveals an interesting trait +in the character of the peasantry. Paganini, in the +autumn of 1829, was summoned to appear before the +Queen Dowager of Bavaria, at the Castle of Tegernsee, +a magnificent residence of the Kings of Bavaria, situated +on the banks of a lake of the same name. At the +moment the concert was about to begin, a great bustle +was heard outside. The Queen, having enquired the +cause, was informed that about sixty of the neighbouring +peasantry, having been told of the arrival of the famous +Italian violinist, were come with the hope of hearing +some of his notes, and requested that the windows should +be opened, in order that they also might enjoy his talent. +The Queen went beyond their wishes, and with truly +Royal good-nature, gave orders that they should all be +admitted into the saloon, where she had the pleasure of +remarking their discernment, and the judicious manner +in which they applauded the most striking parts of the +distinguished artist's performance.</p> + +<p>Frankfort seems to have been a favourite stopping +place with Paganini, and from there, at last, he quitted +the fatherland, and arrived at Strasburg, where he gave +two concerts, and thence proceeded direct to Paris.</p> + +<p>It has to be observed that France had just been +through another Revolution, and the turmoil, social and +political, had not subsided. To a populace seething in +this fevered atmosphere anything by way of diversion +would be welcome. The man of the hour was Paganini, +for in a sense he combined within himself the surrounding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +elements and influences. At the moment the public +was just in the mood for Paganini, and the artist met the +craving for excitement. He gave his first concert in the +Opera House on March 9th, 1831, and notwithstanding +that the prices of admission were tripled, the house was +crammed. It would be impossible, says Fétis, to describe +the enthusiasm with which the audience were seized +when listening to the extraordinary artist, an enthusiasm +approaching delirium, frenzy. Paganini's Studies had +long been known to Parisian violinists, but they remained +enigmas impossible of solution. At his third concert, +March 25th, Paganini introduced a new concerto, in D +minor, which, like so much of his music, is lost. In +Paris the infamous persecution of the artist seems to +have reached its climax. Fétis states that Paris was +above all places hostile to Paganini, although that city +had contributed more than any other place to the <i>éclat</i> of +his success. His portrait was on every wall, and exhibited +in the windows of print shops. Paganini himself stopped +to look at one representing him in prison; and while +scanning it with some amusement, found he was being +surrounded by a crowd who were scrutinising him with +close interest, evidently comparing his features with +those of the lithograph. This was too much, and Paganini +sought his friend Fétis, and confided to him his +troubles, seeking his aid for their amelioration. Fétis +requested Paganini to supply him with particulars, and +then indited a long epistle, which, signed by Paganini, +appeared in the <i><span lang="fr">Revue Musicale</span></i>. Quotation may be +deferred until the narration of Paganini's public career<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +is completed, and a more detailed consideration of the +character of the man and the artist is entered upon.</p> + +<p>One incident that occurred during Paganini's visit to +Paris may be related. The officers of the different legions +of the National Guard combined to organise a grand ball +to be held in the Opera House for the benefit of the poor. +They thought it would add greatly to the attractions of +the function if they could prevail upon Paganini to attend +and play a few pieces. To ask for violin solos in a place +prepared for a ball, and among an assemblage met for +dancing, argued a very curious taste, or want of it. +Paganini owed it to his dignity as an artist to refuse +the invitation, which he did. For this he was bitterly +assailed by a section of the press, and was compelled to +publish a letter justifying himself.<a name="Anchor-19" id="Anchor-19"></a><a href="#Footnote-19" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 19.">[19]</a> He explained that +he had already given up the Opera House, which was at +his disposal, for the preparations for the ball, and that +involved the loss of receipts for one concert—from 15,000 +to 20,000 francs. He added that in Berlin, Vienna, and +all the towns where he had continued any time, he made +it a duty to perform for the benefit of the unfortunate; +and he certainly should not leave Paris without devoting +the proceeds of one of his <i>soirées</i> to the relief of the poor +of that capital. He kept his word; gave the promised +concert, and the poor profited by a refusal that was +attributed to him as a crime.</p> + +<p>Berlioz, then in Italy—he had just won the Grand +Prix de Rome—passing through a crisis in his life,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +stayed a few days in Genoa. In his autobiography he +wrote: "All Paris was raving about Paganini, while I, +with my usual luck, was kicking my heels in his native +town instead of listening to him. I tried to gather some +information about their distinguished townsman from the +Genoese, but found that, like other people engaged in +commerce, they cared little for the fine arts, and spoke quite +indifferently of the genius whom Germany, France and +England had received with open arms. They could not +even show me his father's house." So quickly and easily +can one be forgotten! England had not yet received +Paganini, but it was many years after this time that +Berlioz penned his autobiography.</p> + +<p>Liszt, in Paris, his first dream of love cruelly dispelled, +shunned the world and buried himself in seclusion. For +the time the artist within him was dead, and his thoughts +turned to the priesthood. The revolution of 1830 awoke +him. The Magyar blood was aroused, and sympathising +with the people's struggles Liszt planned a <i><span lang="fr">Symphonie +révolutionnaire</span></i>. But it was Paganini who, the next year, +touched Liszt as it were with a magic wand, and gave +the direction to the genius and energy of the young artist. +Of this more in its proper place. Early in May, 1831, +Paganini left Paris for London.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + + +<p>Fétis stated that Paganini's visit to London excited +the most lively curiosity, but did not awake that +intelligent interest which welcomed him in the Capital +of France. This does not sound complimentary to +London, but perhaps Fétis read some of the introductory +comments of the press when Paganini was about to +reach our shores. This is a specimen: "We shall talk +of Paganini very much till he comes. When he arrives +nobody will speak or think of anything else for nine, +perhaps eighteen, days: he will be everywhere: all other +violinists will be utterly forgotten: it will be agreed that +the instrument was never before heard; that his predecessors +were all tyros; all other fiddles mere kits. +There will be Paganini rondos and waltzes; variations, +long, short, hard, easy, all <i>à la Paganini</i>. We shall have +Paganini hats, caps, etc., and the hair of all the beaux +patronised by beauty, will be after his curious pattern. +His influence will extend to our tables, and there will be +Paganini puffs served up daily. Then, all at once, his +very name will cease to be pronounced by persons of <i>ton</i>; +and, as a matter of course, people not of <i>ton</i>—not of the +Devonshire circle, not of Almack's—will imitate those +who are: and the Italian player, like the penultimate +fashion, will be utterly forgotten!—<i>in good society</i>. I +will even allow him to flourish here two whole months, +provided no new chin-chopper<a name="Anchor-20" id="Anchor-20"></a><a href="#Footnote-20" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 20.">[20]</a> arrive in the interim, no +<i><span lang="fr">danseuse</span></i> with a miraculous toe, to contest the supremacy +of his wonderful bow: should any such rival enter the +lists with him, his glory will set in less than a moon, and +never blaze again above our fashionable horizon."<a name="Anchor-21" id="Anchor-21"></a><a href="#Footnote-21" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 21.">[21]</a></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_6" id="Illustration_Plate_6"></a><a href="images/plate_006.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_006s.jpg" width="600" height="495" +alt="Plate VI.—See Appendix. Cartoon of Paganini frm the title-page of a comic Song, 1831." title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><i><a href="#Plate_6">Plate VI.—See Appendix.</a></i>—<span class="smcap">Title-Page of Comic Song, 1831.</span></span> +</div> + +<p>Here is another from <i>The Examiner</i>:—"There cannot +be a more inoffensive creature. His sole propensity is +to gain money by his art, and his passion to lose it at the +gambling table. Paganini's bow (<i>Scotticé</i>, boo) is almost +as wonderful as his bow (<i>Anglicé</i>, fiddle-stick)—the craw-fish +would attempt something like it were he on the stage, +but not so well."</p> + +<p>Well, we've improved in manners somewhat since +1831. No respectable paper would publish now such +notices in advance of any distinguished artist, however +eccentric he might be. Paganini duly arrived in London +in May, 1831. His first concert was announced for the +21st in this manner:</p> + +<blockquote><div class="center"><p><span class="smcap">The King's Theatre.</span></p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Signor Paganini</span> respectfully informs the Nobility, +Subscribers, and Frequenters of the Opera, and the +public, that he will give a <span class="smcap">Grand Miscellaneous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a><br /><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></span> +CONCERT of <span class="smcap">Vocal</span> and <span class="smcap">Instrumemtal Music</span>, at +this theatre, <span class="smcap">To-morrow Evening</span>.</p> + +<p><i>Prices of Boxes</i>:—Pit Tier, 8 Guineas; Grand Tier, 10 +Guineas; One Pair, 9 Guineas; Two Pair, 6 Guineas; +Three Pair, 4 Guineas; Stalls, 2 Guineas; Orchestra, +1-1/2 Guineas; Admission to the Pit, 1 Guinea; Ditto to +the Gallery, Half a Guinea.</p></blockquote> + +<p>This announcement produced a storm of indignation. +Articles appeared in <i>The Times</i>, <i>The Courier</i>, <i>The Observer</i>, +<i>The Chronicle</i>, and correspondence of a heated character +was carried on. The editor of <i>The Harmonicon</i>, calculated +that a full house at the prices would realise more than +3,000 guineas, and M. Laporte, the manager of the +King's Theatre, was virtually accused of conspiring to +rob the public. It must be explained that Laporte +"farmed" Paganini; and as the latter invariably +doubled the ordinary prices of admission, his impressario +naturally desired to share in the golden harvest. Laporte +wrote to <i>The Times</i> a hurried note on May 19th, at eleven +p.m., stating that at some future time he would refute +the charges brought against him; and the next day a +letter from Paganini to Laporte, and advertised in the +newspaper, gave pause to the wordy warfare. It was +as follows:—</p> + +<blockquote><p> + +Sir, <span class="letterdate"><i>Friday</i>, 29th May.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Finding myself too unwell, I request you will +respectfully inform the public that the Concert announced +for to-morrow will not take place.</p> + +<p> +<span class="signoff">Your obedient Servant,</span></p> +<p class="sig"><span class="smcap">Nicolo Paganini</span>.</p> +<p>To M. Laporte. +</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> + +<p>Paganini was in a wretched state of health when he +reached London, and his condition was not improved by +the turmoil his announcement had created. The terms +of his contract with Laporte were published in <i>The +Observer</i>, and it was shown that Paganini had practically +surrendered his freedom of action. This may be illustrated +by a story that I have not met with in any English +publication, though it may be true all the same. It is +from the notice of Paganini in Mendel's "Musikalisches +Conversations-Lexikon." His Majesty William IV. +sent to enquire what honorarium Paganini required to +play at the Court. Paganini answered: £100, a mere +bagatelle. As the messenger tendered him one half that +sum, Paganini haughtily replied, "His Majesty can hear +me at a much cheaper rate if he will attend my concert. +But my terms are not left for me to settle."</p> + +<p>The concert postponed from May 21st was then +announced for June 3rd, but the question of the high +prices had yet to be disposed of. Conflicting statements +were made—one to the effect that Paganini expressed +his regret that they had not been fixed still higher! Be +that as it may, that was not the time to trifle with an +angry public. There was not a moment to be lost, and +some one must give way. The matter was soon decided. +On June 2nd, appeared in <i>The Courier</i> and <i>The Globe</i> the +translation of a letter from Paganini, which may be +reproduced for the sake of its contents:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The time appointed for my first Concert at the King's +Theatre so nearly approaches, that I feel it my duty to +announce it myself, and to claim the favour of the English<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +nation, which honours the arts as much as I respect her. +Having been accustomed in all the towns of the Continent +to double the usual prices at the theatres where I +have given my Concerts, and, but little acquainted with +the customs of this Capital, where I present myself for +the first time, I thought I might do the same here. But +having been informed by several papers that the existing +prices here are higher than those on the Continent, and +having myself ascertained that the statement was correct, +I willingly second the wish of a public whose esteem and +protection I desire as my greatest recompense.</p> + +<p> +(Signed)</p> +<p class="sig"><span class="smcap">NICOLO PAGANINI.</span></p> +<p>London, June 1st, 1831." +</p></blockquote> + +<p>At last the concert took place in the King's Theatre, +June 3rd, 1831. There was an orchestra erected on the +stage. Many musicians have left a record of the extraordinary +impression made by Paganini on that occasion, +and have attempted to describe the man. In the present +place quotation may be limited to the remarks of the +editor of <i>The Harmonicon</i>, William Ayrton, a cultivated +musician, and a sober-minded critic. He wrote thus: +"The long, laboured, reiterated articles relative to Paganini, +in all the foreign journals for years past, have +spoken of his powers as so astonishing, that we were +quite prepared to find them fall far short of report; but +his performances at his first concert, on the 3rd of last +month, convinced us that it is possible to exceed the most +sanguine expectation, and to surpass what the most +eulogistic writers have asserted. We speak, however, +let it be understood, in reference to his powers of execution +solely. These are little less than marvellous, and +such as we could only have believed on the evidence of +our own senses; they imply a strong natural propensity +to music, with an industry, a perseverance, a devotedness, +and also a skill in inventing means, without any parallel +in the history of his instrument."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 580px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_7" id="Illustration_Plate_7"></a><a href="images/plate_007.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_007s.jpg" width="580" height="600" +alt="Plate VII.—See Appendix. Sketch of Paganini by D. Maclise, R.A." title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><i><a href="#Plate_7">Plate VII.—See Appendix.</a></i><br/> +<span class="smcap">Sketch by D. Maclise, R.A.</span></span> +</div> + +<p>So far, the musician. The critics on the press may +also have been musicians, though at that time it was not +usual to have a musical department, if such a term may +pass, in the daily or weekly papers. <i>The Athenæum</i>, in its +notice, does not reveal the polished style of a high-class +literary journal. This is how it deals with the concert:—"At +length all differences have been arranged, and the +<i>mighty wonder</i> has come forth—a very Zamiel in appearance, +and certainly a very devil in performance! He is, +beyond rivalry, the <i>bow</i> ideal of fiddling faculty! He +possesses a demon-like influence over his instrument, +and makes it utter sounds almost superhuman.... +The arrival of this magician is quite enough to make the +greater part of the fiddling tribe commit suicide."</p> + +<p>And now let us turn to the concert itself. The +fashionable world did not rush to the theatre, and only two +boxes were let. The stalls and orchestra were full, and +also the pit, but not crowded. The audience consisted in +great part of musicians; and even those engaged in the +orchestra were listeners for the first time, as Paganini +at rehearsal only played such passages as served for +"cues," and in nowise revealed his powers.</p> + +<p>The object of a great <i>virtuoso</i> would naturally be an +exhibition of his own talent, but Paganini was not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a><br /><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> +prodigal of his playing at the first concert. He had +engaged the orchestra of the Philharmonic Society, then +probably the finest in Europe, and his programme opened +with Beethoven's Symphony, No. 2, in D. It will be +shown later that Paganini had a great veneration for +Beethoven. Then Signor Lablache was the solo vocalist, +so Paganini was in the best of company. His first piece +was the Concerto in E flat<a name="Anchor-22" id="Anchor-22"></a><a href="#Footnote-22" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 22.">[22]</a>, and his second solo the +Military Sonata for the G string, the theme being +Mozart's "<span lang="it">Non più andrai</span>." The receipts were £700. +Paganini had a most flattering reception, and his performances +were greeted with acclamations, and waving of +hats and handkerchiefs. The members of the orchestra +were astounded. Mori avowed that if he could not +sell, he would at least burn, his fiddle; Lindley, who +stammered terribly, said that "it was the d-d-devil"; +and Dragonetti (whose "he's were she's") growled out, +"She's mighty esprit!" Cramer thanked heaven that he +was not a violinist. A striking feature of Paganini's performance +was his playing from memory. The <i>Athenæum</i> +remarked, "He plays without a reading desk or book +stand; this gives an air of <i>improvising</i> to his performance, +which we hope to see imitated, if any one be found hardy +enough to undertake a violin solo for the next seven +years." No violinist would venture to play a concerto +now with the music before him, but he may not be aware +that it was Paganini who set the fashion of playing +without book.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> +<p>The public now forgot all about the trouble of the high +prices, and the second concert, given in the same place +on the 10th, was so well attended that the receipts were +about £1,200. On this occasion Paganini played his +Concerto in B minor, and Lablache struck the little +silver bell in the Rondo. He also gave his variations +on "The Carnival of Venice," and a Sonata on the +fourth string, in which the Prayer from <i><span lang="it">Mosé in Egitto</span></i> +was introduced. The third concert took place on the +13th, when Paganini brought out another new Concerto. +Something like £900 was realised. At the fourth +concert, on the 16th, Paganini played a <i>Cantabile</i> on two +strings, a <i>Rondo Scherzoso</i>, by Rodolphe Kreutzer—a +detail to be noticed,—a <i>Larghetto gajo</i>, the Military +Sonata, and the variations on "Non più mesta," from +Rossini's <i><span lang="it">La Cenerentola</span></i>. The fifth and last Concert +was on the 22nd, when the house was crowded to excess, +and the enthusiasm greater than ever.</p> + +<p>But Paganini, or his astute manager, began to presume +a little too much on the good nature of the public. +Parting was "such sweet sorrow," that, like another +Juliet, Paganini was inclined to prolong that process +as long as possible. Final concerts succeeded each other—much +like the "Farewells" of popular singers—until +the audiences began to dwindle. At one, at the King's +Theatre on July 4th, Paganini played a new Concerto +in E major, "all expression and grace," and by far the +best proof given of his talent since his arrival in London. +Paganini gave two concerts at the London Tavern in +July. The first was well attended, but at the second there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> +was no orchestra. The concert was a failure—"and no +wonder, for the Signor tried an experiment on the forbearance +of the citizens, and actually took only a pianist +and one or two second-rate singers with him to make up a +half-guinea concert! This was too much even for John +Bull to submit to."<a name="Anchor-23" id="Anchor-23"></a><a href="#Footnote-23" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 23.">[23]</a></p> + +<p>What a curious side-light this shows upon concert +matters in the first half of the nineteenth century! Now-a-days +the "experiment" is for the <i>virtuoso</i> to engage an +orchestra.<a name="Anchor-24" id="Anchor-24"></a><a href="#Footnote-24" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 24.">[24]</a></p> + +<p>Paganini played at some of the benefit concerts during +the season, taking one-third of the gross receipts. There +was evidently ill-feeling on this point, for Lablache and +Rubini now refused to sing where Paganini played. It +was said, even, that the leader of his orchestra had to +sue Paganini for recovery of his fees, but the artist in +question, Spagnoletti, put the matter right by publicly +stating that his action was against M. Laporte, and +that against Signor Paganini he had never had the +slightest cause of complaint. Time was found for a few +provincial visits. In July Paganini gave two concerts +at Cheltenham, and there he got into trouble. It was +announced that his engagements would not permit his +remaining beyond the second day. His concerts were +well supported, and one of the Subscription Balls, at +the Rotunda, was relinquished in order that no hindrance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +should stand in the way of those desirous of hearing +the violinist. But when it was given out that Paganini +would give a third performance, there was a disturbance. +Some leading residents had a handbill printed calling +upon the "nobility and gentry" to support the established +amusements of the town, by patronizing the Ball, if only +as an act of justice to the proprietor. The effect was to +secure a thronged attendance at the Rotunda, and so +poor an assemblage at the theatre, that Paganini refused +to perform. Of course the manager had to communicate +this unpleasant piece of information to the audience, at +the same time offering to return the admission money; +but the people were in no pacific frame of mind, and +they marched straightway to the hotel where Paganini +was staying, and demanded the fulfilment of his engagement. +A mob soon collected, and their demeanour +became so threatening that there was nothing left but +compliance with their demand. Paganini went to the +theatre, played two of his most favourite pieces with +great success, and at midnight posted off for London. +It appeared that he had agreed to perform for two-thirds +of the receipts, but finding the house not half full, +demanded two hundred guineas in advance. This the +local manager refused, and informed the audience of the +fact; and the outbreak was the natural result. The local +paper remarked: "We believe this is the only instance +as yet upon record of Paganini's playing to empty benches, +and himself unpaid." Paganini addressed a letter to the +<i>Times</i>, giving another version of the incident, but he did +not appear to have come out of the affair very well.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +His manager's share in the business may be left to +conjecture.</p> + +<p>One other little circumstance seems to have caused a +certain amount of irritation. Paganini was engaged for +the Lord Mayor's banquet at the Mansion House on +July 9th. When the Lord Mayor proposed the toast +of the Lord Chancellor, before Lord Brougham's rising +to return thanks, Paganini played a solo. He evidently +displaced the usual glee party, but in any case it was not +the most artistic function to assist at, and money must +have been the chief consideration.</p> + +<p>Paganini carried his London concerts into August, +and visited Norwich, where again a third performance +took place when only two were announced. The local +manager was a heavy loser, as Paganini (or his agent) +had arranged for a specific sum, and there was very +little in excess for the payment of vocalists, and general +expenses. There was also a clashing with an important +fixture at the theatre, and feeling ran high, though there +was no violent demonstration as at Cheltenham. Towards +the end of August, Paganini set out for Dublin, being +engaged for the first Musical Festival held in that city.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 267px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_8" id="Illustration_Plate_8"></a><a href="images/plate_008.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_008s.jpg" width="267" height="600" +alt="Plate VIII.—See Appendix. Celebrated Statuette (Caricature) of Paganini by Dainton." title="" /> +</a><span class="caption"> <i><a href="#Plate_8">Plate VIII.—See Appendix.</a></i> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">The Celebrated Statuette (Caricature),<br /> +by Dainton.</span></span> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + + +<p>Dublin held her first Musical Festival from +August 30th to September 3rd, 1831, and in +connection with this event, it is interesting to note, +Henry Fothergill Chorley contributed his first musical +criticism to the <i>Athenæum</i>.<a name="Anchor-25" id="Anchor-25"></a><a href="#Footnote-25" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 25.">[25]</a> There was very little +about Paganini, but much about the oratorio, "The +Triumph of Faith," of Ferdinand Ries. It may be +observed, in passing, that in the first half of the nineteenth +century musical festivals were more numerous +than they are now—there were five in 1831. With the +exception of those given in York Minster (1823-1835), +they were not on the large scale of the principal present +day celebrations; but they were relatively of more importance, +inasmuch as there were then fewer musical centres +beyond the metropolis, and small towns would have had +little music but for those periodic gatherings.</p> + +<p>Dublin's scheme was ambitious; for Paganini's fees +for the three evening concerts was 500 guineas. Braham +and Henry Phillips were among the vocalists engaged, +and the latter, in his "Musical Recollections," gives a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +very interesting and amusing account of Paganini at the +festival. No one seemed to know how Paganini arrived +in Dublin, which gave rise to a vague idea that he was +wafted across by the <i>Flying Dutchman</i>. Where he lodged +was equally a mystery. He arrived at the stage door of +the Theatre Royal on the evening of the first concert, +and immediately ordered an apartment to be got ready, +and the room to be perfectly darkened. There he paced +up and down, playing snatches of his music until the +time for his <i>début</i> before a Dublin audience.</p> + +<p>The Theatre was crammed to suffocation. The Lord +Lieutenant and his Suite attended in State, and all the +<i>élite</i> of Dublin were in the dress tier. When the Conductor, +Sir George Smart, led Paganini to the centre +of the stage there was a terrific outburst of applause, +followed by breathless silence, as the great artist went +through his deliberate process of adjusting his violin, +raising his bow, and letting it rest upon the strings +before commencing. This was too trying to the mercurial +temperament of the occupants of the gallery, and +before many seconds there was a stentorian shout, +"Well! we're all ready!" The house was convulsed +with laughter, peal after peal rang through the theatre. +Paganini, stamping with rage, turned to Sir George +Smart, and cried, "<i><span lang="fr">Qu'est ce que c'est?</span></i>" The explanation +seemed to make matters worse, and Paganini left the +orchestra. Some time elapsed before he could be induced +to return; but when he did so, and began to play, he +created the same effect as elsewhere. The next day +everybody was exclaiming: "Ah! sure, have you heard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> +the Paganini; och murther! and his fiddle?" Such is +the account Henry Phillips gives, but it is not easy to +attach credence to all he has put in his book.</p> + +<p>At one of the concerts Paganini played the concerto in +B minor, with the Rondo <i><span lang="fr">à la clochette</span></i>, when an excited +Hibernian shouted above the storm of applause, "Arrah +now, Signor Paganini, have a drop of whiskey, darling, +and ring the bell again!" Paganini's departure from +Dublin was as mysterious as his arrival. On his return +to London he failed to attract much attention, and seems +to have been mostly on tour in the provinces and in +Scotland. One incident in London was so singular that +it deserves mention. Carlyle was supposed to have +taken a walk with Paganini. Fancy "the Sage of Chelsea" +in company with "the magician of the bow"! +Thomas Carlyle was in London in 1831 vainly negotiating +for the publication of "<span lang="la">Sartor Resartus</span>." One day +his friend, Edward Irving, took him to Belgrave Square +to dine with Henry Drummond. They walked along +Piccadilly, thronged with fashionable promenaders; +and as both men were of pecular personal appearance, +they doubtless attracted some attention. This is what +Carlyle subsequently wrote:—"Irving, I heard afterward, +was judged, from the broad hat, brown skin, and +flowing black hair, to be in all probability the one-string +fiddler, Paganini—a tall, lean, taciturn abstruse-looking +figure—who was then, after his sort, astonishing the idle +of mankind."<a name="Anchor-26" id="Anchor-26"></a><a href="#Footnote-26" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 26.">[26]</a> Carlyle has said many true, and many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> +beautiful things about music, but one may search his +writings in vain for a good word about musicians!</p> + +<p>In December of this year (1831) Paganini was +announced to play in Bristol. The following "squib" or +lampoon was issued:—</p> + +<blockquote><div class="center">PAGANINI.<br /> + +<span class="smcap">To the Citizens of Bristol.</span></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Fellow Citizens</span>,—It is with feelings of unqualified disgust +that I witness the announcement of <span class="smcap">Signor Paganini's</span> Performance +to take place in this City: Why at this period of Distress? +With the recollection of so many scenes of misery still fresh in our +minds, and whilst <span class="smcap">Subscriptions</span> are required to the extent of our +means in order to <span class="smcap">Feed</span> and <span class="smcap">Clothe</span> the <span class="smcap">Poor</span>: why is this +<span class="smcap">Foreign Fiddler</span> now to appear? for the purpose of draining +those resources which would be infinitely better applied in the +exercise of the best feeling of man—<span class="smcap">Charity</span>. Do not suffer yourselves +to be imposed upon by the Payment of Charges which are well +worthy the name of extortion; rather suffer under the imputation +of a want of <span class="smcap">Taste</span> than support any of the tribe of Foreign +<span class="smcap">Music-Monsters</span>, who collect the Cash of this Country and waft it +to their own shores, laughing at the infatuation of John Bull.</p> + +<p> +<i>December 10th, 1831.</i> <span class="signature">PHILADELPHUS.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="center"><small><span class="smcap">A. Saint. Typ. Castle Printing Office</span>, 54, Castle Street, Bristol.</small></div></blockquote> + +<p>Paganini's concerts at Leeds, early in 1832, were so +well managed that, out of the profits, a liberal donation +was presented to the fund for the relief of the poor. At +Birmingham, in February of that year, his visit caused +such an influx of strangers to the town, that neither +lodgings nor stabling could meet the demand made upon +them. A popular song was written for the occasion, and +the streets rang with it long after the violinist had left +the place. Two lines ran thus:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"It's well worth a guinea to see Paganini,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To see how he curls his hair."<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></div></div> + +<p>At Brighton some time earlier, the high prices were +nearly causing a riot, through the issue of an inflammatory +placard against them. Mr. William Gutteridge, a +well-known musician of that place, who had arranged +for the concerts, had to ask the protection of the magistrates, +but fortunately no outbreak occurred. The +squabbles about prices, the charges of avarice brought +against Paganini, and the acrimonious tone of part of +the press, afford melancholy reading. His gains were +said to reach £20,000. In March, 1832, he left London +for Paris. There, he gave a concert for the poor on +March 18th. He did not stay very long in France, and +on his way again to this country, occurred the incident +referred to as one of the indignities to which he was +subjected. This is the story.</p> + +<p>Paganini having to pass through Boulogne on his +way to England, decided to give a concert in that town, +which boasted of a Philharmonic Society. Paganini +deputed a friend to arrange for that Society to assist at +the concert.</p> + +<p>All seemed going well until Paganini arrived on the +scene, when the amateurs stipulated for a certain number +of free admissions for their friends and families, as a recognition +for their assistance. Paganini represented to them +that in a small concert room so many free admissions +would leave little room for the paying public, and he could +not accede to their demand. However, they would not +give way, so Paganini declared his intention to engage a +professional band. This did not suit the views of the +amateurs, and they threatened the professional players<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +with the loss of patronage and pupils if they dared assist +Paganini; and the unfortunate artists, dependent as they +were upon that support, had to refuse the offer made +them. But Paganini was not to be baffled; he determined +to give the concert, and to perform without any +accompaniment at all. This he did; and now came the +ludicrous sequel. A number of those amateurs actually +paid for admission to the concert, on purpose to hiss the +independent artist. This they did as soon as he entered +the concert-room. Despising such petty spite, Paganini +entrusted his revenge to his art, and the rapturous plaudits +of the audience proper soon reduced to a pitiable silence +those who had offered so gross an insult. As a writer +said at the time: "The amateurs of Boulogne have +earned for themselves a niche in the history of the art—they +have <i>hissed</i> Paganini."</p> + +<p>To digress, for a moment. Paganini's performance, +solus, was a recital pure and simple; perhaps the first +ever given in a concert room. In Grove's "Dictionary +of Music and Musicians" there is this definition: "Recital, +a term which has come into use in England to signify a +performance of solo music by one instrument and one +performer." It was probably first used by Liszt, in +1840, when he advertised his performances as "Recitals." +The first was given at the Hanover Square Rooms, on +June 9th, and was called by the <i>Musical World</i> a curious +exhibition. The "one man show," as the recital has +been irreverently termed, may not conduce to the +highest interest of art, but Paganini—not Liszt—was its +inventor.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_9" id="Illustration_Plate_9"></a><a href="images/plate_009.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_009s.jpg" width="600" height="570" +alt="PLATE 9. (See Appendix.) Drawing of Paganini playing the violin with Rossini and Pasta, circa 1832." title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><a href="#Plate_9">PLATE 9. (<i>See Appendix.</i>)</a></span> +</div> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> + +<p>Paganini made his <i>rentrée</i> at Covent Garden Theatre +on July 6th, but he did not appear to have played anything +new. Neither did he attract much attention, and +little need be said respecting his visit. He was back +again in London in 1833, but was out of favour, and was +advised to postpone his concerts until the public anger, +caused by his refusal to play for the distressed English +actors in Paris, had subsided. His first concert was +given in the King's Theatre, on June 21st, when apparently +he played nothing new, and had but a small +audience. The press in general appeared to be hostile—the +<i>Athenæum</i> did not notice him at all—and it is probable +that his stay was not prolonged. He was in Paris later +in the year, and was present at the concert given by +Berlioz on the 22nd of December, when he heard the +<i><span lang="fr">Symphonie Fantastique</span></i>, and was so impressed that he +wished Berlioz to write a solo for the wonderful Stradivari +viola he possessed.<a name="Anchor-27" id="Anchor-27"></a><a href="#Footnote-27" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 27.">[27]</a></p> + +<p>Between Paganini and Berlioz there was a mutual +attraction. Both had something of the volcanic in their +nature; both did much battling with the hostile outer +world. But more of their friendship later.</p> + +<p>Paganini was in London once more in 1834, and gave +a concert at the Adelphi Theatre on April 7th. Again +nothing new, according to report. The next morning he +gave a second concert at the Hanover Square Rooms, at +which it was said not more than one hundred persons +were present, and half of those went in with free tickets.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +The erstwhile popular idol was now dethroned. Paganini +fell ill after this, and postponed his third concert.</p> + +<p>The <i>Athenæum</i> referred to Paganini's playing to +crowded houses at the Adelphi, and empty benches +at the Hanover Square Rooms, and then went on to +say: "His performance on the <i>Viol di Gamba</i>,<a name="Anchor-28" id="Anchor-28"></a><a href="#Footnote-28" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 28.">[28]</a> or some +such instrument, is yet to come as is also a duet with +Dragonetti, which, we are told, is to be the <i><span lang="la">ne plus ultra</span></i> +of what is beautiful and amazing. He has, hitherto, only +repeated his best compositions, and, as before, left every +other violinist, ancient and modern, at an inconceivable +distance behind him." This concert was to be the last, +which induced the writer of the <i>Athenæum</i> notice to +attend it. He found the "new instrument" nothing but +a full-sized viola, tuned in the ordinary way. "Considering +the difference of stop between this and the violin, his +precision and brilliancy upon the former, as displayed in +double stop passages, harmonics, and <i>arpeggi</i>, of extraordinary +difficulty, were most amazing.... In his +grand concerto in E flat, his cadenza was one of the +most wonderful combinations of novel harmony, and +passages of execution, we ever heard." Apparently the +duet with Dragonetti was not played, as nothing was +said of it.</p> + +<p>The directors of the music at the Oxford Commemoration +week, May, 1834, were anxious to add Paganini's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +name to the attractions offered. He was approached, +accordingly, and, through his manager, announced his +terms—one thousand pounds. Astounded by the answer, +the Oxford Delegate desired that it might be committed +to writing. This was done, but when shown to Paganini, +he directed that guineas should be substituted for pounds. +He knew that art was not commerce! There is no +record of his playing at Oxford.