Within a biographical account of Paganini and a discussion of his compositional techniques, Paganini's Prière de Moïse, an arrangement of "Dal tuo stellato soglio" from Rossini's opera Moïse, serves as an example of orchestration. Paganini improved on Rossini's use of the drum, changing its placement to reflect the accentuation of the melody rather than to merely follow metrical conventions.

Works: Paganini: Prière de Moïse (149).

Sources: Rossini: Moïse (149).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Virginia Whealton

Niels Viggo Bentzon's Variationer for klaver, Op. 241, and Robert Muczynski's Desperate Measures (Paganini Variations) participate in a long tradition of variations in general and variations on Paganini's Caprice No. 24, and their contributions to the latter tradition exhibit divergent approaches to variation technique. Bentzon obscures all melodic references to Paganini's theme and does not label variations, preferring instead to make subtle allusions to Paganini's harmonies and rhythms within the context of Bentzon's own language. Muczynski's Desperate Measures, on the other hand, is a work conceived of as entertainment, and references to Paganini's melody remain clear within a more traditional approach to variations and tonality, to which Muczynski adds modern dance idioms.

Works: J. S. Bach: Goldberg Variations (11-13); Mozart: Variations in F Major, "Salve tu Domine," K. 398; Beethoven: Diabelli Variations, Op. 120 (14); Chopin: Twelve Concert Etudes, Op. 10 (18); Liszt: Grandes études de Paganini, Op. 6 (28, 30-32, 101); Busoni: Paganini-Liszt Theme mit Variationen, Etüden, No. 6 (28-32); Lutosławski: Variations on a Theme of Paganini (28, 32); Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 35 (28, 32-33, 101); Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 43 (28, 32-33); Niels Viggo Bentzon: Variationer for Klaver, Op. 241 (29, 34, 37-62, 65, 98-101); Robert Muczynski: Desperate Measures (Paganini Variations) (29, 65-98, 100-102).

Sources: Anonymous: Ich bin so lang nicht bei dir g'west (12), Kraut und Rüben (12); Paisiello: "Salve tu, domine" from I filosofi immaginarii (13); Anton Diabelli: Waltz (14); Paganini: 24 Caprices, Op. 1 (26-29); Liszt: Grandes études de Paganini, Op. 6 (30).

Index Classifications: 1700s, 1800s, 1900s

Contributed by: Virginia Whealton

Within a historical, analytical, and archival study of Paganini's 24 Caprices, Op. 1, is an examination of their influence on contemporaneous pianists and on later composers of violin caprices. Sigismund Thalberg, Robert Schumann, and Franz Liszt all sought to transfer Paganini's 24 Caprices or distinctive techniques from a specific caprice to the piano. In contradistinction, Chopin did not attempt to transfer Paganini's idiom to the piano, although Paganini's Op. 1 may have provided inspiration for his own twenty-four etudes, Op. 10 and Op. 25. Similarly, although Paganini's 24 Caprices exerted influence on later nineteenth-century violin caprices, these works generally do not model the 24 Caprices' serious affect and instead include special effects that suggest the influence of his less serious and often unnotated concert works. Extensive lists of compositions dedicated to Paganini and compositions influenced or based upon his works are included, as well as a facsimile of the autograph manuscript of the 24 Caprices.

Works: Sigismund Thalberg: Prière de Moïse (15-16); Chopin: Etude, Op. 10, No. 1 (19-20), Etude, Op. 10, No. 5 (19-20), 12 Etudes, Op. 25 (19-20); Robert Schumann: 6 Etudes pour le pianoforte d'après les caprices de Paganini, Op. 3 (24-25), 6 Etudes de concert . . . d'après des caprices de Paganini, Op. 10 (24-25, 195-96); Liszt: Grandes Études de Paganini transcrites pour le piano et dédiées à Clara Schumann (30-31).

Sources: Paganini: Introduction and Variations on 'Nel cor più non mi sento' from Paisiello's "La molinara" (15-16), 24 Caprices, Op. 1 (18-20, 24-25, 30-31, 195).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Virginia Whealton

The 1855 burlesque Pocahontas by John Brougham and James G. Maeder, although laden with humor, including extensive parody, exemplifies both a respect for masterpieces of the past and a newly-developed historical consciousness. Although this is most readily ascertainable through the text of the burlesque, as the music has been lost, reconstruction of the likely musical parodies reveals wit and rapid juxtapositions of high and low genres, intermixed with a sense of a false history. Includes an extensive table of probable sources for the songs in Pocahontas (33).

