{"id":52160,"date":"2025-01-27T15:56:55","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T14:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/5a373621-e196-44df-ba21-9d58501a4001"},"modified":"2025-01-27T17:09:20","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T16:09:20","slug":"the-best-paganini-caprices-7-dazzlingly-difficult-works-for-violin","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/the-best-paganini-caprices-7-dazzlingly-difficult-works-for-violin\/","title":{"rendered":"The best Paganini Caprices: 7 dazzlingly difficult works for violin"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By <\/p>

Published: Monday, 27 January 2025 at 14:56 PM<\/p>

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Read on to discover Mar\u00eda Due\u00f1as’s favourite Paganini Caprices – notoriously difficult works for the violin…<\/strong><\/p>

Best Paganini Caprices<\/h4>
Caprice No. 2<\/h3>
My favourite Paganini<\/a><\/strong> caprices are those in which the melodic line and structure play an equally important role as virtuosity. The Second is a fine example of this. Although it has many technical hurdles, it also has a purity to it, almost like a prayer; in fact, it reminds me a bit of Bach<\/a><\/strong>. I came to it relatively late, when I was 18 or so, but for me it is one of the most emotionally charged caprices. I love the challenge of doing justice to its musical qualities.<\/p>

Paganini’s violin: a guide to the great Italian violinist’s treasured ‘Il Canonne’<\/a><\/strong><\/li> <\/ul>
Caprice No. 4<\/h3>
People tend to think of No. 24 as the \u2018special\u2019 caprice. But I think No. 4 is even richer in many aspects. For one thing, it is probably the most difficult from a technical point of view. But I also think it has more emotional depth. There\u2019s a sense of pain running through it, with many passages that start very, very quietly, giving you a sense that something is about to happen. Then there\u2019s this moment, in the middle part, when everything kind of explodes \u2013 both technically and in an emotional sense. It\u2019s very dramatic.<\/p>

