The Devil's Fingers - Paganini

In the not so distant past, the violin was considered the Devil's instrument and Niccolo Paganini was the Dark Lord's favorite player.

Episode Transcript

(00:14):
Throughout history, our perception of evilhas evolved and changed. Most recently,
musicians Sam Smith and Little Nossas havecome under fire for using allegedly satanic imagery
in their performances. In the notso distant past, dungeons and dragons claimed
the title of the devil's game whileit was the heart of the Satanic panic.

(00:35):
But even further back in our past, one unexpected object was at the
center of many evil allegations. Myname is Josh and this is obscure history.

(01:02):
Though it is generally associated with highsociety, fancy dinners, in general
snobbery, today, the violin actuallyhas a long and infamous reputation as the
preferred instrument of the devil. Thefirst modern violins were created in the early
sixteenth century in northern Italy. Theyrose in popularity quickly as they were compact

(01:23):
enough to travel with easily and covereda wide enough range of notes that they
could play a variety of parts.Because of its portability and expressive abilities,
the violin became the go to instrumentfor weddings, parties, ceremonies, and
general merriment. While this sounds innocentenough, the sixteenth century Catholic Church took

(01:46):
umbrage with the instrument and began associatingit with lust, drunkenness, gluttony,
and even Lucifer himself. Some earlyartistic representations of the violin actually depict Satan
playing the violin to torment poor anddefenseless mortals. Eventually, the violin would
challenge its reputation and become an acceptedand cherished part of the classical orchestra.

(02:09):
In fact, some music historians evencalled the eighteenth century the Golden Age of
violin, with violinists and violin makersalike finding success all across Europe. Though
the violin eventually became accepted, itnever fully outgrew its reputation. Niccolo Paganini

(02:30):
was born in Genoa on October twentyseventh, seventeen eighty two. He was
the third of six children of Antonioand Teresa Paganini. Little did they know
their sweet, innocent baby boy wouldeventually be called a sorcerer, Charlatan,
Carbonaro, Genesee, wizard, magician, hexensn Mephisto, Hexenmeister, doctor Faustus,

(02:52):
Mephistopheles, demonic, Zamael Satan,and even Devil's spawn. Antonio Paganini
tried his best to support his familywith a small trading business, but was
unable to find success. He wasable to supplement his income, however,
by performing intricate musical numbers on themandolin. When Niccolo turned five years old,

(03:15):
his father began giving him mandolin lessonsand quickly realized that the young boy
had a remarkable gift. Realizing hisson's gift, Antonio purchased Niccolo a violin
when he was seven years old,and his talents continued to grow. Shortly
after picking up the instrument, NiccoloPaganini was offered scholarships to study violin under

(03:35):
local violinists Giovanni Servetto and Giancomo Costa. Within seven years, he had already
mastered all they had to teach himand even outpaced his mentors. His prodigious
musical ability wasn't the only thing thatwas unique about young Niccolo. From an
early age, his parents noticed thathis arms and legs grew abnormally long,

(03:59):
as did his fingers and hands.He also grew abnormally tall and thin for
his age. They didn't know itat the time, but Niccolo Paganini suffered
from Marfan's syndrome, a genetic disorderthat leads to unusual growth in muscle,
tissue, and bone, as wellas heart and vision impairments. While he
would suffer various complications as a resultof Marfan's syndrome in his life, it

(04:23):
is likely that his increased hand andfinger size allowed him to learn techniques that
would have been otherwise impossible for hiscontemporaries. By the age of fourteen,
Paganini had set off on his ownto become a traveling musician. He explored
northwest Italy and used this time todevelop a close relationship with the guitar.
Despite becoming a guitar master, hewould only share his compositions for small crowds

(04:46):
and intimate venues. After four yearsof making money as a traveling violinist and
guitarist, Paganini became the first violinof the Republic of Lucca. During this
time, his reputation as a musiciancontinue to grow. His reputation as a
gambler, womanizer, and overall rapscalliongrew as well. After Napoleon annexed the

(05:10):
region of Lucca and put his sisterElisa Bonaparte in charge, Paganini was brought
into the Royal court for regular performancesand to give private lessons to Elisa's husband.
He was so beloved by the Bonapartefamily that he was a regular part
of the royal entourage and even traveledwith the family. Historical evidence from this
period of Paganini's life even suggests thathe carried on a romantic affair with Eliza

(05:35):
Bonaparte. After being dismissed from Bonaparte'sroyal court, Paganini went back to his
life as a traveling musician and generaltroublemaker. It was during this time that
Paganini published what is arguably considered oneof his most famous compositions, Violin Concerto
number one. He began publishing moreand more complex compositions until his fame spread

(06:30):
all across Europe. After a fewshort years of composing and performing full time,
Paganini was awarded the Order of theGolden Spur by Pope Leo the twelfth.
A couple of short years after beinggiven this prestigious award from one of
the most important religious figures in theworld, Paganini would find himself confronted by
horrific caricatures of himself in Paris,as his reputation had preceded him. Upon