</p> + +<p>This last visit of Paganini to England had a romantic +termination. He had separated from Signora Bianca on +account of her jealous temper, and had fallen in love +with a young English girl—that is if current report may +be trusted. He proposed, for the purpose of securing +her a proper legal settlement, that the marriage should +take place in Paris, and he left London on June 26th, +arranging for her to follow him to Boulogne. The +young lady secretly left her home, but her father had his +suspicions, and apparently arrived at Boulogne first, for +the daughter, instead of meeting Paganini, was confronted, +on landing, by her father, with whom she +returned home. There is no doubt as to the occurrence, +for it was "in the papers," and names were given. +Schilling, whose <i>Encyclopædia</i> was published in 1837, +gives a long account of the affair, which he would not +have done had there been no truth in it, even though the +law of libel was not then very stringent. Here it will +suffice to say that the young lady was the daughter of a +man with whom Paganini lodged, and who was associated +with the concert work of the artist. Moreover, the girl +herself had, it would seem, sung at some of the concerts,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +and had become fascinated with the great +violinist.</p> + +<p>The incident might be passed over, only for the fact +that to it was owing the impression that Paganini visited +America before returning to Italy. Dubourg, in the later +editions of his work "The Violin," states that Paganini +spent part of his time in America, previous to his return +to Italy in 1834. Now George Dubourg was a contemporary +of Paganini, and his statement is not to be +dismissed lightly, though he offers no evidence in support +of it. At the present time it is difficult to find proof, one +way or the other. The American papers in 1835 were +speculating as to the birthplace of Paganini, and some of +the explanations were meant to be funny, but are too +vapid for repetition now. The <i>Musical World</i> for August +4th, 1837, in quoting an anecdote concerning Paganini's +kindness to a poor musician, ends by saying Paganini +took the poor man with him to America. The question +was raised in the <i>Musical World</i> for January the 9th, +1886, and decided in the negative. The legend had this +slender foundation. In the early part of 1835, the young +lady whom Paganini wished to marry, went to the United +States—she was an actress and vocalist of moderate +ability—but her stay was brief. Still, everybody wished +to see her, for wherever she went she was looked upon +as the heroine of a romantic episode, and her name was +always coupled with Paganini's. The story of the elopement +had been carried across the Atlantic by scandal's +winged feet; and it was said that Paganini sent a special +messenger to America to reopen negotiations on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> +delicate subject—arrangements that came to nothing. +The agent might have been taken, by Dubourg, for the +principal—hence the mistake. Paganini never went to +America, neither did he again return to the shores of +Albion.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + + +<p>In the summer of 1834, Paganini, after an absence of +six years, returned to his native land. He was now +a rich man, and he invested part of his fortune in +landed property, purchasing, among others, the Villa +Gajona, near Parma, which he made his home—the first +he could really call his own, and he was in his fifty-second +year! His health was irretrievably broken down; +he suffered from consumption of the larynx, and was +losing the power of speech. He now sought peace and +quiet, and thought of preparing for publication a complete +edition of his compositions, which, if he had accomplished +it, might have led to the explanation of his alleged secret. +In November, or December, Paganini gave a concert at +Piacenza—on the very same boards where he almost +began his brilliant career—for the benefit of the poor; +this was the first time he had been heard in Italy since +1828. The year 1835, Paganini passed alternately at +Genoa, Milan, and his villa near Parma. The cholera +then raging at Genoa was the cause of the rumour of +Paganini's death. The dread scourge had claimed him +for a victim, it was said, and the Continental journals +devoted columns to him in the form of obituary notices.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p> + +<p>The only English contribution to the necrology of +Paganini known to me was written by Chorley in the +<i>Athenæum</i>. It is both interesting and curious: for Chorley +manages to squeeze in his account of Paganini at the +Dublin festival, which the editor evidently cut out in +1831. That scarcely concerns us now, though it relates +that the <i>furore</i> caused by Paganini's performance could +not be appeased until he had mounted the grand pianoforte, +in order that the audience might obtain a better +view of his lank proportions! An extract from his notice +must be given. It begins thus:—"<i><span lang="it">E Morto!</span></i>—the words +which the silent and absorbed man murmured to himself, +in a tone of deep feeling, after listening to one of +Beethoven's magnificent symphonies, are now—alas!—to +be uttered sadly for their speaker—Paganini is +dead!</p> + +<p>"We would fain believe that the newspaper reports are +in error.... Let us hope that the intelligence from +Genoa, received this week [September], that the artist +had been carried off by the sudden and fearful death of +cholera, may, by some happy chance, prove one of those +'mistakes which it gives them pleasure to contradict.' +But, should it not then, indeed, may Music put on +sackcloth and sit in ashes for her High Priest!" Then +follows an "appreciation," to use a modern expression, +to which reference may be made later.</p> + +<p>Chorley was an impressionable young man, in his +twenty-third year, when he attended the Dublin festival, +and so excited did he become over Paganini's performances, +that he gave vent to his feelings in verse. That<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> +poem he now inserted in the <i>Athenæum</i>, "as a farewell to +one whose like we shall never hear again!" There are +really fine thoughts in the poem, and, though too long to +quote in its entirety, a few stanzas may well be rescued +from the periodical in which they are buried.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O Paganini!—most undoubted king<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of St. Cecilia's flock, alive or dead,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whether their pasture be of pipe, or string,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Or mighty organ, which doth overspread<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ancient Cathedral aisles with flood of sound,—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">In all the wizard craft, matured by labour,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That doth the spirit move, delight, astound,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Thou hast no peer—thou hast not even a neighbour,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">In the long lapse of years from Tubal Cain to Weber.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Sages have said, who read the book of night,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That once each hundred years some meteor flares<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Across the startled heavens with brilliant flight,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Making strange tumults in the land of stars;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And, 'mid the realm of constellations vast,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">In steady splendour ever rolling on,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sweeps far and wide with fierce and furious haste,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Rushing from pole to distant pole anon;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And, like the monarch's ghost—"'Tis here—'tis there—'tis gone!"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Thou dost to these, the meteor-born, belong,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">O mighty monarch of the strings and bow!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And though it were to do sweet Cupid wrong<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To call thee else like him—yet on thy brow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And in thy curved lips and flashing eyes,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">His clearest seal hath god-like Genius set,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who bade thee from the common herd arise<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And win thyself a crown—nor ever yet<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Hath Art her votary graced with brighter coronet.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O that a stately temple might be reared<br /></span> +<span class="i2">On some wide plain—and open to the sky—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where all the great, the gifted, the revered<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Side close to side, ensepulchred might lie!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And there, where many a breeze at evening's close<br /></span> +<span class="i2">In solemn dirge around their tomb should sweep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Should all the sons of melody repose,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That pilgrims from afar might come and weep,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And by their sainted dust a silent vigil keep!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And there together in renown should rest,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The Italian minstrel of the broken heart!<a name="Anchor-29" id="Anchor-29"></a><a href="#Footnote-29" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 29.">[29]</a><br /></span> +<span class="i0">And he whose Requiem for a spirit blest<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Was his own dirge—too early lost Mozart!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And he of the Messiah—and the flight<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of Israel's children from their bonds abhorred,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When God was cloud by day, and fire by night!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And he, who sung of darkness, at one word<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Bursting to light—and Earth created by its Lord!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And many more—with whom ungentle Time<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Forbids my weak and wandering verse to say;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Save one great master-spirit, whom my rhyme<br /></span> +<span class="i2"><i>Must</i> pause to honour—for the meteor ray<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Burnt with intensest radiance o'er his head;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Albeit too soon within his eager ear<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The realm of sound deep silence overspread,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Whom yet the world is learning to revere—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Beethoven! he should sleep with thee—the Wizard—near!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">There's left a space, beside his hallowed dust,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">For thee with whom began my feeble song;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But be it long before the encroaching rust<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of Time wear out thy energies—and long<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ere the grim Tyrant with resistless call<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Beckon thee hence—before thy bow be hung<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In some gray chapel—and thy brethren all<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Strive for thy magic instruments unstrung;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">If Heaven were kind to man, thou shouldst be ever young!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> + +<p>A fortnight later, Chorley was able to reassure his +readers by contradicting the report. It seems that the +rumour was started through the death of Dr. Paganini +(referred to at the beginning of this essay), and there +seems little doubt but that he was the brother of the +violinist.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 409px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_10" id="Illustration_Plate_10"></a><a href="images/plate_010.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_010s.jpg" width="409" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><i><a href="#Plate_10">Plate X.—See Appendix.</a></i><br /> +<span class="smcap">Copy of Oil Painting of Paganini in the Municipal Museum at Genoa.</span></span> +</div> + +<p>In 1836, some speculators applied to Paganini to give +the support of his name and his talent to the founding +of a Casino in Paris, of which the ostensible object was +music, the real end, gambling. It has been suggested +that the project appealed to Paganini's avarice, which +caused him to lend himself to the accomplishment of the +undertaking. On the other hand, it is fair to assume that +the artist was in ignorance of the true motive of the +promoters of the scheme; and the fact that certain +instructions to the trustees of the fortune settled on his +son had been made public some four years earlier lends +countenance to the impression that he was disgusted with +gambling, and had long ceased to indulge in the vicious +pastime.</p> + +<p>In the early summer of 1837, Paganini's health having +improved, he gave several concerts in Turin, both for the +benefit of the poor, and on his own behalf. Later in the +year, however, he was in Paris, living in the greatest +seclusion. The <span class="smcap">Casino Paganini</span> was opened, apparently +in October, 1837. The building was situated in the Rue +Mont Blanc, and was supposed to be a kind of Club of +Art and Literature. An orchestra of some fifty performers +was engaged for concerts, which were open to subscribers +only. In the grounds a brass band played to those<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> +assembled, and admission there apparently was free to +the public. The object of the undertaking was not made +known. A French paper stated by way of a joke that +Paganini's part in the proceedings was to walk round the +garden when the weather was fine. The Government +refused to license the place as a gambling-house, and the +management had to rely upon the concerts alone. It +would appear that Paganini had signed a contract to play +at the concerts, but the wretched state of his health was +the excuse for his not doing so. He had been in Paris +off and on from 1837 to some time in 1839. In 1838, +certainly before April, he was there, and went to hear a +newly invented instrument termed the Harmoniphone. +This was the work of an ingenious musician, Jacques +Reine Paris. It was a small key-board instrument +designed to imitate the oboe, and intended as a substitute +for it, in places where oboe players were not available. +A distinguished company was invited to meet Paganini, +who was greatly interested and pleased with the invention. +Then, in December, Paganini witnessed what Berlioz +described as the massacre of his "Benvenuto Cellini" at +the opera. In the same month was inaugurated a society +for the production of classical compositions, and for the +encouragement of musical artists, and at this brilliant +function, held in the Salle Erard, Paganini was present, +with Meyerbeer, Auber, De Beriot, Donizetti, and a host +of other celebrities. On the 16th of the month Paganini +attended the concert given by Berlioz at the Conservatoire, +when the symphony, "Harold," was performed. +Paganini heard it for the first time, and at the close of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> +the concert occurred the affecting incident of Paganini +kneeling on the stage and kissing the hand of Berlioz, +the demonstration being followed by a magnificent +donation of 20,000 francs. Paganini seems to have had a +transient recovery, for the papers spoke of his becoming +corpulent.</p> + +<p>Still, he did not play at the Casino Concerts, and a +crisis soon arose. Early in 1839, the directors of the +Casino brought an action against Paganini for breach of +contract, and he was decreed to pay damages to the +amount of 20,000 francs. This decision so much displeased +both plaintiffs and defendant that they appealed +against it. The case did not come on again for some +time, and Paganini sought rest and change in the south +of France. He stayed for some time at Marseilles, +where, at the house of a friend, he once more abandoned +himself to his art, devoting his time alternately to his +violin and his guitar. Fétis states that notwithstanding +his feeble health, Paganini attended a performance of +Cherubini's <i>Requiem</i> for men's voices; and on June 21st +went to one of the churches to take part in the performance +of Beethoven's Mass in C.</p> + +<p>But his malady could only be alleviated by frequent +change of clime. Accordingly, in October we find him at +Genoa, in the vain hope that his native air would prove +beneficial; but he was prostrated by a violent nervous +attack almost immediately following his arrival. He +must, soon after, have left for Nice, which he never +quitted alive. Nice, though a pleasant place, was not +regarded as at all a favourable retreat for persons suffering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> +from pulmonary or bronchial affections, and it proved +fatal to the great artist. But we must, for the moment, +return to Paris.</p> + +<p>The rehearing of the Casino case came before the +<i>Cour Royale</i>, Paris, on January 3rd, 1840. Paganini +could not, of course, attend in person, but he was represented +by Counsel, and it may be of interest to name the +man who was entrusted with his defence. It was a +certain Mons. Chaix-d'Est-Ange. From accounts of the +proceedings, this legal luminary addressed the Court at +great length. He described the prayers and entreaties of +the proprietors of what he termed "this catchpenny +establishment" to induce the grand <i>Maestro</i> to lend his +mighty arm and name to their speculation. He had +promised, in writing, to play nowhere but at their +concerts; but as he had played nowhere else, the proprietors +could have no legal right to such excessive +damages. The counsel for the plaintiff, Mons. Barillon, +declared that as Paganini's defection had ruined the +speculation, the damages ought to be proportionate to his +transcendent talent. Going into details, he stated that +Paganini was installed in a splendid suite of apartments +at the Casino, one boudoir being lined with flannel +expressly for him; and that when he was complaining of +his wretched health, he accepted a dinner offered him by +the musicians of the orchestra, and gave toasts in both +French and Italian. After that, he allowed bills to be +printed, announcing that he would play at the Casino +concert. Hundreds of tickets were eagerly bought at +twenty francs each, when suddenly Paganini refused to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +play. Entreaties were in vain; Paganini, in his own +room, with closed doors, would practise, but would not +play at the concert. Recourse was had to the musicians +of the Grand Opera, so as not to disappoint the +audience, but the prefect of police would not allow the +<i>employés</i> of the opera to be taken from their theatre, +and ordered the Casino to be closed. Ruin stared the +proprietors in the face, and 20,000 francs was no +adequate compensation. The former decision was reversed, +and Paganini was condemned by the Court in +50,000 francs<a name="Anchor-30" id="Anchor-30"></a><a href="#Footnote-30" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 30.">[30]</a> damages, and ten years imprisonment in +default of payment.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 530px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_11" id="Illustration_Plate_11"></a><a href="images/plate_011.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_011s.jpg" width="530" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><i><a href="#Plate_11">Plate XI.—See Appendix.</a></i><br /> +<span class="smcap">The House in which Paganini died.</span></span> +</div> + +<p>Whether the fine was actually paid, I have found no +evidence to prove, but the imprisonment was certainly +not enforced. In a few months' time, the gaoler whom +none can deny, touched Paganini with his icy hand, and +the troubled spirit left its frail earthly tenement on +May 27th, 1840.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_12" id="Illustration_Plate_12"></a><a href="images/plate_012.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_012s.jpg" width="600" height="425" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><i><a href="#Plate_12">Plate XII.—See Appendix.</a></i>—<span class="smcap">Tablet on House in which Paganini died.</span></span> +</div> + +<p>But not to rest were the mortal remains consigned. +No peaceful grave for the wandering, restless being +whose fitful fever of life was over at last. Paganini died +without receiving the last Sacrament of the Church. +He had indeed been visited by a priest, sent by the +Bishop of Nice; but not deeming his end so near, made +no confession, nor prepared himself for death according +to the rite of the Church of Rome. The doubt as to his +faith caused the Bishop of Nice to refuse burial in +consecrated ground. The son, the friends of Paganini,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> +and the principal artists of the place solicited the +authorisation of a solemn service for his eternal repose, +but in vain; all that was conceded was the offer of an +authentic record of death, with leave to transport the +corpse whither they might wish. This compromise was +not accepted, and the matter came before the Court of +Justice, when the decision was in favour of the Bishop. +There was no alternative but to appeal to Rome, when +the Bishop's decree was annulled, and the Archbishop of +Turin was charged, conjointly with the Canons of the +Cathedral of Genoa, to institute an inquiry into the +Catholicism of Paganini. Meanwhile the remains—stated +by the <i>Athenæum</i> to have been embalmed for +interment at Genoa—were subjected to shocking indignities. +The landlord wanted to let the house where the +artist had died, and the corpse was laid in the cellar until +a more fitting resting-place was found. Then it is said +to have been moved to the hospital of Nice, thence by +sea to the <i>Lazzaretto</i> of Villa Franca, and finally to a +country house Polcevera, near Genoa, part of the property +of the heir of the illustrious artist. There the body +remained four years. Rumours spread abroad of piteous +moans and other lamentable noises being heard at night. +To put a stop to these unpleasant reports, the young +Baron Achille made an application for permission for a +solemn service to be celebrated at Parma, in virtue of +Paganini having been a knight of St. George. This was +not fruitless. The service was celebrated in the church +of <i><span lang="it">La Steccata</span></i>, appropriated to that order of chivalry. +After the solemnity the friends of the deceased obtained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> +the permission of the Bishop of Parma to bring the body +within the boundary of the Duchy, when it was transferred +to the <i>Villa Gajona</i>, for interment in the Communal +cemetery. So, at last, in May, 1845, the mortal remains +of the illustrious violinist were laid in the grave; by order +of the government, there was no display of any kind, no +outward symbol of homage. The mourners might, however, +hope at least for the repose of the casket that once +enclosed the fiery, turbulent, soaring spirit of one who +knew no rest in life. But, alas! even that was not the +end. In the letter addressed by Paganini to the Editor +of the Paris <i><span lang="fr">Révue Musicale</span></i>, the closing sentence breathed +a prayer that, however calumniated he might be in life, +the world would at least allow his ashes to repose in +peace. That appeal was not granted. It has been +shown that five years elapsed between his death and his +burial; fifty years more, and the repose of the grave was +broken. The <i>Athenæum</i> of September 7th, 1895, contained +this paragraph:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"In the Communal Cemetery of Parma the mortal +remains of the great violin player, Paganini, have just +been exhumed. The violinist was buried there fifty-five +years ago, nevertheless his face has been found +to be well preserved and easily recognizable. It is +proposed to show the body to the public before it is +re-interred."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Horrible! But first note the mistake. The body was +buried fifty, not fifty-five, years before. Those terrible +five years seem to have been unnoticed in this country,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> +and I have been unable to find any reference to the +mournful function of May, 1845.<a name="Anchor-31" id="Anchor-31"></a><a href="#Footnote-31" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 31.">[31]</a></p> + +<p>Now, what was the reason for exhuming the remains? +For the purpose of removal to a more prominent site! +Thus is homage paid to genius! Such, too, was the fate +of Beethoven. His remains were removed in 1888 to +the Central Cemetery at Vienna, and lamentable incidents +attended the exhumation. Schubert, who, by his own +desire, was buried by the side of the great master, did +not escape the doom; but Mozart was mercifully spared; +he was buried in a pauper's grave, and his body has +remained undiscovered. The story of the preservation of +his skull may be dismissed as apocryphal. But what are +gorgeous monuments? Does the true artist value the +case more than the instrument? Why seek ye the living +among the dead? The artist does not die—he puts off +the "muddy vesture of decay"; he lives in his art-work.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 385px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_13" id="Illustration_Plate_13"></a><a href="images/plate_013.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_013s.jpg" width="385" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><i><a href="#Plate_13">Plate XIII.—See Appendix.</a></i><br /> +<span class="smcap">The Tomb of Paganini at Parma.</span></span> +</div><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + + +<p>Having traced the career of Paganini "from the +cradle to the grave," let us now look a little +more closely at the man, the artist. Glimpses of his +character have already been revealed, but so curiously +interesting a personality will repay further study. Totally +uneducated, he yet made himself so much a man of the +world, as to enjoy the personal friendship of such +notabilities as Lord Byron, Sir Thomas Clifford Constable, +Lord Holland, Prince Metternich and others. In +his official positions at Court he comported himself with +dignity. He had the pride of the artist, and would not +play if the conditions were not suitable. One instance +has already been given. Here is another, which also +occurred in Paris. Paganini was asked to play at a +Court concert at the Tuilleries. He went the day before +to inspect the <i>salon</i> where the function was to take place, +and found the heavy draperies so numerous that the tones +of his violin would be deadened, and the effect of his +playing would be lost unless the curtains were removed +or rearranged; he acquainted an official with his wish to +alter them. To that august personage a "fiddler" was a +mere nobody, and Paganini was given to understand his +proper place. Highly offended with the manner of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> +official, Paganini resolved not to play. The Court was +assembled for the concert, but the great violinist was +absent. A messenger was sent to his hotel, and was +informed that the Signor had retired to rest very early.</p> + +<p>Mobbed by ill-mannered crowds whenever he appeared +in the streets, (and this especially in London, when +strangers not only spoke to him, but even felt him, to +ascertain if he was really flesh and blood), Paganini, with +his sensitive nature, shrank more and more from contact +with the outer world. He was not a Milton, "whose +soul was like a star, and dwelt apart," but he was +essentially a solitary, a recluse. His character was the +result of his environment. Accustomed to brutal treatment +in his childhood, he became hardened; set free +from restraint, he tasted the wild joys of youth, only to +find them turn to Dead Sea apples. Schumann, in his +"Advice to young musicians," wrote: "The laws of +morality are also the laws of art." But Paganini had no +mentor, and learnt by bitter experience the lesson of life. +He was accused of avarice, and many ridiculous stories +were told of him. When at Prague, it is said that even +the members of the theatre were struck off the free list, +and he was annoyed that the police who watched the +upper galleries could not be made to pay for their places! +He beat down a London laundress a halfpenny in her +charge for washing his shirts, and Moscheles gives +currency to the story, though he cannot vouch for its +truth, that Paganini gave his servant a gallery ticket for +one of his concerts on condition that the man served him +gratuitously for one day! All these wretched things may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> +have been true, more's the pity. But there is one little +story that appears to have been overlooked. The father +of Nicolo Paganini was avaricious, and compelled his +son to minister to his avarice, even robbing him of the +first-fruits of his own earnings; Nicolo in turn became +avaricious, but it was for the sake of his little son, whose +life he desired might be better than his own. "He saves +for his yet uneducated child," wrote Guhr, in 1829. Yes, +this man, proud, scornful, despising the crowds whose +money made him rich, in the recesses of his heart +nourished a love, pure and unselfish. That was the fine +gold; his wealth was dross. His affection for the child +was boundless, and he allowed the little fellow to +tyrannise over him completely. There are pretty stories +of his playing with the boy, but there is nothing about +teaching the boy to play—the violin. The memory of +his own childhood was quite sufficient to deter him from +any attempt to force instruction on his boy, and cloud the +sunshine of his young life.</p> + +<p>The world gave Paganini its plaudits and its money; +but there never seemed to be any bond of sympathy +between the artist and the public. Yet Paganini could +appreciate kindness. Moscheles relates that the father of +his wife rendered Paganini some important service before +the visit to England. When Paganini first called upon +Moscheles he was profuse in expressions of gratitude, and +taking down a miniature portrait of his benefactor he +covered it with kisses. "Meantime," Moscheles writes, +"we had leisure to study those olive-tinted, sharply +defined features, the glowing eyes, the scanty, but long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> +black hair, and the thin, gaunt figure, upon which the +clothes hung loosely, the deep sunken cheeks, and those +long, bony fingers." Moscheles was of service to +Paganini during his first days in London, and, to use his +own words, he was paid with quite as many honied +epithets as his father-in-law received. But he suspected +the Italian to be rather too sweet to be genuine. Indeed, +the friendship was too fervent to last long, and money +was the cause of the rupture. Mori commissioned +Moscheles to write a piece "Gems à la Paganini," taking +the precaution of obtaining the violinist's consent. His +style is imitated, and he expresses his admiration of the +piece. A second and third book of "Gems" are +published, and down comes Paganini with the charge of +musical piracy. His permission extended only to the +first book. A lawsuit was commenced, but Paganini +effected a compromise with Moscheles, conceding the +free sale of the three books of "Gems" in return for +pianoforte accompaniments to twelve small violin pieces. +Moscheles reluctantly consented to write the accompaniments, +but refused to allow his name (which +Paganini wanted) to appear on the title-page. Mori had +to pay something by way of damages, and Moscheles at +last rejoiced at being quit of an episode so little worthy +of an artist, and at having done with those dreadful +lawyers.<a name="Anchor-32" id="Anchor-32"></a><a href="#Footnote-32" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 32.">[32]</a></p> + +<p>But quite enough has been said in reference to +Paganini's avarice: it has been shown that he had a +motive for saving money. Is it as easy to account for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> +other traits of his character? That aloofness, that scorn +of the world, that hard bargaining: "Take me or leave +me," revealing callous indifference, was there no cause +for all that? There is a very graphic, and at the same +time, appalling, account of the impression produced by +Paganini among the Parisians, which is translated at +length in Dubourg's "The Violin." Berlioz wrote of the +weird genius making his appearance in France during +the uproar of the collapse of a dynasty, and arriving in +Paris—with the cholera. The terrors of the scourge +were powerless to check the tide of curiosity: the people +were mad for the time being. This is the conclusion of +the notice just mentioned: "Of such a public, and such +an artist, how saddening is the sight!... The public, +made up of idlers—of beings isolated, cold, corrupt—must +be <i>amused</i>, forsooth! and the artist exhausts his +taste and his sentiment, and well nigh perspires blood +and water, to comply with their exactions—to <i>amuse</i> +them! and if he attain this end, the public clap their +hands, the manager of the theatre counts out to him a +heap of gold, and he goes away, with his ears deafened +at the noise which has surrounded him, and which, for a +moment, it may be, has made his heart beat high;—he +goes away, with a loving grasp tightened over the coin +he has so hardly won; and now inwardly exclaims, with +a smile of pity, 'The blockheads—the barbarians! who +is there among them that can comprehend me—that can +<i>feel</i> my intentions!' and then the home-returning public, +selfish to the very soul, indemnify themselves for their +finger's-end applause by sottish contempt, by remarks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> +that are empty, or worse—that are scornful, bitter, +shocking, disgusting even—such as those which may +have been buzzed into one's ears in Italy or in Paris, but +varied in a hundred ways, and aggravated at will, just as +<i>he</i> varies and enlarges, twists and turns, beneath his +magic bow, a subject of apparently the most simple and +insignificant kind. And now the voices most distinguishable +among the ebbing crowd murmur out the words, +'Gambler, Libertine'! or worse.... And the privileged +public resort again to the theatre, to admire the talent of +him who they comprehend not; and the artist returns, in +like manner, to <i>amuse</i> those who provoke his pity, and +whom he beholds so far below him! Thus we have +contempt on one side, compassion on the other; applause +from hands chilled with the touch of gold, on the one +part,—on the other, sounds that borrow their animation +from no social sympathy! Such are the relations between +the public and the professor such the bonds that connect +them!" Unhappy artist; miserable public! How shall +we account for this pitiful state of things, this gulf +between the performer and the auditor? We must seek +the explanation in the letter to the <i>Revue</i>, referred to +more than once, but now claiming our attention more +directly.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 447px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_14" id="Illustration_Plate_14"></a><a href="images/plate_014.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_014s.jpg" width="447" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><i><a href="#Plate_14">Plate XIV.—See Appendix.</a></i><br /> +<span class="smcap">Paganini in Prison.</span></span> +</div> + +<p>The pictures of "Paganini in Prison," exhibited so +lavishly while the artist was in Paris in 1831, provoked +him to remark that there were some "honest fellows" +making money of a calumny that had pursued his steps +for the last fifteen years. He then referred to the +different versions of the crime imputed to him: that he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +killed a rival whom he found in company with his +mistress; or that it was his mistress who had been the +victim of his jealous fury; the only point of agreement +was the imprisonment. "Let me tell you," the letter +continued, "what happened to myself in Padua about +fifteen years ago (1816), on this very subject. I had +given a concert with some success: the next day I went +to a table-d'hôte; I entered the room late; was, perhaps, +the sixtieth guest, and took my seat unnoticed. One of +the company expressed himself in flattering terms of the +effect produced by my performance the evening before. +His next neighbour agreed in the praises bestowed on +me, but added, 'Nobody ought to be surprised at +Paganini's ability: he owes it all to an eight years' +solitary imprisonment in a dungeon, with nothing but his +violin to occupy his time, or soften the rigours of his +confinement. He was condemned to this long incarceration +for having assassinated a friend of <i>mine</i>, who was +unfortunate enough to be his rival.' As you may easily +believe, every one was loud in denouncing the enormity +of my crime; when I addressed myself to the speaker, +begging him to inform me where and when this tragical +adventure had occurred. All eyes were in an instant +turned upon me, and you may judge the astonishment of +the company at finding the hero of this tale of murder +and imprisonment one amongst them. The relater of the +story was not a little embarrassed. 'It was not a friend +of his own that had fallen—he had heard—he had been +told—he believed—but after all it was very possible he +might have been deceived,' etc. Now see, Sir, how easy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> +it is to play with the reputation of an artist merely +because men, inclined to indulge in idleness themselves, +cannot conceive it possible that he may have studied as +closely in his own chamber and in full possession of his +liberty, as he would if he had been chained up in a +dungeon."</p> + +<p>There was an occurrence that gave rise to these +reports, and which Paganini related in the same letter. +"A violin player, named D——i,<a name="Anchor-33" id="Anchor-33"></a><a href="#Footnote-33" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 33.">[33]</a> who was at Milan +in 1798, associated himself with two other men of bad +character, and engaged with them in a plot to assassinate, +by night, the curate of a neighbouring village, supposed +to be in possession of much wealth. Luckily for the +curate the heart of one of the conspirators failed him, +and he denounced his companions. The gendarmes +watched the spot, and took D——i and his accomplice +into custody at the moment they arrived at the curate's +dwelling. They were condemned to twenty years' confinement +in irons, but General Menou, after he had been +appointed governor of Milan, at the end of two years +restored the violinist to liberty. Would you believe it, +Sir? this is the sole foundation upon which the whole +history of my incarceration has been erected. A violin +player, whose name ended in <i>i</i>, had been engaged in a +murder and imprisoned—it could only be <i>Paganini</i>—the +assassinated party was converted into either my rival or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> +my mistress, and it was I, <i>Paganini</i>, who had been so +many years loaded with chains, and immured in a +dungeon. Solely with the view of wringing from me the +secret of my new system, have they complimented me +with fetters, whose only effect would have been to +paralyze my arms."