Devilish Variations on Paganini's Caprice No 24
The Best Moments
Caprice No. 24 in A minor, Op. 1, No. 24, MS 25
I am Niccolò Paganini, and right here I have gathered the best moments of my Caprice No 24. You will hear how I take one short, restless tune for solo violin and push it through eleven variations that stretch a player's hands to their very limits. If you would also like to recognize our music the moment it starts playing, my fellow composers and I can help when you visit our Trainer .
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A polite lie at the door
I open Caprice No 24 on a single unaccompanied violin with a quick, bouncy little tune in A minor that sounds almost deceptively polite. It is a bit like inviting a friend over for a quiet walk and forgetting to mention that the path goes straight up a cliff.
Ten fingers would be nice
As I move through the middle variations, I put that simple melody through a workout of fast scales, wide leaps, and notes plucked with the same left hand that is already busy holding down the strings. When the piece was published in 1820, plenty of other violinists looked at the page and decided it was simply impossible to play, as if I had written it for someone with a spare hand hidden in his coat.
At least the sun comes out
For the finale, I finally let the music brighten into A major and send the violin racing right to the last note without stopping for breath. Years later, I jokingly dedicated this final piece in my own copy of the score to myself—regrettably buried—which feels fair enough after the workout it gives the player.
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Did you enjoy walking through the best moments of Caprice No 24 with me? Even after all those leaps and fireworks, there is still plenty more to discover about the life this music took on once it left my hands, from the wild rumours about my playing to the many composers who borrowed my tune for their own works. If you are curious to hear the rest of the story, just click on the links on this page and we can explore Caprice No 24 a little further together.
Recording: Steinaco, Public domain