Paganini’s 24 Caprices, Op. 1, have had a profound influence on many composers, including Liszt, Schumann, Brahms and Rachmaninoff. However, there is little knowledge about the work’s composition and early reception. The work might have been influenced by burlesque musical theatre or by the caprices by Lietro Locatelli in L’arte de violin (1733). Robert Schumann wrote two works, each based on six different Paganini caprices from Op. 1: Six Études d’après les Caprices de Paganini, Op. 3 (1832) and Six Études d’après les Caprices de Paganini, Op. 10 (1833). Schumann captures his amazement at Paganini by imitating his violin technique on the piano. Franz Liszt, in his Grandes Etudes de Paganini, follows a similar process of virtuosic imitation, remaining faithful to the original but creating new effects for the piano. Johannes Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 39, uses Paganini’s theme from the A-minor caprice as a departure point for a new work that contains several characteristic elements of Brahms’s style and practice.

Works: Schumann: Six Études d’après les Caprices de Paganini, Op. 3 (33), Six Études d’après les Caprices de Paganini, Op. 10 (33); Liszt: Grandes Études de Paganini (34); Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 39 (34).

Sources: Paganini: 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op. 1 (31–34).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Maria Fokina