Author, Lecturer, Broadcaster & Cultural Arts Expert;
President of Art Collage JANG/J Music/J Art/J Books & Media.
Author of over 40 books published on Amazon, including The Crimson Horror series and The Great and Immortal Painters’ Stories series.
Dedicated to sharing insights into art, culture, literature, and creative expression through writing, lectures, media, and content creation.
“Echoes of a
Fading Light” is a breathtaking Classical
Crossover composition that blends emotional depth with elegant simplicity. The
piece opens with a gentle piano motif that sets a sorrowful yet beautiful tone.
As the violin enters with long, expressive phrases, the music unfolds like a
story of lost memories and quiet heartbreak. The cello adds warmth and weight,
grounding the emotion with its rich timbre. This track is a perfect companion
for moments of reflection and emotional release.
Creator/Ownership/Copyright:Seungyong Chang (Steve J) & J Music
I start a new music program “Interesting
Music Story” from today.
This program is organized by
selecting music and introducing the stories related to the selected music, for
various music genres such as classical music, jazz, pop, world music, and new
age.
I selected “Classical Music” as the
first music genre, and the first music to be introduced today is “Devil's Trill Sonata” by Giuseppe Tartini.
It's not uncommon for composers to
create new works by accidentally inspired, but there are always interesting
stories around them obsessed with creation. Such is the case with “Violin
Sonata in G minor” by Giuseppe Tartini.
Giuseppe Tartini
The “Violin Sonata in G minor”,
better known as the “Devil's Trill Sonata”, is a
solo violin piece by Giuseppe Tartini, born after he dreamed of making a deal
with the devil for his soul. It is the composer's most famous piece, and an
extremely difficult challenge for even the most accomplished performers due to
its technically difficult passages.
He woke up and swore that he would
recreate what he had heard in his dream. However, he later wrote that "the
composition I wrote were so inferior compared to what I had heard in my dreams,
that I would have broken my violin and abandoned music forever if I could have
been able to make a living by any other means."
In other words, although
the composer considered the “Devil's Trill Sonata” to be his best work, he always
felt that his work was too inferior compared to the devil's performance he had
heard in his dream.
This sonata was not published until
1798 (or 1799), almost thirty years after the composer's death, and became the
basis for Cesare Pugni's 1849 ballet “Le Violon du diable” and Chopin's
“Prelude No. 27”.
“The Devil's Violinist” is
a 2013 film based on the biography of Niccolò Paganini, an Italian violinist
and composer of the 19th century.
Niccolò Paganini by John Whittle
Niccolò Paganini was an Italian violinist and
composer who was born on October 27, 1782 and died on May 27, 1840. He was the
most famous violin virtuoso of his time and had a great influence on the
establishment of modern violin technique. His "24 Caprices for Solo Violin
Op. 1" is the most famous of his works and have inspired many prominent
composers. The film had its USA premiere at the Miami International Film
Festival on March 10, 2014.
Movie
Review
“Wonderful story inspired
by Nicolo Paganini's real life”
"Worth to watch”
“Absolute Brilliance,
perfect snapshot, not to be missed”
This week's lecture is “Niccolò
Paganini”, the 16th topic of “Classical Music”, which is a summary of the contents of “101.
Classical Music: 16. Niccolò Paganini” introduced on September
2nd, 2017.
Niccolò Paganini was an
Italian violinist and composer who was born on October 27, 1782 and died on May
27, 1840.
Portrait of Niccolò Paganini, Andrea Cefaly
Born the third of the
six children of Antonio and Teresa Paganini in Genoa, the capital of the
Republic of Genoa at the time, he began learning the mandolin from his father
at the age of five and moved to the violin at the age of seven.
Location of Genoa
Although he
studied under various local violinists, including Giovanni Servetto and Giacomo
Costa, his musical talents soon surpassed their abilities, after which Paganini
and his father traveled to Parma to receive further instruction from Alessandro
Rolla. However, after listening to Paganini's playing, Rolla immediately
introduced him to his teacher, Ferdinando Paer, and later, his teacher, Gasparo
Ghiretti.
Alessandro Rolla
Ferdinando Paër
In 1801, Paganini was
appointed first violinist of the Republic of Lucca, but he still earned most of
his income from freelancing.
Annexed by Napoleon of
France in 1805, Lucca was ruled by Napoleon's sister, Elisa Baciocchi, and
Paganini became a violinist for the Baciocchi court, while giving private
lessons to Elisa's husband, Felice. In 1807, Baciocchi became the Grand Duchess
of Tuscany and her court was moved to Florence, but Paganini left Baciocchi in
1809.
Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi
For the next few years,
Paganini performed in the areas surrounding Parma and Genoa, becoming very
popular with the local audiences, but still remained unknown in the rest of
Europe. In 1813, with the great success of the concert at La Scala in Milan, he
began to attract the attention of many prominent musicians across Europe.
La Scala
In 1835, Paganini
returned to Parma at the request of Napoleon's second wife, Archduchess Marie
Louise of Austria, and was in charge of reorganizing her court orchestra, but
due to the conflicts with the players and the court, his visions were never
completed.
Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma
In 1836, Paganini
returned to Paris to establish a casino, but his failure led him to financial
bankruptcy and eventually forced him to auction his personal belongings,
including his musical instruments. At Christmas of 1838, he left Paris for
Marseille and, after a brief stay, and travelled to Nice, where his health
deteriorated. In May 1840, the Bishop of Nice sent Paganini a local parish
priest to perform the last rites, but Paganini rejected the rites because he
thought it was premature.
Bulletin advertising a performance of Paganini (1831)
However, just a week later, he died from internal
hemorrhaging, and because of this and rumors of dealings with the devil, the
Church refused his body a Catholic burial in Genoa. Then, it took four years to
move his body from Nice to Genoa, but his body was still left unburied.
Finally, in 1876, his body was buried in a cemetery in Parma, and in 1896 it
was moved again to a new cemetery in Parma.
Tomb of Paganini, Parma, Italy
He was the most famous
violin virtuoso of his time and made a great contribution to the establishment
of modern violin technique. His “24 Caprices for Solo Violin Op. 1” are his
most famous works and have inspired many prominent composers.
.jpg)
.jpg)
