Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840)
Childhood & Rise to Prominence
Niccolo Paganini was born in Genoa, Italy, the third of the six children of Antonio and Teresa Paganini. His father, a poor dockworker, gave him his first lessons on the mandolin and violin at the age of five. He then studied with Giovanni Servetto, a violinist in the local theater orchestra, where his musical talents were quickly recognized, earning him numerous scholarships for violin lessons.
In 1801, Paganini, age 18 at the time, was appointed first violinist of the Republic of Lucca, but a substantial portion of his income came from freelancing. His fame as a violinist was matched only by his reputation as a gambler and womanizer. His first real break came from an 1813 concert at La Scala in Milan. The concert was a great success. As a result, Paganini began to attract the attention of other prominent, albeit more conservative, musicians across Europe.
Career
As a soloist, Paganini captivated his auditors by his pyrotechnics. Paganini’s stupendous technique, power, and control, as well as his romantic passion and intense energy, made him the marvel of his time. He also was not above employing certain tricks of virtuosity, such as tuning up the A string of his violin by a semitone or playing the “Witches” Dance” on one string after severing the other 3 on stage, in sight of his audience, with a pair of scissors. He was also a highly effective composer for the violin, and gave regular performances of his works at his concerts with great success. Outstanding among his compositions are the 24 “Caprices” for Solo Violin, the “Moto perpetuo” for Violin and Orchestra, and several of the violin concertos.
The Moto Perpetuo in C (there is another, posthumous, in A) is four minutes of sheer physical delight for the worthy performer, five or six minutes of absolute terror for the underdeveloped. The machine-gun sixteenth notes never once stop through 187 measures of music. At a tempo that does service to Paganini’s intentions, the piece is among the most fiendish the composer penned. Those who label Paganini as a thoughtless “note spinner” would do well to take a look at the apparently ordinary, but in fact ingeniously devised, way that he brings about the reprise of the opening passage in the Moto Perpetuo. It helps to remember that it was not for several generations after his death that European violinists were willing to make a go at playing much of his music.
Violin Music to Perpetual Motion
My Performance of Perpetual Motion
I performed Paganini’s Perpetual Motion for violin as a marimba solo with piano accompaniment on a recital series held at the Oberlin College campus in 1963. I was a nineteen year old sophomore at the time. The auditorium was filled to capacity, including both side balconies overlooking the stage. The response to this performance was the first standing ovation to have occurred at a student recital for as far back as the conservatory faculty could remember.
My piano accompanist for this performance was my college roommate, Alan Baiter. After graduation, Alan became principal clarinetist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 1967. He later moved away from Atlanta to become the principal conductor of the Memphis Symphony until cancer cut his brilliant life and career short. Upon graduation from Oberlin, I became the principal percussionist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, under conductor Robert Shaw and later Yoel Levi– a position I held for 32 years.
This recording is a direct copy of the original 7″ ‘reel-to-reel’ tape produced at the recital in 1963. A very close estimate is that I played approximately 2,800 16th notes in 3 minutes and 30 seconds with a substantial high rate of accuracy, Considering the piece was performed on a four octave marimba- only once and to a live audience this was an incredible achievement! The music begins on the third pulse of the first measure and nearly tops out the traditional 208 beats per minute of a metronome’s range at a tempo of 206 for the quarter note. I left out a few lines of notes of the performance due to the wide leaps in spacing and the speed near the end of the work.
If you want to see more performances and learn more about percussion and the music industry visit my YouTube channel
The Marimba Challenge: Jack Bell performs Paganini’s “Perpetual Motion” on Marimba, playing 2,800 1/16th notes in 3 minutes 35 seconds.
Looking Back
As I look back to my, “Paganini On A Marimba Challenge”, thoughts from my 1996 ASO Atlanta World Olympic Games experience resonate in my mind. Just like the athletes, I had one moment in time and one chance to get it right! I understand that I’m certainly not as fast or accurate as I used to be, but at least I was as fast and accurate once as I ever could be.
A Challange
Never in my 34 plus year career as a professional musician and college professor, has a percussion student ever able to replicate this performance. This includes literally hundreds of high school, college, and professional level percussionists! Can you?
I believe that a 3 1/2 minute, 2 mallet performance of Perpetual Motion will help any percussion student or professional performer build their 2 mallet ‘chops’ to the maximum, This technique could be the “it factor” in a college audition, applying for a teaching position, or earning a spot with a major symphony orchestral
How to Meet This Challenge
Practice, Practice, Practice
- Build up speed playing alternating single strokes on a carefully chosen surface. Think of the notes as sixteenth notes.
- Do this same exercise keeping up with the sixteenth notes while playing my Perpetual Motion CD.
- Learn the notes of Perpetual Motion by practicing and mastering them–first at a slow tempo then with increasing speed.
- Record your performance on the marimba of Perpetual Motion with piano accompaniment, post it on YouTube, and share it.
Reward
- A sense of satisfaction for performing something that few have been able to accomplish
- A letter of recommendation from me based upon your Perpetual Motion performance
- An article about you and your performance on my website
- An interview on the Jack Bell Drumming YouTube channel