Niccolò Paganini, 1782-1840. Concerto No. 1 in E flat Major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 6 (First Movement). Scored for 2 each flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, and trumpets, 3 trombones, tympani, cymbals, bass drum, and strings.
History is filled with tales of musicians who specialized in dazzling their audiences, but perhaps none was so technically impressive as Niccolò Paganini, who was so talented that some listeners thought he must have made a pact with the devil. According to contemporary accounts, he was able to make his violin sound like various wind instruments, human voices, and even a donkey. He often used a guitar to find interesting-sounding chords which he would then transfer to his primary instrument. He invented many extraordinary techniques, such as left-hand pizzicato, which have since become standard.
Paganini, first and foremost a consummate showman, specialized in pleasing crowds. A favorite trick was to equip his violin with an old and frayed string, so that it would break in the middle of a performance. He would then finish the piece on the remaining three strings, to thunderous applause.
Always careful to maintain his reputation for unmatched technical skill, Paganini composed numerous works designed to show himself to best advantage, but allowed only a few to be published, fearing that to do so would reveal his most important secrets. Although it was composed sometime between 1811 and 1815, the First Concerto was not published until after his death in 1840.
In form, the Concerto recalls those of composers of the Classical Period, notably Mozart, rather than the more contemporary works of Beethoven. The orchestral introduction is so long that it leaves the audience wondering if perhaps the soloist is there merely for decoration. Once the violin enters, however, there is immediately no question about his true purpose. The Concerto may not be the most musically inventive ever written, but there is no question about the opportunities it affords a young virtuoso to display technical prowess. Leaping immediately into extreme high notes, glittering arpeggios, and finger-twisting chordal passages, it leaves most listeners dazzled by its obvious difficulty, while experienced string players gape and unconsciously massage their left hands.
© 1995, Geoff Kuenning
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