</p> + +<p>Paganini further stated that he called on the Italian +ambassador resident in Vienna, to testify that he had +known the artist for nearly twenty years, during all +which time his conduct has been that of an honest man. +He also pointed out that having been constantly before +the public from the age of fourteen, he must have had a +mistress and a rival when he was seven! for there was +no room for an interval of eight years afterwards. It +was at Vienna that one of the audience, while Paganini +was playing "The Witches' Dance," distinctly saw the +devil close to the violinist, guiding his fingers and +directing his bow; the said devil was dressed in red and +had horns and a tail, and the striking likeness of the +countenances of the two, plainly proved the relationship +between them. That pretty story followed Paganini +everywhere: and, as has been seen, in Prague he had to +publish a letter from his mother disproving the rumour of +his Satanic parentage. There is something intensely +pathetic in Paganini's conclusion: "I see nothing else +for it but to leave malignity at liberty to disport itself at +my expense."</p> + +<p>In this prosaic, materialistic twentieth century, which +believes in little besides money, there is no fear of any of +our violin wonders being associated with the arch-fiend.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> +They may be regarded as physic problems, but the +supernatural is eliminated from the study. But Paganini +did not live in the twentieth century, and in his day the +devil was a very real personage, notwithstanding the +temporary overthrow of much belief through the French +Revolution, and the enthronement of the "Goddess of +Reason" in the Church of Notre Dame, Paris. It may +seem absurd, now, even to recall these calumnies; but +we have to deal with the environment of a great genius, +to study the cause of his failing to become great as a +man; for surely he had the making of a fine character. +That he should traverse the greater part of Europe, +pursued by tales of devilry and murder, is one of +the saddest comments on that period; that the "iron +entered into his soul," and the man capable of +affection became a miser and a misanthrope, is more +mournful still. He was the "Flying Dutchman" of +the violin.</p> + +<p>How was it that the devil and the violin came into +relationship? We have it on the authority of Martin +Luther that the devil hates music. Luther not only +believed in the devil, but he fancied he saw him: and in +the room of the Castle of Wartburg may still be seen the +mark on the wall, where he threw his inkpot at the fiend, +who tried to thwart his work of translating the Bible. It +is curious that the only instrument which, to the present +writer's knowledge, Satan has been represented as playing +upon, is one of the precursors of the violin. There is +a piece of sculpture in the Cathedral of Amiens, depicting +Satan playing on an oval three-stringed Vielle, of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> +thirteenth century.<a name="Anchor-34" id="Anchor-34"></a><a href="#Footnote-34" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 34.">[34]</a> The story of Tartini and his dream, +when the devil played so marvellously on the violin, is +known to everyone, and is, moreover, perpetuated in the +sonata <i><span lang="it">Il Trillo del Diavolo</span></i>. It is related of Thomas +Baltzar, the first great violinist ever heard in England, +that when he played at Oxford he astonished everyone by +"running up his fingers to the end of the finger-board." +John Wilson, the Oxford Professor of Music, "the +greatest judge of musick that ever was," according to +Anthony à Wood, "did, after his humoursome way, +stoop down to Baltzar's feet, to see whether he had a +huff on, that is to say, whether he was a devil or not, +because he acted beyond the parts of man." As this +took place in 1658 there was some excuse for the grim +pleasantry; moreover music had suffered an eclipse, and +performers in this country were comparatively few. +Even the gentle and polite Corelli forgot himself so far +as to apply the term, devil, to another violinist. As the +story may not be so well known as the foregoing, I shall +briefly repeat it. Nicolaus Adam Strungk (or Strunck), +violinist to Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover, when +in Rome (<i>circa</i> 1684) made it his business to see Corelli. +Introducing himself to the Italian master as a musician, +Corelli asked what was his instrument. Strungk replied +that he could play upon the harpsichord, and a little upon +the violin; but he particularly wished to hear Corelli on +the latter instrument, his fame being widely known. +Corelli obligingly consented, and played a piece to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> +harpsichord accompaniment of Strungk. Strungk afterwards +played a toccata, with which Corelli was so much +taken that he laid aside his instrument in his transport of +admiration. When Strungk had finished at the harpsichord, +he took up the violin, and began handling it in a +careless manner, whereupon Corelli remarked that he had +a good bow-hand, and wanted nothing but practice to +become a master of his instrument. At that moment +Strungk put the violin out of tune, and played on with +such dexterity, attempering the dissonances occasioned +by the mistuning with such amazing skill, that Corelli +cried out in broken German: "I am called Arcangelo, a +name that in the language of my country signifies an +Archangel; but let me tell you, that you, Sir, are an +Arch-devil!"</p> + +<p>There is nothing malicious in these stories of the devil +and the fiddler; and if Paganini had experienced nothing +worse than what has just been related, he might have +treated the matter as a joke. But that which malice or +envy originated, a "reptile press" promulgated. Innocent +of crime, Paganini was branded as a felon; gifted with +genius of the rarest order, cultivated to a perfection +absolutely unique, his skill was attributed to the aid +received from the devil. Add to this his wretched health, +and there is both mental and bodily suffering. In his +later years he was cut off from intercourse with others, +like Beethoven—but with this difference: Beethoven +employed a tablet or note-book for his friends to convey +their words to him; Paganini transmitted, through a +similar medium, his thoughts to others. He was dumb!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +Is there no brighter side to this picture? If there be, let +us turn to it.</p> + +<p>It is, perhaps, fortunate that no man can be consistent +throughout his life; the morose must smile at times, +and the misanthrope mitigate his hatred of mankind. +Paganini was but human, and his life was not all shadow. +Though his intimate friends were few, there were some +who were able to place on record details of the private +life of the great violinist. Of such, the most useful to +biographers was George Harris. He was an Englishman, +attached to the Court at Hanover then connected with +Britain; a dramatist of a certain order, he accompanied +Paganini on his tours in Germany, acting for a time as +his secretary, and apparently he was with him when in +England. From him we learn a good deal.</p> + +<p>Paganini was always on the move, and travelling in +his day was not the rapid, comfortable, even luxurious +process it is now. In the post-chaise Paganini stowed +his luggage, which was of the simplest—and shabbiest—description. +A dilapidated box held his beloved violin, +his linen, cash and jewellery; a carpet-bag and a hat-box +completed his outfit. He was philosophically indifferent +to comfort, but in his later years he always had the +windows of his carriage closed. When he arrived at his +quarters, the windows of his room were thrown open, +and he indulged in a sun-bath—again anticipating modern +medical advice. Paganini, when travelling, was fond of +taking a stroll when the horses were changed. It was a +relief to stretch his legs after the close confinement of +the post-chaise, but sometimes his rambles were so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +prolonged that there was weary waiting for him when all +was ready to resume the journey, and drivers became +exasperated. Paganini was made to suffer on one +occasion. That was when travelling from London to +Birmingham. He had already tried the patience of his +coachman by causing loss of time, and the man declared +he would drive on without him, rather than wait again. +At the next stopping place Paganini walked off as usual, +leaving Harris asleep in the vehicle. The horses being +changed, the driver started, leaving Paganini behind. +This caused some trouble, for a post-chaise had to be +sent from the next station in search of the derelict, and +Paganini in his rage refused to pay the extra expense. +He was summoned before the Birmingham magistrates, +and the case going against him he was compelled to +discharge the debt. Poor Paganini, he always suffered +when he came into contact with the law.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 188px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_15" id="Illustration_Plate_15"></a><a href="images/plate_015.png"> +<img src="images/plate_015s.png" width="188" height="200" +alt="PLATE 15. (See Appendix.) Letter in French by Paganini." title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><a href="#Plate_15">PLATE 15. (<i>See Appendix.</i>)</a></span> +</div> + + +<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_16" id="Illustration_Plate_16"></a><a href="images/plate_016.png"> +<img src="images/plate_016s.png" width="200" height="321" +alt="PLATE 16. (See Appendix.) Note in Italian by Paganini." title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><a href="#Plate_16">PLATE 16. (<i>See Appendix.</i>)</a></span> +</div> + + +<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_17" id="Illustration_Plate_17"></a><a href="images/plate_017.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_017s.png" width="200" height="116" +alt="PLATE 17. (See Appendix.) Note in Italian by Paganini." title="" /> +</a><span class="caption"><a href="#Plate_17">PLATE 17. (<i>See Appendix.</i>)</a></span> +</div> + +<p>In his personal habits Paganini was simplicity itself. +Frugal to a degree in his repasts, a cup of chocolate +sufficed for a meal when starting early on a journey, and +often he would fast until evening. When in a happy +mood after a concert, he would join the table d'hôte and +do as others did, but the slightest indulgence was +punished the next day. He preferred solitude, but when +he mixed with others he would join freely in the conversation; +if music were touched upon he became silent, +or left the room. So long as he could find accommodation +that was quiet, he cared little for its quality. Scenery +had no charms for him, and all climates but his own +were equally indifferent to him. His accounts were kept<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> +in a little red pocket-book (found under his pillow after +his death), in a kind of arithmetical shorthand only +decipherable by himself. He never had been taught the +science of numbers, or he might have been made a first-rate +mathematician.</p> + +<p>Harris stated that all the time he was with Paganini +he never heard him play a single note except before an +audience. That may have been correct so far as +Germany was concerned, but the Rev. John Edmund +Cox, in his "Musical Recollections," has something very +different to say about Paganini. "During his career he +visited my native town,<a name="Anchor-35" id="Anchor-35"></a><a href="#Footnote-35" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 35.">[35]</a> and as I had the good fortune +then to be able to converse in French, the friends who +had engaged him for a sound of concerts in that place +and its vicinity placed me in direct communication with +him somewhat in the capacity of a secretary; so that I +not only travelled in his company and heard him at every +concert at which he appeared, but I lived in the same +hotels and lodgings which had been secured for him. +This kind of semi-official position necessitated my seeing +much of him during his leisure hours, when he threw off +the suspicious restraint which was always apparent in his +manner when he was among strangers, whom he +imagined were bent upon getting as much as possible out +of him for their own advantage. Then, indeed, he would +evince anything but a hard and ungenerous nature, his +manner being not only kind but courteous; whilst any +attention that was afforded to his wants or to his comforts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +was sure to elicit not only looks but words of gratitude. +In public he confined himself almost exclusively to the +performance of his own music,—... but in private—for +he had his violin constantly in his hand—he would sit +and dash off by the hour together snatches from the +compositions of the best masters, and give readings of +such originality to passages that had been heard again +and again, as apparently have never been supposed to be +possible by any other player. As an instance in point, he +one morning, whilst I was writing several notes for him, +commenced the first <i>motivo</i> of Beethoven's magnificent +violin concerto. To write was then impossible; and he, +perceiving how entranced I seemed, asked whether I +knew what it was. On my replying in the negative, he +promised, if it could be managed, that I should hear the +whole of that movement before we separated." The +promise was redeemed. The above is valuable as showing +that Paganini was not quite so wanting in knowledge +as was generally supposed. He could converse in +French, though at that time—1831—he had only spent a +few weeks in France. Education, proper, he had none; +but the statement that he could speak no language but +his own, is evidently incorrect. The allusion to strangers +bent upon getting as much as possible out of him for their +own advantage, finds an illustration in the story of the +Englishman who is said to have followed Paganini for +some six months, watching his every movement, lodging +at the same hotels, and employing every means to get at +the great secret of the violinist's art. At last his +perseverance seemed about to be rewarded. Looking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a><br /><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a><br /><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a><br /><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> +through the keyhole of Paganini's door, the Englishman +saw the violinist take his instrument from its case—raise +it to his shoulder, even shift the left hand up and down +the neck; but not the ghost of a sound. It was just +a study of positions, and the violin was then restored to +its place. In despair, the inquisitive amateur gave up +the quest.</p> + +<p>The concerts Paganini gave for the poor were evidence +of his natural goodness of heart. It is true, such efforts +cost him little; he gave a few hours' time: the public +found the money. One day, when walking in Vienna, he +saw a poor little Italian boy playing the violin in front of +a large house. He drew from him a touching story of +poverty, and a sick mother; and emptying his pockets +into the boy's hands, he took from him his violin and +began to play. He was soon recognised, and a crowd +assembled; the people were immensely diverted, and +gave a generous response when the hat was handed +round. With "Take that to your mother," Paganini +sent the boy off rejoicing, and turning to the companion +of his walk, he remarked, "I hope I've done a good turn +to that little animal." He was fond of applying the word +"animal" to those sometimes spoken of as "the lower +classes," but was not altogether singular in that respect.</p> + +<p>At the anniversary dinner of the Royal Society of +Musicians, in 1832, among the donations announced was +one of ten guineas from Paganini. This was thought so +excessively mean an acknowledgment of the generosity +of the English nation, that the announcement was +received with groans and hisses. That was distinctly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> +rude on the part of those who, having dined well, ought +to have been in a genial state of mind.</p> + +<p>At least one generous action must be placed on record. +It was told by George Augustus Sala many years ago.<a name="Anchor-36" id="Anchor-36"></a><a href="#Footnote-36" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 36.">[36]</a> +The mother of that voluminous writer was a vocalist, +and made her <i>début</i> at Covent Garden Theatre in 1827, +as the Countess in Bishop's version (or perversion) of +Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro." In 1828 she became a +widow, and supported her family by teaching singing and +giving annual concerts, chiefly at Brighton, where she +lived. For one of her benefit concerts she engaged +Paganini. The most distinguished artists of her day had +gladly given their gratuitous assistance at similar +functions, and Paganini accepted the small fee of twenty-five +guineas. Sala was a very small boy at that time +(born in 1828), and possibly drew upon his imagination +when recounting the event so many years later. This is +what he wrote:—"'Take your little boy with you, +Madame Sala,' was the shrewd counsel of ——, a +valued friend of my mother; 'take the boy with you +when you pay Pag.; perhaps <i>that</i> will soften him a little.' +I was the smallest and chubbiest of the tribe; then, duly +washed, combed and made spruce, my parent took me in +her hand, and led me to the Old Ship, where Paganini +was staying. We were ushered, not without fear and +trembling on my part, into the presence of the mighty +musician, who was at breakfast. Then my mother, +alluding as far as she in delicacy could to her large family<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> +and small means, proceeded to count out—sovereign by +sovereign, shilling by shilling—Paganini's fee of five and +twenty guineas. I can see with the eye of memory the +whole man before me now, his gaunt angular form, his +black elf-like locks falling in weird confusion over his +neck and shoulders, his cadaverous face and shaggy +brows, his long bony hands with the veins standing out +like cordage, his amazingly large feet, and especially his +neck, disproportionately long, scraggy, and corrugated. +I can see the glare—so it seemed to me—which, when he +raised his bent brows, darted upon the pile of money, and +the spasmodic avidity with which he extended his hand +and swept the pile towards him.... 'A very nice little +boy,' he was good enough to say, alluding to myself; 'but +time is bad, and there is no monish in de vorld: no, never +no monish at all.' My mother rose with a heavy heart to +depart. 'Stop, little boy,' said the great violinist, and he +beckoned to me with a skinny finger, which any of the +witches in Macbeth would have been proud to own; +'stop, take this, it will buy you a cake.' He thrust a +crumpled piece of paper into my hand, rose from his +chair, and, without more ado 'bolted'—that is the only +word suited to the action—into his bedroom. He had +given me a bank note for fifty pounds! Superstitious +people used to whisper that Paganini had sold himself to +the enemy of mankind; spiteful people used to draw him +as a greedy, flint-hearted miser.... I only know how +he acted towards my mother."</p> +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + + +<p>From the man we now turn to the artist. Schiller +wrote: "The artist is the son of his age, but pity +for him if he is its pupil or even its favourite." It +has been shown how truly Paganini was the child of his +age; the pity was that he became its pupil and its +favourite; in consequence he failed to attain the supreme +height where dwell the spirits of the greatest. But he was +a great artist, in spite of his concessions to the public +taste; and he held in reverence that which he found great +in others. When in Vienna in 1828, exactly a year after +the death of Beethoven, Paganini attended a concert, and +heard a performance of the great master's Symphony, +No. 7, in A. Profoundly moved by that sublime composition, +he remained mute, his gaze fixed and mournful; +suddenly the tears rolled from his eyes; his grief and +emotion wrung from him the words: <i><span lang="it">E morto!</span></i> Anders, +who relates the incident, adds: "Never was the immortal +author of <i>Fidelio</i> more worthily extolled than by those +tears, by that simple word. The day may come when +some disciple, some friend of the Genoese artist, will say +in his turn, seized with bitter sadness, <i><span lang="it">E morto!</span></i>" Strange, +that Chorley should have employed the very words, in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> +premature obituary notice which has been already +referred to.</p> + +<p>When in Paris, Paganini once visited the Institution +for the Blind. He was so much struck with the beauty +and purity of intonation that characterised the singing of +the pupils, that he declared that never before had he an +adequate notion of what harmony was.</p> + +<p>The artist, as well as the art, claimed his respect. +There seems to have been no artistic jealousy about him, +and to the young performer he was invariably kind, whilst +to the established professor he was just. It is said that +when Paganini's concerts took place at the King's +Theatre, it was proposed to dispense with the services of +the "leader" at the Opera. When Paganini heard of +this, he paid a well-merited compliment to the abilities of +Signor Spagnoletti, and insisted upon his engagement at +all the concerts, he, Paganini, might give at the Theatre. +It is true, at rehearsal, Paganini never gratified the +members of the orchestra as to what the concert performances +were likely to be; but he was careful to have +the accompaniments well prepared. Quick-tempered, he +was irritated at any faulty work, but when all went well +he expressed his approbation by exclaiming, "<i><span lang="it">Bravissimi! +Siete tutti virtuosi!</span></i>" ("You are all artists!") Paganini +brought the orchestral parts with him to rehearsal, and +took them away afterwards; as to the solo part, no one +had a chance of looking at that, for Paganini played +everything from memory. His kindness to brother-artists +has been placed on record. The young violoncellist +Ciandelli, who rendered such service to Paganini<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +when he was turned into the street by the brutal landlord, +was afterwards well repaid by the instruction Paganini +gave him. The great violinist told Schottky, his +biographer, that he took a lively interest in young +Ciandelli, and that he imparted to him his secret. He +gave him lessons, and at the end of three days so transformed +his playing, that from being a mediocre performer, +he became the first violoncellist at the Theatre Royal, +Naples, with a possibility of becoming the first in the +world. However, as history is silent respecting the +subsequent achievements of Gaetano Ciandelli, he need +not claim further attention.</p> + +<p>The Bohemian violinist, Joseph Slavik, appeared at +Vienna in 1826, when he was twenty years of age. +Moscheles heard him play, and said he was considered in +Vienna as the second Paganini. Of course that was +hearsay; <i>the</i> Paganini had not then been heard outside +Italy. When Paganini was in Vienna, in 1828, he +become acquainted with young Slavik, and held him in +affectionate regard. At all hours the young student had +access to the idol of his worship, and received many +valuable hints and ideas upon fingering, etc., and friendly +encouragement to pursue his daring course with unwearying +application. He spent two years in retirement, +zealously studying the Paganini method, and when he +reappeared in Vienna, he was spoken of as no petty +imitator, but a second original. A contemporary notice, +comparing Slavik with Paganini, states:—"The only +difference between the two at present is, that the pupil, +carried away by the ardour of youth, often suffers himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> +to be seduced into the most gigantic attempts, the success +of which on every occasion no mortal can with certainty +rely upon; while the other, possessing the plaintive and +deeply pathetic tones of a singer, at the same time +resembles a consummate piece of musical mechanism, +which accomplishes the most extraordinary feats quietly +and without effort." Slavik died at Pesth, in 1833, at the +early age of twenty-seven; what he might have become +his actual achievements plainly indicated.</p> + +<p>In his later years, Paganini appears to have had great +delight in listening to young artists. In 1836, Antonio +Bazzini, then a youth of eighteen, played to Paganini, +who was enraptured with his performance. A year later, +in Paris, Paganini heard a much younger violinist, the +boy Apollinaire de Kontski, and actually went so far as +to give him a testimonial. Articles in the musical +dictionaries all state that Paganini gave some lessons to +the child; some say that the friendship between the two +resulted in Paganini bequeathing to De Kontski his +violins and compositions. Grove, in quoting Mendel, +says this statement requires confirmation. When Apollinaire +de Kontski died, in 1879, nothing, so far as I have +been able to ascertain, transpired concerning the alleged +bequest. But the testimonial seems to have escaped the +notice of dictionary compilers, so, as a curiosity, I +reproduce it from the <i>Musical World</i>, of June 21st, +1838:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Having heard M. de Kontski, aged eleven years, +perform several pieces of music on the violin, and having +found him worthy of being ranked among the most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> +celebrated artists of the present day, permit me to say, +that if he continues his studies in this fine art, he will, in +course of time, surpass the most distinguished performers +of the age.</p> +<p class="sig"> +(Signed) <span class="smcap">Paganini</span>."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>But if Paganini was fond of hearing and encouraging +other artists, he was averse to anything like competitive +display. When he met Lafont at Milan in 1816, as +already related, he played at the concert given by that +artist. The function came to be regarded as a contest, +and an account of it appears in Laphaléque's pamphlet. +Some paper, early in 1830, having quoted this notice, +Lafont wrote a letter of protest, which is interesting +enough to reproduce in part. He wrote:—</p> + +<p>"Sir, I have just read, in your journal of the 2nd of +Feb., an extract from the Notice published on the +celebrated violinist, Paganini. As this notice contains +statements utterly erroneous, as regards me, I owe it to +truth, to the advice of my friends, and to the favour with +which the public has been pleased to honour me during +twenty-five years, to give an exact statement of the facts +of the case. The following is a narration of what +occurred. In the month of March, 1816, I gave in +conjunction with M. Paganini, a concert in the great +theatre, La Scala, at Milan, and, far from making a cruel +trial of the powers of my adversary, or of being beaten +by him, as is pretended by the author of the Notice, I +obtained a success the more flattering, as I was a +stranger in the country and had no other support than +my talent.</p> + +<p>"I played, with M. Paganini, the concerted symphony<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +of Kreutzer, in <i>fa</i> major. For several days previously to +the concert we rehearsed this symphony together, and +with the greatest care. On the day of the concert it was +performed by us as it had been rehearsed, with no change +whatever; and we both obtained an equal success in the +passages executed together or separately. On coming to +the <i><span lang="fr">phrase de chant</span></i> in <i>fa</i> minor, in the second solo of the +first part, there was a decided advantage for one of us. +This passage is of a deep and melancholy expression. +M. Paganini performed it first. Whether the strong and +pathetic character of the piece was ill-suited to the +ornaments and brilliant notes which he gave in it, or +whatever else was the cause, his <i>solo</i> produced but little +effect. Immediately after him, I repeated the same +passage, and treated it differently. It seems that the +emotion by which I was then agitated, caused me to give +an expression more effective, though more simple, and it +was so felt by the audience, that I was overwhelmed +with plaudits from all parts of the house. During +fourteen years I have been silent on this trifling advantage +obtained over M. Paganini in this instance, only in the +symphony, and probably rather by the superiority of the +school than by that of talent. It is painful to me to +speak of myself; nothing short of the misrepresentation +of the article in question could have provoked me to +reply. I was not beaten by M. Paganini, nor was he by +me. On all occasions, I have taken pleasure in rendering +homage to his great talent; but I have never said that he +was the first violinist in the world; I have not done such +injustice to the celebrated men—Kreutzer, Rode, Baillot,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> +and Habeneck, and I declare now, as I have always done, +that the French school is the first in the world for the +violin."</p> + +<p>After this modest assertion Lafont concludes with an +expression of rejoicing in the opportunity of praising a +talent of which he felt it an honour to be the rival, but of +which no one could make him the adversary.</p> + +<p>This epistle provoked a rejoinder from Francesco +Cianchettini<a name="Anchor-37" id="Anchor-37"></a><a href="#Footnote-37" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 37.">[37]</a> who wrote:—"As I was present at that +contest, I do assert that the account given by Mr. Imbert +is not erroneous, but correct. The public decision was in +favour of Paganini; Mr. Lafont having acquiesced in +silence to such a decision, does not diminish one iota of +his acquired fame: as not only himself, but every living +violinist who dares to enter into rivalry with Paganini, +will be prostrated, although the Signor has not had the +advantage of being a pupil of the <i>super-excellent Parisian +Violin School</i>. In Paris, I have heard how the talented +violinists, mentioned in Mr. Lafont's letter, speak of +Paganini. The <i>Coriosi</i> gladiators of the Neronian age +spoke with the same freedom of Hercules. Had this +demigod suddenly appeared on the arena with his club, +all of them would instantly have shrunk into pigmies."</p> + +<p>In a footnote Cianchettini added that whatever excellence +the Parisian Violin School might lay claim to, +was derived from Italians; from Viotti, through Pugnani +and Tartini, to Corelli, "the father of the violin."</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p> +<p>But the genius of Paganini was fully understood and +appreciated by a far greater Frenchman than Charles +Lafont:—Hector Berlioz.</p> + +<p>The friendship between Paganini and Berlioz has been +briefly referred to, but it is a subject for further consideration, +as it reveals the influence that the one artist +wielded over the other. The first meeting of the two +men must be told in the words of Berlioz himself. A few +remarks are needed by way of preface. In the summer +of 1833, Berlioz married the English actress Miss +Smithson, who, still weak from her carriage accident, +had, on her wedding day, "nothing in the world but debts, +and the fear of never again being able to appear to +advantage on the stage." To pay off these debts Berlioz +organized a benefit entertainment, beginning with drama +and ending with a concert. But his programme was too +long, and he had forgotten something—<i>the claque</i>. His +poor wife could not conceal her lameness, and though +talented as ever, she failed to obtain a recall. Another +actress, having taken precautions, had an ovation. Then +at midnight the band of the <i>Théâtre Italien</i>, not being +obliged to play after that hour, left the place, and the +<i><span lang="fr">Symphonie Fantastique</span></i> could not be played. Liszt assisted, +and the affair was not quite a failure, financially, though +the promoter came in for bitter attacks. Poor Berlioz +was in despair, but he took his courage in both hands, +and announced a concert at the <i>Conservatoire</i>. He took +care to engage artists he could trust, and with his friend +Girard as conductor everything went well, the <i><span lang="fr">Symphonie +Fantastique</span></i> taking the room by storm. Now let Berlioz<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> +speak: "My success was complete, and the former +judgment on me was reversed. My musicians looked +radiant with delight as they left the orchestra. Lastly, +my happiness was completed when the public had all +gone, and a man stopped me in the passage—a man with +long hair, piercing eyes, a strange and haggard face—a +genius, a Titan among the giants, whom I had never seen +before, and at first sight of whom I was deeply moved; +this man pressed my hand, and overwhelmed me with +burning eulogies, which literally set both my heart and +brain on fire. It <i>was Paganini</i> (22nd December, 1833). +From that date my relations with that great artist, who +exercised such a happy influence upon my destiny, and +whose noble generosity has given birth to such absurd +and malicious comments."</p> + +<p>It was some time in January, 1834, that Paganini +called upon Berlioz and said he had a wonderful viola, a +Stradivari, upon which he should much like to play in +public, but he had no music for it. Would Berlioz write +a solo for him? Berlioz was flattered by the proposal, +but replied that in order to produce a composition +sufficiently brilliant to suit such a virtuoso, he—Berlioz—ought +to be able to play the viola, and that he could +not do. So he thought Paganini alone could meet his +own wishes. Paganini, however, pressed his own point, +adding that he himself was too unwell to compose +anything. Berlioz then set to work. To quote his own +words: "In order to please the illustrious virtuoso, I +then endeavoured to write a solo for the viola, but so +combined with the orchestra as not to diminish the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> +importance of the latter, feeling sure that Paganini's +incomparable execution would enable him to give the +solo instrument all its due prominence. The proposition +was a new one. A happy idea soon occurred to me, and +I became intensely eager to carry it out."</p> + +<p>Paganini was impatient to see the music, and as soon +as the first movement was finished, it was shown to him. +He did not like the long silences. "That is not at all +what I want," he said; "I must be playing the whole +time." "You really want a <i>concerto</i> for the tenor," +Berlioz replied, "and you are the only man who can +write it." Paganini said no more, and soon afterwards +left for Nice. Berlioz then gave free play to his fancy, +and wrote the series of scenes for the orchestra, the +background formed from the recollections of his wanderings +in the Abruzzi, the viola introduced as a sort of +melancholy dreamer, in the style of Byron's "Childe +Harold." Hence the title "Harold in Italy." Now, +this is the point: "Harold" was inspired by Paganini, +who indirectly gave a new art-form to the world. The +piece was produced on November 23rd, 1834, but +Paganini was then in Italy, and he did not hear it until +four years later.</p> + +<p>But Paganini was destined to inspire something greater +still. He was again in Paris in 1838, and, as before +related, was present at the "horrible performance" of +Berlioz' "Benvenuto Cellini." Sad at heart Paganini +said: "If I were manager of the <i>Opéra</i>, I would at once +engage that young man<a name="Anchor-38" id="Anchor-38"></a><a href="#Footnote-38" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 38.">[38]</a> to write me three such operas:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> +I would pay him in advance, and should make a capital +bargain by it." The failure of the opera threw Berlioz +on a bed of sickness. But he had to live, and was soon +arranging to give concerts at the <i>Conservatoire</i>. The first +barely paid expenses, but the second, at which both the +<i><span lang="fr">Symphonie Fantastique</span></i> and <i><span lang="fr">Harold en Italie</span></i> were performed, +was more successful, and at this Paganini was present. +This has also been incidentally mentioned, but further +notice is required on account of the sequel. Again we +must allow Berlioz to speak for himself. "The concert +was just over; I was in a profuse perspiration, and +trembling with exhaustion, when Paganini, followed by +his son Achilles, came up to me at the orchestra door, +gesticulating violently. Owing to the throat affection of +which he ultimately died, he had already completely lost +his voice, and unless everything was perfectly quiet, no +one but his son could hear or even guess what he was +saying. He made a sign to the child, who got up on a +chair, put his ear close to his father's mouth and listened +attentively. Achilles then got down, and turning to me, +said, 'My father desires me to assure you, sir, that he has +never in his life been so powerfully impressed at a +concert; that your music has quite upset him, and that +if he did not restrain himself he should go down on his +knees to thank you for it.' I made a movement of +incredulous embarrassment at these strange words, but +Paganini seizing my arm, and rattling out 'Yes, yes!' +with the little voice he had left, dragged me up on the +stage, where there were still a good many of the +performers, knelt down, and kissed my hand. I need<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> +not describe my stupefaction; I relate the facts, that +is all."</p> + +<p>In his frenzied state Berlioz went out into the bitter +cold, met Armand Bertin on the boulevard, told him what +had occurred, caught a chill, and again had to keep his +bed. Two days later, the little Achilles called, the +bearer of a letter, and of a message to the effect that his +father would himself have paid the visit, but was too ill +to do so. The letter ran as follows:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Friend</span>,</p> + +<p>Beethoven dead, only Berlioz now can revive +him; and I, who have enjoyed your divine compositions, +worthy of the genius which you are, entreat you to accept, +in token of my homage, twenty thousand francs, which +will be remitted you by the Baron de Rothschild on +presentation of the enclosed. Believe me always your +most affectionate friend,</p> + +<p class="sig"><span class="smcap">Nicolo Paganini</span>.</p> +<p>Paris, December 18th, 1838."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Picture the scene! Berlioz, pale with excitement; +his wife, entering the room, imagines some new misfortune +has befallen them. Told of what has happened, +she calls her son Louis. Berlioz' words again: "And +my wife and child ran back together, and fell on their +knees beside my bed, the mother praying, the child +in astonishment joining his little hands beside her. O +Paganini! what a sight! Would that he could have +seen it!"