Works: John Brougham and James G. Maeder: Pocahontas (28, 31, 34, 35-36, 28-43).

Sources: Samuel Lover: Widow Machree (28); Anonymous: Rosin the Bow (31), Hot Corn (36), Wait for the Wagon (36); Bellini: La Sonnambula (34, 37); Verdi: Ernani (35, 38); Stephen Foster: Massa's in de Cold Ground (38, 43), Old Folks at Home (38, 43), Oh! Boys, Carry Me 'Long (38); William Vincent Wallace: Maritana (38, 44); Daniel D. Emmett: De Boatman Dance (38).

Index Classifications: 1700s, 1800s

Contributed by: Virginia Whealton

Although some scholars claim that in Les vêpres siciliennes Verdi's compositional voice is lost as he engages with Meyerbeer, Verdi's work ultimately suggests inspiration by, rather than surrender to, Meyerbeer. Although Meyerbeer had influenced some of Verdi's operatic works in terms of music-dramatic techniques, Verdi remained at odds with Meyerbeer in terms of approach to structure, as Meyerbeer's strength was not in large-scale development, but in small numbers. With Les vêpres siciliennes, Verdi faced direct comparison to Meyerbeer, as the work was in French and as the libretto was typical of that used by Meyerbeer. In particular, the Sicilienne and the Mélodie from the last act demonstrate Verdi's successful tackling of Meyerbeerian miniatures.

Works: Verdi: Les vêpres siciliennes (11-12, 15-20), Attila (15); Meyerbeer: Les Huguenots (13).

Sources: Meyerbeer: Les Huguenots (11-13, 16), Robert le Diable (15); Martin Luther: Ein Feste Burg (13); Donizetti: Le Duc d'Albe (15-17, 19).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Virginia Whealton

Although Ives's writings discuss concepts of sardonic wit in composition, his songs reveal a wide range of expression of humor, which became more complex over the course of his career. His humorous compositions can be categorized into at least four categories: parody, whimsical reminiscence, philosophical humor, and exaggerated insignificance. Ives's techniques of humor often do not rely on musical borrowing, but rather from outlandish performance directions, general stylistic allusions, or incongruous juxtapositions of styles. Nonetheless, musical borrowing can contribute to the humor.

Works: Ives: The Side Show (125, 129-31).

Index Classifications: 1800s, 1900s

Contributed by: Virginia Whealton

Although the French quadrille of the 1830s and 1840s has often received censure for its limited expressive qualities and aesthetically detrimental arrangements, the dance was a critical nexus in Parisian musical life, connecting the worlds of "high" and "low" culture and often serving as the public's first point of contact with operas. With the standardization of the form of the quadrille around 1820, it began to receive criticism for the mechanical quality of the dancing it supported. Although some attacked the genre's poor arrangements, the quadrille both directly and indirectly could benefit the operas from which it drew tunes. Quadrilles did not always destroy the music they borrowed; French composers typically did not use irregular phrases or rhythms, and melodies such as Auber's often are readily suited to dance arrangement. Furthermore, although quadrilles could break up the narrative of the opera from which melodies were drawn, often the sheet music covers or performances might allude to or seek to recreate the narrative of the original.

Works: Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Tolbecque: Pantalon from Guillaume Tell (520), La Muette de Portici (520-22); Louis Antoinie Jullien: La Muette de portici (522-23), Les Huguenots (523).

Sources: Auber: La Muette de Portici (520, 523).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Virginia Whealton

During his 1828 tour, Nicolò Paganini gained a reputation as a romantic virtuoso that to the present day has obscured the influences of Italian comedy on his compositions, in which his groundbreaking techniques often suggest not rarified virtuosity, but rather farcical gestures and drama. For example, Paganini's imitations of animal sounds surpass mere mimicry and imply comic character types, and his evocations of human voices can suggest operatic dialogue (and in the case of Scène amoureuse, modeling on "Là ci darem la mano" from Mozart's Don Giovanni). Paganini's many variation sets, often upon themes from operas familiar to his audiences, further demonstrate his ability to transform a snippet of borrowed material into a compelling and self-contained drama through rapid changes in register and special effects, which are characteristic of a category of his works that can be called mélange. Recognizing Paganini's apparent debt to the aesthetics as well as the music of opera buffa, farsa, and grottesco ballet in his mélanges helps explain the often unoriginal and seemingly ridiculous nature of his mélanges.

