Niccolò paganini 24 caprices for solo violin
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Niccolò Paganini
Biography
Niccolò Paganini (born October 27, 1782, Genoa, Italy — died May 27, 1840, Nice, France) was an Italian composer and principal violin virtuoso of the 19th century. A popular idol, he inspired the Romantic mystique of the virtuoso and revolutionized violin technique.
After initial study with his father, Paganini studied with a local violinist, G. Servetto, and then with the celebrated Giacomo Costa. He made his first appearance in 1793 and then studied with Alessandro Rolla and Gaspare Ghiretti at Parma. In 1797, accompanied by his father, he toured Lombardy, where with each concert his reputation grew. Gaining his independence soon after, he indulged excessively in gambling and romantic love affairs. At one point he pawned his violin because of gambling debts; a French merchant lent him a Guarneri violin to play a concert and, after hearing him, gave him the instrument.
Between 1801 and 1807 he wrote the 24 Capricci for unaccompanied violin, displaying the novel features of his technique, and the two sets of six sonatas for violin and guitar. He reap
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Born in Genoa in 1782 (and not 1784, as erroneously held in some biographies), Nicolò Paganini (Fig. 1), left an undeniable mark, not only on the history of instrumental music, but also on social life at the beginning of the 19th Century. He was, indeed, the most sincere expression of synthesis between genius and nonconformist. Intelligence manifested at a very early age, with a history very similar, from this point of view, to that of Mozart, and he very soon became the idle of the masses passing from one success to another, throughout the capitals of Europe. Romantic ideals profoundly permeated not only his activity as an exceptional performer and bright composer, but also his entire existence as an artist and man. Paganini’s life was, in fact, truly hectic, undisciplined and vagabond which certainly contributed to the onset of the many morbid events that affected him, particularly in later life when the universal fame, already reached and consolidated, would have allowed him to lead a much quieter life (Fig. 2).
Fig. 1.
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Niccolò Paganini was born on October 27, 1782 in Genoa, in a building that no longer exists at 38 Via Gatta Mora, to Antonio Paganini and Teresa Bocciardo. At the age of seven he was initiated by his father, an amateur musician and packer of goods at the port, into the study of the mandolin, a very popular instrument in Genoa, followed later by that of the violin and guitar: the study regimen imposed by his father, who hoped to make his son a musical phenomenon, was harsh and forced Paganini into hardships and days of intense study. The father's study of the mandolin was not easy.
From 1792 Paganini was tutored by violinist Giovanni Cervetto, composer Francesco Gnecco, and later Giacomo Costa; on May 31, 1794, 11-year-old Niccolò performed for the first time as a soloist at the San Filippo Oratorio. In 1796 he attended Alessandro Rolla's lessons in Parma. After holding two academies in Modena in December 1800, he returned to Genoa in 1801 and deepened his study of the guitar; with this instrument, of which he would acquire absolute mastery, Paganini
Niccolò Paganini was born on October 27, 1782 in Genoa, in a building that no longer exists at 38 Via Gatta Mora, to Antonio Paganini and Teresa Bocciardo. At the age of seven he was initiated by his father, an amateur musician and packer of goods at the port, into the study of the mandolin, a very popular instrument in Genoa, followed later by that of the violin and guitar: the study regimen imposed by his father, who hoped to make his son a musical phenomenon, was harsh and forced Paganini into hardships and days of intense study. The father's study of the mandolin was not easy.
From 1792 Paganini was tutored by violinist Giovanni Cervetto, composer Francesco Gnecco, and later Giacomo Costa; on May 31, 1794, 11-year-old Niccolò performed for the first time as a soloist at the San Filippo Oratorio. In 1796 he attended Alessandro Rolla's lessons in Parma. After holding two academies in Modena in December 1800, he returned to Genoa in 1801 and deepened his study of the guitar; with this instrument, of which he would acquire absolute mastery, Paganini
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