Clesh: Paganini caprice 13

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Paganini caprice 13
7 minutes, 19 seconds long
Published 22 December, 2009
Keywords: Jack Glatzer
There was never a violinist, not even a musician like Niccolo Paganini. The reports that we have of his relatively short tour in the capitals of Europe, only six and a half years are so bewildering and so astounding people would wait all night to pay fortunes to hear him play. The reason for this of course was his phenomenal technique, he absolutely broke past all of the classical barriers of the violin that was developed in the 18th century, and people were so astounded by that technique that he became associated with the devil. Like Faust he sold his soul to the devil and in exchange received that magic supernatural power. They said that even his strings were not normal, that they were made of his wife's gut which he had which he had ripped out of her intestines. Terrible stories which really backfired on Paganini, because they led to his alienation, to people becoming suspicious of him as we'll see, even to his body not being able to be buried in consecrated ground. But because of the prodigious technique and the bizarre nature of the diabolic pact sometimes people lose contact with the great expressive music that we have in Paganini and particularly in the caprice's which were undoubtedly his masterpieces. What he adds to the caprice, which is a light study filled with technical virtuosity that's so important, its the musical profundity and the musical expression, the depth and that's why these works can be fulfilling works for an entire lifetime for a violinist. Not only the technical side of it but also the musical expression, and I think its worth to look at these caprice's in relation to his own great life struggle to that sadness, the poignancy, to the communication, to the mystery which is all there but very often the technique is so amazing that one can stop at this admiration and just in a way become lost in Paganini's famous technique. But I think this is unjust and unfair because I think the technique serves something much more important, it serves a delivery of romanticism in violin music. It's a new world of sounds and establishes a deep expression and communication that has never been surpassed. And one of the reviewers in Paris really wrote so beautifully that I would like to quote this 'It was truly the revelation of a new world. It was art in its most varied and striking manifestations. The violin of Paganini laughs, sighs, threatens, blasphemes and prays in turn.' I think it's a good idea to begin the complete 24 caprice's by playing the 13th caprice because it is an entrance to that diabolic side of Paganini that so fascinated Europe. In fact it's called 'The Devil's Laugh' and its called The Devil's Laugh because of the outrageous slide in thirds of the upper two strings up to a high searing note and then all of a sudden jerking down. [Music] And that's The Devil's Laugh. Now there's a playfulness about the beginning devil's laugh, so we're not dealing with a devil of mephistostophelean proportions but a sort of friendly devil, but certainly a devil of great virtuosity. And that virtuosity is seen in the second part of, where the bow and the fingers move at breakneck speeds and there's very quick changes of string from the lowest to the highest string. [Music] It was something so exciting to see Paganini playing these things, that people could hardly believe their eyes. In fact Paganini describes himself in a fabulous quotation that might apply to seeing this 13th caprice. Someone he said, affirmed that he had seen nothing surprising in my performance for he had distinctly seen the devil at my elbow directing my arm and guiding my bow. My resemblance to him was a proof of my origin, he was clothed in red, had horns on his head and carried his tail between his legs. [Music]