Works: Paganini: Scène amoureuse (382-83, 397), Le streghe (383-85, 390-92, 401-2, 415), Nel cor più mi sento (386-87), I palpiti (387); Robert Schumann: Carnaval (409-412).

Sources: Mozart: Don Giovanni (382); Rossini: Di tanti palpiti (387); Franz Xaver Süssmayr and Salvatore Viganò: La noce di Benevento (390-92); Paganini: Carnival of Venice (397-99, 410-12).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Virginia Whealton

In his Etudes de concert . . . d'après des caprices de Paganini, Op. 10, Robert Schumann abandons the paradigm of relatively strict transcription he adhered to in his 6 Etudes pour le pianoforte d'après les caprices de Paganini, Op. 3, and instead seeks to capture the expressive qualities of Paganini's 24 Caprices, Op. 1. Schumann's poetic aesthetic results in freer treatments of Paganini's material than found in Liszt's transcriptions, which sought to transmit Paganini's virtuosity and more frequently preserved the idiosyncrasies of Paganini's violinistic idiom. Schumann's writings attest to his vision of Paganini as an ideal virtuoso, inspirational not only as a performer, but as a romantic hero.

Works: Liszt: Grandes Études de Paganini (9, 26-27); Robert Schumann: 6 Études pour le pianoforte d'après les caprices de Paganini, Op. 3 (12-15, 27), Études de concert . . . d'après des caprices de Paganini, Op. 10 (12, 15-25).

Sources: Paganini: 24 Caprices, Op. 1 (9, 12-30), Violin Concerto No. 2 in B Minor (9).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Virginia Whealton

Igor Markevitch's Variazioni e fuge su un tema di Haendel, his final composition, synthesizes his personal language with the canon of pianistic tradition and the tradition of variations. Markevitch deliberately separates the core body of his variations from both the unaltered presentation of the borrowed theme and from the coda. Throughout the variations, he suggests the use both of the piano as a heroic instrument in itself and as a miniature orchestra. Although Markevitch's Variazioni e fuge su un tema di Haendel is both the climax and the end of his compositional oeuvre, it serves as an appropriate segue to his later editorial work.

Works: Igor Markevitch: Variazioni e fuge su un tema di Haendel (61).

Sources: Handel: Keyboard Suite No. 5 in E Major (61).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Virginia Whealton

The numerous variations on Paisiello's "Nel cor più non mi sento" from the opera La Molinara demonstrate Paisiello's extensive and lasting influence throughout the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century and serves as a touchstone for examining the trajectory of variations procedures during this time. Variations on "Nel cor più non mi sento" emerged in at least three contexts. First, singers elaborated upon the work, essentially creating their own variations. Second, opera fantasias and chamber music provided a ready forum for variations on the tune, especially in cities where La Molinara was well-received. Finally, the growth of the market for published arrangements prompted popular variations on the tune. Between 1790 and 1820, variations remained close to Paisiello's classical style, and arrangements from this period generally were for private use. After 1820, emerging virtuosos also took up "Nel cor più non mi sento," using expanded proportions and new techniques. Although variations on "Nel cor più non mi sento" were readily available in sheet music form in the United States throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, by 1850 its popularity had faded.