</p> + +<p>The news soon spread abroad, and there were mixed +feelings with regard to Berlioz; delight on the one hand,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> +detractions on the other, and "scandalous insinuations" +against Paganini. It was some six days before Berlioz +recovered sufficiently to visit and thank Paganini. The +latter would not hear a word; it was the greatest +pleasure he had ever felt in his life, he said; adding, +"Ah! now none of the people who cabal against you will +dare to say another word, for they know that I am a good +judge, and that I am not easy" the last clause bearing +two meanings: "I am not in easy circumstances," or, +"I do not part with money easily." I know that this +gift of Paganini to Berlioz is now regarded as a myth. +One version of the story is that Paganini was merely the +agent, the real donor being Armand Bertin, the great +friend of Berlioz, who wished to remain in the background. +Another version is to the effect that Jules Janin, +editor of the <i><span lang="fr">Journal des Débats</span></i>, compelled Paganini to +make the gift to Berlioz, who was the musical critic +on that paper; and that Paganini, fearing to lose his +prestige with the public if Berlioz turned against him, +yielded to the pressure put upon him. I am going to +give chapter and verse for all this, for it is a matter that +should be put at rest. But first, what a condition is +revealed of the press in relation to art. Berlioz in money +matters was incorruptable, though he was often poor +enough; therefore I leave him out of the discussion. +But think of the possibility of the transaction! Janin, +years before, had written bitter things of Paganini—things +I have declined to quote in this memoir; but +Janin must have been quite as bad as he asserted +Paganini to have been, if he was capable of this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> +monstrous proposition. There are two details to be +considered, and the first is the date. In 1838, the public +career of Paganini was at an end. There was the +wretched Casino business, it is true, but there was no +performance by Paganini. In the second place, supposing +for a moment that Berlioz could or would employ his pen +in disparagement of the great violinist, could he have +written anything more violent, more depreciatory, than +critics had been writing for the previous twenty years, +criticisms which Paganini had survived, and grown rich +upon? Besides, if the Janin story be true, the Bertin +must be false. Where then is the authority for the +former? In 1840, Liszt wrote a memorial notice of +Paganini. In it passing reference is made to some deeds +of benevolence. Lina Ramann, in her "Life of Liszt," +of which the first part was published in 1880, prints this +essay, and at the point above mentioned adds a long foot +note<a name="Anchor-39" id="Anchor-39"></a><a href="#Footnote-39" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 39.">[39]</a> giving the Janin story, which she averred Liszt +knew through Janin himself. That was a safe story to +reproduce, though it might have been contradicted by +Liszt if he ever saw the book. Now for the Bertin +version. The authority quoted for that is always +Ferdinand Hiller. In 1868, Hiller published his work +"On the Musical Life of our Time," in which he relates +some gossiping with Rossini, in 1856. The conversation +turned upon Paganini on one occasion, and Hiller asked +about the kingly gift to Berlioz. Rossini replied that all +Paris knew it, and he must needs believe it, but at +bottom he held the thing impossible. Nothing more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> +definite is there recorded. In 1871, Hiller published a +new series of similar papers or essays, but of this work I +know nothing. Rossini was a raconteur, and fond of +saying good things. There is no reason to doubt the +good faith of Ferdinand Hiller; he set down what Rossini +said, which, after all, was only the expression of a doubt. +This reticence was perhaps owing to the fact that Berlioz +was still living. But how was Rossini likely to know the +facts of the case? He went to Italy in 1836, and +returned to Paris about the end of May, 1855; consequently +he knew nothing of the alleged gift at the time, +and as Armand Bertin died in 1854, Rossini could not +have heard the story from him. So far, one would be +justified in attaching little credence to Hiller's gossip +with Rossini.</p> + +<p>But there was a sequel. Rossini died in November, +1868, and Berlioz passed away in March, 1869. His +Autobiography was published in 1870, with the Paganini +incident as it has already been related. To the last, +Berlioz believed that the money came from Paganini. +In 1880, Hiller published a work entitled "<span lang="de">Künstlerleben</span>," +in which a chapter was devoted to Berlioz. Again +reference is made to the princely gift, incredible from so +mean a man as Paganini. "Rossini gave me the key to +this enigma," writes Hiller, "and I do not hesitate to +communicate the same, as it can no longer be unpleasant +to anyone concerned in the matter." He then goes on +to say that Paganini consented to be the agent of Armand +Bertin, who really found the money. "Are you sure +that this was true?" asked Hiller; "I <i>know</i> it," replied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> +Rossini, seriously. Hiller then states his conviction that +Rossini's account must be correct.<a name="Anchor-40" id="Anchor-40"></a><a href="#Footnote-40" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 40.">[40]</a> Now was this the +outcome of a subsequent conversation with Rossini, or +an amplification of the "gossip" at Trouville? Hiller +is candid enough to say that some may doubt, and I +should confess to being among the doubters if his evidence +was the sole support of the story.</p> + +<p>But in 1896, appeared the evidence of one whose +testimony was unimpeachable. The late Sir Charles +Hallé went to Paris in 1836, when a youth of seventeen. +In 1838, he was introduced to Paganini, was invited to +visit him, and often played to him; and, once, nearly +heard Paganini play! An extract from Hallé's "Autobiography" +will show what he thought of the great +violinist: "From my earliest childhood I had heard of +Paganini and his art as of something supernatural, and +there I actually sat opposite to the man himself, but only +looking at the hands that had created such wonders. On +one never-to-be-forgotten occasion, after I had played +and we had enjoyed a long silence, Paganini rose and +approached his violin case. What then passed in me can +hardly be imagined; I was all in a tremble, and my heart +thumped as if it would burst my chest; in fact, no young +swain going to the first rendezvous with his beloved +could possible feel more violent emotions. Paganini +opened the case, took the violin out, and began to tune it +carefully with his fingers without using the bow; my +agitation became almost intolerable. When he was +satisfied, and I said to myself, with a lump in my throat,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> +'Now, now, he'll take the bow!' he carefully put the +violin back and shut the case. And this is how I heard +Paganini." Hallé also became acquainted with Berlioz +and acquaintance ripened into a close friendship. He +saw the change worked in Berlioz through the Paganini +incident; how his courage was strengthened, and from a +morose, he became a cheerful companion. Then he +divulges what had been a life-secret: "Armand Bertin, +the wealthy and distinguished proprietor of the <i>Journal +des Débats</i>, had a high regard for Berlioz and knew of all +his struggles, which he, Bertin, was anxious to lighten. +He resolved therefore to make him a present of 20,000 fr., +and in order to enhance the moral effect of this gift he +persuaded Paganini to appear as the donor of the money. +How well Bertin had judged was proved immediately; +what would have been a simple <i><span lang="fr">gracieuseté</span></i> from a rich +and powerful editor towards one of his staff became a +significant tribute from one genius to another, and had a +colossal <i><span lang="fr">retentissement</span></i>. The secret was well kept and +never divulged to Berlioz. It was known, I believe, to +but two of Bertin's friends besides myself, one of whom +is (Victor) Mottez, the celebrated painter; I learned it +about seven years later when I had become an intimate +friend of the house, and Madame Armand Bertin had +been for years one of my best pupils."<a name="Anchor-41" id="Anchor-41"></a><a href="#Footnote-41" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 41.">[41]</a> This must be +accepted as a true statement of the case, but it proves no +more than that Paganini became a party to a benevolent +conspiracy; he never boasted of the gift, nor claimed any +credit for it. Even when Berlioz, relieved of his financial<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> +troubles, set to work with a light heart at the composition +which was to be worthy of dedication to the illustrious +artist to whom he owed so much (his own words), even +when he wrote to Paganini about a subject, all the +answer he could get was: "I can give you no advice." +He chose Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" as a theme, +worked at it for seven months, and produced a masterpiece. +Paganini inspired him, but never heard the work +"undertaken chiefly to please him."</p> + +<p>To Paganini the world owes still more. It has been +already stated that Paganini's playing when in Paris in +1831 exerted an extraordinary influence over Franz Liszt, +and gave the direction to his genius. I use the word +"genius" advisedly, believing that Liszt is one of that +sacred band to whom the term belongs of right. This is +not the place to discuss the position Liszt occupies +among composers; nor is this country yet qualified +properly to judge him. Wagner, Schumann and Chopin +have passed the ordeal; from persecution they have +arrived at deification, so to speak, and even their faults +are regarded as merits. But prejudice dies hard, and +Liszt has yet to suffer. His earnest disciple Walter +Bache sacrificed time and means in his Liszt propaganda, +but with scant success. My point here is to try and show +that Paganini, despite all shortcomings as a man and as +an artist, had a mission—whether he knew it or not—and +fulfilled it through others.</p> + +<p>Beethoven's pianoforte playing, and pianoforte compositions, +led makers of that instrument to extend its +compass; Liszt led the way to a new system for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> +pianoforte, with effects hitherto undreamt of, and the +impulse came from Paganini. No other instance is on +record of an instrument like the violin absolutely +revolutionising the treatment of the pianoforte. I have +already referred to Liszt in Paris, how, depressed and +suffering, he withdrew from art and buried himself in +solitude. The revolution of 1830 aroused him, but it was +Paganini who rekindled the flame of art. Here I must +have recourse to Lina Ramann's "Franz Liszt."</p> + +<p>Liszt went to hear Paganini: "Charmed, stunned, yet +seeing clearly at the same time, he could have cried out +for sorrow and exultation. This playing! it was the +vision of his soul, after which he had sought and grasped +and yet could never find or seize. Now here he felt it +realised before him. With kindling power it seized his +artistic will. Until then Liszt had groped and sought +without any conscious aim; following the hidden impulse +of his spirit, he had given place to all kinds of whims.... +Now, all at once, he was led by Paganini into fixed paths +and the lost thread of his development was found again. +By Paganini's playing the veil had been torn away which +lay between him and his artistic will.... Paganini's +playing had fanned the Promethean spark of his genius to +a brilliant flame. That for which the poets of the time +strove in their literary productions—freedom of form and +of subject—he saw here in the domain of reproducing +music. With all this the serious defects and onesidedness +of the great violinist's capabilities and genius did not +escape the youthful pianist. He measured him by the +ideals of artistic culture which shone before his own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +eyes.... He recognised plainly the limits of the +influence which Paganini exercised over him, and saw +how human was the mission of the artist—a consciousness +was awakened that <i>artistic culture is inseparable from human +sympathies, that only a great man can become a great artist</i>. +This conviction drew from his lips the proud but noble +words '<span lang="fr">Génie oblige</span>.'<a name="Anchor-42" id="Anchor-42"></a><a href="#Footnote-42" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 42.">[42]</a> With indescribable eagerness, +and at the same time with exulting triumph, Liszt, after +having heard Paganini, turned again to his instrument. +He was seldom seen; in public, as a pianist, never. His +mother alone was the silent witness of his perseverance +and restless working. As Wieland, he hammered at his +piano. He, who, already as a boy, had climbed the +Parnassus of study, now sat at the instrument often six +hours a day and practised; yes, he exercised the language +of his spirit, and created for it an organ of expression." +The author then goes on to describe the new ideas that +came to Liszt when studying the Twenty-four Capricii of +Paganini, and how he discovered new combinations, and +also that the hand of the pianist had yet much to learn. +"With this perception a bridge was built to new technical +triumphs in the art of pianoforte playing.... On the +one hand he increased the beauty and breadth of sound of +this instrument in a marvellous degree, while on the +other, he gave at the same time a fatal blow to the +modern pianoforte music of his day. This was the new +discovery which Liszt made through Paganini, and on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> +the foundation of which he has created an extension of +the arena of sound.... Thus Paganini's capriccios +gave Liszt the first impulse towards the modern system +for the pianoforte, and at the same time prompted him to +enter on the territory till then unknown of transferring +effects."<a name="Anchor-43" id="Anchor-43"></a><a href="#Footnote-43" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 43.">[43]</a></p> + +<p>What the influence of Liszt has been, is beyond the +present purpose to inquire. But, blot out Paganini and +every note he has written, and he reappears in the art +work of at least one great French composer, and in that +of the greatest pianist the world has yet seen—one to +whom the high compliment has been paid in the epithet—"The +Paganini of the Pianoforte."</p> +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + + +<p>Is it worth while at this distance of time to refer +to the actual playing of Paganini? Can one recall +"the touch of a vanished hand?" This memoir would +not be complete without some account of Paganini's art +beyond that given in the story of his life. Here I do not +venture to write as a violin expert, and I shall only quote +from Guhr's "On Paganini's Art of Playing the Violin"—which +is presumably still accessible to students—in so +far as it may be serviceable to the general reader. +Leaving æsthetic, and higher considerations generally, +out of count for the moment and limiting our attention +to matters technical, we find much that was absolutely +new. As regards mere extravagance and eccentricity of +execution, Paganini was surpassed by Locatelli. We +have to take into consideration the concert-pitch in use at +the time of Paganini's public career. That, I take it, +corresponded very closely with the Diapason normal now +coming into general use. Paganini employed thin strings, +and, for purposes to be named presently, often tuned his +violin a semitone higher than the pitch of the band which +accompanied him—equivalent to the English pitch, or +high pitch still in use in some places. These thin strings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a><br /><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a><br /><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a><br /><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a><br /><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a><br /><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +served another purpose—the easy production of harmonics. +If there was one thing more novel than any other in +Paganini's playing it was the introduction of harmonics, +melodies, double notes, and double shakes in harmonics. +The natural harmonics were of course known to all +violinists, but the artificial harmonics, if not the invention +of Paganini, were first employed by him as integral +features of his compositions as well as of his performances. +Then there was his particular kind of <i>staccato</i>, +produced by throwing his bow forcibly on the string, +"letting it spring while he runs through the scales with +incredible rapidity, the tones rolling like pearls" (Guhr). +The Rev. Dr. Fox said the bow seemed to act with the +elasticity of a spring fixed at one end, and made to +vibrate. The combination of bowing, with <i>pizzicato</i> by +the left hand, if not new, was employed by Paganini to a +degree never attempted before. Lastly, there was his +wonderful performance on the fourth string, which he +tuned up to B flat, and sometimes even a semitone +higher. Much of his use of these devices is put down as +clap-trap, yet since his day many violinists have employed +the same means, if they have not achieved the same result.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 390px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_18" id="Illustration_Plate_18"></a><a href="images/plate_018.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_018s.png" width="390" height="600" +alt="PLATE 18. (See Appendix.) Programme for a concert by Paganini." title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><a href="#Plate_18">PLATE 18. (<i>See Appendix.</i>)</a></span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 325px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_19" id="Illustration_Plate_19"></a><a href="images/plate_019.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_019s.jpg" width="325" height="600" +alt="PLATE 19. (See Appendix.) Programme for a concert by Paganini." title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><a href="#Plate_19">PLATE 19. (<i>See Appendix.</i>)</a></span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 338px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_20" id="Illustration_Plate_20"></a><a href="images/plate_020.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_020s.jpg" width="338" height="600" +alt="PLATE 20. (See Appendix.) Programme for a concert by Paganini." title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><a href="#Plate_20">PLATE 20. (<i>See Appendix.</i>)</a></span> +</div> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 326px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_21" id="Illustration_Plate_21"></a><a href="images/plate_021.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_021s.jpg" width="326" height="600" +alt="PLATE 21. (See Appendix.) Programme for a concert by Paganini." title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><a href="#Plate_21">PLATE 21. (<i>See Appendix.</i>)</a></span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 259px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_22" id="Illustration_Plate_22"></a><a href="images/plate_022.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_022s.jpg" width="259" height="600" +alt="PLATE 22. (See Appendix.) Programme for a concert by Paganini." title="" /> +</a><span class="caption"><a href="#Plate_22">PLATE 22. (<i>See Appendix.</i>)</a></span> +</div> + +<p>Let us consider, for a moment, the performances on +the G string. It is certain that Paganini was not the +originator of that manner of playing, for Leopold Mozart +wrote of Esser<a name="Anchor-44" id="Anchor-44"></a><a href="#Footnote-44" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 44.">[44]</a> as playing on the G string alone with the +greatest ease. Compositions for a single string were also +written before Paganini's day, for Friedrich Wilhelm +Rust (1739-1796) composed a violin sonata for the E<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +string. But Paganini made such a feature of this species +of performance because it pleased the public, and, in +giving the audiences that which they preferred rather +than that which his artistic conscience should have +prompted, he became the pupil of his age, and fell from +his high estate. On the other hand, he may be said to +have discovered the powers of the fourth string, to which, +by the employment of harmonics, he gave a compass of +three octaves. He was censured for his partiality in this +direction, but in these days every violinist plays a solo on +the G string. Is not Bach's "Aria" played everywhere +as a fourth string solo? Yet, as musicians know, it was +not written for that string, nor as a solo, forming, as it +does, the theme of the slow movement of the "Overture +in D," for strings, two oboes, three trumpets, and drums. +Moreover, in Mozart's Violin Concerto in E flat, No. 6, +composed in 1766, there is in the slow movement, an +eight-bar period for the G string, and also one of the +same length in the Finale. In Beethoven's Violin +Concerto the principal theme of the Rondo is assigned to +the G string, and also when it recurs after the second +subject. This work was composed in 1806, a short time +after Paganini wrote his "Napoleon Sonata," but was +heard in public years before Paganini's was so performed. +These two compositions are mentioned merely +to show that the charm of the fourth string was not +unknown in early days; to refer to later works would be +superfluous.</p> + +<p>Now, as to Paganini's tuning his instrument a semitone +higher than the ordinary pitch. It will be conceded that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> +the different keys have distinctive qualities, to which +some musicians are more sensitive than others. Some +term it key-colour: I prefer the expression key-character. +On the violin some keys are more sonorous than others. +The effect may be partly mental, and I believe—though +I may be wrong—that a violinist plays with a different +feeling in the key of E, to that which would be excited +by the key of E flat, and this apart from the æsthetic +import of the composition itself.<a name="Anchor-45" id="Anchor-45"></a><a href="#Footnote-45" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 45.">[45]</a> In many concertos the +chorus violins—if I may so call them—sometimes play +the same notes with the soloist, and so absorb the tone of +the latter that the listener can only hear the mass of +violin tone. It is on record that Paganini was never +overpowered by the <i>tutti</i> in any of the pieces he played, +though some writers say his tone was not remarkable for +volume. The explanation may be found in what follows. +Paganini had an almost morbidly keen musical organisation, +an acute sense of hearing, in which he resembled +Mozart and Berlioz. Paganini wrote the solo part of his +first concerto in D (tuning his violin a semitone higher), +and the orchestral parts in E flat. Why? Not because +D was an easier key to play in, nor because some +passages if viewed as in E flat were marvels of execution; +but because he felt the difference in the "power" +of the two keys. Mozart's Concertante for violin and +viola, with orchestra, is in E flat, but the viola part is in +D, and the instrument was to be tuned a semitone higher. +This was done "both to give it a clear sound and to make<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a><br /><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> +the execution easier."<a name="Anchor-46" id="Anchor-46"></a><a href="#Footnote-46" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 46.">[46]</a> Mozart's piece was probably +written in 1780, so here is one of the expedients ascribed +to Paganini as a trick made use of by a great master +before the famous violinist was born. Berlioz never +heard Paganini play, but he was the first among his +contemporaries to understand and appreciate Paganini's +intention in this respect. In his <i><span lang="fr">Soirées de l'Orchestre</span></i> he +wrote: "He (Paganini) has known how to render distinct +and dominating the tones of a solo violin by tuning its +four strings a semitone above those of the orchestra; +which enabled him to play in the brilliant keys of D and +A, while the orchestra accompanied him in the less +sonorous keys of E flat and B flat." Berlioz knew, if +any one did, what was the distinctive character of a key. +It is highly improbable that either he or Paganini ever +heard, or even knew anything of Mozart's "Concertante" +just mentioned. So much by way of clearing Paganini +from the charge of charlatanry. Artistic faults and failings +he had, and these no attempt has been made to +conceal; but every succeeding generation of violinists +has been deeply indebted to the great Genoese for opening +up new possibilities, by the way in which he advanced +the character and power of the violin. Leaving now the +technical side of his art, let us hear what his great +contemporaries have to say of his playing from the +æsthetic standpoint. We need not refer again to Lafont +and Lipinski, but will begin with Spohr. It has been +mentioned that Spohr met Paganini at Venice, in 1816. +Spohr wished to hear the great Italian play something,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> +but the latter declined. He afterwards explained to +Spohr that his style of playing was calculated for the +great public only; and that if he were to play to Spohr he +must play in a different manner, for which he was not +then inclined. So it was not until 1830 that Spohr heard +Paganini at Cassel. This is what he wrote: "In June, +1830, Paganini came to Cassel and gave two concerts in +the theatre, which I heard with great interest. His left +hand, and his constantly pure intonation were to me +astonishing. But in his compositions and his execution, +I found a strange mixture of the highly genial and +childishly tasteless, by which one felt alternately charmed +and disappointed, so that the impression left as a whole +was, after frequent hearing, by no means satisfactory to +me." Paganini was playing to his "great public," and in +that respect lost Spohr's esteem; but can a great violinist, +of strong personality, be perfectly just to a contemporary +of a different temperament? Schumann, as a composer, +could look upon Paganini from a different point of view. +This is what he says: "When I heard him for the first +time, I expected him to begin with a tone such as had +never been heard before. But with how small, how thin +a tone he commenced! Then he began to weave his +spells; invisibly he threw out his magnetic chains among +the public; they oscillated above and around. And then +the rings became more and more intricate; even the +audience seemed to contract, while he interlaced his tones +until they seemed melted into one—one with the master +himself, all counterbalancing each other with sympathetic +influence." This is not criticism; it is scarcely description:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +it is as fanciful as Heinrich Heine's description, +but it is a proof of the great violinist's power to touch the +imagination. Ignaz Moscheles, a virtuoso pianist, complains +of his utter inability to find language capable of +conveying a description of Paganini's wonderful performance. +"Had that long-drawn, soul-searching tone lost +for a single second its balance, it would have lapsed into +a discordant cat's-mew; but it never did so, and +Paganini's tone was always his own, and unique of its +kind. The thin strings of his instrument—on which +alone it was possible to conjure forth those myriads of +notes and thrills and cadenzas would have been fatal in +the hands of any other violin player, but with him they +were indispensable adjuncts." Again: "Nothing could +exceed my surprise and admiration; his constant and +venturesome flights, his newly discovered source of +flageolet tones, his gift of fusing and beautifying subjects +of the most heterogeneous kind; all these phases of +genius so completely bewildered my musical perceptions, +that for several days afterwards my head seemed on fire +and my brain reeled. I never wearied of the intense +expression, soft and melting like that of an Italian singer, +which he could draw from his violin." Yet, later, +Moscheles had to say: "I find both his style and manner +of playing monotonous." Liszt, many years later said: +"No one who has not heard him can form the least idea +of his playing." Paganini indeed could soar to the +Empyrean, but he had not the Peri's pure gift which +would open the gate of Paradise!</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_23" id="Illustration_Plate_23"></a><a href="images/plate_023.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_023s.jpg" width="200" height="252" alt="PLATE 23. (See Appendix.) A letter by Paganini." +title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><a href="#Plate_23">PLATE 23. (<i>See Appendix.</i>)</a></span> +</div> + +<p>François Joseph Fétis, who befriended Paganini when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> +first he visited Paris, certainly held no brief for the +celebrated artist, but rather presided over him as judge. +He stated that the art of Paganini was an art apart, +which was born with him, and of which he carried the +secret to the grave. He further stated that Paganini +often assured him that his talent was the result of a secret +discovered by himself, a secret he intended to reveal, +before his death, in a method for the violin, which should +have but few pages, but which should throw all violinists +into confusion. Fétis questions the existence of the +secret, and thinks the great artist was labouring under a +delusion. Yet he has to acknowledge that there was something +extraordinary and mysterious in the power that Paganini +possessed in the execution of unheard of difficulties in +an infallible manner. His intonation was always perfect.<a name="Anchor-47" id="Anchor-47"></a><a href="#Footnote-47" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 47.">[47]</a></p> + +<p>William Gardiner, the Leicester amateur, who became +acquainted with Paganini, wrote: "There was no trick +in his playing; it was all fair, scientific execution, +opening to us a new order of sounds, the highest of which +ascended two octaves above C in alt."</p> + +<p>An Italian physician, Francesco Bennati,<a name="Anchor-48" id="Anchor-48"></a><a href="#Footnote-48" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 48.">[48]</a> made a +physiological study of Paganini, accounting for his +wonderful executive powers as due not so much to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +musical genius as to his peculiar physical formation. In +particular, the flexibility of his wrist, and the great +lateral extension of his finger joints, enabled him to +execute passages impossible to others. But there must +have been something beyond technique. I have heard +many persons, professional and amateur, speak of his +playing as something beyond conception, not only in +regard to execution, but in the power of swaying an +audience, playing upon their emotions; the whole man +was an instrument. No other artist was so widely quoted +by his contemporaries. Mendelssohn, Chopin, and others +make reference to Paganini whenever anything wonderful +is spoken of. Chopin was a great admirer of Slavik, and +considered him only second to Paganini. Every volume +of reminiscences down to the present day includes the +name of Paganini, if only to relate that somebody once +heard him play. But not only musicians, poets also sang +his praises. Is there anything more beautiful than the +tribute paid him by Leigh Hunt? A few lines may be +quoted:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">So played of late to every passing thought<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With finest change (might I but half as well<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So write!) the pale magician of the bow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who brought from Italy the tales made true,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of Grecian lyres, and on his sphery hand,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Loading the air with dumb expectancy,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Suspended, ere it fell, a nation's breath.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">He smote—and clinging to the serious chords<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With godlike ravishment, drew forth a breath,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So deep, so strong, so fervid thick with love,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Blissful, yet laden as with twenty prayers,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That Juno yearn'd with no diviner soul<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To the first burthen of the lips of Jove.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i0">The exceeding mystery of the loveliness<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sadden'd delight; and with his mournful look,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dreary and gaunt, hanging his pallid face<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Twixt his dark and flowing locks, he almost seem'd,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To feeble or to melancholy eyes,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One that had parted with his soul for pride,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And in the sable secret liv'd forlorn.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But true and earnest, all too happily<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That skill dwelt in him, serious with its joy;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For noble now he smote the exulting strings,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And bade them march before his stately will;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And now he lov'd them like a cheek, and laid<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Endearment on them, and took pity sweet;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And now he was all mirth, or all for sense<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And reason, carving out his thoughts like prose<br /></span> +<span class="i0">After his poetry; or else he laid<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His own soul prostrate at the feet of love,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And with a full and trembling fervour deep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In kneeling and close-creeping urgency,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Implored some mistress with hot tears; which past,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And after patience had brought right of peace,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He drew as if from thoughts finer than hope<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Comfort around him in ear-soothing strains<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And elegant composure; or he turn'd<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To heaven instead of earth, and raise a prayer<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So earnest-vehement, yet so lowly sad,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mighty with want and all poor human tears,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That never saint, wrestling with earthly love,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And in mid-age unable to get free,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tore down from heaven such pity.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It was urged against Paganini as a fault, that he +rarely played any other music than his own. Paganini +was one of the latter-day examples of the virtuoso and +the composer represented by one and the same person. +From the days of Handel to the time of Beethoven, +the composer was his own interpreter, and never gave +concerts with compositions by others. But Paganini did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> +at times play concertos by Rode and Kreutzer, though it +was said that in these he was less successful than in his +own. The Rev. Dr. Cox heard Paganini play the first +movement of Beethoven's Concerto—in fact it was performed +for his special edification. This is what he said +of it: "Never shall I forget the smile on that sad, pale, +wan, and haggard face, upon every lineament of which +intense pain was written in the deepest lines, when I +caught his eye, or the playing, into which a spirit and +sympathy were thrown that carried one wholly away. As +soon as he had concluded, and before I could rush up to +him to express my thanks, he glided away. I never saw +him afterwards." It was also stated that Paganini failed +as a quartet player. His strong individuality might have +been an obstacle in the way of securing the perfect +unanimity of feeling and expression that characterise fine +quartet playing; but to imply that he could not perform +the music was absurd. As an executant, pure and simple, +Paganini never had, and possibly never may have, a +compeer.</p> + +<p>But the question remains: did Paganini's playing +result in any permanent benefit to the art? Had he a +permanent influence, and if so, was it for good? To take +a material aspect, it was owing to Paganini that the fame +of Joseph Guarnerius was published beyond Italy. "The +names of Amati and Stradivarius became familiar to the +musical world gradually, but Guarnerius, in the hands of +a Paganini, came forth at a bound. This illustrious +violin was often credited with the charm which belonged +to the performer; the magical effects and sublime strains<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> +that he drew forth from it, must, it was thought, rest in the +violin. Every would-be violinist, whose means permitted +him to indulge in the luxury, endeavoured to secure an +instrument by the great Guarnerius. The demand thus +raised brought forth those gems of the violin maker's art +now in the possession of wealthy amateurs and a few professors. +When the various works of the gifted Guarnerius +were brought to light, much surprise was felt that such +treasures should have been known only to a handful of +obscure players, chiefly in the churches of Italy."<a name="Anchor-49" id="Anchor-49"></a><a href="#Footnote-49" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 49.">[49]</a></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 461px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_24" id="Illustration_Plate_24"></a><a href="images/plate_024.jpg"> +</a> +<img src="images/plate_024s.jpg" width="461" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption"><i><a href="#Plate_24">Plate XXIV.—See Appendix.</a></i><br /> +<span class="smcap">A Semi-Caricature of Paganini, 1831.</span></span> +</div> + +<p>It has been shown that Paganini's performances caused +a revolution in the style of composition and execution in +pianoforte music, as exemplified in the works of Liszt. +But did violin playing benefit? As Paganini belonged to +no school, so he founded no school. He had his imitators, +but he had few pupils, and no absolute successor. Camillo +Sivori is generally put forth as his only pupil. I have +heard that great artist, but—I say it with diffidence—I +could never consider him the equal of what I imagined +Paganini to have been. According to William Gardiner, +Paganini was accompanied by Antonio Oury when he +first went to London. It was Oury who introduced +Gardiner to Paganini, and the former stated that Oury +was Paganini's favourite pupil.<a name="Anchor-50" id="Anchor-50"></a><a href="#Footnote-50" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 50.">[50]</a> Then the Chevalier<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> +Robbio, who appeared at Jullien's concerts at Drury +Lane Theatre in 1854, claimed to have been a pupil of +Paganini. Acknowledged pupils were Teresa Ottavio, +who was playing in Vienna, in 1835, and Mlle. Neumann, +who gave concerts in Venice and elsewhere, in 1838. +But all these were of small account. The question +remains. Did Paganini influence the art of violin playing, +and in what direction? Let a very recent writer contribute +an answer. "We would not miss this greatest of +fiddlers in the annals of violin playing—no, not for a +Spohr or any other great modern violin master; but his +influence can hardly be called beneficial. It forced +violin playing into a Procrustean bed unsuited to its true +nature and mission. Paganini had temporarily transformed +the angel into a devil, and the angel did not +escape unscathed—Lucifer burned his wings. Violin-playing +will never be quite what it was before Paganini. +He helped to hurry the growing old process—brought +out the lines, the spots, and the wrinkles on the once fair +face. He, before all others, established the iron rule of +technique, with its train of other evils, in the place of the +gentler reign of charming naiveté of the elder master."<a name="Anchor-51" id="Anchor-51"></a><a href="#Footnote-51" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 51.">[51]</a> +There is truth here, and cause for sadness; but can the +hand of time be turned back, and music regain the artless +joy of the seventeenth century, when technique was +unknown? Paganini, after all, was only one of the +forces that effected the revolution that produced the +music of the last half of the nineteenth century. It is +not too much to say that the technique of the modern<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> +orchestra, in regard to the string section, is due to +Paganini. Compare the scores of the classical composers +with those of the most modern writers, and see what an +enormous difference there is in the work for the strings—from +the violins to the double-basses. The orchestral +player of to-day is a virtuoso. For good or evil, music +has entered upon a phase that has raised executive skill +to a pinnacle never attained before: and this it owes to +Paganini: may it be the prelude to higher achievements +in the spiritual domain of art!