<\/div> <figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"> Mar\u00eda Due\u00f1as performs Paganini Caprice No. 4 <\/figcaption> <\/figure> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/best-works-paganini\">Paganini: six of the best works by the explosive violin virtuoso<\/a><\/strong><\/li> <\/ul> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Caprice No. 5<\/h3> <p>This is probably the caprice that I\u2019ve played the most. I learned it when I was about 12 and have always felt that it was a good showcase for my very fast playing, and my <em>cantabile<\/em> style. But I also see it as an opportunity for experimentation. Over the years, for instance, I\u2019ve played around with the ricochet <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/instruments\/violin-bows\">bowing<\/a><\/strong>, finding different ways to combine it with other types of bowing. And I\u2019ve found new ways to mark each change of colour or key, through my use of dynamics and breaks. It\u2019s all part of the fun challenge of keeping this piece\u00a0fresh\u00a0and\u00a0alive.<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/articles\/five-of-the-greatest-sight-reading-musicians-of-all-time\">Five musical geniuses who could sight-read any piece – even the most fiendishly difficult ones<\/a><\/strong><\/li> <\/ul> <h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Best Paganini Caprices<\/h4> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Caprice No. 8<\/h3> <p>This is probably one of the least played caprices. It\u2019s very repetitive, so I think for many people it\u2019s hard to make something out of it. Plus, it has a lot of different characters, which are difficult to put together in a unified way. I\u2019ve had to think a lot about how to structure it, but that very searching process has made this piece interesting to me: I enjoy the challenge of exaggerating the contrasts between moods and characters, while also finding ways of\u00a0connecting them.<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/instruments\/violin-history\">History of the violin: its invention, evolution and famous Italian makers<\/a><\/strong><\/li> <\/ul> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Caprice No. 11<\/h3> <p>This is probably the most touching caprice of all. The beginning goes straight to the heart, featuring all sorts of <em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-bel-canto\">bel canto<\/a><\/strong><\/em> motifs. It\u2019s a very operatic style; I feel that we should actually sing it instead of playing it. But then you get to the middle part, which is totally different: very fast and rhythmical, full of nervous energy. As a violinist, you need to be able to switch quickly from one character to the other, but also to sing every note, even in the fast and virtuosic passages. This is a challenge, yes,\u00a0but a good one.<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/20-greatest-violinists-ever\">20 greatest violinists of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/li> <\/ul> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Caprice No. 21<\/h3> <p>This caprice reminds me of a wise old person looking back over a long life, with a main theme that sounds elegant and serene at first, but then embraces all sorts of other characters. There are plenty of reminiscences of youth in the fast and virtuoso passages. And the opening is such a statement; I would actually begin a concert with this piece. It just goes to show how many kinds of emotions Paganini was able to cram into a single page, which is why this caprice is so fulfilling to me.<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/best-violin-concertos\">Best violin concertos: 15 of the greatest works ever composed for violin and orchestra<\/a><\/strong><\/li> <\/ul> <h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Best Paganini Caprices<\/h4> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Caprice No. 24<\/h3> <p>I had to choose this one, right? I mean, it\u2019s the caprice of all time. Here, Paganini combines everything that we already had in the previous caprices: double stops, wild bowings, <em>cantabile<\/em> moments, sad moments, nostalgia and plenty of furious passages. It\u2019s a showcase for everything one can go through in a lifetime, showing just how much Paganini developed as a person over the four or five years it took him to reach this final caprice in the series. I love the way that it starts off very intimately, and then just keeps on gathering energy. The last few seconds are very, very crazy.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p> <figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"> <div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mar\u00eda Due\u00f1as - Paganini: 24 Caprices No. 24 in A Minor (Official Music Video)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8EPqCJYQky4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/> <\/div> <figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"> Mar\u00eda Due\u00f1as perorms Paganini Caprice No. 24 <\/figcaption> <\/figure> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/instruments\/string-instruments\">What are stringed instruments: meet the members of the string family<\/a><\/strong><\/li> <\/ul> <h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who is Mar\u00eda Due\u00f1as?<\/h3> <p>Hailing from Granada, the Spanish violinist Mar\u00eda Due\u00f1as shot to fame in 2021 when she won first prize and the audience prize at the Yehudi Menuhin Competition, aged 18. Since then, she has performed as a soloist with ensembles including the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Oslo Philharmonic, with <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sounds\/play\/live:bbc_radio_three\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BBC Radio 3<\/a><\/strong> naming her a New Generation Artist from 2021-23. She has also signed to Deutsche Grammophon, and released her debut album in May 2023 featuring <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/ludwig-van-beethoven\">Beethoven<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s Violin Concerto. In February 2025, she releases Paganini\u2019s 24 Caprices, alongside works by <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/hector-berlioz\">Berlioz<\/a><\/strong>, Cervell\u00f3, Kreisler, Ortiz, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/camille-saint-saens\">Saint-Sa\u00ebns<\/a><\/strong>, Sarasate and Wieniawski.<\/p> <p\/> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Published: Monday, 27 January 2025 at 14:56 PM Read on to discover Mar\u00eda Due\u00f1as’s favourite Paganini Caprices – notoriously difficult works for the violin… Best Paganini Caprices Caprice No. 2 My favourite Paganini caprices are those in which the melodic line and structure play an equally important role as virtuosity. The Second is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":52161,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2025\/01\/the-best-paganini-caprices-7-dazzlingly-difficult-works-for-violin.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2025\/01\/the-best-paganini-caprices-7-dazzlingly-difficult-works-for-violin-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2025\/01\/the-best-paganini-caprices-7-dazzlingly-difficult-works-for-violin-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2025\/01\/the-best-paganini-caprices-7-dazzlingly-difficult-works-for-violin-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2025\/01\/the-best-paganini-caprices-7-dazzlingly-difficult-works-for-violin-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2025\/01\/the-best-paganini-caprices-7-dazzlingly-difficult-works-for-violin.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2025\/01\/the-best-paganini-caprices-7-dazzlingly-difficult-works-for-violin.jpg",1200,800,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Published: Monday, 27 January 2025 at 14:56 PM Read on to discover Mar\u00eda Due\u00f1as’s favourite Paganini Caprices – notoriously difficult works for the violin… Best Paganini Caprices Caprice No. 2 My favourite Paganini caprices are those in which the melodic line and structure play an equally important role as virtuosity. 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