Niccolò Paganini
Caprice No.16
His compositions are considered as vehicles for his showmanship and extravagant pyrotechnics, more familiar through transcriptions and variations made by other composers than in their original form.
Perry, Jeffery. Paganini's Quest: The Twenty-four Capricci per violino solo, Op. 1. University of California Press. 2004
Niccolò
Paganini
Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840) is an iconic composer of the Romantic Era. His composition is considered as vehicles of the Nineteenth-century repertoires. One of the fastest and powerful repertoires is 24 Caprices for Violin Solo. With the varieties of techniques and full of fascinating melodies. 24 Caprices were performed by violinists all over the world because they thought 24 Caprices are very challenging and hard to play.
Caprice No.16
I've chosen Caprice no.16 to perform in my recital. Caprices no.16 was written in Gm and full of 16th notes for 2 pages. Fast notes were repeated in different ways, for example, the arpeggios that repeated in the different keys or the contour that repeated again and again. With a very fast tempo the accent make this piece full of colours and more interesting.
I've seen some spots of this piece that there is the same Idea as the minimal piece name's Phrygian Gate by John Adams. He uses an accent to pop interesting notes or melodies to come out. Both pieces are in very different style but they have this in common.
Performance
Daily Routine
This piece has very repetitive elements. Paganini only changes the pitches, while the contour and rhythm stay the same. The elements of this piece including arpeggios in the different chords and big string crossings. In this case, this repetition does not involve development but instead has the same elements and changes only pitch so we can feel the same contour and feel like it's repeating over and over. The fast tempo and the repeating contour make some excitement and the audience can feel like the music is going mad. Repetition in a fast loop can be like madness.