</p> + +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + + +<p>There remains the consideration of Paganini as a +composer. It is a truism to say that a composition +has primarily to be judged from the standpoint of +the age in which it was written. A Genius, we are told, +is not only before his own age, but before all ages. All +the same, the great Geniuses come into the world +precisely at the right moment. To some music one may +fitly apply the epithet "Immortal"; for it seems to be +written, "not for an age, but for all time." That title is +not claimed for the music of Paganini, but, in view of +what has been written for the violin, it is necessary to +take into consideration the date of Paganini's compositions. +Take the two greatest surviving forms—the +symphony and the concerto—and compare works in those +forms, belonging to different periods. Mendelssohn and +Schumann were innovators, so it was said, in regard to +symphonic form. Both wrote symphonies of which the +movements were connected, and Schumann by the +recurrence of themes anticipated the "organic whole" of +the symphonic poem. But in 1776, Carl Philipp Emanuel +Bach composed symphonies in the modern one-movement +style. This is not the time to discuss them, but just<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> +taking the first, in D, I may point to the coda of the +opening movement, which effects a modulation to E flat, +the key of the slow movement. In this the subject +enters, for the second time, in B flat; and a deceptive +cadence is followed by a passage ending on the dominant +of D, and so returning to the primary key for the last +movement. The score is for flutes, oboes, one bassoon, +horns, first and second violins, viola, violoncello, violone, +and cembalo. Now, here is a work quite modern in its +disregard of key relationship, and in the linking together +of the different movements. Yet it would not be right to +judge it by comparison with the symphonies of the last +half century.</p> + +<p>With regard to the concerto, take that form for the +violin only. To go no further back than the works of the +great Leipzig Cantor, Johann Sebastian Bach, we find +his two concertos, in A minor, and E major, are scored +only for strings, though the "continuo" implies the +harpsichord. The concerto in D minor for two violins is +scored in the same manner; and in all there is evidence +that the soloist took part in the <i>tutti</i> sections. Then +there is the Symphony movement, from an unknown +church cantata, for violin concertante, with accompaniment +of two oboes, three trumpets, drums, two violins, viola +and continuo. In all these the basic principle is the +contrasting of the <i>tutti</i> and <i>solo</i> sections, which sustain a +kind of dialogue. Much the same form is observed in +Mozart's violin concertos, which, with one exception, are +scored for oboes, horns and strings. The exception is the +sixth, in E flat, which is scored for one flute, two oboes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> +bassoons, and horns. In this the form approaches that of +the sonata, though the <i>tutti</i> and <i>solo</i> contrasts still remain, +and evidently the soloist played in the <i>tutti</i> sections. To +Viotti, born in 1753, three years before Mozart, must be +assigned the honour of giving the violin concerto its +fullest classical form. His orchestral background was +rich in colour, he having adopted the complete Haydn +Combination; and his solo parts were of prime importance. +Beethoven's concerto (1806), and Mendelssohn's +(finished in 1844), employ the same orchestra. Beethoven +links the slow movement to the Finale, and Mendelssohn +connects the whole. The latest concerto form is in part +a reversion to the earliest type. The solo part is but a +more elaborate line in the orchestral column, and the +soloist is scarcely distinguishable from his orchestral +colleagues.</p> + +<p>In view of the question I wish to raise, I hope the +reader will pardon this digression. Paganini sometimes +played pieces by Kreutzer and Rode, but I have not been +able to find evidence of his acquaintance with the +concertos of Viotti. The reason may not be far to seek. +Paganini remained in Italy until 1828; Viotti, born in +Italy, left his country, and only once returned to it—in +1783, and that for a very short time. His long residence +in Paris led to his being identified with the French School +of violinists. His works were played by other performers +during his life-time, but it is questionable whether they +were known to Paganini. What I want to ask is simply +this:—upon what work, or whose work, was Paganini's +first concerto modelled? It was written in 1811, according<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> +to the <i>Musical World</i> (Vol. for 1851, p. 822), or in +1820 according to the "Oxford History of Music" (Vol. +VI., p. 225). The form of the work will be dealt with +later; here the question is one of instrumentation. +Berlioz wrote: "It was said of Weber, 'He is a meteor!' +With equal justice it may be said of Paganini, 'He is a +comet!'" I would paraphrase Berlioz and say Paganini's +First Concerto came upon the world as a comet—a comet +with a most portentous tail! Paganini was the Richard +Strauss of his day. Fancy, in the scoring of a concerto, +trombones, double-bassoon, cymbals, and bass-drum! and +that in the year 1811, possibly. Why, it only requires a +few more horns and trumpets, some tubas, a rattle and +other percussion instruments, to come up to the latest +twentieth century scoring. But a truce to badinage. A +big score, of itself, is not necessarily a thing to be +praised; however, Paganini's full scoring never obscured +the solo part, and that is more than can be said of some +violin concertos of later date. I do not pretend to a +knowledge of the whole of the literature for the violin, +but I have heard much of it; yet I can recall no violin +concerto going beyond the orchestral resources adopted +by Beethoven in his work, of earlier date than Paganini's +first concerto. I have further to confess that I have never +seen an original score of any of Paganini's works, but I +have written out a score from what I believe to be +authentic band parts. I have heard the First Concerto, +"reduced to one act," with the exordium cut out; and +however much such a rendering may be in accordance +with modern taste, I can only regard it as unjust to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> +composer. In the present day Paganini's music is looked +upon with pity not far removed from scorn; how did his +contemporaries esteem it?</p> + +<p>Rossini is reported to have said: "Truly, it is fortunate +that Paganini did not devote himself exclusively to lyric +composition; he would have become a very dangerous +rival."<a name="Anchor-52" id="Anchor-52"></a><a href="#Footnote-52" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 52.">[52]</a> Moscheles wrote: "His concertos are beautiful, +and have even their grand moments; but they remind +me of a brilliant firework on a summer's eve, one flash +succeeding the other—effective, admirable—but always +the same. His 'Sonate Militaire,' and other pieces, have +a southern glow about them, but this hero of the violin +cannot dispense with the roll of the drum; and completely +as he may annihilate his less showy colleagues, I long for +a little of Spohr's earnestness, Baillot's power, and even +Mayseder's piquancy."</p> + +<p>Very little was said of Paganini's compositions—I +mean by way of description, orchestration, or even +criticism—when the composer was in England. The +writers seemed always engrossed and absorbed by the +performance and personality of the man.</p> + +<p>Schumann repeats what was said of Paganini; that he, +himself, rated his merit as a composer more highly than +his talent as a <i>virtuoso</i>. We know that Rubinstein desired +to have his name handed down to posterity as a composer +rather than as a pianist. The fates have been unkind to +both. To return to Schumann. He remarks that "if +general opinion has not, until now, agreed with him +(Paganini), it must at least be allowed that his compositions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> +contain many pure and precious qualities, worthy of +being firmly fixed in the richer setting required by the +pianoforte." This of course referred to the caprices, +Op. 1, but the observation is a curious illustration of the +way in which individual minds regard things from their +own standpoint.</p> + +<p>Paganini's music appealed to Liszt as a means of +creating a new school of pianoforte technique, as well as +composition; very little can be gleaned from Liszt as to +his æsthetic views regarding it. Fétis says great worth +is revealed in the compositions of Paganini, as much by +the novelty of the ideas as by the elegance of the form, +the richness of the harmony, and the effects of the +instrumentation. These qualities shine above all in the +concertos; but, he adds, these works require the magic +of his talent to produce the effect he intended. Berlioz +was, perhaps, the most appreciative of Paganini's contemporaries. +In his <i><span lang="fr">Soirées de l'Orchestre</span></i> he says: "A +volume might be written in telling all that Paganini has +created in his works of novel effect, ingenious contrivances, +noble and grandiose forms, and orchestral +combinations unknown before his time. His melodies +are broad Italian melodies, but full of a passionate ardour +seldom found in the best pages of dramatic composers of +his country. His harmonics are always clear, simple, +and of extraordinary sonorousness. His orchestration is +brilliant and energetic, without being noisy. He often +introduces the bass drum into his <i>tutti</i> with unusual +intelligence."</p> + +<p>During Paganini's lifetime no one else seems to have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> +played his music, although one of his imitators is said to +have reproduced some pieces from memory. After +Paganini's death, the propagandist of his works was his +nephew and pupil, Ernesto Camillo Sivori. He made his +début at the Leipzig Gewandhaus Concerts, October 3, +1841, and a week later introduced there Paganini's +Variations on the Prayer from <i><span lang="it">Mosé in Egitto</span></i>. In all, +some dozen pieces by Paganini were given at those +famous concerts from 1841 to 1876. Sivori also introduced +Paganini to the then very conservative concerts of +the Philharmonic Society, London, in 1844. But they +did strange things in those days. The first movement of +the Concerto in B minor was included in the first part of +the concert on April 29, 1844; the Adagio and Rondo +coming in the middle of the second part! Poor Sivori +had to submit to similar treatment of his own concerto +at the Society's concerts in 1845. It would be +interesting to know how Paganini's music fared at the +concerts of the Paris Conservatoire, but I have not +been able to procure any reliable data relating to the +subject.</p> + +<p>Rumour was long busy with the project entertained by +Paganini's son, the Baron Achilles, of publishing a +complete edition of the compositions of the great +violinist; and in 1887 a paragraph in the <i>Athenæum</i> +announced on apparently good authority that the Baron +was preparing for immediate publication the whole of the +works of his father which still remained in manuscript. +Several of those were named, but nothing more has been +heard of the undertaking. I have scrutinised the musical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> +press from that date to the present time, and have failed +to gather any further information on the subject.</p> + +<p>From every available source I have compiled the +following list of Paganini's compositions:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>Op. 1. Twenty-four Capriccios, for violin alone.</p> + +<p>Op. 2. Six Sonatas, for violin and guitar.</p> + +<p>Op. 3. Six Sonatas, for violin and guitar.</p> + +<p>Op. 4. Three Grand Quartets, for violin, viola, violoncello and +guitar.</p> + +<p>Op. 5. Three Grand Quartets, for the same.</p> + +<p>Op. 6. Concerto, No. 1, in E flat (D), for violin and orchestra.</p> + +<p>Op. 7. Concerto, No. 2, in B minor, for the same.</p> + +<p>Op. 8. "<span lang="it">Le Streghe.</span>" Introduction and Variations.</p> + +<p>Op. 9. "God Save the King." Variations.</p> + +<p>Op. 10. "<span lang="fr">Carnaval de Venise.</span>" Variations.</p> + +<p>Op. 11. "Allegro de Concert." "Moto Perpetuo."</p> + +<p>Op. 12. "<span lang="it">Non più mesta.</span>" Introduction and Variations.</p> + +<p>Op. 13. "<span lang="it">Di tanti palpiti.</span>" Introduction and Variations.</p> + +<div class="center"><i>All for violin and orchestra.</i></div> + +<p>Op. 14. Sixty Studies in Variation form, on the Air "Barucaba," +for violin alone.</p></blockquote> + + +<div class="center"><i>Works without Opus number.</i></div> + +<blockquote><p>Sonata in A, for violin, with accompaniment of violin and violoncello.</p> + +<p>Bravura Variations on a theme from Rossini's "Moses in Egypt," for violin and string quartet, or pianoforte.</p> + +<p>Bravura Variations on an Original Theme, for violin and guitar, or +pianoforte.</p> + +<p>Introduction and Variations on the Theme, "<span lang="it">Nel cor più non mi sento</span>," for violin alone.</p> + +<p>Duo in C major, for one violin. Solo.</p> + +<p>Recitative and Variations, on Three Airs, for the fourth string.</p> + +<p>"<span lang="fr">Le Charme de Padua</span>," Divertissement, for violin and pianoforte.</p></blockquote> + + +<div class="center"><i>Works that are unpublished, or that have been lost.</i></div> + +<blockquote><p>Concertos in D minor, E minor, E major.</p> + +<p>Concerto in two movements. Violin and orchestra.</p> + +<p>Four Concertos, the scoring unfinished.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> + +<p>Concerto, for bassoon, with string trio accompaniment.</p> + +<p>Nine Quartets, for violin, viola, violoncello and guitar.</p> + +<p>Fantasia. Violin and orchestra.</p> + +<p>Dramatic Sonata, "The Storm," for the same.</p> + +<p>Military Sonata on Mozart's "<span lang="it">Non più andrai</span>."</p> + +<p>Napoleon Sonata for the fourth string.</p> + +<p>Sonata on a Theme by Haydn. Ditto.</p> + +<p><span lang="it">Sonata di un Canto Appassionata, e variazioni sopra un Tema Marziale.</span> Ditto.</p> + +<p>Sonata with variations on a Theme from Jos. Weigl's "<span lang="it">L'Amor Marinaro</span>."</p> + +<p><span lang="it">Sonata Amorosa Galante, e Tema con variazioni.</span></p> + +<p>Sonata for viola and orchestra.</p> + +<p>Sonata Sentimentale.</p> + +<p>Sonata, "Varsovie."</p> + +<p>Sonata for violin alone.</p> + +<p><span lang="it">Preludio e Rondo brilliant</span>, violin and orchestra.</p> + +<p>Chant of the Monks of the Monastery of St. Bernard.</p> + +<p>"<span lang="it">La Primavera</span>," Sonata for violin alone.</p> + +<p><span lang="it">Preludio e Fandango, con Variazioni.</span></p> + +<p>"<span lang="it">La ci darem la Mano</span>," Variations.</p> + +<p>Cantabile, violin and pianoforte.</p> + +<p><span lang="fr">Polonaise avec variations.</span></p> + +<p><span lang="it">Cantabile e Valse.</span></p> + +<p>Cantabile, for two strings.</p> + +<p>Three duos, violin and violoncello.</p> + +<p>Duets and small pieces for guitar.</p> + +<p><span lang="fr">Variations sur un thème comique.</span></p> + +<p>"The Vagaries of a Farm Yard."</p> + +<p><br /></p> +<p><span lang="fr">Romance pour le Chant.</span></p> +<p><span lang="fr">Fantasie Vocale.</span></p></blockquote> + + +<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Works with Opus Number.</span></div> + +<p>Op. 1. The full title reads:—<i><span lang="it">Ventiquattro Caprici per +Violino solo, dedicati agli artisti; Opera prima.</span></i> It is not +necessary to refer to these pieces in detail; they are in +the repertory of the leading violinists, and have been +played by Joachim and many others. They embrace<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> +almost every kind of violin technique, and have merits +apart from that standpoint. Schumann in his <i><span lang="fr">Etudés +d'apres les Caprices de Paganini</span></i>, Op. 3, has transcribed for +the pianoforte six numbers. They are, No. 5, Agitato, in +A minor, without the alteration of a single note; No. 9, +Allegretto in E, quite as closely; the Andante of No. 11, +in C; No. 13, Allegro, in B flat, beautifully harmonized; +No. 19, Lento, Allegro assai, in E flat, more freely +treated; and No. 16, Presto, in G minor, the melody +assigned to the left hand, and written two octaves lower. +These studies were the result of Schumann's hearing +Paganini at Frankfort in 1830. The impression the +great violinist made on the susceptible youth was so +deep, that Wasielewski stated that it was more than +probable Schumann's decision to devote himself to music +dated from that experience. So here is another debt the +musical world owes to Paganini. Schumann's Op. 3 +bears the date of 1832. The next year he returned to the +Italian master, and his Six Studies, Op. 10, are further +transcriptions of the Capriccios. The first is a very free +arrangement of No. 12, Allegro molto, in A flat; next is +a paraphrase of No. 6, Adagio, in G minor, in which +different figuration was absolutely necessary for the keyboard +instrument. In No. 10, Vivace, in G minor, he +divides the melody for the two hands, and accompanies +with bold harmonies. The transcription of No. 4, +Maestoso, in C, is almost literal, but there are "cuts," as +also in No. 12. No. 2, Moderato, in B minor, with its +"leaps and bounds," is altered to bring the intervals more +within reach of the hand. The bare octaves which form<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> +the opening of No. 3, have been filled in with rich +harmonies, and to the Presto movement a counterpoint in +semiquavers has been added, making it a very attractive +piece of the Tocatta order. It will be remembered that +one short movement of Schumann's "Carnival" is +entitled Paganini, but it is a reflexion of his style rather +than an adaptation of his music. Liszt has borrowed +much, in regard to form and melodic outline, from the +Capriccios, in his <i><span lang="fr">Etudés d'exécution transcendante</span></i>. Of his +<i><span lang="fr">Grandes Etudes de Paganini</span></i> notice will be taken later. +Brahms has written two sets of variations on the theme +of the Capriccio, No. 24, Quasi presto, in A minor. +These are extraordinarily difficult and brilliant. They +were published in 1866, and Carl Tausig was fond of +playing them. Paganini's Op. 1, was published by +Ricordi about the year 1820.</p> + +<p>Op. 2, and Op. 3. The house of Ricordi publish the +Twelve Sonatas for violin and guitar, and Breitkopf and +Härtel publish an edition for violin and pianoforte, edited +by Ferdinand David. There is no clue as to the arranger +of the pianoforte part, but it may be the work of +Moscheles, who, it will be remembered, was induced "to +make a pianoforte accompaniment for twelve small violin +pieces," but who refused to have his name affixed to the +title-page. Anyway, the pianoforte accompaniment is +the work of a good musician. The title page of Op. 2 +runs thus: <i><span lang="it">Sei Sonate per Violino e chitarra, Composte e +Dedicate Al Signor Dellepiane, Da Nicolo Paganini</span></i>. The +pieces are sonatas in the primitive sense of the term. +Each contains two movements only. No. 1, Minuetto,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> +Adagio in A, three-four, the violin part in the nature of a +florid <i>cadenza</i> but very clear in rhythm, the guitar accompaniment +in semiquaver groups of broken chords. Second +movement, Polonese, Quasi allegro, A major, three-four, +tuneful, all derived from a short motive, not difficult. +No. 2, Larghetto expressivo, C major, six-eight, lyrical, +melody highly embellished after the first phrase, varied +bowing. Allegro spiritoso, same key and measure, in the +style of a <i><span lang="it">Canto popolare</span></i>. No. 3, Adagio maestoso, D +minor, two-four, principal motive of a dramatic kind, +with brilliant passages intervening. Andantino gallantement, +a crisp, staccato melody, with middle section in D +major. No. 4, Andante calcando, A major, four-two, +theme, in sixths, thirds and octaves. The movement is +entitled <i><span lang="it">La Sinagoga</span></i>, but I can trace no Jewish melody +corresponding to its subject. The second movement, +Andantino con brio, in two-four measure is as bright and +sparkling as the corresponding movement in No. 3. +No. 5, Andante moderato, D major, two-four, two strains +of eight bars, with a lyrical theme. The second movement +in six-eight rhythm, is another specimen of the +Italian <i>Cantilena</i>. No. 6, Largo, A minor, six-eight, a +combination of recitative and Cadenza passages. Tempo +di Valse, in three-eight measure, a tripping, fluent theme, +for light bowing. The music altogether is light and +pleasing, abounding in showy passages, and with the real +Italian gift of melody. The accompaniments are in no +way difficult.</p> + +<p>The Six Sonatas, Op. 3, have rather a curious dedication: +<i><span lang="it">Alla Ragazza Eleonora</span></i>. "Ragazza" is a familiar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +term for a girl, and may be translated as "lass," or even +"wench." The Eleonora it may be impossible now to +identify, though the lady possibly was connected with +the period of Paganini's disappearance when Napoleon +invaded Italy. Sonata, No. 1, is in two movements, as +are all the others. The first, Larghetto, A major, six-eight +measure, has a theme resembling a popular melody, +the close of each strain being highly embellished. +Ricordi's edition gives an alternative reading of the +penultimate bar, in the style of a cadenza. The second +movement, Presto variato, in two-four rhythm, has a +dance-like theme, with one variation. The two bars +preceding the final cadence have semiquaver groups to +be played pizzicato, each note with right and left hand +alternately. No. 2, Adagio, con dolcezza, G major, +three-eight, theme, pure Italian cantilena, in thirds or +sixths throughout. Andantino scherzoso, two-four, crisp, +tripping melody, chiefly for staccato bowing, ending with +arpeggios extending to four octaves. No. 3, Andante +sostenuto, D major, two-four, theme for six bars to be +played on the second string. Rondo, Molto allegro, six-eight, +bright and spirited; the opening might have been +inspired by the Irish air "Garyone"—the lilt is so much +the same. The movement ends with a rapid descending +chromatic scale of three octaves. No. 4, Andante largo, +A minor, two-two, the opening bars of the theme for the +third string, declamatory, sad. Allegretto mottegiando, +two-four, light, tripping melody, to be delivered in a +spirit of banter. No. 5, Adagio amorosa, A major, two-four, +theme, Italian melody embellished, in thirds<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> +throughout, with some semi-staccato bowing. Allegretto +energicamente, two-four, a merry, quick-step movement +of two eight-bar periods. The second part, in the tonic +minor, has the theme divided equally for guitar and +violin, in each strain. A coda of four bars, major, is +added by way of close. In the arrangement for pianoforte, +the violin has the theme throughout. No. 6, +Andante innocentemente, E minor, four-four, a pathetic +melody, simple, but touching. Allegro vivo e spiritoso, +six-eight. One could imagine an Italian peasant singing +this melody; it has all the characteristics of a folk-song. +It is written throughout in double-notes, mostly thirds. +The second part, in the minor, is in a different manner to +the first part, which is repeated after it. The guitar +accompaniments, with the exception named, are all in +chords or arpeggios. The pianoforte part has more +variety. It may be observed that the movements in two-four +measure have much of the spirit of Haydn's +Allegros.</p> + +<p>Op. 4, Three Quartets for violin, viola, violoncello and +guitar. These were once in the Circulating Music +Libraries of the firms of Novello and Augener, but are +no longer to be met with. I have failed to obtain copies +elsewhere.</p> + +<p>Op. 5, <i><span lang="it">Tre Quartetti a Violino, Viola, Chitarra e Violoncello. +Composti e Dedicati Alle Amatrici Da Nicolò +Paganini. Milano. Presso Gio. Ricordi.</span></i> By the courtesy +of the firm of Novello, I have been enabled to examine +this set, the title page of which I quote. The copy I +examined is evidently of the original edition. Each<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> +quartet is in four movements. No. 1, Presto, D major, +sixteen-eight, a peculiar signature, but apparently adopted +by reason of the "figures" in quavers. This movement +is very much in Rossini Overture form. Andante sotto +voce e staccato, D minor, three-four, Canone a tre. The +violin begins, the viola answers one bar later, an octave +lower, and the violoncello follows in like manner. The +guitar is silent. The Canon is kept up strictly to the +end. The Trio—not in Canon—is in B flat major, and +the guitar supports the strings with full chords. Tema +con variazioni, Cantabile quasi Larghetto, D major, two-four, +two strains of eight bars, the theme in each begun +by the viola, and repeated by the violoncello. Three +variations follow, the theme being allotted to each +instrument in turn, the guitar included. Finale, Prestissimo, +D major, three-eight, a brilliant, showy movement.</p> + +<p>No. 2, Allegro, C major, four-four measure, in binary +form, the subjects given to the violin and violoncello. +Minuetto, Allegretto, A minor, three-four, with Trio in +two sections, F major and D minor. The violin has the +theme, the others accompany with chords. Cantabile, +Larghetto, A major, six-eight, the melody, floridly +embellished, for violin, the other instruments accompanying. +Polacca, Quasi presto, C major, six-four. The +violin has the chief melody, subordinate parts being given +to the viola and violoncello. The guitar has full chords +throughout.</p> + +<p>No. 3, Allegro, D minor, four-four rhythm, Coda in +D major, principal themes for the violin, the viola and +violoncello taking up portions here and there with chords<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> +and arpeggios for the guitar. Allegro moderato, D +minor, three-four, Canone a tre, theme for violin, +answered by viola and violoncello at one bar interval, an +octave below, as in No. 1. Guitar tacet. Tema Cantabile, +Quasi adagio, B flat major, two-four. The movement +consists of two periods, the theme for viola and violin +alternately, in each. Variation I., florid, violoncello and +violin in response; II., in G minor, more elaborate, +theme for violoncello and violin, rapid arpeggios for +guitar; III., in B flat major, theme for viola and violin, +alternately, and finally for guitar. Polacchetta, Allegro +con brio, D minor, three-four, a brilliant movement, with +themes for the violin; the viola and violoncello share in +the figurated passages, and the guitar has an accompaniment +in chords and arpeggios.</p> + +<p>Paganini is said to have repudiated this work, although +according to Fétis, the quartets were published at Genoa +under his very eyes. I should rather say that the Milan +edition was the first, and perhaps the only one. Paganini's +assertion was that some one had taken a few of his +themes, and badly arranged them. Fétis further states +that various pieces published before, and up to, 1851, +must be considered as "commercial frauds." Some of +them are named, and will be referred to in due course. +The music of Op. 5 cannot be regarded as in any way +great, but there are graceful melodies, and the movements +in Canon form are ingeniously worked out.</p> + +<p>Op. 6, <i><span lang="fr">Premier Concerto (Mi Bémol), pour le violin avec +accomp. de l'orchestrè.</span></i> This was the first of the posthumous +works, published by the firm of Schott and Co., Paris, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> +1851. It is scored for two flutes, oboes, clarinets, +bassoon, double bassoon, two horns, trumpets, three +trombones, kettle drums, bass drum, cymbals, and the +usual quintet of strings. The solo violin is tuned a semitone +higher, and the part is in D, while the orchestra +plays in E flat. Breitkopf and Härtel publish the +orchestral parts in the key of D. There is an arrangement +of the first movement, by August Wilhelmj, but +with that I have nothing to do here. First movement, +Allegro maestoso, E flat, four-four. The orchestral +exordium extends to ninety-four bars, six more than in +the introduction of Beethoven's Concerto. The movement—so +it may be termed—is symphonic in form, with +second subject in the dominant, and it is richly scored. +The exception I take to it is the persistent employment +of the cymbals with the bass drum. There is a delightful +little touch in the canonic imitation for first violins and +violoncellos. The solo has a principal theme scarcely +indicated in the introduction, and also several important +episodes. The slow movement, Adagio, C minor, four-four, +was inspired, as already mentioned, by the Italian +tragedian, Demarini. Paganini witnessed his performance +in a prison scene, where, after recapitulating his misfortunes, +he supplicated Providence to relieve him of the +burden of his life. Paganini retired to rest still under +the influence of the emotions excited by the actor. He +could not sleep: he rose and sought through his violin +a means of expression by which he could pour out the +feelings that consumed his soul. Thus, genius tortures +and produces. It must have been this movement in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> +which William Gardiner heard "tones more than human, +which seemed to be wrung from the deepest anguish of +a broken heart." Observe, especially, the recitative +passages that close the movement. Finale, Rondo, +Allegro spiritoso, E flat, two-four. This is the longest +concerto movement known to me, running on to four +hundred and eighty-three bars, but the "measure" is +short. The concerto is not so long as that of Beethoven, +the first and second movements containing fewer bars. +It may be noted that in the first and last movements +Paganini introduces harmonics, and passages in tenths, +most probably for the first time in a concerto. In the +slow movement there is no double stopping. The +Cadenzas were improvised, and Paganini, like Beethoven, +in his improvisations surpassed anything he ever committed +to paper.</p> + +<p>Op. 7, Concerto No. 2, in B minor. Allegro maestoso, +B minor, twelve-eight. Adagio, D major, two-two. +Rondo, Andantino allegretto moderato, B minor, six-eight. +This is not so long as the first concerto by some +two hundred bars, and is not so fine a work, but it is a +piece worthy of being occasionally heard. In the +principal theme of the Rondo occur the passages where +the silver bell three times echoes the violin note—the top +F sharp of the pianoforte keyboard. Failing the bell, +the violinist produces the sound by an artificial harmonic. +It is this Rondo that Liszt has included in his <i><span lang="de">Grosse +Etüden von Paganini</span></i>. His treatment of Paganini must be +briefly described. There are six "studies," the first a +transcription of Paganini's Caprice, No. 6, Adagio, G<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> +minor. To this Liszt adds a prefix, the arpeggio prelude +of No. 5. The Caprice itself is very literally copied, the +whole being an octave lower, and at first assigned to the +left hand alone. After the sixteenth bar the treatment +becomes more free, while the figuration is much the +same. The study ends with the arpeggio passage as at +the beginning. The second takes for subject No. 17, +Andante, E flat. Scarcely a note is omitted, but the +passages are placed higher or lower, and the runs given +to either hand. This is a marvel of ingenuity, forming a +most brilliant pianoforte solo. It is followed, as by a +second sonata movement, by the "Campanella" Rondo, +the two being intended to be performed in succession. +For this purpose the Rondo from the Concerto is transposed +to G sharp minor, the closing E flat of the previous +movement changing enharmonically to D sharp.</p> + +<p>The first exposition of the subject follows Paganini +very closely, but in the development and further progress +of the movement Liszt follows his own bent, repeating +the principal theme again and again with ever varying +treatment. This is a piece for the <i>virtuoso</i>, and one of the +most showy in the pianist's repertory. The fourth study +is an extremely clever transcription of the Caprice No. 1, +Andante, E major. Not a note of Paganini's piece is +left out, and the arpeggios are ingeniously set out for +interwoven fingering, causing the performance to be +something to look at as well as to hear. It is nearly all +cross-handed work. The fifth study is an arrangement of +the Caprice No. 9, Allegretto, E major. On paper it +appears easier than the setting by Schumann, but it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> +more difficult to play. Here, again, the phrases are +divided for both hands. The <i>glissando</i> passages in sixths +are impossible on modern instruments. The sixth and +last study, on the Caprice, No. 24, Tema, con variazioni, +A minor, is the most ingenious of all. The theme is +simply harmonised at first, then used as a counterpoint +to the arpeggios in the first variation. The next is more +simply treated, and in the third variation Paganini's +theme forms the bass upon which the figuration of the +initial motive is superposed. To the end Liszt shows +what possibilities in keyboard execution were latent in +Paganini's violin figures; and if the latter had written +only these Capriccios he would survive as the cause of +the most original inventions in pianoforte technique that +have yet seen the light.</p> + +<p>Op. 8, <i><span lang="it">Le Streghe.</span></i> Variations on the "Witches' +Dance," theme from the Ballet, "<span lang="it">Le Nozze di Benevento</span>," +by Vigano, music by Süssmayer. It has already been +stated that Paganini witnessed a performance of this +ballet, at La Scala, Milan, in 1813. He took the theme +from a fantastic scene where the witches appear. In +his London programmes Paganini thus described the +piece; "Variations on the Country Dance <span lang="it">Della Streghe +alla Noce di Benevento</span> (or the comic dances of the +Witches under the walnut tree of Benevento), composed +and performed by Signor Paganini." The piece is in the +key of E flat, and the violin is to be tuned a semitone +higher, the soloist playing in D. There is an orchestral +prelude of eighteen bars, Maestoso, followed by a solo, +Larghetto, a beautiful Italian melody, embellished, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> +two short strains. The theme is simply set forth, and +the variations serve for the display of bravura playing +with pizzicato and harmonics in the second movement, +fourth string melody, and double harmonics in the third, +and with the Finale resembling a Galopade. Orchestral +parts are published, as well as the arrangement with +pianoforte.</p> + +<p>Op. 9, Variations on "God save the King." Théme, +Andante, G major, with Six Variations. One principal +feature is the intermingling of left hand staccato with +bowed notes. At the close there are sustained open +notes on the G and D strings, bowed, with double +pizzicato, in sixths, above.</p> + +<p>Op. 10, Variations on "The Carnival of Venice." +For this the violin is tuned a semitone higher, the solo +being played in A, and the accompaniment in B flat. +The theme is a popular Venetian air, "O Mamma!" +Paganini heard it when in Venice in 1816, but whether he +then composed the variations is not certain. It was not +long, however, before Paganini made the air a favourite +everywhere he went, and it is to him the melody owes its +world-wide popularity. The composer of the air remains +unknown. Joseph Ghys published, at Paris and Berlin, +what purported to be Paganini's variations; Ernst and +Sivori played versions more or less exactly in accordance +with the original; but the text was finally settled by the +publication of the piece in 1851. There are twenty +variations. The 9th and 14th are for the fourth string; +the 11th has alternate bowed and pizzicato notes; +the 15th and 18th are pizzicato throughout; the 19th is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> +in tenths and thirds; and the piece ends with a short +brilliant coda.</p> + +<p>Op. 11, <i>Moto Perpetuo.</i> Allegro vivace, C major. +Fétis terms this piece a movement from a Sonata for +violin and orchestra. It is in the repertory for all +violinists, and its running passages of staccato semiquavers +need no description.</p> + +<p>Op. 12, Introduction and Variations on the air "<span lang="it">Non +più mesta accanto al fuoco.</span>" The theme is from +Rossini's opera "<span lang="it">La Cenerentola</span>" (Cinderella), produced +at Rome during the Carnival season of 1817, and forms +the concluding number of the work. Paganini again +directs the violin to be tuned a semitone higher, writing +the solo part in D, and the accompaniment in E flat. +The Introduction, Adagio Cantabile, is another example +of Paganini's pure Italian style of melody. The theme +seems to have appealed to him—doubtless he witnessed +the <i>première</i> of the opera—for the variations have a +spontaneity and brilliance of their own. There are four +variations, and a Finale full of dashing <i>bravura</i>.</p> + +<p>Op. 13, Introduction and Variations on the air +"<span lang="it">Di tanti palpiti</span>," from Rossini's first serious opera, +"Tancredi," produced at Venice in 1813. Rossini is said +to have taken the theme from a Greek Litany he heard +sung in a church on one of the Islets of the Laguna, near +Venice. A Signora Righetti, a singer, writing in 1823 +(?), stated that there was no truth in the assertion. Be +that as it may, "<span lang="it">Di tanti palpiti</span>" made the opera, and +Paganini's variations extended its popularity. The introduction +is an elaborate movement, the violin tuned a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> +semitone higher, and the part written in A, with accompaniment +in B flat. There are three variations, the second +being almost throughout in harmonics, single and double, +and excessively difficult. This piece is very rarely played.</p> + +<p>Op. 14, Sixty Studies in Variation form, on the air +known at Genoa as "Barucabà," for violin alone. This +is one of the composer's latest works, and was written at +Genoa in February 1835, and dedicated to Paganini's friend +the Advocate, L. G. Germi. The theme is short, in simple +ternary form, the opening sentence of four bars being +repeated after the middle period of eight bars. The +theme is in A major, Maestoso. The variations are +studies upon various species of difficulties, and a special +feature is the order of keys. Of the fifteen possible +major keys, Paganini employs thirteen, and he is quite +modern in the way in which he causes the one to succeed +the other. Thus the second variation is in D, the third in +B flat, the fourth in F sharp, and the fifth in D—in each +case the drop of a major third or its enharmonic equivalent. +Then he starts a new series, from D to B, thence +to G, E, C, A flat, F, D flat, back to A. In 1835 such a +sequence was very uncommon; even Beethoven, in his +Variations, only has one such, in the Variations in F, Op. +34. The Variation form is again in full vogue; at this +distance we can afford to be just in our estimate of +Paganini's achievements. He was not a Beethoven, but +his Variations are not to be despised.</p> + + +<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Works without Opus Number.</span></div> + +<p>Sonata in A major. As published in the collection of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> +posthumous compositions, this Sonata is for violin, with +pianoforte accompaniment. The piece consists of an +Introduction, Theme, Three Variations and Coda, the +term "Sonata" being employed quite in its primitive +sense:—a piece to be played. The Introduction is only +eight bars in length, ending with a short cadenza leading +to the theme, Andantino, A major, two-four measure. +The first part consists of two four-bar phrases, repeated; +the second has a phrase extended, by a Codetta, to six +bars, and ends with a repetition of the first phrase, with +close in A. The first variation has a more florid version, +in triplets, of the melody; the second begins with a +simple form of the theme for the fourth string, and introduces +harmonics; the third is a bravura movement, chiefly +for staccato bowing in demisemiquaver passages. The +coda, termed Finale, is made up of cadences, on a tonic +pedal for eight bars. The accompaniment is easy. +Messrs. Schott also publish the Sonata for violin, with +accompaniment of violin and violoncello, very easy parts +for these last.