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Paganini

Niccolò Paganini (1782–1840) was the most celebrated violinist of his age, whose technique was so far beyond what contemporaries could explain that audiences across Europe seriously debated whether he had made a pact with the Devil. He refused to publish his compositions during his lifetime, knowing that the manuscripts would allow rivals to study what had taken him decades to perfect. The Church took the Devil rumours literally: when he died in Nice the Bishop refused him a Catholic burial, and his body remained unburied for several years before his son secured a proper resting place. The 24 Caprices he withheld remain the benchmark of solo violin writing.

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