Many of you will have heard of Paganini, the great Italian violinist of the nineteenth century, his compositions and his historic performances influenced Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, and even Rachmaninov who in 1934 was still writing his variations on a theme by Paganini. Let's go, Paganini! the violinist who according to legend made a pact with the devil. I know you know him! in fact, among the comments I receive most often is “could you bring a video about Paganini?” “when is a video about paganini?” “I know that one day you will make a video on Nicolò Paganini”. Well my dear Milomilo I believe that day has come. Welcome back to Ancient Music for Dummies. hey hi, I'm Francesco and on my channel I talk about music, classical, ancient, modern. All the music! I invite you to subscribe to the channel, to stay updated on all the new videos, and if you want to support me by subscribing to the channel, you will have access to my music theory and solfeggio course from zero to Bach. A course that will guide you through 10 progressive levels such as Remora level, or Golden Retriever level and finally the highest level, the Bach level. Yes it's right after Golden Retriever... Today we're talking about Nicolò Paganini, the first thing to know about Paganini is that he was a fucking monster. Paganini had what in specialist medical jargon is called: big hands. In fact he was probably suffering from Marfan syndrome. Let's go and see what it's all about. Ah sure, fibrillin 1, chromosome 15, ok, forma fruste, well yes, basically you have big hands. Paganini's hands were so noteworthy that after his death someone thought it appropriate to make a plaster cast of them. Wow this would make a great paperweight. This physical characteristic of Paganini, combined with the continuous and exhausting practice to which he subjected himself, explains the unattainable virtuosity contained in his compositions which made him famous throughout Europe. Compositions like his whims. 24 violin pieces published in the roaring 1820s. Which will have an incredible impact on the history of music. Also because the violinist tirelessly performed throughout the continent for years, enjoying great success. Is Paganini showing off his technique in this Capriccio No. 5? and immediately the composer Schumann, envious, adapted it for piano. Paganini drops the finale of his violin concerto number 2. “the bell” and Liszt immediately has to show that he can do it too and composes his bell: Paganini's technique was terrifying, but he too was no different. Besides his big hands he had no teeth. He had lost them all due to a mercury treatment, his mouth had drooped, he was very pale, his eyes protruded from their sockets because he had been made incredibly gaunt by syphilis. Of course he also had syphilis! And it was precisely these physical characteristics that gave rise to the legend of Paganini. The violinist who had made a pact with the devil better known as Satan or the devil in Christian mythology is a malevolent being sometimes represented with horns or as Saddam Hussein's boyfriend... And what did Paganini ask the devil? asked him to get his teeth back? No. He asked him for a refined technique on the violin. Paganini fueled this legend. His whim no. 13 was nicknamed “the devil's laugh”. these descending passages on double strings represent laughter which is then elaborated into a series of octaves broken by the diabolical difficulty. Paganini had reached this virtuosic level, spending many hours studying, also and above all during his long convalescences, yes because one thing I didn't tell you about Paganini is that he was the most unlucky person in the world. The illnesses Paganini had had. Paganini was in poor health. And this was precisely what made him a great musician. Paganini had had, in order: one measles, but not normal measles, a complication known as measles encephalitis, which brought him to the brink of death, 2 pneumonia, during which, locked in the house he studied for up to 10 hours a day, wow maybe it was the neighbors who gave it to him, 3 tuberculosis, accompanied by necrosis of the jaw bone. Wow, Paganini, why don't you try some water and lemon in the morning, every now and then you can go for a bit of jogging maybe because you eat your vegetables? Paganini actually fueled the legends about him, think that he used to cut all the strings of the violin, and break them one by one during his overwhelming performances, he left only one intact, the G string, and often ended the concert on this one. The fantasia Moses, ms 23 by paganini for example is a piece played entirely on the G string, which makes it very difficult for violinists. According to some, Paganini was a serial killer, yes why not? and used the guts of his victims as violin strings. Besides being a fucking monster, he always dressed in black, and wore sunglasses, with dark lenses, he was practically Ozzy Osbourne of the 1800s. But did you know that Paganini, in addition to being Lurch of the Addams Family, was also a great composer? In his production the concertos for solo violin stand out. In the first concert Paganini does not disdain the typical virtuosity that characterized him. But then it moves on to warm, romantic, enveloping and melodious sounds: the second movement of the concert is inspired by the "prison aria", a particular type of aria common in Italian opera between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The presence of the bass drum, combined with cymbals and timpani gives the concert a band-like, military character. The violin is like a character in an opera, abandoned in a dark cell, moaning and complaining. The third movement has a lively and popular character. Paganini wrote the violin part in D major for this concert, but in reality the concert was performed by detuning the violin and tuning it a semitone higher. Through this detuning, certain passages were easier to perform, such as this fast descending scale at the beginning of the movement: Paganini also had his tricks... moreover, he also sold caramels with his name, he sold them at concerts, I'll tell you this information like this, without adding anything else... but, what if you don't know what a semitone is, well my solfeggio and music theory course from zero to Bach can help you, have you ever heard of it? 10 lessons available only for channel subscribers. And full of very funny jokes, especially the jokes episode, but also the others. Here is a small excerpt from the episode dedicated to the Guidonian hand: hahaha, how can I be so funny, maybe I made a deal with the devil!? but what did we learn today? we learned that Paganini was practically the Yngwie Malmsteen of the 1800s. in short he was a fucking monster, not only on the instrument but also in life. I greet you, bye