</p> + +<p><i><span lang="it">Variazioni di bravura sopra Temi del Mosè di G. Rossini, +per Violino sulla quanta corda, di Nicolo Paganini.</span></i> This was +originally for violin and orchestra. Berlioz has a reference +to this piece, in which he states that Paganini +employed the bass-drum with better effect than did +Rossini himself in the accompaniment to the prayer, +"<span lang="it">Del tuo stellato soglio.</span>" Paganini placed the stroke of +the drum on the syncopated beat to which the verbal +accent was assigned, whereas Rossini gave the drum +stroke on the first beat of the bar. Some one, complimenting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> +Paganini upon his composition, added; "It must +be confessed that Rossini furnished you a very beautiful +theme." "That's very true," replied Paganini, "but he +didn't invent my bang of the big drum." It is said that +in this piece Paganini produced a tone that dominated the +whole orchestra even in fortissimo passages.</p> + +<p>The firm of Ricordi publish an arrangement, for string +quintet, and for pianoforte accompaniment. The G string +of the solo violin is raised to B flat, and the Adagio is +played in C minor and major, while the accompaniment +is in E flat minor and major. The strain in the minor +key is played three times. The second time, the first +eight bars are to be played an octave higher then the first +time; the third in harmonics. The Introductory Adagio +is the celebrated Prayer. Then follows a Tema, Tempo +alla Marcia, E flat, four-four, the violin part in C. This +is a different theme, and appears to be a paraphrase of +part of the March and Chorus (in the Oratorio), "Hail, +happy day!" There are three variations, and a short +coda. Harmonics are sparingly introduced. Rossini's +opera, "<span lang="it">Mosè in Egitto</span>," was produced at Naples in 1818, +and was remodelled by the composer some years later, +for performance at the Grand Opera, Paris (1827). It +is not known when Paganini wrote his variations, but his +themes were most probably taken from the first version +of the opera.</p> + +<p><i><span lang="it">Variazioni di Bravura per Violino sopra un tema originale +con accompagnamento di Piano o Chitarra.</span></i> The theme is +that of the Twenty-fourth Caprice, from Op. 1, and the +variations are the same, only the notation of the eighth is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> +different. The accompaniment, for either guitar or +pianoforte, is extremely simple. There is a short +interlude (called <i>Tutti</i> in Ricordi's edition) of six bars to +be played between the variations.</p> + +<p><i><span lang="it">Introduzione e Variazioni sul Tema nel cor più mi sento per +Violino solo di Nicolò Paganini.</span></i> So runs the title in the +edition published by Ricordi and Co. The theme is the +duet in Paisiello's opera, <i><span lang="it">La Molinara</span></i>, which Beethoven +also took as a subject for variations (in 1795). Ricordi's +publication agrees in every particular with the version +to be found in Guhr's treatise on Paganini's "Art of +Playing the Violin," published in 1831—preface dated +Frankfurt, November, 1829. Guhr<a name="Anchor-53" id="Anchor-53"></a><a href="#Footnote-53" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 53.">[53]</a> heard Paganini +many times, closely watched his playing, and frequently +conversed with him on the subject. This piece was +written from memory, and is certainly a great accomplishment; +but it can scarcely be regarded as an authentic +version. The introduction is brilliant, the theme, Andante, +G major, six-eight measure, is profusely ornamented, and +each of the seven variations—No. 6 is in G minor, the +others in G major—has some special form of virtuosity. +In the third there are double shakes in harmonics, which +Guhr explains. The last is in widespread ascending and +descending arpeggios throughout. The theme and third +variation are written on two staves, one for bowed melody, +the other for left hand pizzicato.</p> + +<p>That Paganini did not always play the piece in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> +form in which Guhr wrote it down, is proved by the +existence of another manuscript, which is, perhaps, very +little known. It was written by the late Mrs. Tom +Taylor, who gave it to Mr. Alfred Burnett many years +ago, and that gentleman has kindly permitted me to +examine it. For this the violin is tuned a whole tone +higher. The Introduction is altogether different, and the +theme much less floridly embellished. The first variation +corresponds to Guhr's No. 2, but the harmonics are not +quite the same. In this the melody floats above +tremolando chords. The second, in outline, resembles +Guhr's No. 4, but whereas the latter has alternate +natural notes and harmonics, Mrs. Taylor gives alternations +of detached bowed notes and pizzicati. The +third is like Guhr's No. 3, in that it has short figures in +double notes, alternately for fundamental and harmonic +sounds. Guhr's variation consists of twenty-five bars; +Mrs. Taylor's of thirty-one, there being a short cadenza. +The fourth resembles Guhr's No. 7 in the wide-spread +arpeggios, but the harmonics are differently distributed, +and the coda is not the same as in Guhr.<a name="Anchor-54" id="Anchor-54"></a><a href="#Footnote-54" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 54.">[54]</a></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_25" id="Illustration_Plate_25"></a><a href="images/plate_025.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_025s.png" width="600" height="403" +alt="PLATE 25. (See Appendix.) Musical manuscript by Paganini." title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><a href="#Plate_25">PLATE 25. (<i>See Appendix.</i>)</a></span> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_26" id="Illustration_Plate_26"></a><a href="images/plate_026.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_026s.jpg" width="600" height="450" +alt="PLATE 26. (See Appendix.) Musical manuscript by Paganini." title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><a href="#Plate_26">PLATE 26. <i>See Appendix.</i>)</a></span> +</div> + +<p>In the Imperial Library, Berlin, there is a manuscript +by Paganini, inscribed "<span lang="it">Capriccio a Violino Solo di +Nicolo Paganini In cor più non mi sento</span>," in which the +embellished theme differs from both those already described.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> +The first page is reproduced in facsimile in Paul +Stoeving's "Story of the Violin," p. 213. Then there is +an autograph copy in the British Museum with this +inscription: "<span lang="it">In cuor più non mi sento, Thema con +variazioni per Violino, con Accompagnementi di Violino e +Violoncello Composta da Niccolo Paganini.</span>" The piece +consists of an Introduction, Theme and four Variations, +and, so far, agrees with Mrs. Taylor's copy. Finally, +Paganini played the piece with the orchestra, as will be +seen from this extract from a programme: "Prelude and +Variations on the Tema, '<span lang="it">Nel cor più non missento</span>,' with +orchestral accompaniment, by Signor Paganini." This +was played at the concert of June 27th, 1831, at the +King's Theatre, and the programme from which this +extract is taken is in possession of Mr. Richard Harrison, +of Brighton, who most obligingly copied it for me.</p> + +<p><span lang="fr">Duo pour le violon seul.</span> This begins with an Adagio, +C major, three-four measure, with a melody for the bow, +and left hand pizzicato accompaniment. A short Allegro +molto follows, in square time, the pizzicato accompaniment +being chiefly in double notes, with occasional +chromatic harmonics. This little piece must have been +on sale in London a year before Paganini arrived, for the +following anecdote was in print in May, 1830. "A few +days since, a footman went into Mori's music shop to buy +a fiddle string. While he was making his choice a +gentleman entered the shop, and began to examine +various compositions for the violin. Among the rest he +found Paganini's celebrated <i><span lang="fr">Merveille—duo pour un seul +Violon</span></i> and, perceiving the difficulties in which it abounded,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a><br /><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a><br /><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> +asked the shopman if he thought that Mori himself +could play it. The young man, a little perplexed and +unwilling to imply that his master's powers had any limits, +at length replied, that he had no doubt he could perform +it, provided he practised it for a week. Upon which the +footman, who stood intent upon the conversation, broke +in on the discourse and swore that Mori could do no +such thing, for that he himself had been practising the +piece for three weeks and could not play it yet."</p> + +<p><span lang="fr">Trois Airs Variés pour le Violon, pour étre éxécutes +sur la Quatrieme Corda seulement, avec accompagnement +de Piano par Gustavo Carulli.</span> Fétis says these are +merely souvenirs arranged by the author of the accompaniments.<a name="Anchor-55" id="Anchor-55"></a><a href="#Footnote-55" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 55.">[55]</a> +Antonio Minasi includes them in the +lists of works performed by Paganini in England. The +fourth string is to be raised to A, for all three. The first +is in C, with two easy variations; the second, in G, +resembles a folk song, and has three variations; the third, +in C, also has three variations. The first two are +marked Andante; the third, Andantino. The accompaniments +are of the easiest song kind.</p> + +<p><span lang="fr">Le Charme de Padua, Divertimento pour Violon et +Piano concertant, composé par Nicolo Paganini.</span> This +piece was published in London before the date of +Paganini's first concert, and possibly before the arrival of +that artist in England. It was issued by a firm of repute, +Wessel and Stodar, who were the first publishers in +England of the works of Chopin. The music was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> +reviewed in <i>The Harmonicon</i>, June 1831, the notice +concluding thus: "It perhaps is a bagatelle on which he +(Paganini) has bestowed little time and less thought. It +certainly is a flimsy affair, and might have been produced +by the dullest and most mechanical <i>repieno</i> in the band of +a suburb (<i>sic</i>) theatre." The piece consists of a Larghetto +and Presto, in C major, the slow introduction being in +six-eight rhythm, the Presto in six-four. There is one +principal theme in the first part, given out by the violin +and repeated by the pianoforte, a simple melody, with +embellishments. The Presto is in Rondo form, with +leading theme for pianoforte, continued by violin, and +relieved by an episode contrasted in character. The +music is not great, but unprejudiced musicians will +scarcely endorse the captious remarks of the reviewer. +The firm of Edwin Ashdown (successor to Wessel) +publish the composition, also a version by S. Godbé +for viola and pianoforte. In this the themes are written +an octave lower, and modifications occur in double-stops, +and so forth, to suit the viola. There is likewise an +arrangement for flute and pianoforte, by J. Sedlazek. It +is not stated by whom the pianoforte part was written, +but it is very well done, and is not a mere accompaniment.</p> + + +<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Works Unpublished, or Lost.</span></div> + +<p>Concerto in D minor. Fétis terms this a magnificent +concerto; it was performed by Paganini at the first +concert he gave in Paris, March 25th, 1831, and that +seems to be all that is known about the piece. Concerto +in E minor. This was in three movements; Allegro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> +maestoso; Adagio flebile, con sentimento; Rondo, Andantino +Gàjo, "with a triangle accompaniment." It was +played by Paganini at the King's Theatre, June 13th, +1831. Concerto in E major. The three movements of +this piece were; Allegro Marziale; Cantabile Spianato; +and Polacca brillante. Paganini played this concerto at +his concert, July 4th, 1831. Concerto in two movements. +This was a medley. The one movement, Cantabile +a doppie corde, was by Paganini; the other, Ronda +scherzoso, by Rodolphe Kreutzer. Played, August 17th, +1831.</p> + +<p>Four Concertos, of which the instrumentation was not +written. Of these nothing seems now to be known. +Fétis says that the last of the four was composed at Nice +a short time before the death of Paganini.</p> + +<p>Concerto for bassoon, with string trio accompaniment. +This was discovered at Stockholm in 1890, and the +manuscript was said to be in the composer's hand-writing. +The announcement of the discovery will be found in +<i>The Musical Times</i>, of November, 1890, page 681. I have +found no further reference to the subject.</p> + +<p>Nine Quartets for Violin, Viola, Violoncello and Guitar. +These are in the list drawn up by Constabile as being +among the manuscripts preserved by the son of the +composer. It is impossible now to say where these +manuscripts are; the first three seem completely lost. +A copy, probably unique, of the Quartets, Nos. 10 to 15, +is among the treasures in the possession of Mr. Alfred +Burnett, and by his kindness I am enabled to give a +description of the music. Five of the Quartets, Nos. 10<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> +to 14, were composed and dedicated "<span lang="it">Al suo Amico Il +Sig. Avvocato Luigi Guglièlmo Germi.</span>" No. 14 was +composed "expressly" for that friend. The Quartets +dedicated to Germi might be designated "house music," +for though they are difficult, they do not seem to have +been written for the "great public." They contain the +most lovely music Paganini ever penned. If only the +guitar were once more in fashion, these pieces might be +heard, and I feel certain they would charm lovers of +pure melody.<a name="Anchor-56" id="Anchor-56"></a><a href="#Footnote-56" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 56.">[56]</a> But this is to anticipate.</p> + +<p>Quartet, No. 10, in A major, in four movements (as +indeed are five out of the six). Allegro, A major, four-four +rhythm, in free sonata form, with first and second +subject—both lyrical—middle modulatory section, and +recapitulation. The violin has the melody, the other instruments +accompanying. Minuetto Scherzo, Allegretto, +A major, three-four measure, with first short strain on a +figure in triplets. Trio in D major, Cantabile theme for +violin, doubled by the viola in the octave below. Adagio +Cantabile, D major, two-four rhythm. A melody that +might be signed Haydn or Mozart, but embellished with +a grace peculiar to Italian art. Here the violin is the solo +instrument, the others supporting with rich harmonies, +the 'cello emphasising the rhythm with frequent pizzicato +notes. Rondo Andantino con brio, A major, two-four +measure, a bright, sparkling principal theme, staccato, +with contrasting episodes, one in D, with fourth string<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> +phrases, also with brilliant passages in thirds for the +violin, which again has all the thematic work. This is +a well developed movement.</p> + +<p>Quartet, No. 11, in B major. For this the guitar is +tuned a tone higher, the <i>capo tasto</i> raising the E strings +to F sharp, and the guitar part is written in the open key +of A. The first movement, Allegro moderato, B major, +four-four rhythm is free in form, with repeat of the first +part. The thematic material is assigned chiefly to the +violin, but in the second part there is an episode, a sort +of folk-tune, given to the violoncello. Minuetto, Allegretto, +B major, three-four, with Trio in G major. The +melodies are fresh, and move step-wise, very much like +those in the Minuet of Beethoven's first Symphony. +They are in scale formation, up and down, and there is +only one skip of a third in the first sixteen bars. Again +the violin takes all the themes. Larghetto con passione, +F sharp minor, six-eight measure, a Lament, a fine +expressive theme, opening nobly, but with the elevated +style not maintained throughout. The viola and violoncello +parts are in keeping with the pathetic feeling of the +movement, but the rhythmic figure of the guitar part +detracts from its dignity. Polacca, Andantino mosso, +B major, three-four measure, a well-written movement, +with three clearly defined subjects, two of which are +taken up by the viola and violoncello. The violin part +in this quartet is brilliant, but not particularly difficult; +there is no double-stopping, excepting in chords of +accompaniment.</p> + +<p>Quartet, No. 12, in A minor. This number is in three<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> +movements only. The first, Allegro giusto, A minor, +four-four rhythm, is quite orchestral in character, and +opens with a theme of symphonic breadth. There is +science displayed in the development of this movement. +In the first part the second subject is in C major, and in +the recapitulation in A major. The slow movement, +Adagio tenuto, con precisione, C major, three-four +measure, has at first a very broad and declamatory +theme for the violin. The writing becomes very +elaborate, and the rhythmic figuration complex, passages +with four and five-stroke notes occurring. The Finale, +Minuetto, Allegretto mosso, is a fully developed movement +quite in sonata form, with first part repeated. The +exposition has a first subject of two extended members, +the second in the major mode. The second subject, in +E, is well contrasted. There is a long working out +section, with episodial matter, and the recapitulation is +very happily led up to. The music has a lilt that is +irresistible, and the writing is interesting for each +instrument.</p> + +<p>Quartet, No. 13, in F. The first movement, Allegro +con brio, F major, four-four time, opens with a theme of +a declamatory type, and the expression is dramatic. The +second subject in C, is in the style of the Italian <i>aria</i>, +concluding with the lively <i>Cabaletta</i> strain. A short <i>Coda</i> +ends the first part. In the working out section there is +an important episodial theme for the violoncello, and in +the recapitulation the second subject, now in F, is +allotted to the viola, the violin taking up the <i>Cabaletta</i>. +Both parts are marked for repetition. Minuetto, Allegretto,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> +F major, three-four measure. The violin has the +theme of the first strain of eight bars repeated; the +violoncello responds with the subject of the next strain +of twenty-five bars, one phrase lengthened to five bars. +The Trio in B flat has a tripping theme for the viola, +legato and staccato bowing in the same "figure." Later +the phrases are broken into dialogue for violin and viola. +In the Minuet the guitar has a "second" to the violin +melody. Larghetto tenuto, con anima, D flat major, six-eight +rhythm, a broad, cantabile theme for the violin, +with spare embellishment. The movement must be +slow, for there are arpeggios of eight notes to the quaver +beat in the guitar part. Finale, Prestissimo, F major, +two-two measure. The theme for the violin resembles +very much some of those merry "tributary" motives +found in Mozart's symphonies towards the close of the +first part of a movement—the "Jupiter," first movement +for instance. The second subject affords contrast. The +whole is most spirited and light-hearted. Paganini must +have been in a happy mood when he wrote this quartet.</p> + +<p>Quartet, No. 14, in A major. The first movement, +Allegro maestoso, A major, four-four measure, is very +brilliant, opening with a theme in which arpeggio and +scale figures abound. This closes in B, and the second +subject begins in E. Here occurs some very free +chromatic writing, suggestive of Richard Strauss, as, +for instance, D sharp for violoncello against E flat for +guitar and viola; and C natural opposed to B sharp. +But it is a mere matter of spelling. The first part ends +in E, and is marked for repetition. Then, with a single<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> +prefatory chord of E minor, the working out section +begins in C, with a new motive, which passes through a +number of keys, the primary returning with the second +subject. Minuetto, Scherzo affettuoso, A major, three-four. +The subject is based on a three-note figure, giving, +by cross accents, to the four-bar phrase the effect of a +six-bar phrase in duple measure—Tempo rubato. The +Trio, in D, has a theme in triple measure, but the middle +sentence has the displaced accents of the Minuet. Largo, +con sentimento, G flat major, four-four measure. For +this the pitch of the guitar is raised a tone, and the part +written in E major. The movement is in song form, the +melody opening in stately fashion, but the writing soon +becomes florid. At the second entry the theme begins in +A major, the return to G flat being ingeniously effected. +There are some rapid pizzicato passages for the violoncello. +Finale, Allegro vivace, A major, four-four rhythm. +This is a moto perpetuo, sempre staccato, for the violin. +The theme is quite unlike that of the movement known +as Op. 11. After the exposition of the subject, the violin +has figure-playing of an easy kind, while the violoncello +has a Cantabile theme. This recurs, and snatches of it +are heard in the brief coda. The other instruments +merely accompany. This quartet has distinct character.</p> + +<p>Quartet, No. 15. The title simply runs: "<span lang="it">Composto +da Nicola Paganini</span>," without any dedication. Note the +copyist's spelling of the Christian name. In the first +movement, Maestoso, A minor, four-four measure, the +first subject is given out by the viola. It begins with a +mournful, somewhat stern motive, bold, and with an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> +embellished subordinate theme. The second subject, +also assigned to the viola, is an impassioned lyrical +theme in C major. In the working out section, the +violin takes the first subject, and joins the violoncello +in an episodial theme, the viola contributing a florid +counterpoint. There are modifications in the recapitulation, +but the viola again has the second subject now in +the tonic major. The guitar is busy throughout the +movement, with full chords and extended arpeggios. +Minuetto a Canone, Andantino, A major, three-four +measure. The Canon is confined to the violin and viola, +the latter starting with a theme in short, detached figures, +the violin following, an octave higher, one beat later. +Guitar and violoncello give supporting harmonies. In +the Trio, in D major, the melody is given to the guitar, +with a pizzicato accompaniment for the other instruments. +At the seventeenth bar, there are again four +bars of canon, this time in the unison, staccato bowing. +The Minuet, abbreviated, is then repeated. The canon +is not continuous, a cadence occurring at the end of +each eight bars. Next comes an Interlude, Recitative, +Andante sostenuto, con sentimento, D major. This is +for the viola, and extends to twenty-one bars, the expression +being dramatic. The other instruments have a +rather elaborate accompaniment. The slow movement +immediately ensues, Adagio Cantabile, D major, two-four +rhythm. The viola has the melody, in the form of the +Italian aria, embellished with prima donna fioriture. +The movement is short, only running to forty-six bars. +Rondo, Allegretto, A minor, two-four. The leading<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> +theme, marked by syncopations, is given to the viola, +the violin joining in the repetition. The tonality is +constantly changing from the minor to the major and +back again. There is a new theme in the middle section, +and some elaboration before the first subject returns. +The close is abrupt. The viola has the chief part in +this quartet, which is quite different to the others.</p> + +<p>I have only a few notes concerning some of the works +yet to be considered. Dramatic Sonata, "The Storm," +for violin and orchestra. This was evidently a piece of +programme music, for it was thus described:—Part I., +the approach of the storm; II., the commencement of +the tempest; III., the prayer; IV., the fury of the sea; +V., the hurricane; VI., the tumult at its height; VII., the +stilling of the tempest; VIII., an outburst of the most +lively joy. It was played at Paganini's third and last +concert at Prague, December 20th, 1828, and one +account refers to it as a "dramatic sonata for a full +orchestra, with analogous embellishments and solos and +variations, by Paganini on the fourth string."<a name="Anchor-57" id="Anchor-57"></a><a href="#Footnote-57" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 57.">[57]</a></p> + +<p>"<span lang="fr">Sonata Militaire</span>," in G, for the fourth string, theme, +the air "<span lang="it">Non più andrai</span>," from Mozart's opera "<span lang="it">Le Nozze +di Figaro</span>." This piece was composed expressly for the +second of the two concerts Paganini gave in Genoa in +1824, when the young singer, Antonia Bianchi, made her +début. The Sonata was played by Paganini at his first +concert in London. All traces of it appear to have +been lost.</p> + +<p>"Napoleon Sonata," for the fourth string. Paganini<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> +gave an account of the origin of this piece to his friend, +Julius Schottky, and to what has already been related in +connection therewith may now be added the further +statement he made. Paganini sang to his friend the +first movement of this Sonata "in an animated though +feeble tone," and said that Rossini transferred the theme +into one of his earlier operas. It would be interesting to +know the opera in question, but the early works of Rossini +would be searched in vain without the clue afforded by +the Sonata, which appears to have vanished completely.</p> + +<p>"<span lang="it">Sonata Maestosa Sentimentale</span>," with variations on +a theme by Haydn, for the fourth string. It is probable +that the theme for these variations was the well-known +Emperor's Hymn, and that this Sonata was performed +by Paganini before the Austrian Court in 1828.</p> + +<p>Sonata with variations on a theme from the opera +"<span lang="it">L'Amor Marinaro.</span>" Nothing is now known of this +Sonata, nor of the particular theme chosen from the +opera. "<span lang="it">L'Amor Marinaro</span>" (the Corsair in Love) was +one of the early productions of Joseph Weigl, being +written in 1798. An opera buffa, it was distinguished by +natural charm, freshness of colouring and beauty of +melody, and to the latter quality Paganini's choice of it +must doubtless be attributed.</p> + +<p>"Chant of the Monks of the Monastery of St. Bernard." +This was the title given to a piece in the programme of +a concert at Covent Garden Theatre. It was performed +on a darkened stage and the solemn character of its +music was emphasized by a beautiful scene representing +a monastery with stained glass windows. The introduction,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> +a movement of some length of the basses in unison, +was followed by a chant "of lovely harmonies, performed +in harmonics (I believe, on the fourth strings) in combination +with the wood instruments." Minasi, who gives +this account of the piece, states that he believes it to be +merely the second movement of the Concerto in B minor, +Op. 7.</p> + +<p>Cantabile for two strings. This piece was performed +at the King's Theatre, on June 13th, 1831. Possibly it +was the same as the musical fantasia already referred +to as played at Lucca under the title of "A +Love Scene." Of the remaining pieces, except the one +mentioned below, nothing seems now to be known save +the names.</p> + +<p>The one exception is the piece entitled "The Vagaries +of a Farmyard," which contained a wonderful series of +imitations of farmyard sounds. In this connection the +following anecdote, illustrating Paganini's extraordinary +power of portraying curious sounds on his violin, may be +worth repeating. One fine night, when staying at a little +inn just outside Frankfort, he was sitting at his window +lost in the contemplation of the glorious heavens. The +striking of a clock broke through his reverie and called +back to his mind an occurrence of which he had but +recently been an ear-witness. He seized his violin, and +there arose on the stillness of the night the moans and +cries of a mother and her new-born babe. The landlord +of the inn, awakened by the unusual sounds and wondering +how such visitors had found their way into his house +without his knowledge, called his son and hastened to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> +room whence the plaintive cries proceeded; and he found +Paganini, too deep in thought to perceive his entrance, +making his violin bring forth these human sounds. It +is stated of Paganini that he was wont to produce his +animal cries under the stress of special excitement or +during an access of fever, and that with his farmyard +piece he electrified the audience at one of the last of his +concerts in London.</p> +<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></p> + + + + + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + + +<div class="figright" style="width: 268px;"> +<a name="Illustration_Plate_27" id="Illustration_Plate_27"></a><a href="images/plate_027.jpg"> +<img src="images/plate_027s.jpg" width="268" height="600" alt="" title="" /> +</a> +<span class="caption"><i><a href="#Plate_27">Plate 27.—See Appendix.</a></i><br /><span class="smcap">Medal struck in Paganini's honour in 1831.</span></span> +</div> + +<p>This may have been the concert at which, according +to a lithograph,<a name="Anchor-58" id="Anchor-58"></a><a href="#Footnote-58" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 58.">[58]</a> Paganini received "the homage +of five thousand persons after having pocketed £2,000 for +two hours' performance." While the great world showed +their appreciation of his playing in this way, and Royal +patrons delighted to invest him with noble orders, the more +humble admirers of Paganini caused medals to be struck +in his honour. One of these, a tribute from the city of +Vienna, has already been referred to; another very fine +medal, struck in Paris during Paganini's first visit there +in 1831 is reproduced here. The inscription round Paganini's +head fills one with a strangely ironical feeling, when +one remembers that the fame of Paganini did but survive +to lead to the homage of exhumation.</p> + +<p>True, the world has remembered him sufficiently to +place memorial tablets on the houses where he was born +and died. Fifty years after his death a tablet was affixed +to the house wherein he breathed his last, and at the +centenary celebration of his birth the following inscription +was placed on the house wherein he first saw the +light: "A great honour fell to the lot of this modest +house, in which, on the 27th October, 1782, Nicolo +Paganini, unsurpassed in the divine art of tone, was +born, to the glory of Genoa and to the delight of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> +world." At present one may enquire in vain of most +Genoese people as to the position of Paganini's birthplace, +and chance alone will direct one, who trusts to +them for the information, to the slum quarter and the +narrow street where the building stands. Difficult though +it may be, however, to find this spot, it is an easy task to +find the Palazzo Municipale where reposes the famous +Guarnerius violin of Paganini.</p> + +<p>This superb instrument, bequeathed to the city of +Genoa by Paganini himself, has been most carefully +preserved by the civic authorities. It has only twice +been heard in public—once at the 1882 celebrations—since +Paganini's death, and on both occasions it was +played by his favourite pupil Sivori. It was carefully +examined and photographed by Mr. Edward Heron-Allen +in 1885, and a very interesting account was given +by him<a name="Anchor-59" id="Anchor-59"></a><a href="#Footnote-59" class="Anchor" title="Go to footnote 59.">[59]</a> of the manner in which the violin was worn +away by Paganini's peculiar method of playing. After +describing its general condition he says, "The patch by +the side of the tailpiece and the large wear on the back +tell of the force with which he held the instrument in +those high and pizzicato passages, which account for the +long groove down the side of the fingerboard and the +broad patch at the side of the neck, on the table of +the instrument. The wearing away of the edges in +the curves of the instrument bear a striking testimony +to the force with which he sawed the gut in his bravura +passages on the first and fourth strings." In the same +glass case as the violin is placed the medal presented to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> +Paganini by the Decurional Council of Genoa in 1834. +On the reverse it bears this inscription:—</p> + +<blockquote><p lang="la">Nic. Paganino, Fidicini, cui nemo par +fuit civique bene mecrenti <span class="smcap">A.D. MDCCCXXXIIII</span>.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Such outward honours as the world gives to its dead +have indeed been offered to the memory of Paganini; +but it is doubtful whether the higher honour of a frank +recognition by the musical world of the work that he did +for it, has ever been his. Unlike the great composer the +instrumentalist leaves behind him no visible proof of the +part he has played in the development of his art. And +the world has easily forgotten that from the day of +Paganini not only was the violin transformed into a new +instrument, not only were its capabilities, previously +undreamt of, newly revealed, but also in other branches +of musical art, in orchestral music especially, a fresh +field was opened up before the composer. It is scarcely +too much to say that the scores of Tchaikovsky and +Richard Strauss could not have been written, had Paganini +never lived. We do not desire to see another +Paganini, so complete a slave to his instrument, albeit +its master; we do not desire to see another such life, +with bodily health and moral vigour sacrificed to so +absorbing a devotion to one single end. We would fain +believe that Nicolo Paganini did not live in vain, that +like a real artist he had and fulfilled his mission, that +the evil he did died with him and that the good lives on +to benefit the world.</p> + +<p class="p2 center"> +<span class="smcap">The End.</span><br /> +</p> +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a><br /><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="APPENDIX" id="APPENDIX"></a>APPENDIX.</h2> + +<p class="center">NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS +VOLUME.</p> + + +<p><a name="Plate_1" id="Plate_1"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_I_See_Appendix"><i>Plate 1</i>—Frontispiece.</a></p> + +<p>Portrait of <span class="smcap">Nicolò Paganini</span>, by Maurin, a French +Artist. Free from caricature, it is probably the most +authentic picture of the great virtuoso. It appeared in +the seventh volume of the "<span lang="fr">Revue Musicale.</span>"</p> + +<p><a name="Plate_2" id="Plate_2"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_2"><i>Plate 2</i>—Facing page 4.</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Birthplace of the Celebrated Paganini</span> in +the Passo di Gatto Moro, Genoa, Italy. The house is in a +squalid neighbourhood—a dirty, narrow alley now occupied +by the poorest of the city. Probably no worse than at +the time of Paganini's birth. There is a tablet which +reads as follows:—</p> + +<blockquote><p lang="it"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Alta ventura sortita ad umile luogo</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">in questa casa</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">il giorno XXVII di Ottobre dell' anno</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7em;">MDCCLXXXII</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Nacque</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a decoro di Genova a delizia del mondo</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">Nicolò Paganini</span><br /> +nella divina arte dei suoni insuperato maestro.<br /></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The date 1782 given here confirms the latest research +that Paganini was born in that year and not in 1784 so +usually quoted.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p> + +<p><a name="Plate_3" id="Plate_3"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_III"><i>Plate 3</i>—Facing page 14.</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Paganini's Violin, Bow, Case, etc.</span>, in the Municipal +Museum at Genoa. This is the celebrated Joseph +Guarnerius on which the great virtuoso invariably performed. +The instrument is under a glass shade, and with +other relics of Paganini, preserved in a strong safe. It +is stated that £5,000 has, in vain, been offered for the +violin.</p> + +<p><a name="Plate_4" id="Plate_4"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_4"><i>Plate 4</i>—Facing page 20.</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">This is another Caricature</span>—Paganini performing +on a tight rope—under which is printed "<span lang="fr">Exercices sur +une seule corde</span>,"—in reference to his one string solos. +This was published by Mori and Lavenu, London, +circa 1831.</p> + +<p><a name="Plate_5" id="Plate_5"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_5"><i>Plate 5</i>—Facing page 40.</a></p> + +<p>This is, we believe, from a contemporary German +picture.</p> + +<p><a name="Plate_6" id="Plate_6"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_6"><i>Plate 6</i>—Facing page 50.</a></p> + +<p>This humorous picture is on the title-page of a comic +song, "The wonderful Paganini, or London fiddling +mad." The poetry by W. T. Moncrieff, Esq., and the +melody by one of the first composers of the day! +London, published by Leoni Lee, circa 1831. The +"poetry" is not of a classical standard.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"What a hubbub! what a fuss! all London sure are frantic Sirs,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">The Prince of Fiddlers has arriv'd, great Paganini has come.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So wonderful, exorbitant, so frightful, so romantic, Sirs, the world of Music at his mighty presence are struck dumb.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So firm his touch, so fine his stop, everyone must own his sway,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Great King King of Catgut! Agitato! presto! Who but he Sirs,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Mori, Spagnoletti, now must second fiddle play, Sirs—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Glory be to Tweedle dum! Success to Tweedle dee! Sirs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Such golden sounds, he from one string can draw, no sum can pay him, Sirs,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Germany, France, Italy, combined his fame to puff<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The prices must be doubled, all the world crowd to survey him, Sirs,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Four thousand pounds a night to pay him is not half enough,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sixpences, none, after this, must dare call fiddlers' money Sirs.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thousands, tens of thousands, must the wondrous man reward,"<br /></span> +<span class="i8">etc., etc.,<br /></span> +<span class="i6">and so on for five verses!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><a name="Plate_7" id="Plate_7"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_7"><i>Plate 7</i>—Facing page 54.</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sigr. Paganini.</span> During one of his performances at +the King's Theatre, June, 1831. From a contemporary +lithograph of the celebrated sketch by D. Maclise, R.A., +now in the Foster Collection, South Kensington Museum. +In the background are J. B. Cramer, Lindley, Dragonetti, +Mori, etc. This is, perhaps, the most interesting print of +the great violinist. It was published on July 12th, 1831, +by W. Spooner, 259, Regent Street, London.</p> + +<p><a name="Plate_8" id="Plate_8"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_8"><i>Plate 8</i>—Facing page 60.</a></p> + +<p>Reproduction of the celebrated Statuette (caricature), +by Dainton.</p> + +<p><a name="Plate_9" id="Plate_9"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_9"><i>Plate 9</i>—Facing page 66.