Works: Mr. Meyer, arr.: "Ah, Will No Change of Clime," from Inkle and Yarico (43-45); Madame Catalani: Variations on "Nel cor più non mi sento" (44-47); Beethoven: Six Variations on "Nel cor più non mi sento," WoO 70 (47, 51-53); Josepha Barbara von Auernhammer: Six Variations for the Harpsichord on "Nel cor più non mi sento" (49-51); Joseph Gelinek: Six Variations on the Duet "Nel cor più non mi sento" from the Opera "La Molinara" for Harpsichord or Pianoforte (49-52); Felix Janiewicz: Variations on "Nel cor più non mi sento" (53); Joseph Mazzinghi: Madam Catalani's Celebrated Air (53); Louis Drouet: Variations on Paisiello's "Nel cor più non mi sento" (54); Fernando Sor: Fantasie pour la Guitare avec des Variations sur l'Aire de Paisiello "Nel cor più non mi sento" (54); Paganini: Nel cor più non mi sento (54-56), Giovanni Bottesini: Nel cor più non mi sento: Variazioni de Bottesini per Contrebasse (54-55); Mauro Giuliani: Variationen über "Nel cor più non mi sento" von Paisiello en Polonaise, Op. 113, for guitar and piano (55-56); Luigi Legnani: Variations on the Duet "Nel cor più non mi sento" from "La Molinara" by Paisiello, Op. 16 (55-56); Bartolomeo Bortolazzi: Variationen über "Nel cor più non mi sento" für Mandoline und Gitarre, Op. 8 (55-56); Luigi Castellacci: Nel cor più non mi sento Nouvellement Varié, Op. 35 (56-57); Johann Wenth: Variations sur un theme de G. Paisiello de l'opera "La Molinara" (57); Johann Baptist Vanhal: Sechs Variationen über das Theme "Nel cor più non mi sento" für Flöte (Violin) und Gitarre, Op. 42 (57-58); Friedrich Silcher: Variationen über "Nel cor più non mi sento" für Flöte und Klavier (57-58); Theobald Boehm: Nel cor più, Op. 4 (57-58); Heinrich Neumann: Theme und Variationen über "Nel cor più non mi sento" (57-59); Johann Wilhelm Wilms: The Favorite Air of Hope Told a Flattering Tale (57-58); Charles Bochsa: Thema und Variationen über "Nel cor più non mi sento," Op. 10 (59); Walter P. Dignam: Hope Told a Flattering Tale, E-Flat Cornet Air Varié (60).

Sources: Paisiello: "Nel cor più non mi sento," from La Molinara (43-62); Mozart: Piano Concerto in C Minor, K. 491 (49-50); Madame Catalani: Variations on "Nel cor più non mi sento" (53).

Index Classifications: 1700s, 1800s

Contributed by: Virginia Whealton

Monophonic works identified in medieval sources as motets lie outside our traditional definition of the motet. Although not all monophonic motets were motets entés in the commonly understood sense of borrowing refrains, the concept of grafting (enté) between monophonic and polyphonic repertories was integral to this genre of monophonic motets, as attested to by both medieval theoretical sources and modern analysis. By relating monophonic motets to sampling in today's popular music, one can gain insights about the intertextual nature of monophonic motets and the ways in which they engage their audience through technology (notational) and literacy (musical and textual). For example, the motet D'amor nuit et jor me lo (F-Pn fr. 845), although recorded in nonmensural notation like the other monophonic motets in its source, has notational peculiarities that suggest that it was transcribed from a voice of a polyphonic work recorded in mensural notation. Moreover, "grafting," whether in music or in gardening, implies a sense of cultural refinement that raises the motet enté to a level of technical and intellectual superiority. These motets represent a moment of transition in recording technology (notation and literacy), drawing from both the trouvère tradition, which was monophonic and orally transmitted, and the motet tradition, which grew out of an intellectual and literate context.

Works: Anonymous: En non Dieu c'est la rage (646-49, 674), Quant plus sui loig de ma dame (654-44), D'amor nuit et jor me lo (652, 660-62), Onc voir par amours n'amai (663-64), Bone amourete m'a souspris (664-66), Han, Diex! ou purrai je trouver (672-74).

Sources: Adam de la Halle: Bonne amourete mi tient gai (664-66); Anonymous (from Le roman de Fauvel): Ve qui gregi deficiunt (672-74).

