Evening star., 1940-05-26

port Of his avariciouSness, he was
helpful toward fellow artists and
generous toward his family. He
charged enormous fees for his ap-
pearances, but he knew that he was
a curiosity aside from being a great
artist and capitalized his drawing
power even as is done in this day.
All this, together with his disap-
pearance from public view for five
years, his associations with the high
est In the land, his strange PERSONAL
ity and striking appearance, built
up vivid interest in the man who
could make the violin speak as it
had never spoken before.
However, these things belong to
the external man who prof1ted by
the publicity which his strangeness
brought him. The artist in him dis
covered wider vocabulary for the
violin in his development of the
harmonics which, until he under
stood their power, were but rarely
used and then only for particular
effects. But as Paganini employed
them, every half tone had its har-
monic which heightened the range
of tone to unprecedented heights.
His use Of the harmonic in double
stops, the extraordinary brilliance
and speed Of his staccato and pizzi-
cato passages and the purity and
f1eetness of his chromatic scale
aroused his listeners to a frenzy of
admiration.
Method Guarded.
He was as original a composer
as a performer. He was the first
to write a melody for one string
and to play that melody with the
accompaniment on the other strings.
In a message to one Of his inamo-
rata, he once played a love duet,
using the G and E strings exclusively
to represent the male and female
voices. His facility on the guitar
was also Of phenomenal sort, al
though he always refused to per-
form on it in public. The rich tone
Of the guitar and its many harmonic
possibilities were utilized by him
for greater effects on the violin.
His writings and his method of play
ing were carefully guarded. so that
the mystery surrounding him was
enhanced by his secrecy.
During his lifetime several vio-
linists sought to equal him, only
one, Sivori, however, in whom
Paganini took personal interest,
reaching anything like the masters
fame. His influence has been potent
ever since his death and reflected
in the performances of Sarasate,
Kukelik and the brilliant artists of
today. to whom the technique of
Paganini is an open book. The only
problem unsolved is the secret (of
which he boasteO how to acquire
such extraordinary facility in a
short space Of time when 1t has re-
quired years for others to accom-
plish.
He died with his violin in his
hand. Mystery did not leave him
even then, and what became of his
remains for five years until finally
inferred in Parma is not positively
ascertained. 1t was supposed that
because Paganini claimed himself
"in league with the devil" burial
in sacred ground was denied him.
Another theory is that he died of
the plague in Nice and to avoid
cremation, his body was taken to
st. Ferreol, where it remained until
his son was permitted to remove it
to Italy. Whatever the reason, a
monument is being erected at lonely
st. Ferreol through the efforts of
Juan Manen, the Spanish violinist,
where an empty tomb is thought
to be the first burial place of the
great artist. Greater than a monu-
ment of stone is the monument of
artistry that has grown out of his
superior gifts and the carrying on
Of the traditions which he orig
mated by the great violinists who
followed him.