(06:57):
strolling through the streets of Paris forthe very first time, Gganini found a
lithograph in a shop titled Paganini inPrison, and, feeling compelled and disgruntled,
he wrote a letter and asked thatit be published in the very popular
Parisian newspaper, The Music Review.He wrote, this is what actually happened
to me in Padua, about fifteenyears ago. I had given a concert

(07:18):
which I was led to believe wassuccessful. The next day I was seated
at the table, but being thesixteenth person present, my entrance into the
dining room had passed unnoticed. Oneof the guests referred to my playing in
the most flattering terms. His neighborjoined him in these eulogies, but added,
Paganini's skill is not astonishing. Heowes it to his eight years sojourn

(07:41):
in prison, where he had onlyhis violin to soften the sufferings of captivity.
He was condemned to this imprisonment forhaving assassinated in the most cowardly manner
his rival, one of my friends. As may be imagined, every person
present exclaimed against the enormity of thecrime, addressing the individual who knew my

(08:01):
history so well, I begged himto tell me when and where this adventure
had occurred. All eyes were immediatelyturned towards me. Imagine the astonishment when
I was recognized as the principal actorof this tragic story. The narrator was
greatly embarrassed. It was no longerhis friend who had died. He had

(08:22):
heard, or some one had toldhim, or he had believed, but
it was possible he had been deceived, et cetera. So you see,
sir, how people play with anartist's reputation, and that lazy people will
not understand that one can study justas well when at liberty in one's own
room as under lock and key.These rumors annoyed me for a long time.

(08:45):
I tried to prove their utter absurdity. I called attention to the fact
that since my fourteenth year, Ihad been continuously before the public, that
for a period of sixteen years Ihad been the musical director at the court
of Lucca. That consequently it weretrue that I had been imprisoned for eight
years for having killed my mistress ormy rival. The deed must have been
committed before I became known to thepublic. That is to say I must

(09:09):
have had a mistress and a rivalwhen I was but seven years old.
In Vienna, I appealed to theItalian ambassador, who made the declaration that
he had known me for twenty yearsas an honorable man. While in Paris,
and after dismissing all the harmful rumors, Paganini continued his life as an
extravagant party animal. Though he dismissedall criminal allegations, his reputation as a

(09:35):
womanizer was not so easily refuted.In eighteen twenty two, Paganini was put
on a regular dose of mercury andopium to treat his chronic syphilis, and
it was after that that his careeras a traveling musician began to fizzle.
In eighteen thirty four, Paganini wastreated for tuberculosis in Paris, after which

(10:00):
many of his shows were canceled.His performances became more and more scarce as
he was plagued by chronic health issuesranging from the common cold to bouts of
depression. In this season of hislife, he devoted himself to passing along
the tradition of violin. He tookon new students, composed new music,

(10:20):
and wrote books about violin technique intheory. Though his career as a traveling
musician had ended and his health issuesput a significant damper on his playboy lifestyle,
Paganini had a dark cloud following hisreputation. Throughout his life. People
had accused him of making a pactwith the devil in order to gain his
incredible playing skills, and this reputationonly grew at the end of his life.

(10:46):
After suffering from chronic and varied healthissues for years, Paganini left Paris
in a spring of eighteen forty.A Bishop of Niece sent a priest to
perform Paganini's last rites, as wordof his decline health had spread throughout Europe.
When the priest arrived, Paganini refusedthe last rites, believing that they
were being offered prematurely. One weeklater, the virtuoso succumbed to internal hemorrhaging

(11:13):
and died. Since he had refusedhis last rites from a priest and died
without having performed the ritual, Paganini'sreputation as a compatriot of the devil grew
and grew. Hey, thank youso much for listening, everybody. I

(11:58):
was so shocked when I released theepisode a couple of weeks ago. I
had the best week of downloads,maybe the Obscure History has ever ever had.
I don't really understand how that happened. I'm just grateful that it did.
You guys are awesome. I've lovedall of the positive feedback after releasing
the episode. Some of you guysreached out and it was great. I

(12:22):
love communicating with people that like thisshow. Also update on the book,
So if you go to Amazon andlet me just double check, I'm looking
right now. If you go toAmazon and type Obscure History Josh zor Brick,

(12:45):
you will find that it is listed. It's listed there and it is
not available yet. It says preorder now. I don't know when that.
I don't know when it will changeso that it's just like regularly available,
but it will soon and I havea proof in my hand. I
mean I have a proof on withmy friend who is proof reading it for

(13:09):
me, just to make sure thatI got any of the last final kinks
out before I before I start givingit to you guys. But it's there
on Amazon. You can also orderit, I think, with the ISBN
number through any like retail bookstore.Once that all gets taken care of,
I thought it was going to bea little quicker than it was, but
apparently getting all of that set uptakes a while, which I guess makes

(13:31):
sense. Thank you so much forcoming back to the show. I genuinely
appreciate all of you. I stilldon't have a good way to sign the
show off, so I'm still goingto just awkwardly and cringely say until next week something