Chords for Violinist Plays One of the Riskiest Pieces Written

_ _ _ _ [N] _ For violinists, it's the equivalent of a death-defying leap.
Paganini's 24 Caprices.
He composed them in the early 19th century to demonstrate just how
challenging violin technique could be.
They're so tough to play that all 24
pieces are rarely performed at once, but our guest Rachel Barton Pine is doing
just that in a series of concerts.
Rachel Barton Pine, welcome.
Great to be here.
What was Paganini trying to prove by composing these pieces?
Well, I think he
was sort of issuing a challenge like, I can play all of this stuff, can you?
But I
think in addition to exploiting the technical capabilities of the violin,
just how far you could go with the instrument physically.
Of course, we're
not doing a sport, we're creating art.
And so all of those pyrotechnics are a
mean to an end.
And really what he was doing in the bigger picture was
expanding the expressive range of the violin past where it had ever been taken
before.
So there are certain rules about what you physically can and cannot do on
the violin.
I assume he's bending these rules, so to speak.
Is it about pushing
the boundaries for sure?
Is it about speed or is it dexterity?
I'm sure it's a
combination of both.
Well, all of that as well as all kinds of crazy contortions.
Paganini actually had the same disease as Abe Lincoln, Marfan's disease, commonly
known as spider fingers, which causes all of your ligaments to be very loose in
addition to other symptoms.
So you may have had an advantage, so to speak.
Well, yeah, now we have to try to play this stuff with healthy hands.
What would you show us for something that really was a challenge for you to learn?
Well, for a challenge was up bow staccato.
I was born with no up bow staccato and I had to
fight for every notch on the metronome.
This kind [B] of stuff. _ _ _ _
But actually the
technique that I'm most known for among all the Paganini caprices is my
ricochet from caprice number five, which is bouncing the bow multiple times in
one direction and then once in the other [C] direction.
_ _ _ [B] _ _ _ And when you're performing
these 24 pieces, I assume there's one or the other where maybe mentally you know
you're approaching it and you feel like you're stealing yourself for these
moments.
What's an example of one of the pieces that really kind of looms in your mind?
Well, actually at this point I've played the entire cycle in a single
evening often enough that there are no more moments of fear.
I know I can do it
and it's just about being prepared and having fun.
One of the ones that I really
look forward to after all the fast ones and all the fireworks is number 21, which
really shows how Paganini was at heart a bel canto opera composer who just
happened to be writing for the violin.
And there's just such a beautiful melody.
It sounds like singers ought to have words to [A] it.
_ [G] _ [A] _ _ [Gb] _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ [F] _ _ _ _
_ [Ab] _ _ [Gbm] _ _ _ [Eb] Once you've mastered the technique of these pieces, there's probably some leeway for
interpretation and voicing for them.
In one of the more technically challenging
pieces, how do you find room within that to actually express yourself or the
identity of the piece?
Yeah, well actually the most challenging one for that was number 12 because all
it does is ee-oh, ee [Ab]-oh, ee-oh the whole time.
_ _ _ [N] With these crazy reaches and it just sounds awkward and etude-like.
But finally I got comfortable enough with it that I really started hearing
the harmonies emerge and it was like staring at one of those paintings that's
a bunch of dots and all of a sudden you see a picture.
[Ab] _
_ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _
[F] And all of a sudden this ee-oh, [N] ee-oh
instead became just a really amazing color that Paganini was painting with.
And you talked about the reaches and the spread of your fingers.
What would you say is probably the farthest you have to reach on the board?
Well, tenths are considered to be really, really far.
When you have passage that's like this_ _ _ _ _
You know, that's pretty much the utter limit.
But Paganini has you go all the way to a fourteenth.
[E] _ _
_ [Em] Ah!
[N] _ Not much room for error in the middle of all that.
And you have to do it with utmost grace.
And again in leeway in terms of the speed of some of these pieces, if you feel that you need to find your own rhythm,
can you slow it down or speed it up or is it very regimented in terms of the way the piece is written and needs to be performed?
Well, it's interesting because ever since Van Halen, you know, all the heavy metal guitarists always practice the Paganini caprices
and it's all about shredding.
But in fact, [D] one of the things that makes classical music so much more expressive than any other kind of music that exists
is the fact that we [Gb] don't have to have a steady backbeat, that we can let the music breathe and ebb and flow, push and pull,
you know, the cadence of the tempo in such a way that it mirrors human speech rather than rhyme.
And speaking of Van Halen, you also perform in a metal band as well called Earth and Grave.
What would you say is the most metal part of the 24 caprices?
Well, you know, one time when I was hanging out with Slash and I was playing some Metallica riffs and whatever
and then I launched into Paganini's Last Caprice, all the guys in his band went,
hey, that's the 24th.
It's like, [G] you know, everybody knows that melody.
[Gb] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Em] Of course, it's got great power chords [Am] _
_ _ _ _ [Ab] like_
Metal indeed.
From Paganini, the first rock star, as they call him sometimes,
thanks for demonstrating this.
And Rachel Barton Pine, thanks for joining us.