PAGANINI, Niccolo
b Genoa, 17 October 1782
d Nice, 27 May 1840, aged fifty-seven

The son of a dockyard worker, he was a violin virtuoso by the time he was eleven, and received tuition from famous teachers. In his mid-teens a number of concerts in Italy ensured that he was no longer poverty-stricken, but success made him gamble and drink so heavily that it nearly killed him. Nursed back to health by a noblewoman who befriended him, he resumed giving concerts at the age of twenty-three, but in 1824 his indulgences caused another breakdown. After his recovery in 1827 he made triumphant tours of Austria, Germany, France, and Westphalia where he was made a baron. He also visited Britain. In the late 1830s his health and his luck began to fail, and he died of a disease of the larynx. His legendary pact with the Devil ensured that he could not be buried in consecrated ground, and his body continued to be moved around until 1926.

1795 (13)

Variations on 'La Carmagnole'

1807 (25)

Sonata, Napoleone

1810 (28)

Polacca con Variazione, for violin and orchestra

1813 (31)

Le Streghe, variations on theme of Sussmeyer, for violin and orchestra

1815 (33)

Concerto for violin

1816 (34)

Sonata, Maria Luisa

1817 (35)

Concerto No 1

1819 (37)

Inno all'armonia, cantata (lost)

Introduction and Variations on 'Non piu mesta'

Introduction and Variations on 'Di tanti palpiti'

Introduction and Variations on 'Dal tuo stellato soglio'

1825 (43)

Sonata, Militaire

1826 (44)

Concerto No 2

Concerto No 3

1828 (46)

E Pur Amabile, canzonetta for voice and piano

La Tempesta, for chorus and orchestra

Maestoso sonata sentimentale

Sonata and Variations on 'Pria ch'io l'impegno'

1828-30 (46-8)

Le Couvent du St Bernard, for male voices and orchestra

1829 (47)

Variations on 'God Save the King'

Variations on 'O mamma, mamma cara'

Sonata, Varsavia

Sonata, Appassionata

1830 (48)

Quel jours heureux, for solo, chorus and piano

Concerto No 4

Concerto No 5

Moto Perpetuo, for violin and orchestra

1831 (49)

Sonata amorosa galante

Potpourri, for violin and orchestra (violin part lost)

St Patrick's Day, variations on an Irish song

Sonatina e Polacchetta

Concertino for bassoon, horn and orchestra

1834 (52)

Sonata for viola and orchestra

1838 (56)

Sonata, La Primavera

Paganini also wrote chamber music and works for solo violin and guitar.