</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Paganini with the Violin</span>, Rossini at the pianoforte +and the celebrated prima-donna Pasta. (Jos. McGuire, +delt., printed by Englemann & Co.), circa 1832.</p> + +<p><a name="Plate_10" id="Plate_10"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_10"><i>Plate 10</i>—Facing page 76.</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">A Copy of the Original Oil Painting of +Paganini</span> in the Municipal Museum at Genoa. The face +full of intellect, shows the ravages of the disease which +was so soon to terminate his existence.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span></p> + +<p><a name="Plate_11" id="Plate_11"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_11"><i>Plate 11</i>—Facing page 80.</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The House at Nice in which Paganini died</span> on +the 27th May, 1840. It was formerly the residence of +the Count de Sessol. The lower part has been converted +into shops.</p> + +<p><a name="Plate_12" id="Plate_12"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_12"><i>Plate 12</i>—Facing page 80.</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Tablet</span>, with inscription, fixed on the front of +the house, Rue de la Prefecture, Nice, France.</p> + +<p><a name="Plate_13" id="Plate_13"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_13"><i>Plate 13</i>—Facing page 84.</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Tomb of Paganini at Parma.</span> Neither +religious nor political martyr ever had so many objections +made to his obsequies. To the cemetery, near Parma, in +November, 1876, the embalmed remains of Paganini +were transposed from the family villa at Gaione, by order +of his son, the Baron Achille (who died in December, +1895). The funeral was held at night by torchlight. A +nephew, the Baron Attila Paganini, followed, and crowds +of curious sightseers joined the procession. In 1893 +there was erected the beautiful mausoleum which is now +depicted from the only known photograph, taken expressly +for <span class="smcap">The Strad</span>. It bears this inscription:—</p> + +<blockquote><p lang="it"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Qui riposano le ceneri</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">di Nicolò Paganini</span><br /> +Che traendo dal violino armonie divine<br /> +Scosse genio insuperabile tutta Europa<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">e cinse all'Italia,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nuova sfolgorante corona.</span></p> + +<p lang="it"> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Mente elettissima</span><br /> +Compose stupendamente in musica<br /> +Ammirato dai piu illustri maestri.<br /></p> + +<p lang="it"><span style="margin-left: 2em;">Cuore oltremodo generoso</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">donò largamente</span><br /> +ai parenti, agli artisti ai poveri.</p> +</blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span></p> + +<p>Beneath this cupola of white marble, with its granite +columns, may the ashes of Paganini rest in peace. His +true remains—his reputation, his influence, his music, are +with us for ever.</p> + +<p><a name="Plate_14" id="Plate_14"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_14"><i>Plate 14</i>—Facing page 90.</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Paganini in Prison.</span> One of the many scandals +which is contradicted in the text. (See page <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.) +There is another prison story that during Paganini's +incarceration, he was reduced to the G, in consequence +of the other strings having broken—hence his wonderful +development of the fourth. This is again apocryphal. +Paganini has greater claim to a scientific knowledge of +the acoustical property of strings.</p> + +<p><i>Plates <a name="Plate_15" id="Plate_15"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_15">15</a>, <a name="Plate_16" id="Plate_16"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_16">16</a>, +and <a name="Plate_17" id="Plate_17"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_17">17</a></i>, see pages 101, 102, and 103,</p> + +<p>are reproductions of Paganini's MSS. in the British +Museum. No. 15, a letter (dated April 16th, 1832, and +in French) thanking the person addressed, for kindness +shown to his "cher fils Achille," Nos. 16 (dated February +19th, 1835) and 17 (dated May 5th, 1838); short notes +(in Italian) are interesting autographs. Paganini was +proverbially a "silent man"—his epistles are very rare.</p> + +<p><i>Plates <a name="Plate_18" id="Plate_18"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_18">18</a>, <a name="Plate_19" id="Plate_19"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_19">19</a>, +<a name="Plate_20" id="Plate_20"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_20">20</a>, <a name="Plate_21" id="Plate_21"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_21">21</a>, +and <a name="Plate_22" id="Plate_22"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_22">22</a></i>—Pages 129-133.</p> + +<p>These reproductions of rare programmes tell their +own tales—they are interesting, because there are seen +the items and the arrangement of concerts, also the prices, +for admission, etc.—in those years.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p> + +<p><a name="Plate_23" id="Plate_23"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_23"><i>Plate 23</i>—Facing page 136.</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Facsimile of a Letter by Paganini</span>, dated 1829. +It was formerly in the possession of the late Mr. Carrodus, +the great English violinist.</p> + +<p><a name="Plate_24" id="Plate_24"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_24"><i>Plate 24</i>—Facing page 144.</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">A Semi-Caricature of Paganini</span> with the inscription.</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">The Modern Apollo (not Belvedere)</span><br /> +Receiving the homage of 5,000 persons, after having pocketed<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">£2,000 for two hours' performance.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Sketched at his last Concert at the King's Theatre. +Published by G. Madeley, Wellington Street, Strand, 1831.</p> + +<p><i>Plates <a name="Plate_25" id="Plate_25"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_25">25</a> and <a name="Plate_26" id="Plate_26"></a> +<a href="#Illustration_Plate_26">26</a></i>, see pages 176 and 177.</p> + +<p>Reproductions of music MS. in British Museum. +A Theme, with variations for violin, with accompaniment, +is a curious example of the great master's +compositions.</p> + +<p><a name="Plate_27" id="Plate_27"></a><a href="#Illustration_Plate_27"><i>Plate 27</i>—Facing page 190.</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Copy of a rare Copper Medal</span> struck in Paganini's +honor in 1831.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="BIBLIOGRAPHY" id="BIBLIOGRAPHY"></a>BIBLIOGRAPHY.</h2> + + +<p>The extraordinary career of Paganini has received +more attention than the life of any other instrumentalist. +Of these biographies, it is impossible to give a complete +list.</p> + +<p>The following may, however, be commended.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<span lang="de">Paganini in seinem Reisewagen und Zimmer, in seinen +redseligen Stunden, in gesellsschaftlichen Kirkeln, +und seinen Concerten.</span>" Brunswick, Vieweg, 1830. +Mr. George Harris, the writer of this pamphlet, was +an Englishman, who in order to study Paganini, +became the Violinist's secretary and interpreter.</p> + +<p>"<span lang="de">Leben, Charakter und Kunst N. Paganini's—Eine +Skizze</span>,"—by M. F. Shütz, a Professor at Halle. +Leipzig, 1830.</p> + +<p>"<span lang="de">Paganini's Leben und Treiben als Künstler und als +Mensch.</span>" Prague, 1830. Written by Professor +Schottky.</p> + +<p>"<span lang="de">Paganini's Leben und Charakter</span>," by M. L. Vinela. +Hamburg, 1830.</p> + +<p>"<span lang="fr">Notice sur le célèbre violoniste Nicolò Paganini</span>," by +M. J. Imbert de Laphaléque. Paris.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span></p> + +<p>"<span lang="fr">Paganini et de Bériot, ou Avis aux artistes qui se +destinent à l'enseignement du Violon</span>," by F. Fayolle. +Paris, 1831.</p> + +<p>"Paganini, his life, his person, and a few words upon his +secret," by J. L. Anders. Paris, 1831.</p> + +<p>"<span lang="it">Vita di Nicolò Paganini di Genova, scritta ed illustrata +da Giancarlo Conestabile, socio di varie Academie.</span>" +Perugia, 1831.</p> + +<p>"Nicolo Paganini," by F. J. Fétis. Published by +Schott and Co.</p> + +<p>"<span lang="fr">L'Album.</span>" "Paganini." Rome, 1840.</p> + +<p>"Good Words." Three articles by Rev. H. R. Haweis, +M.A.</p> + +<p>"Musical Gem." "Paganini." Portrait by R. J. +Hamerton. London, 1832.</p> + +<p>"The Violin," with some account of that leading instrument +and its most eminent professors, by George +Dubourg, 1836 and 1878. This interesting book +contains a long account of Paganini (illustrated.)</p> + +<p>"Life of Moscheles." Two vols. 1873. In Vol. I., +chapters 13 and 14, "Paganini."</p> + +<p>"Louis Spohr's Autobiography," <i>vide</i> "Paganini," +Vol. I., page 279, and Vol. II., page 168. Spohr +says: "His (Paganini's) left hand and his constantly +pure intonation were to me astonishing."</p> + +<p>"Dictionary of Music and Musicians," by Sir George +Grove, D.C.L., <i>vide</i> article Paganini.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p> + +<p>"<span lang="de">Encyclopädie der gesammten musicalischen Wissenschaften</span>," +by Dr. Gustav Schilling. Article Paganini.</p> + +<p>Dr. Riemann's "Dictionary of Music," article Paganini.</p> + +<p>"The Strad," various articles and paragraphs in the +series of this journal.</p> + +<p>"The Violin," by George Hart. Engravings of Paganini's +Violin.</p> + +<p>"Old Violins and their Makers," by James M. Fleming.</p> + +<p>"Ole Bull," by Sara C. Bull. Various notices of +Paganini.</p> + +<p>"Musical Opinion," July, August, and September, 1888. +A renowned fiddler (Paganini.) Three articles by +Richard Harrison.</p> + +<p>"Musical News," 1903.</p> + +<p>"A Wooden Shoe" (Story of Paganini) by M. P. +Audebrand.</p> + +<p>"Paganiniana," (circa 1865.)</p> + +<p>"Troubadour," August, 1899. Paganini, by Richard +Harrison.</p> + +<p>"The Athenæum," 1831. Critiques on Paganini.</p> + +<p>"The Tatler," 1831.</p> + +<p>"An account of Paganini's début in London," June +3rd, 1831, by Mr. Gardner of Leicester, appears in +Dubourg's "Violin."</p> + +<p>"Paganini's Concerts in Paris." A clever description +was published in "Le Globe."</p> + +<p>"Foreign Quarterly Review" (circa 1832).</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Catalogue of Paganini's compositions," by M. +Conestabile.</p> + +<p>Paganini's works are published by Ricordi and Co., of +Milan, and Schott and Co., of Mayence and London.</p> + +<p>"<span lang="fr">Revue et Gazette Musicale de Paris</span>," December 23rd, +1840. Article Paganini.</p> + +<p>"Story of the Violin," by Paul Stoeving.</p> + +<p>"The Quarterly Musical Magazine and Review," Vol. X.</p> + +<p>"<span lang="de">Ueber Paganini's Kunst, die Violine zu spielen</span>," +by Carl F. W. Guhr, original edition 1831. +Modern. Schott and Co.</p> + +<p>"Biographical Sketches of Celebrated Violinists." +London: Bentley, publisher.</p> + +<p>"Celebrated Violinists, Past and Present." Translated +from the German of A. Ehrlich, and edited with +notes and additions by Robin H. Legge (eighteen +pages devoted to Paganini). Portraits. <span class="smcap">Strad</span> +Office, London.</p> + +<p>"Notice of Antony Stradivari," by F. J. Fétis. Translated +by John Bishop. London, 1864.</p> + +<p>"The Harmonicon." An excellent musical journal. +Published in London (contemporary with Paganini).</p> + +<p>"The Life of Rossini," by Sutherland Edwards.</p> + +<p>"History of Music," by Emil Naumann. 2 vols. +Cassell and Co., London, 1886.</p> + +<p>"Life and Letters of Sir Charles Hallé." Paganini +is mentioned by a musical amateur (Count de +Stendhal), 1814 and 1817.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Diary of an Invalid," by Mathews, 1818.</p> + +<p>"History of the Violin," by William Sandys and S. A. +Forster, 1864.</p> + +<p>"Old Violins," by Rev. H. R. Haweis, M.A. 1898.</p> + +<p>"Researches into the History of the Violin Family," by +Carl Engel. 1883.</p> + +<p>"Musical World." 1836.</p> + +<p>"Musical and Personal Recollections," by Henry +Phillips, 1864.</p> + +<p>"Music and Manners in France and Germany," by +Henry F. Chorley. 1841.</p> + +<p>"The Student's History of Music," by F. L. Ritter. +1880.</p></blockquote> + + +<p>Collectors will be interested in the Medals and +Busts of Paganini.</p> + +<p>The English and Continental contemporary Press +notices, etc., would alone make a Paganini volume.</p> + +<p>Of Paganini, there are many portraits, though too +generally caricatures. M. Fétis, in his Life of Paganini, +gives a short but incomplete catalogue. Those included +in this volume have been carefully selected from contemporary +prints, etc.</p> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<h2>Advertisements</h2> +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_I" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_I"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY No. I.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo., Cloth, 2/6, Post Free, 2/9.</i></p> + +<p class="center"><i>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY EDITION is the only Authorised Edition of</i></p> + + +<h3><big>Technics of Violin Playing</big></h3> +<p class="p2 center"><small>ON</small><br /> +JOACHIM'S METHOD</p> + +<p class="p2 center"> +<small>BY</small><br /> +CARL COURVOISIER,</p> + +<p class="p2 center">With Folding Plates, containing Fifteen Illustrations.</p> + +<p class="p2 center"><big>LETTER FROM DR. JOACHIM.</big><br /><small>[COPY.]</small></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My Dear Mr. Courvoisier</span>: I have read the book on Violin +Playing you have sent me, and have to congratulate you sincerely +on the manner in which you have performed a most difficult task, +<i>i.e.</i>, to describe the best way of arriving at a correct manner of +playing the violin.</p> + +<p>It cannot but be welcome to thoughtful teachers, who reflect on +the method of our art, and I hope that your work will prove useful +to many students.</p> + +<p>Believe me, my dear Mr. Courvoisier, to be most faithfully yours,</p> + +<p class="sig"> +JOSEPH JOACHIM.<br /> +</p> + +<p>Berlin, November 3rd, 1894.</p> + + +<p>The New and Revised Edition of "Technics of Violin Playing," +issued by <span class="smcap">The Strad</span>, is the only authorised edition of my work. +The several English Editions which have all appeared without my +knowledge are <i>incomplete</i> and <i>faulty</i>.</p> + +<p class="sig"> +CARL COURVOISIER.<br /> +</p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_II" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_II"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. II.</p> + + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo., Cloth, 2/6, Post Free, 2/9.</i></p> +<h3><big> +HOW TO STUDY THE VIOLIN</big></h3> +<p class="p2 center">By J. T. CARRODUS.</p> +<p class="p2 center">CONTENTS.</p> + +<p>Strings and Tuning. The Bow and Bowing. Faults and their +Correction. Scales and their Importance. Course of Study. +Advice on Elementary Matters. Concerning Harmonics, Octaves, +etc. Orchestral Playing. Some Experiences as a Soloist. With +full page portraits of Carrodus, Molique, Paganini, Spohr, Sivori, +De Beriot, Blagrove and Sainton, and a photo-reproduction of Dr. +Spohr's testimonial to Carrodus.<br /></p> + + +<p class="p2">"An interesting series of articles 'How to Study the Violin,' which +Carrodus contributed to <span class="smcap">The Strad</span>, and completed only a week or +two before his death, have now been collected in cheap book form. +The technical hints to violin students, which are practical, plainly +worded, and from such a pen most valuable."—<i>Daily News.</i></p> + +<p>"But a few weeks before his sudden death the most distinguished +of native violinists completed in <span class="smcap">The Strad</span> a series of chats to +students of the instrument associated with his name. These +chats are now re-issued, with a sympathetic preface and instructive +annotations. All who care to listen to what were +virtually the last words of such a conscientious teacher will +recognise the pains taken by Carrodus to render every detail as clear +to the novice as to the advanced pupil. Pleasant gossip concerning +provincial festivals at which Carrodus was for many years 'leader' +of the orchestra, ends a little volume worthy a place in musical +libraries both for its practical value and as a memento of the life-work +of an artist universally esteemed."—<i>Daily Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p>"It is surely, hardly necessary to direct the attention of students +to the unique value of the hints and advice given by so experienced +and accomplished a virtuoso as the late Mr. Carrodus, so that it only +remains to state that the 'Recollections' make delightful reading, +and that the book, as a whole, is as entertaining as it is instructive. +The value of the <i>brochure</i> is enhanced by an excellent portrait of Mr. +Carrodus, as well as of a number of other violin worthies, and the +printing, paper, and get up generally are good as could possibly +be."—<i>Musical Answers.</i></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_III" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_III"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. III.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo, Cloth, 2/6, Post Free, 2/9.</i></p> +<h3> +<big>THE BOW</big><br /> +Its History, Manufacture and Use</h3> +<p class="p2 center"><small>BY</small><br /> +HENRY SAINT-GEORGE.</p> + +<p class="p2 center">With Full Page Illustrations (exact size) by Photo Process.</p> + + +<p class="p2">MONS. EMILE SAURET writes—"I have read it with great +interest, and think that it supplies a real want in giving musicians +such an excellent description of all matters referring to this +important instrument."</p> + +<p>SIGNOR GUIDO PAPINI writes—"Thanks so much for your +splendid and interesting book. You are quite successful and all the +artists and amateurs are indebted to you for so exact and correct a +'<i>Texte</i>' on the subject."</p> + +<p>ADOLF BRODSKY writes—"I am delighted with the book and +find it very instructive, even for those who think to know everything +about the bow. It is very original and at times very amusing. No +violinist should miss the opportunity to buy it."</p> + +<p>THE TIMES—"A useful treatise on the Bow, in which the +history, manufacture and use of the bow are discussed with considerable +technical knowledge."</p> + +<p>DAILY TELEGRAPH—"To the student there is much of +interest in the work, which has the advantage of being copiously +illustrated."</p> + +<p>DAILY NEWS—"This book seems practically to exhaust its +subject."</p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_IV" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_IV"></a><i>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. IV.</i></p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo., Cloth, 5/-, Post Free, 5/4.</i></p> +<h3> +CELEBRATED VIOLINISTS:<br /> +PAST AND PRESENT,</h3> +<p class="p2 center"><small><i>Translated from the German of</i></small><br /> +<big>A. EHRLICH,</big><br /> +<br /> +<small><i>And Edited with Notes and Additions by</i></small><br /> +ROBIN H. LEGGE.</p> +<p class="p2 center"><i>WITH EIGHTY-NINE PORTRAITS.</i></p> +<p class="p2 center">PRESS NOTICES.</p> + +<p>"Those who love their fiddles better than their fellows, and who +treasure up every detail that can be found and recorded about their +favourite and cherished players, will not fail to provide themselves +with a copy of this book."—<i>Musical Opinion.</i></p> + +<p>"This book of 280 pages is a most interesting and valuable +addition to the violinist's library. It contains 89 biographical +sketches of well-known artists, ancient and modern, of all nations. +This is not intended to be a perfect dictionary of violinists; the aim +of the Editor of the present volume being merely to give a few more +up-to-date details concerning some of the greatest of stringed instrument +players, and we must concede that no name of the first +importance has been omitted. Germany is represented by 21 names, +Italy by 13, France by 10, England by 4, Bohemia by 8, Belgium +by 7, and the fair sex by seven well-known ladies, such as Teresina +Tua, Therése and Marie Milanollo, Lady Hallé, Marie Soldat, +Gabrielle Wietrowetz, and Arma Senkrah. Altogether this is most +agreeable reading to the numerous army of violinists, both professionals +and amateurs, and after careful examination we can find +nothing but praise for this translation into English of a book well +known on the Continent."—<i>The Piano, Organ and Music Trades +Journal.</i></p> + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_V" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_V"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. V.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo., Cloth, 2/6, Post Free, 2/9.</i></p> + +<h3><big>TECHNICS OF<br /> +VIOLONCELLO PLAYING</big></h3> + +<p class="p2 center">BY<br /> +<big>E. VAN DER STRAETEN.</big></p> + +<p class="p2 center">COPIOUSLY ILLUSTRATED.</p> + + +<p class="p2 center"><i>Copy of Letter received by the Author from the great 'cellist, +SIGNOR ALFRED PIATTI.</i></p> + + +<p class="letterdate">Cadenabbia, Lake of Como, March 9th, 1898.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—I received the book you kindly sent me on "The +Technics of Violoncello Playing," which I found excellent, particularly +for beginners, which naturally was your scope. With many +thanks for kindly remembering an old ex-violoncello player.</p> + +<p class="quotsig"> +Believe me, yours sincerely,</p> +<p class="sig">ALFRED PIATTI.<br /> +</p> + +<p class="p2 center"><i>Copy of Letter received by the Author from the eminent 'cellist, +HERR DAVID POPPER.</i></p> + +<p class="letterdate"> +Budapest, February 22nd, 1898.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—In sending me your book on "The Technics of +Violoncello Playing" you have given me a real and true pleasure. +I know of no work, tutors and studies not excepted, which presents +so much valuable material, so much that is absolutely to the point, +avoiding—I might say, on principle—all that is superfluous and +dispensable. Every earnest thinking violoncello student will in +future make your book his own and thereby receive hints which +will further and complete the instructions of his master.</p> + +<p>I congratulate you and ourselves most heartily on the new violoncello +book. With kind regards, Yours most sincerely,</p> + +<p class="sig"> +DAVID POPPER. +</p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_VI" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_VI"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. VI.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo., Cloth, 2/6, Post Free, 2/9.</i></p> + +<h3><big> +VIOLIN PLAYING</big></h3> + +<p class="p2 center"><small>BY</small><br /> +JOHN DUNN.</p> + + +<p class="p2 center">CONTENTS</p> + +<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Introductory</span>—Qualities indispensable to the ideal Violinist—Hints +on the Choice of a Teacher—Some Tricks of pretending +professors exposed.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">On the Choice of a Violin and Bow</span>—Advice regarding general +adjustment and repairs.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">On the Choice of Strings</span>—Stringing the Instrument and +keeping the Pegs in Order.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">On the General Posture</span>—The manner of holding the Violin +and Bow as accepted by the leading artists of the day.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">On Fingering Generally</span>—The various positions—Scales +recommended—The Modern Orchestral "Principal" or (so-called) +Leader.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">On Gliding</span>—Special Characteristics of some of the most +Eminent Players.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Double Stopping</span>—The main difficulty in Double Stopping—How +to gain Independence of Finger.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Bowings</span>—Smooth Bowings—Solid Staccato—Spiccato—Spring +Bow—Mixed Bowings.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tone Production</span>—Character of Tone—Rules and Conditions +necessary to produce a good tone—Style and Expression.</p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_VII" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_VII"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. VII.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo., Cloth, 2/6, Post Free, 2/9.</i></p> + +<h3><big>Chats to 'Cello Students</big></h3> + +<p class="p2 center"><small>BY</small><br /> +ARTHUR BROADLEY.</p> + + +<p class="p2">"Musicians, devotees of the 'cello in particular, will welcome the +latest volume of <span class="smcap">The 'Strad</span> Library,' 'Chats to 'Cello Students,' by +Arthur Broadley.... Mr. Broadley not only knows what he +is talking about, but has practised what he says. From the choice +of an instrument to finished delivery and orchestral playing, 'Chats +to 'Cello Students' leaves nothing undiscussed. The treatment is +simple and practical. The exhaustive chapter on 'bowing' should +be an invaluable aid to students. In the last chapter of his book, +'On Delivery and Style' Mr. Broadley has given a lucid expression +to a subject which has sadly needed voicing."—<i>The Tribune, +Nuneaton.</i></p> + +<p>"Is a brightly written little volume filled with practical information +for those who seek to bring out the wealth of expression of +which the violoncello is capable. The instruction is presented in +homely, common-sense fashion, and there are upwards of fifty +examples in music type to illustrate the author's meaning."—<i>Lloyd's +Weekly.</i></p> + +<p>"Every kind of bowing and fingering, the portamento, harmonic +effects, arpeggios and their evolution from various chords, are all +ably treated, and the work concludes with a few remarks on +orchestral playing which are of especial interest."—<i>Musical News.</i></p> + +<p>"As a writer on the technique of his instrument Mr. Broadley is +known all over the world, perhaps his most successful work being +a little book published by <span class="smcap">The Strad</span>, 'Chats to 'Cello Students.'"—<i>The +Violinist.</i></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_VIII" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_VIII"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. VIII.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo., Cloth, 2/6, Post Free, 2/9.</i></p> + +<h3><big>ANTONIO STRADIVARI</big></h3> +<p class="p2 center"><small>BY</small><br /> +HORACE PETHERICK.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Of the Music Jury, International Inventions Exhibition, South +Kensington, 1885; International Exhibition, Edinburgh, +1890; Expert in Law Courts, 1891; +President of the Cremona Society.</i></p> + +<p class="p2 center">ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR.</p> + + +<p class="p2">"This is the history of the life-work of the great Italian stringed +musical instrument maker.... There is a most interesting +analysis of Stradivari's method of mechanical construction which +again is illustrated by original drawings from the many Strads +which it has been Mr. Petherick's privilege to examine. All lovers +of the king of instruments will read this delightful little volume."—<i>Reynolds.</i></p> + +<p>"Among makers of violins Stradivari perhaps occupies the +premier position, and this account of his work, designs, and +variations in finish of details will afford pleasure to many readers."—<i>Morning +Post.</i></p> + +<p>"This is a monograph which all students of the violin will be +happy to possess. The author is a connoisseur and expert, and +his account of the great Cremonese master and his life-work, is +singularly well and clearly told, whilst the technical descriptions +and diagrams cannot fail to interest everyone who has fallen under +the spell of the violin.... Mr. Petherick traces the career of +Stradivari from his earliest insight into the mysteries of the craft +to his highest achievements. Numerous illustrations lend attraction +to the volume, not the least being a view of Stradivari's +atelier, from a painting by Rinaldi, the sketch of which was made +on the premises."—<i>Music.</i></p> + +<p>"Mr. Petherick is well known in the musical world as a violin +expert with a special knowledge of the instruments made by the +Cremonese master, whose biography he has here given us. He +tells us how the master worked, what his pupils did, and where +their work differs from that of their preceptor. In fact, the +volume is as much a dissertation on the violins of Stradivari as a +biography of the master, and is full of deeply interesting matter."—<i>Lloyds.</i></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_IX" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_IX"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. IX.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo., Cloth, 5/-, Post Free, 5/4.</i></p> + +<h3><big>VIOLIN MAKING</big></h3> + +<p class="p2 center"><small>BY</small><br /> +WALTER H. MAYSON,</p> + +<p class="center">With Thirty-one Full-page PHOTO ETCHINGS,<br /> +Illustrating the process of Violin-making in every stage—from the +rough slab of wood to the finished Instrument.</p> + +<p class="p2 center">The text is written by an <b>Actual Violin Maker</b>, in a very clear +and lucid style.</p> + + +<p class="p2">"'Popular lecture' style, with photographic illustrations."—<i>The +Times.</i></p> + +<p>"A feature of the book is the clearness of the illustrations."—<i>Morning +Post.</i></p> + +<p>"Describes a very fascinating art from start to finish."—<i>Morning +Leader.</i></p> + +<p>"This new booklet, on how to make a violin, is an admirable +exposition of methods. Mr. Mayson avoids learned terminology. +He uses the simplest English, and goes straight to the point. He +begins by showing the young learner how to choose the best wood +for the violin that is to be. Throughout a whole chatty, perfectly +simple chapter, he discourses on the back. A separate chapter is +devoted to the modelling of the back, and a third to its 'working +out.' The art of sound-holes, ribs, neck, fingerboard, the scroll, +the belly. Among the illustrations is one showing the tools which +the author himself uses in the making of his instruments. To +learners of the well-known Manchester maker's delicate art we +commend this little volume."—<i>Daily News.</i></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_X" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_X"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. X.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo., Cloth, 2/6, Post Free, 2/9.</i></p> +<p class="center">(<span class="smcap">Dedicated, by permission, to Dr. JOSEPH JOACHIM</span>)</p> +<h3><big>THE VIOLIN MUSIC OF<br /> +BEETHOVEN,</big></h3> + +<p class="center">Critically discussed, and Illustrated with over<br /> +FIFTY MUSICAL EXAMPLES,</p> + +<p class="p2 center"> +<small>BY</small><br /> +<big>J. MATTHEWS.</big></p> + +<p class="p2">⁂ The book contains analytical and historical notes upon the +Chamber Music of Beethoven, in which the violin takes part as a +solo instrument, with some account of the various editions of the +principal works; Beethoven's method of working, as shown by +his Sketch Books, etc. It is dedicated to Dr. <span class="smcap">Joachim</span>, who has +furnished some notes respecting the stringed instruments possessed +by Beethoven.</p> + + +<p class="p2 center"><i>Extract from Author's Preface</i>:—</p> + +<p>"Young students often suppose that they ought to admire every +work which proceeds from a great genius; an attempt therefore has +been made to convey some idea of the relative art-value and +importance of the various compositions discussed in these pages. +For between the best work of any man and his least inspired, there +is a wide difference. Certainly nothing annoyed the great master +more than to hear his least mature works praised, especially at a +time when many of his greatest creations were too little studied +to be understood save by a few."</p> + + +<p class="p2">"Mr. John Matthews—dealing with Beethoven's music in +pleasant fashion, and at not too great length—gives an historical +account, and in many instances short analyses, with illustrations +in music type of Beethoven's works for this instrument, and +particularly the sonatas (to which considerable space is devoted), +the trios, the quartets, and other compositions in which the master +employed the violin. The book will be found by amateurs both +interesting and instructive."—<i>Daily News.</i></p> + +<p class="p2 center"><span class="smcap">London</span>:<br /> +"STRAD" OFFICE, 3, <span class="smcap">Green Terrace, Rosebery Avenue, E.C.</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1b" id="Page_1b">[1]</a></span></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_Ib" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_Ib"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. I.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12mo., Cloth</span>, 1.00.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY EDITION is the only Authorised Edition of</i></p> + + +<h3><big>Technics of Violin Playing</big></h3> +<p class="p2 center"><small>ON</small><br /> +JOACHIM'S METHOD</p> + +<p class="p2 center"> +<small>BY</small><br /> +CARL COURVOISIER,</p> + +<p class="p2 center">With Folding Plates, containing Fifteen Illustrations.</p> + +<p class="p2 center"><big>LETTER FROM DR. JOACHIM.</big><br /><small>[COPY.]</small></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My Dear Mr. Courvoisier</span>: I have read the book on Violin +Playing you have sent me, and have to congratulate you sincerely +on the manner in which you have performed a most difficult task, +<i>i.e.</i>, to describe the best way of arriving at a correct manner of +playing the violin.</p> + +<p>It cannot but be welcome to thoughtful teachers, who reflect on +the method of our art, and I hope that your work will prove useful +to many students.</p> + +<p>Believe me, my dear Mr. Courvoisier, to be most faithfully yours,</p> + +<p class="sig"> +JOSEPH JOACHIM.<br /> +</p> + +<p>Berlin, November 3rd, 1894.</p> + + +<p>The New and Revised Edition of "Technics of Violin Playing," +issued by <span class="smcap">The Strad</span>, is the only authorised edition of my work. +The several English Editions which have all appeared without my +knowledge are <i>incomplete</i> and <i>faulty</i>.</p> + +<p class="sig"> +CARL COURVOISIER.<br /> +</p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_IIb" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_IIb"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. II.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12mo., Cloth</span>, 1.00.</p> +<h3><big> +HOW TO STUDY THE VIOLIN</big></h3> +<p class="p2 center">By J. T. CARRODUS.</p> +<p class="p2 center">CONTENTS.</p> + +<p>Strings and Tuning. The Bow and Bowing. Faults and their +Correction. Scales and their Importance. Course of Study. +Advice on Elementary Matters. Concerning Harmonics, Octaves, +etc. Orchestral Playing. Some Experiences as a Soloist. With +full page portraits of Carrodus, Molique, Paganini, Spohr, Sivori, +De Beriot, Blagrove and Sainton, and a photo-reproduction of Dr. +Spohr's testimonial to Carrodus.<br /></p> + +<p class="p2">"An interesting series of articles 'How to Study the Violin,' which +Carrodus contributed to <span class="smcap">The Strad</span>, and completed only a week or +two before his death, have now been collected in cheap book form. +The technical hints to violin students, which are practical, plainly +worded, and from such a pen most valuable."—<i>Daily News.</i></p> + +<p>"But a few weeks before his sudden death the most distinguished +of native violinists completed in <span class="smcap">The Strad</span> a series of chats to +students of the instrument associated with his name. These +chats are now re-issued, with a sympathetic preface and instructive +annotations. All who care to listen to what were +virtually the last words of such a conscientious teacher will +recognise the pains taken by Carrodus to render every detail as clear +to the novice as to the advanced pupil. Pleasant gossip concerning +provincial festivals at which Carrodus was for many years 'leader' +of the orchestra, ends a little volume worthy a place in musical +libraries both for its practical value and as a memento of the life-work +of an artist universally esteemed."—<i>Daily Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p>"It is surely, hardly necessary to direct the attention of students +to the unique value of the hints and advice given by so experienced +and accomplished a virtuoso as the late Mr. Carrodus, so that it only +remains to state that the 'Recollections' make delightful reading, +and that the book, as a whole, is as entertaining as it is instructive. +The value of the <i>brochure</i> is enhanced by an excellent portrait of Mr. +Carrodus, as well as of a number of other violin worthies, and the +printing, paper, and get up generally are good as could possibly +be."—<i>Musical Answers.</i></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3b" id="Page_3b">[3]</a></span></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_IIIb" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_IIIb"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. III.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12mo., Cloth</span>, 1.00.</p> +<h3> +<big>THE BOW</big><br /> +Its History, Manufacture and Use</h3> +<p class="p2 center"><small>BY</small><br /> +HENRY SAINT-GEORGE.</p> + +<p class="p2 center">With Full Page Illustrations (exact size) by Photo Process.</p> + + +<p class="p2">MONS. EMILE SAURET writes—"I have read it with great +interest, and think that it supplies a real want in giving musicians +such an excellent description of all matters referring to this +important instrument."</p> + +<p>SIGNOR GUIDO PAPINI writes—"Thanks so much for your +splendid and interesting book. You are quite successful and all the +artists and amateurs are indebted to you for so exact and correct a +'<i>Texte</i>' on the subject."</p> + +<p>ADOLF BRODSKY writes—"I am delighted with the book and +find it very instructive, even for those who think to know everything +about the bow. It is very original and at times very amusing. No +violinist should miss the opportunity to buy it."</p> + +<p>THE TIMES—"A useful treatise on the Bow, in which the +history, manufacture and use of the bow are discussed with considerable +technical knowledge."</p> + +<p>DAILY TELEGRAPH—"To the student there is much of +interest in the work, which has the advantage of being copiously +illustrated."</p> + +<p>DAILY NEWS—"This book seems practically to exhaust its +subject."</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4b" id="Page_4b">[4]</a></span></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_IVb" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_IVb"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. IV.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12mo., Cloth</span>, 2.00.</p> +<h3> +CELEBRATED VIOLINISTS:<br /> +PAST AND PRESENT,</h3> +<p class="p2 center"><small><i>Translated from the German of</i></small><br /> +<big>A. EHRLICH,</big><br /> +<br /> +<small><i>And Edited with Notes and Additions by</i></small><br /> +ROBIN H. LEGGE.</p> +<p class="p2 center"><i>WITH EIGHTY-NINE PORTRAITS.</i></p> +<p class="p2 center">PRESS NOTICES.</p> + +<p>"Those who love their fiddles better than their fellows, and who +treasure up every detail that can be found and recorded about their +favourite and cherished players, will not fail to provide themselves +with a copy of this book."—<i>Musical Opinion.