Evening star., 1940-05-26

around him, both as to his personal
life and his art, legends that leaned
toward the fantastic and which
created the impression that has per-
sisted to this day of some diaboli-
cal association that helped him to
his astounding technical feats. Yet
in spite of the feeling of unreality
in his art, he was genius so far in
advance of his time as to find few to
comprehend the magnitude Of his
vision.
The revolution, of which he was
the instigator, in the type of writing
for and the manner of playing the
violin has reached height to be
appreciated today in the superior
artists of the violin. In the day
Of Paganini, however, he had no
imitators, for it was. believed that
the new inventions that he intro
duced into his playing and the bril-
liancy of his style were exclusively
his own and could never be adopted
by others. Yet, once heard, the
technical feats that he performed
could never be forgotten nor would
other artists rest until they had
emulated them. The result has been
most rewarding. amplifying the
scope of the violin and bringing
forward performers who have
mastered the difficulties of the in
strument in a way to give un-
dreamed of pleasure to their listen
ers.
Created Ill-Health.
The entire art OF Paganini
stemmed from his childhood. The
harshness with which he was treated
by his ambitious father, alleviated
somewhat by his mother, who be-
lieved in his ultimate success, was at
the root OF his accomplishment in the
artistic sense as well as the reason
for the erratic mode of life which he
adopted after being freed from home
restraint. The favorite punishment
for the child when he rebelled against
the long hours of practice demand
ed of him was to deprive him of food,
and this method sowed the seeds Of
ill-health which dogged his foot
steps all his life. Yet the severe
supervision of his father was re-
sponsible for the remarkable tech
nique with which the boy was soon
to win wide acclaim.
The strictness Of his treatment by
his family sought its recompense in
every kind of liberty when at last he
proved that he could earn his liv-
ing by his playing. His chief fault
was gambling, yet to it he owed the
possession Of the fine Guarnerius
violin which, since his death, reposed
under glass in a museum in Genoa.
The story of how he arrived for
concert without an instrument, hav-
ing lost his in payment of gambling
debt, and the loan of q Guarnerius
by an admirer, who refused to take
1t back after hearing Paganini play,
Is well known. 1t remains as an
other proof Of the extraordinary
enthusiasm which was aroused by
Paganini's art.
That he was a Snowman as well
as an artist cannot be doubted.
Many called him a charlatan be-
cause of the new effects which he
used so easily and which were, at
that time, not accounted of any
artistic value. But underneath all
his wild behavior and his love for
display was deep musical nature
and an insight into the future that
only a genius could possess. He
rarely practiced after those early
strenuous years except when he had
written something so difficult that
he had to work in order to per-
form it.
Helpful to Others.
His success was phenomenal in
every country he visited and he
managed to acquire a fortune in
spite of his gambling. Intrinsi-
cally this fame did not change his
nature or his frugal manner OF liv-
ing. Contrary to circulated re-