Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 2.djvu/640

628 his maître de chapelle, and took up his abode in Paris. In 1812 he succeeded Spontini at the Italian Opera, to which he remained attached until 1827, in spite of many changes and disputes, and of the pecuniary embarrassments which beset the theatre. He and Rossini were temporarily associated from 1824 to 26. During this period he produced but 8 operas, including 'Agnese' (1811), and 'Le Maître de Chapelle' (1822), none of which were marked successes. In 1831 he became a member of the Académie, and in 1832 director of the king's chamber-music, as then reconstituted. He died on May 3, 1839. As a man Paer was not beloved; self-interest and egotism, servility to his superiors, and petty intrigues against his professional brethren, being faults commonly attributed to him. But as a composer he is one of the most important representatives of the Italian operatic school at the close of the last century. His invention is flowing, his melody suave and pleasing, his form correct, and in simple compositions finished, although not developed to the fullest extent; where he fails, both in melody and harmony, is in depth of expression. Like all the other Italian composers of his time, he had the gift of true comedy, so common among his lively countrymen. In lyric expression he was also successful, as here his Italian love of sweet sounds stood him in good stead; but he was completely wanting in the force and depth necessary for passionate, pathetic, or heroic music, and when such was required, he fell back upon common opera phrases and stock passages. This is perhaps most apparent in the operas composed after he left Italy, when his acquaintance with German music, especially that of Mozart, may have influenced his style. His treatment of the orchestra was original and remarkable, and his instrumentation very effective. The partial success only of the operas composed during his stay in Paris is easily explained; he had not sufficient means of expression to attempt French opera, and in Italian opera he could not contend with Rossini, whose genius, with its indifference to the trammels of form, and its exuberant melody, fairly captivated the public. Paer also composed much for church and chamber—oratorios, motets, cantatas for one and more voices; also instrumental music, a Bacchanalian symphony, etc., now of historical interest only. [ A. M. ]

PAGANINI,, the most famous of violin virtuosos, was born at Genoa, Feb. 18, 1784. His father was a small tradesman, and, although quite uneducated, a great lover of music, and a performer on the mandoline. He soon perceived the musical talent of his son, and began to instruct him at a very early age. He then handed him over to G. Servetto, and, for six months, to G. Costa, the principal violinist and conductor at Genoa. When eight years old he had already acquired considerable proficiency, and had also composed a sonata for his instrument. In 1793 he made his first appearance in public at Genoa, and played variations on the air 'La Carmagnole,' then so popular, with immense success. He also used to play every Sunday a violin concerto in church, a circumstance to which Paganini himself attached much importance, as having forced him to the constant study of fresh pieces. About the year 1795 his father took him to Parma, with the intention of putting him under the famous violinist. Paganini himself thus relates their first meeting: 'Coming to Rolla we found him laid-up. He appeared little inclined to see us, but his wife showed us into a room adjoining his bedroom, until she had spoken to him. Finding on the table a violin and the music of Rolla's latest concerto, I took up the instrument and played the piece at sight. Astonished at what he heard, the composer asked for the name of the player: and when told that it was but a young boy, would not believe it until he had seen for himself. He then told me that he had nothing to teach me, and advised me to go to Paer for instruction in composition.' Fétis, in his monograph on Paganini, maintains that this statement rests on a mistake, as Paer was then in Germany, and that it was under Ghiretti that Paganini studied for some time. It is also stated on good authority that for several months he had regular lessons from Rolla, and it is difficult to explain why he was in later years unwilling to acknowledge the fact.

Paganini was already bent on finding out new effects on the violin. After his return to Genoa he composed his first studies, which were of such unheard-of difficulty, that he himself is reported sometimes to have practised a single passage for ten hours running. That such intense study should have resulted in the acquisition of unlimited execution, but should also have affected his health, is not to be wondered at. Up to this time he appears to have been wholly under the control of his father, who was a harsh and rough man. The boy naturally wished to escape from what he considered intolerable slavery. Being allowed to travel for the first time alone to Lucca, where he played with immense success at a music-festival in Nov. 1798, he did not return home, but went on to Pisa and other towns. Although only fifteen, he had already begun to lead a dissipated life, in which gambling took a prominent part. Alternate fits of study and gambling, interrupted by periods of utter exhaustion, and by protracted illnesses, easily explain his frequent disappearances from public view, and his miserable health in later life. One day at Leghorn he gambled away everything he had; even to his violin. In order to enable him to appear at the concert, a M. Levron, an amateur, lent him a beautiful Josef Guarnerius; and after having heard him play on it, presented it to him. This was the instrument which Paganini used for the rest of his life in preference to any other. He bequeathed it to his native town of Genoa, and it is preserved in a glass case in the Municipal Palace. Another fine violin, a Stradivarius, was given to him by Pasini, a painter. 