</i></p> + +<p>"This book of 280 pages is a most interesting and valuable +addition to the violinist's library. It contains 89 biographical +sketches of well-known artists, ancient and modern, of all nations. +This is not intended to be a perfect dictionary of violinists; the aim +of the Editor of the present volume being merely to give a few more +up-to-date details concerning some of the greatest of stringed instrument +players, and we must concede that no name of the first +importance has been omitted. Germany is represented by 21 names, +Italy by 13, France by 10, England by 4, Bohemia by 8, Belgium +by 7, and the fair sex by seven well-known ladies, such as Teresina +Tua, Therése and Marie Milanollo, Lady Hallé, Marie Soldat, +Gabrielle Wietrowetz, and Arma Senkrah. Altogether this is most +agreeable reading to the numerous army of violinists, both professionals +and amateurs, and after careful examination we can find +nothing but praise for this translation into English of a book well +known on the Continent."—<i>The Piano, Organ and Music Trades +Journal.</i></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5b" id="Page_5b">[5]</a></span></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_Vb" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_Vb"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. V.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12mo., Cloth</span>, 1.00.</p> + +<h3><big>TECHNICS OF<br /> +VIOLONCELLO PLAYING</big></h3> + +<p class="p2 center">BY<br /> +<big>E. VAN DER STRAETEN.</big></p> + +<p class="p2 center">COPIOUSLY ILLUSTRATED.</p> + + +<p class="p2 center"><i>Copy of Letter received by the Author from the great 'cellist, +SIGNOR ALFRED PIATTI.</i></p> + + +<p class="letterdate">Cadenabbia, Lake of Como, March 9th, 1898.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—I received the book you kindly sent me on "The +Technics of Violoncello Playing," which I found excellent, particularly +for beginners, which naturally was your scope. With many +thanks for kindly remembering an old ex-violoncello player.</p> + +<p class="quotsig"> +Believe me, yours sincerely,</p> +<p class="sig">ALFRED PIATTI.<br /> +</p> + +<p class="p2 center"><i>Copy of Letter received by the Author from the eminent 'cellist, +HERR DAVID POPPER.</i></p> + +<p class="letterdate"> +Budapest, February 22nd, 1898.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—In sending me your book on "The Technics of +Violoncello Playing" you have given me a real and true pleasure. +I know of no work, tutors and studies not excepted, which presents +so much valuable material, so much that is absolutely to the point, +avoiding—I might say, on principle—all that is superfluous and +dispensable. Every earnest thinking violoncello student will in +future make your book his own and thereby receive hints which +will further and complete the instructions of his master.</p> + +<p>I congratulate you and ourselves most heartily on the new violoncello +book. With kind regards, Yours most sincerely,</p> + +<p class="sig"> +DAVID POPPER. +</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6b" id="Page_6b">[6]</a></span><br /> +</p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_VIb" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_VIb"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. VI.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12mo., Cloth</span>, 1.00.</p> + +<h3><big> +VIOLIN PLAYING</big></h3> + +<p class="p2 center"><small>BY</small><br /> +JOHN DUNN.</p> + + +<p class="p2 center">CONTENTS</p> + +<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Introductory</span>—Qualities indispensable to the ideal Violinist—Hints +on the Choice of a Teacher—Some Tricks of pretending +professors exposed.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">On the Choice of a Violin and Bow</span>—Advice regarding general +adjustment and repairs.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">On the Choice of Strings</span>—Stringing the Instrument and +keeping the Pegs in Order.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">On the General Posture</span>—The manner of holding the Violin +and Bow as accepted by the leading artists of the day.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">On Fingering Generally</span>—The various positions—Scales +recommended—The Modern Orchestral "Principal" or (so-called) +Leader.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">On Gliding</span>—Special Characteristics of some of the most +Eminent Players.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Double Stopping</span>—The main difficulty in Double Stopping—How +to gain Independence of Finger.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Bowings</span>—Smooth Bowings—Solid Staccato—Spiccato—Spring +Bow—Mixed Bowings.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Tone Production</span>—Character of Tone—Rules and Conditions +necessary to produce a good tone—Style and Expression.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7b" id="Page_7b">[7]</a></span></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_VIIb" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_VIIb"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, <span class="smcap">No. VII.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12mo., Cloth</span>, 1.00.</p> + +<h3><big>Chats to 'Cello Students</big></h3> + +<p class="p2 center"><small>BY</small><br /> +ARTHUR BROADLEY.</p> + + +<p class="p2">"Musicians, devotees of the 'cello in particular, will welcome the +latest volume of <span class="smcap">The 'Strad</span> Library,' 'Chats to 'Cello Students,' by +Arthur Broadley.... Mr. Broadley not only knows what he +is talking about, but has practised what he says. From the choice +of an instrument to finished delivery and orchestral playing, 'Chats +to 'Cello Students' leaves nothing undiscussed. The treatment is +simple and practical. The exhaustive chapter on 'bowing' should +be an invaluable aid to students. In the last chapter of his book, +'On Delivery and Style' Mr. Broadley has given a lucid expression +to a subject which has sadly needed voicing."—<i>The Tribune, +Nuneaton.</i></p> + +<p>"Is a brightly written little volume filled with practical information +for those who seek to bring out the wealth of expression of +which the violoncello is capable. The instruction is presented in +homely, common-sense fashion, and there are upwards of fifty +examples in music type to illustrate the author's meaning."—<i>Lloyd's +Weekly.</i></p> + +<p>"Every kind of bowing and fingering, the portamento, harmonic +effects, arpeggios and their evolution from various chords, are all +ably treated, and the work concludes with a few remarks on +orchestral playing which are of especial interest."—<i>Musical News.</i></p> + +<p>"As a writer on the technique of his instrument Mr. Broadley is +known all over the world, perhaps his most successful work being +a little book published by <span class="smcap">The Strad</span>, 'Chats to 'Cello Students.'"—<i>The +Violinist.</i></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8b" id="Page_8b">[8]</a></span></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_VIIIb" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_VIIIb"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. VIII.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12mo., cloth</span>, 1.00.</p> + +<h3><big>ANTONIO STRADIVARI</big></h3> +<p class="p2 center"><small>BY</small><br /> +HORACE PETHERICK.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Of the Music Jury, International Inventions Exhibition, South +Kensington, 1885; International Exhibition, Edinburgh, +1890; Expert in Law Courts, 1891; +President of the Cremona Society.</i></p> + +<p class="p2 center">ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR.</p> + + +<p class="p2">"This is the history of the life-work of the great Italian stringed +musical instrument maker.... There is a most interesting +analysis of Stradivari's method of mechanical construction which +again is illustrated by original drawings from the many Strads +which it has been Mr. Petherick's privilege to examine. All lovers +of the king of instruments will read this delightful little volume."—<i>Reynolds.</i></p> + +<p>"Among makers of violins Stradivari perhaps occupies the +premier position, and this account of his work, designs, and +variations in finish of details will afford pleasure to many readers."—<i>Morning +Post.</i></p> + +<p>"This is a monograph which all students of the violin will be +happy to possess. The author is a connoisseur and expert, and +his account of the great Cremonese master and his life-work, is +singularly well and clearly told, whilst the technical descriptions +and diagrams cannot fail to interest everyone who has fallen under +the spell of the violin.... Mr. Petherick traces the career of +Stradivari from his earliest insight into the mysteries of the craft +to his highest achievements. Numerous illustrations lend attraction +to the volume, not the least being a view of Stradivari's +atelier, from a painting by Rinaldi, the sketch of which was made +on the premises."—<i>Music.</i></p> + +<p>"Mr. Petherick is well known in the musical world as a violin +expert with a special knowledge of the instruments made by the +Cremonese master, whose biography he has here given us. He +tells us how the master worked, what his pupils did, and where +their work differs from that of their preceptor. In fact, the +volume is as much a dissertation on the violins of Stradivari as a +biography of the master, and is full of deeply interesting matter."—<i>Lloyds.</i></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9b" id="Page_9b">[9]</a></span></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_IXb" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_IXb"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. IX.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12mo., Cloth</span>, 2.00.</p> + +<h3><big>VIOLIN MAKING</big></h3> + +<p class="p2 center"><small>BY</small><br /> +WALTER H. MAYSON,</p> + +<p class="center">With Thirty-one Full-page PHOTO ETCHINGS,<br /> +Illustrating the process of Violin-making in every stage—from the +rough slab of wood to the finished Instrument.</p> + +<p class="p2 center">The text is written by an <b>Actual Violin Maker</b>, in a very clear +and lucid style.</p> + + +<p class="p2">"'Popular lecture' style, with photographic illustrations."—<i>The +Times.</i></p> + +<p>"A feature of the book is the clearness of the illustrations."—<i>Morning +Post.</i></p> + +<p>"Describes a very fascinating art from start to finish."—<i>Morning +Leader.</i></p> + +<p>"This new booklet, on how to make a violin, is an admirable +exposition of methods. Mr. Mayson avoids learned terminology. +He uses the simplest English, and goes straight to the point. He +begins by showing the young learner how to choose the best wood +for the violin that is to be. Throughout a whole chatty, perfectly +simple chapter, he discourses on the back. A separate chapter is +devoted to the modelling of the back, and a third to its 'working +out.' The art of sound-holes, ribs, neck, fingerboard, the scroll, +the belly. Among the illustrations is one showing the tools which +the author himself uses in the making of his instruments. To +learners of the well-known Manchester maker's delicate art we +commend this little volume."—<i>Daily News.</i></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10b" id="Page_10b">[10]</a></span></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_Xb" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_Xb"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. X.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12mo., Cloth</span>, 1.00.</p> +<p class="center">(<span class="smcap">Dedicated, by permission, to Dr. JOSEPH JOACHIM</span>)</p> +<h3><big>THE VIOLIN MUSIC OF<br /> +BEETHOVEN,</big></h3> + +<p class="center">Critically discussed, and Illustrated with over<br /> +FIFTY MUSICAL EXAMPLES,</p> + +<p class="p2 center"> +<small>BY</small><br /> +<big>J. MATTHEWS.</big></p> + +<p class="p2">⁂ The book contains analytical and historical notes upon the +Chamber Music of Beethoven, in which the violin takes part as a +solo instrument, with some account of the various editions of the +principal works; Beethoven's method of working, as shown by +his Sketch Books, etc. It is dedicated to Dr. <span class="smcap">Joachim</span>, who has +furnished some notes respecting the stringed instruments possessed +by Beethoven.</p> + + +<p class="p2 center"><i>Extract from Author's Preface</i>:—</p> + +<p>"Young students often suppose that they ought to admire every +work which proceeds from a great genius; an attempt therefore has +been made to convey some idea of the relative art-value and +importance of the various compositions discussed in these pages. +For between the best work of any man and his least inspired, there +is a wide difference. Certainly nothing annoyed the great master +more than to hear his least mature works praised, especially at a +time when many of his greatest creations were too little studied +to be understood save by a few."</p> + + +<p class="p2">"Mr. John Matthews—dealing with Beethoven's music in +pleasant fashion, and at not too great length—gives an historical +account, and in many instances short analyses, with illustrations +in music type of Beethoven's works for this instrument, and +particularly the sonatas (to which considerable space is devoted), +the trios, the quartets, and other compositions in which the master +employed the violin. The book will be found by amateurs both +interesting and instructive."—<i>Daily News.</i></p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11b" id="Page_11b">[11]</a></span></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_NO_XI" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_NO_XI"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, NO. XI.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12mo., Cloth</span>, 1.00.</p> + +<h3>Advice to Pupils & Teachers<br /> +of the Violin,</h3> + +<p class="p2 center"><small>BY</small><br /> +BASIL ALTHAUS.</p> +<p class="p2 center"><i>Strongly recommended by</i> <b>AUGUST WILHELMJ</b> & <b>GUIDO PAPINI</b>.</p> + + +<p class="p2 letterdate"> +<i>London, March 18th, 1903.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Althaus</span>,</p> + + +<p>I read your book, "Advice to Pupils and Teachers of the +Violin," with great interest, and find it very useful. Hoping your +book will meet with the success it deserves.</p> + +<p class="quotsig"> +I am, yours sincerely,</p> +<p class="sig">AUGUST WILHELMJ. +</p> + + +<p class="p2 letterdate"> +<i>London, Feb. 19th, 1903.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Althaus</span>,</p> + +<p>I have read with interest your admirable book, "Advice to +Pupils and Teachers of the Violin." I have no hesitation in recommending +it as an indispensable work to all aspiring violinists and +teachers. Your remarks on the acquirement of the various bowings, +with the many musical examples, are excellent. I know of no work +on this important subject so explicit and exhaustive. Wishing your +book the great success it deserves,</p> + +<p class="quotsig"> +Believe me, yours sincerely,</p> + +<p class="sig">GUIDO PAPINI. +</p> + + +<p class="p2">"I have read the 157 pages that go to form the book in question, +and can say, without any misgiving, that Mr. Althaus has successfully +achieved what he set out to do."—<i>Musical Standard.</i></p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12b" id="Page_12b">[12]</a></span></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_XII" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_XII"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. XII.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12mo., Cloth</span>, 1.00.</p> + +<h3><small>THE</small><br /> +Repairing and Restoration<br /> +of Violins,</h3> + +<p class="p2 center"><small>BY</small><br /> +HORACE PETHERICK.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Of the Music Jury, International Inventions Exhibition, South +Kensington, 1885; International Exhibition, Edinburgh, +1890; Expert in Law Courts, 1891; +President of the Cremona Society.</i></p> + +<p class="p2 center">WITH FIFTY ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR.</p> +<p class="p2 center">CONTENTS.</p> + +<p>The proper sort of glue—Its preparation and use—Loose fingerboards—Injuries +to the scroll—Insertion of fresh wood—Fracture +of peg-box and shell—Worn peg-holes—Refilling or boring same—Grafting—Lengthening +the neck—Treatment of worm-holes—Fixing +on graft on neck—Ways of removing the upper table and the neck—Cleansing +the interior—Closing of cracks in upper table—Getting +parts together that apparently do not fit—Treatment of warped +lower table—Repairing old end blocks by new ones—Matching wood +for large cracks—Replacing lost portions—Repairs to purfling—Removal +of a fixed sound-post—Fitting a fresh part of worm-eaten +rib—Lining a thin back—Fixing the bar—Varnishing, etc., etc.</p> + + +<p class="p2">"The author is a man of wide experience, and with him it is +a labour of love, so that few more suitable hands could be found +for the task. To him fiddles are quite human in their characteristics, +needing a 'physician within beck and call,' and developing +symptoms capable of temporary alleviation or permanent cure, as +the case may be, and no remedial measures are left undescribed."—<i>Musical +News.</i></p> + +<p>"Mr. Petherick is a man of wide experience in violins, so his +hints about the treatment and care of the instrument are invaluable. +His imaginary interviews are both clever and amusing, and, +moreover, contain useful information of what to do, and avoid, +in the treatment of violins."—<i>Hereford Times.</i></p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13b" id="Page_13b">[13]</a></span></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_XIII" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_XIII"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. XIII.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12mo., Cloth</span>, 1.00.</p> +<h3> +<big>THE VIOLIN:</big><br /> +Solo Playing, Soloists and Solos,</h3> + +<p class="p2 center"> +<small>BY</small><br /> +WILLIAM HENLEY.</p> + + +<p>"Mr. William Henley is an excellent performer, and his book, +'The Violin: Solo Playing, Soloists and Solos,' is the result of +considerable practice in the art he discusses.... The +opening advice to violin students, the insistence on tune first and +then on tone, the latter depending greatly for its excellence upon +the correctness of the former, is not only worth saying, but is +said well, and with conviction. Mr. Henley discriminates well +between violinists: Joachim, the classic; Carrodus, the plain; +Sarasate, the neat and elegant; and Wilhelmj, the fiery and +bold.... The list of violin concertos, given in the last +chapter but one of the book, seems a very complete one, and +should be useful for purposes of reference."—<i>The London and +Provincial Music Trades Review.</i></p> + +<p>"For the student whose intention it is to make the violin a +means of livelihood—the professional soloist or orchestral player +in embryo—this little work, written in a spirit of obvious sincerity, +is well-nigh invaluable.... The chapters on 'Teaching +and Studies,' 'The Artist,' 'Phrasing,' 'Conception,' and 'True +Feeling,' are very well written, and the whole work is worth careful +and diligent perusal."—<i>The Musical World.</i></p> + +<p>"The author of this book has thought much and deeply on the +fascinating subject of which he treats, and is entitled to a hearing.... The +author's remarks on 'Tone' are excellently conceived, +and of no small interest, the subject being less hackneyed +than that of ordinary technique. In his chapter on 'Style' he +reminds the readers of the many factors which go to the making +of a fine violinist, among which Style—which is the outcome of +the imagination and the sensibility of the player—is one of the +most important. The fine executant is common enough now-a-days, +but the fine stylist as rare as ever."—<i>Musical News.</i></p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14b" id="Page_14b">[14]</a></span></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_XIV" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_XIV"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. XIV.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12mo., Cloth</span>, 1.00.</p> + +<h3><big>SELECTED VIOLIN SOLOS,</big><br /> +<br /> +AND<br /> +<big>HOW TO PLAY THEM,</big></h3> + +<p class="p2 center"><small>BY</small><br /> +<big>BASIL ALTHAUS</big><br /> +(<i>Author of "Advice to Pupils and Teachers of the Violin."</i>)</p> + + +<p class="p2 center">With 283 Musical Examples.</p> + +<p class="p2 center">CONTENTS.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Introduction.</span></p> + +<p>SECTION I.</p> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">Grade</span> A.—Elementary Pieces.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Grade</span> B.—Easy, not exceeding First Position.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Grade</span> C.—Easy, using First and Third Position.<br /> +</p> + +<p>SECTION II.</p> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">Grade</span> D.—Moderately Difficult, not exceeding the Third Position.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Grade</span> E.—Moderately Difficult, as far as the Fifth Position.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Grade</span> F.—Difficult, especially as regards Sentiment and<br /> +Expression.<br /> +</p> + +<p>SECTION III.</p> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">Grade</span> G.—Difficult, using all Positions.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Grade</span> H.—Very Difficult, including Standard Concertos and<br /> +Concert Pieces.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Grade</span> I.—For Virtuosi.<br /> +</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15b" id="Page_15b">[15]</a></span></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_XV" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_XV"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. XV.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12mo., Cloth</span>, 1.00.</p> + + +<h3>THE<br /> +<big>VIOLIN AND ITS STORY:</big><br /> +<small>OR THE</small><br /> +HISTORY AND CONSTRUCTION<br /> +OF THE VIOLIN.</h3> + +<p class="p2 center"><i>Translated and Adapted from the German of</i><br /> +<big>HYACINTH ABELE</big><br /> +<br /> +<small>BY</small><br /> +<big>GEOFFREY ALWYN.</big></p> + +<p class="p2 center"><i>WITH TWENTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS.</i></p> + + +<p class="p2">"The school of Cremona is dealt with at great length, but in the +most interesting way. Short biographical sketches are given of +the great exponents of this school, which was founded by Andreas +Amati. To it belonged Antonio Stradivari, who is said to be the +greatest of all violin makers, and Joseph Guarnerius. The pupils +of the Amati and the others mentioned are duly tabulated before +the schools of Milan and Venice are discussed. Following these +we have the German school, etc., etc. Part III. of the book under +notice deals with the constituent parts of the violin, and there is +nothing that the seeker after knowledge cannot find here, even to +the number of hairs which should go to the making of a bow. +Strings, bridges, sound-posts, bass-bars, nuts, pegs—indeed, everything +about a violin is treated in an authoritative way. Not for a +very long time have we been so interested in a book, and for that +reason we wish our violin players to share that pleasure by getting +a copy."—<i>The Cumnock Chronicle.</i></p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16b" id="Page_16b">[16]</a></span></p> + + + + +<p class="adhead"><a name="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_XVI" id="THE_STRAD_LIBRARY_No_XVI"></a>"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. XVI.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12mo., Cloth</span>, 2.00.</p> + + +<h3><big>JOSEPH GUARNERIUS,</big><br /> +HIS WORK & HIS MASTER,</h3> + +<p class="p2 center"><small>BY</small><br /> +HORACE PETHERICK<br /> +(<i>Of the Music Jury, International Inventions Exhibition, South Kensington, +1885; International Exhibition, Edinburgh, 1890; Expert in Law +Courts, 1891; President of the Cremona Society</i>).</p> + +<p class="p2 center">With numerous Illustrations by the Author,<br /> +41 full-page Reproductions of Photographs,<br /> +<small>AND</small><br /> +220 pages of Letterpress.</p> + + +<p class="p2">"Mr. Petherick is well known in the musical world as a violin +expert with a special knowledge of the instruments made by the +Cremonese master."—<i>Lloyds.</i></p> + + +<p class="p2">This is the only exhaustive work published on +JOSEPH GUARNERIUS, and the Author claims to +have discovered his Teacher in Andreas Gisalberti, +whose name is here mentioned for the first time +as a maker of renown.</p> + +<p class="p2 center">NEW YORK:<br />CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 153-157, FIFTH AVENUE.<br /></p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h2>FOOTNOTES:</h2> + +<ol> +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-1" id="Footnote-1"></a> All biographical notices of Paganini, with the exception of that +in Riemann's "Dictionary of Music," give February 18th, 1784, as +the date of birth. The correct date seems to have been established +when the centenary celebration took place, in 1882.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-1">1</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-2" id="Footnote-2"></a> Anders, and others after him, give the name of the second +singer as Albertinotti. No such name can be traced, and it is +probable that it was the young Bertinotti, who was a juvenile +prodigy, appearing in opera at the age of twelve. She sang in +London about the year 1812.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-2">2</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-3" id="Footnote-3"></a> William Gardiner many years later spoke of the transparent +delicacy of Paganini's complexion, and said of his little son Achille +that he was the handsomest boy he had ever seen.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-3">3</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-4" id="Footnote-4"></a> Fétis calls it "Foudroyante exécution."</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-4">4</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-5" id="Footnote-5"></a> Naumann, "History of Music," p. 1140 (English Edition.)</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-5">5</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-6" id="Footnote-6"></a> Professor Julius Schottky.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-6">6</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-7" id="Footnote-7"></a> Cimarosa, who died in 1801, espoused the revolutionary cause +when the French army entered Italy, and was imprisoned and +condemned to death when the reaction came, but was restored to +liberty on condition of leaving Naples. He would, naturally, have +been popular with the Bonapartists, and it was rather ungenerous +vanity on the part of Paganini to have exulted over this particular +success.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-7">7</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-8" id="Footnote-8"></a> Laphaléque.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-8">8</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-9" id="Footnote-9"></a> Son of Giuseppe Dana, of Naples?</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-9">9</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-10" id="Footnote-10"></a> The Life of Rossini, p. 226.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-10">10</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-11" id="Footnote-11"></a> With the exception of a Literary Supplement to the "New +Musical and Universal Magazine," 1774, there was no publication +devoted to Music until the year 1818, when "The Quarterly Musical +Magazine and Review" appeared, edited by Robert Mackenzie +Bacon. This was followed in 1823 by "The Harmonicon," edited +by William Ayrton.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-11">11</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-12" id="Footnote-12"></a> Harmonicon, Vol. III., p. 37.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-12">12</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-13" id="Footnote-13"></a> Where Beethoven gave his concerts in 1814.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-13">13</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-14" id="Footnote-14"></a> The writer's memory played him false. The meeting with +Lafont took place in 1816; or, according to some, in 1812!</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-14">14</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-15" id="Footnote-15"></a> This letter was reproduced in the "Harmonicon."</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-15">15</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-16" id="Footnote-16"></a> Lady Morgan, in her book, "France in 1829-30," gives an +account of the Giraffe just then arrived in Paris. The animal was +added to the collection in the London Zoological Gardens in 1836.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-16">16</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-17" id="Footnote-17"></a> Litterateur, of Vienna: writer of comedies, etc.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-17">17</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-18" id="Footnote-18"></a> This letter was published in <i>The Quarterly Musical Magazine and +Review</i>.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-18">18</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-19" id="Footnote-19"></a> Addressed to <i>Le Corsaire</i>, and reproduced (in English) in <i>The +Globe</i>.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-19">19</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-20" id="Footnote-20"></a> An allusion to Michael Boai, whose performances in London, +in 1830, were of a curious description,—producing tones by merely +striking his chin!</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-20">20</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-21" id="Footnote-21"></a> The Dilettante, in <i>The Harmonicon</i>, VIII, 479.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-21">21</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-22" id="Footnote-22"></a> Now played in D.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-22">22</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-23" id="Footnote-23"></a> Harmonicon, IX. p. 190.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-23">23</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-24" id="Footnote-24"></a> At that time concert givers always engaged an orchestra, but +the gigantic combinations of the present day were, of course, +unknown, and unnecessary.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-24">24</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-25" id="Footnote-25"></a> Chorley, then living in Liverpool, had previously sent some +short pieces in verse to that paper, but did not become a member of +its staff until 1833.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-25">25</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-26" id="Footnote-26"></a> "Reminiscences," by Thomas Carlyle, I., 311.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-26">26</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-27" id="Footnote-27"></a> Which resulted in the Symphony, "Harold in Italy," with a +solo part for the viola.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-27">27</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-28" id="Footnote-28"></a> The spelling betrays an ignorance of the instrument, though +the writer must have been Chorley himself. Interest in those +antique instruments had not then been revived, nor were there +artists to play upon them.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-28">28</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-29" id="Footnote-29"></a> Pergolesi.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-29">29</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-30" id="Footnote-30"></a> The <i>Athenæum</i> puts the amount at 52,000 francs.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-30">30</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-31" id="Footnote-31"></a> In the <i>Musical World</i> of February 16th, 1843, there is a +paragraph stating that Paganini's remains were still unsepulchred, +the corpse lying in an uninhabited house.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-31">31</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-32" id="Footnote-32"></a> Life of Moscheles (English Edition), I., p. 252-7.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-32">32</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-33" id="Footnote-33"></a> Duranowski, a talented Polish violinist. He entered the +French army and was <i>aide-de-camp</i> to a General. He lost his rank +when released; returned to his violin, and was living at Strassburg +up to 1834.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-33">33</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-34" id="Footnote-34"></a> An engraving of it is in Naumann's "History of Music" +(English Edition), p. 255.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-34">34</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-35" id="Footnote-35"></a> Norwich.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-35">35</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-36" id="Footnote-36"></a> In the "Bow Bell's Annual" for 1878 (?)</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-36">36</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-37" id="Footnote-37"></a> Little is now known of this artist. He married Veronica, sister +of the pianist and composer J. L. Dussek, and was the father of +Pio Cianchettini, composer, who died at Cheltenham in 1851.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-37">37</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-38" id="Footnote-38"></a> Berlioz was then thirty-five, Paganini, fifty-six years of age.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-38">38</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-39" id="Footnote-39"></a> <span lang="de">Aus dem Tonleben unserer Zeit</span>, Vol. II., p. 55.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-39">39</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-40" id="Footnote-40"></a> Künstlerleben, p. 88.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-40">40</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-41" id="Footnote-41"></a> Life and Letters of Sir Charles Hallé, p. 69.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-41">41</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-42" id="Footnote-42"></a> The last words of Liszt's article "<span lang="fr">Sur Paganini, A Propos de +Sa Mort," published in the "<span lang="fr">Revue et Gazette Musicale de Paris</span>," +Decembe</span>r 23, 1840.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-42">42</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-43" id="Footnote-43"></a> Franz Liszt, Artist and Man, Vol. I., pp. 258-65.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-43">43</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-44" id="Footnote-44"></a> Karl Michael Esser, born about 1736, date of death unknown.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-44">44</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-45" id="Footnote-45"></a> In the Tonic Sol-fa method great stress is laid upon the mental +effect of each note of the scale, altogether apart from pitch.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-45">45</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-46" id="Footnote-46"></a> Life of Mozart, Otto Jhan, English Edition, I., 319.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-46">46</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-47" id="Footnote-47"></a> In 1883, several musical papers stated that a certain amateur +collector of violins, during a tour in Italy, visited the little Sardinian +village, Ameglia, and purchased a collection of instruments used by +Paganini, which were at that time in the possession of the widow of +L. M. Germi, the intimate friend of Paganini. The said amateur +also became possessed of "the secret," but what he did with it has +never transpired.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-47">47</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-48" id="Footnote-48"></a> Born at Mantua, 1798; died at Paris, 1834.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-48">48</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-49" id="Footnote-49"></a> "The Violin," by George Hart. Popular Edition, 1880, p. 202.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-49">49</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-50" id="Footnote-50"></a> It is strange that the Biographical Dictionaries are silent concerning +Oury, who must have been a man of some note. He is +merely named as the husband of Anna Caroline de Belleville, the +once famous pianist (1806-1880), who made her début in London at +a Paganini concert in 1831.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-50">50</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-51" id="Footnote-51"></a> The Story of the Violin by Paul Stoeving, p. 208.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-51">51</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-52" id="Footnote-52"></a> Lapheléque, p. 45.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-52">52</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-53" id="Footnote-53"></a> Carl F. W. Guhr, born at Militsch, Silesia, October 30th, 1787, +violinist, pianist and composer, became Director of the Museum +Concerts and Conductor of the Opera at Frankfort-on-the-Main, in +which city he died July 22nd, 1848.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-53">53</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-54" id="Footnote-54"></a> Mrs. Tom Taylor (<i>née</i> Laura Wilson Barker) was a fine +musician, a composer, and almost phenomenal performer on the +pianoforte and the violin. She played with both Spohr and +Paganini, and took down this set of variations after hearing +Paganini play them twice. She died at Coleshill, Bucks, May 22nd, +1905, at the advanced age of eighty-six.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-54">54</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-55" id="Footnote-55"></a> Gustavo Carulli was the son of the celebrated guitarrist, +Ferdinando Carulli, and was born at Leghorn in 1801.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-55">55</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-56" id="Footnote-56"></a> They were performed at the private quartet concerts given by +Mr. Burnett in the Art Club, Blackheath, from about the year +1893 onward.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-56">56</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-57" id="Footnote-57"></a> <i>The Quarterly Musical Magazine and Review</i>, Vol. X., p. 205.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-57">57</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-58" id="Footnote-58"></a> Reproduced on <a href="#Illustration_Plate_24">page 144</a>.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-58">58</a>]</span> </li> + +<li class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote-59" id="Footnote-59"></a> <i>The Musical Times</i>, May 1st, 1886.</p> +<span class="label">[<a title="Return to text." href="#Anchor-59">59</a>]</span> </li> +</ol> +</div> +<div class="transnote"> +<h2>Transcriber's Notes</h2> +<p>"Nicolò" and "Nicolo" were both used in the text. Many other +variant and alternative spellings have been preserved, except where +obviously misspelled in the original. Obvious punctuation errors have also been corrected.</p> + +<p>The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up +paragraphs and so that they are next the text they illustrate. Thus the +location of an illustration may not match the references to it in the text.</p> + +<p>The printed text was followed by two series of advertisements. The first +series was reproduced in the second, except with American rather than +British pricing. The first series bore a header "Advertisements." on each +page; this has been replaced by a heading preceding the advertisements. +Only the second series had page numbers.</p> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Nicolo Paganini: His Life and Work, by +Stephen Samuel Stratton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NICOLO PAGANINI: HIS LIFE AND WORK *** + +***** This file should be named 39571-h.htm or 39571-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/5/7/39571/ + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Henry Flower and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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