Index Classifications: Monophony to 1300, Polyphony to 1300, 1300s

Contributed by: Elizabeth Elmi, Kerry O'Brien, Virginia Whealton

Composers of ballet scores for the Paris Opéra from the early nineteenth century evince dramatically and aesthetically sensitive approaches to borrowing, even during the 1830s and 1840s as critical opinion turned against the use of borrowed material. Composers sometimes borrowed because they held particular works in high esteem. Moreover, composers often used borrowed material because it served the dramatic needs of ballet scenes, which were often confusing and benefited from the use of well-known music to aid the audience in interpreting the action. For example, borrowing from an air parlant (a familiar song) could bring to mind the song's text, which would in turn clarify the action at hand even without the words being sung. When critical opinion turned against borrowed material, some ballet composers satisfied audiences' need for familiarity through the use of recurring themes, as seen in Adolphe Adam's Giselle, Ferdinand Hérold's La Somnambule, and Jean-Madeleine Schneitzhoeffer's La Sylphide. Includes an extensive table of ballet-pantomime scores using borrowed material.

Works: Ferdinand Hérold: La Fille mal gardée (4), La Somnambule (9); Alexandre Montfort: La Chatte metamorphosée en femme (5); Jean-Madeleine Schneitzhoeffer: La Sylphide (5-6, 10), La Tempête (11); Frédéric Venua: Flore et Zéphire (9); Rodolphe Kreutzer: Clari (9); Adolphe Adam: Le Diable à quatre (12).

Sources: Rossini: La Cenerentola (4, 18), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (4-5), Moïse (5); J. S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II (6); Paganini: Variations on "Le Streghe" (6); Anonymous, Réveillez-vous, belle endormie (9), Dormez chères amours (9-10), Mon mari n'est pas là (12); Salieri: Les Danaïdes (9); Gluck: Iphigénie en Aulide (9), Orphée et Euridice (10-11); Grétry: Richard Coeur de Lion (11-12); Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro (12).

Index Classifications: 1700s, 1800s

Contributed by: Virginia Whealton

A complex of musical and textual riddles, as well as biographical evidence, points to Thomas Arne's Rule, Britannia! as the hidden theme of Elgar's Enigma Variations, and thus to Britannia as the "enigma" figure. Alexander Pope's To a Lady may have served as a model for Elgar in its general conception, and specific passages from Pope's Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot correspond with individual variations.

Works: Elgar: Enigma Variations (130-42).

Sources: Thomas Arne: Rule, Britannia! from Alfred (130, 132-33, 135, 139-40); Mendelssohn: Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt (132).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Virginia Whealton

Paganini's Caprice, Op. 1, No. 24, has inspired numerous variations, and the popularity of Paganini's theme as the basis of variations should not merely be seen as a competitive effort among composers, but a tribute to the quality of the original theme. In particular, this can be seen through composers' varied approaches to texture, rhythm, meter, modulation, and harmony.

Works: Lutosławski: Variations on a Theme of Paganini (15-16, 32, 35-38, 70, 80); Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 43 (17-18, 31, 33,39-48, 70, 77, 83); Boris Blacher: Orchestervariationen über ein Thema von N. Paganini (20, 32-33, 48-51, 53, 74-75, 77-78, 80); Nathan Milstein: Paganiniana (21, 30, 33, 52-55, 65, 83); Eugène Ysaÿe: Paganini Variations, Op. post. (23, 32-33, 59-62, 70-71, 77, 84); David Baker: Ethnic Variations on a Theme of Paganini (23-25, 59, 64-65, 77, 80, 82); Bronslaw Przybylski: Variazioni sopra un tema di Paganini (25, 31, 33, 59, 62-63, 74-75, 77, 80-82); Gregor Piatigorsky: Variations on a Paganini Theme (26, 32-33, 56-57, 65, 70-72, 77, 83); Hans Bottermund: Variations on a Theme of Paganini (27, 30, 56, 58-59, 74, 85); Bryan Hesford: Variation on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 68 (28, 30, 32, 65, 67-68, 72-73, 77); Kenneth Wilson: Variations on a Theme of Paganini for Four B flat Clarinets (28-29, 33, 35, 65-67, 72-73, 85); Keith Cole: Excursions: Variations on a Theme of Paganini (29, 32, 33, 65-66, 74, 77).

Sources: 24 Caprices, Op. 1 (1, 12-13, 30-31, 33, 39-40, 43-49, 56-57, 59, 63, 65, 70, 77, 80, 83, 85); Sequence Dies Irae (39-40, 43, 46-48).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Virginia Whealton