Nicolo Paganini: His Life and Work

e in landed property, purchasing, among others, the Villa Gajona, near Parma, which he made his home-the first he could really call his own, and he wa

concert at Piacenza-on the very same boards where he almost began his brilliant career-for the benefit of the poor; this was the first time he had been heard in Italy since 1828. The year 1835, Paganini passed alternately at Genoa, Milan, and hi

831. That scarcely concerns us now, though it relates that the furore caused by Paganini's performance could not be appeased until he had mounted the grand pianoforte, in order that the audience might obtain a better view of his lank proportions! An extract from his n

ied off by the sudden and fearful death of cholera, may, by some happy chance, prove one of those 'mistakes which it gives them pleasure to contradict.' But, should it not th

es, that he gave vent to his feelings in verse. That poem he now inserted in the Athen?um, "as a farewell to one whose like we shall never hear again!" There ar

!-most und

ia's flock,

pasture be of

gan, which d

al aisles with

ard craft, mat

spirit move, d

r-thou hast not

of years from Tu

d, who read th

hundred years s

led heavens with

tumults in th

realm of const

lendour ever

ide with fierce

pole to dista

's ghost-"'Tis here-'

hese, the mete

rch of the st

were to do swe

lse like him-y

rved lips and

eal hath god-l

from the com

elf a crown-

ary graced with

ely temple mi

plain-and ope

great, the gif

side, ensepulc

many a breeze a

around their t

he sons of m

from afar migh

inted dust a si

ether in reno

strel of the br

Requiem for a

irge-too earl

e Messiah-an

ldren from thei

oud by day, and

ung of darkne

t-and Earth crea

e-with whom

k and wanderin

master-spirit

honour-for t

ensest radianc

oon within h

ound deep sile

world is lear

uld sleep with th

space, beside h

whom began m

before the en

out thy ene

Tyrant with r

ence-before t

chapel-and th

magic instrum

d to man, thou sho

eems that the rumour was started through the death of Dr. Paganini (referred to at the beginn

.-See A

f Paganini in the Muni

ed to Paganini's avarice, which caused him to lend himself to the accomplishment of the undertaking. On the other hand, it is fair to assume that the artist was in ignorance of the true motive of the promoters of the scheme; and the fact that

to license the place as a gambling-house, and the management had to rely upon the concerts alone. It would appear that Paganini had signed a contract to play at the concerts, but the wretched state of his health was the excuse for his not doing so. He had been in Paris off and on from 1837 to some time in 1839. In 1838, certainly before April, he was there, and went to hear a newly invented instrument termed the Harmoniphone. This was the work of an ingenious musician, Jacques Reine Paris. It was a small key-board instrument designed to imitate the oboe, and intended as a substitute for it, in places where oboe players were not available. A distinguished company was invited to meet Paganini, who was greatly interested and pleased with the invention. Then, in December, Paganini witnessed what Berlioz described as t

intiffs and defendant that they appealed against it. The case did not come on again for some time, and Paganini sought rest and change in the south of France. He stayed for some time at Marseilles, where, at the house of a friend, he once more abandoned himself to his art, devotin

rostrated by a violent nervous attack almost immediately following his arrival. He must, soon after, have left for Nice, which he never quitted alive. Nice, though a pleasant place, was no

roprietors could have no legal right to such excessive damages. The counsel for the plaintiff, Mons. Barillon, declared that as Paganini's defection had ruined the speculation, the damages ought to be proportionate to his transcendent talent. Going into details, he stated that Paganini was installed in a splendid suite of apartments at the Casino, one boudoir being lined with flannel expressly for him; and that when he was complaining of his wretched health, he accepted a dinner offered him by the musicians of the orchestra, and gave toasts in both French and Italian. After that, he allowed bills to be printed, announcing that he would play at the Casino concert. Hundreds of

I.-See

n which Pag

s certainly not enforced. In a few months' time, the gaoler whom none can deny, touched Pagani

ix.-Tablet on House i

h the Canons of the Cathedral of Genoa, to institute an inquiry into the Catholicism of Paganini. Meanwhile the remains-stated by the Athen?um to have been embalmed for interment at Genoa-were subjected to shocking indignities. The landlord wanted to let the house where the artist had died, and the corpse was laid in the cellar until a more fitting resting-place was found. Then it is said to have been moved to the hospital of Nice, thence by sea to the Lazzaretto of Villa Franca, and finally to a country house Polcevera, near Genoa, part of the property of the heir of the illustrious artist. There the body remained four years. Rumours spread abroad of piteous moans and other lamentable noises being heard at night. To put a stop to these unpleasant reports, the young Baron Achille made an application for permission for a solemn service to be celebrated at Parma, in virtue of Paganini having been a knight of St. George. This was not fruitless. The service was celebrated in the church of La Steccata, appropriated to that order of chivalry. After the

xhumed. The violinist was buried there fifty-five years ago, nevertheless his face has been found to be well

rs before. Those terrible five years seem to have been unnoticed in this country, an

ttended the exhumation. Schubert, who, by his own desire, was buried by the side of the great master, did not escape the doom; but Mozart was mercifully spared; he was buried in a pauper's grave, and his body has remained undiscovered. The story of the preservation o

II.-See

f Paganini