PAGANINI NICCOLO', 24 CAPRICCI OP.1. VOL.2. Dal n.13 al n.24. SHEET MUSIC BOOK FOR GUITAR, Trascrizione di Eliot Fisk. Caprices 13-24 .
LIBRO DI MUSICA CLASSICA,
SPARTITI PER CHITARRA CON PENTAGRAMMA.
"These Caprices should be heard more often on guitar for the sake of the guitar. This is a musical feat well worth the effort&any one of the 24 could provide material for masses of practice&such a schedule should improve even the very best players. With comments, fingerings, exercises and advice from Fisk on these masterworks.&the editor has worked hard to present the reader with a solution&I can only recommend this sturdy issue to all of the Paganini devotees out there." Neil Smith, Classical Guitar Magazine
For me there are three great landmarks along the Gradus ad Parnassum of guitar technique: the
essential Etudes of Fernando Sor, the 12 Etudes of Heitor Villa-Lobos, and a final peak oftruly daunting
proportions, the 24 Cap ricci, Gp. 1, of Niccolo Paganini. John Williams opened the door to this final
possibility some years back when he showed so superbly that the Capriccio 24 could be played on the
guitar. I began to experiment with others in the set around 1977, and slowly became convinced that
a way could be found to play all 24 on the guitar in the original keys. I often felt like Dante at the start
of the Divina Commedia: lost in a dark wood with no idea how to get out: "mi ritrovai per una selva
oscura che la diritta via era smarrita."
At times this feeling approached that famous inscription over the gates of the same author's inferno:
"Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate" ("Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!"). Nevertheless, little
by little I found ways of negotiating what had seemed impossible. Along the way a lot of people gave
encouragement. I would like to single out Antonio de Innocentis of Caserta, Italy, who, in addition
to his careful proofreading of the engravings for this edition shared with me some of his tricks of the
trade, particularly in Capricci 11, 15, and 17. Enormous artistic inspiration came from maestro
Ruggiero Ricci, who graciously shared the wisdom of over half a century's experience of performing
and living with these works of genius and who even made some specific practical suggestions on how
to transcribe some intransigent passages in parallel octaves in the first part of Capriccio 23!
At this writing, after 15 years of playing these pieces on the guitar, I can still say, time permitting, I
would happily spend an entire day practicing any single Capriccio of the 24. So rich are their
instrumental and musical possibilities. I'd like to share a few tips that have helped me along the way:
1) Isolate the difficulties: Even in the most difficult passages most of the notes are not hard to play.
It's the 10 - 20% that are truly hard to get to or from that can make an entire passage sound sloppy.
Therefore: Analyze through slow practice exactly where the difficulties lie. Practice what's difficult.
Don't be scared by what is not difficult! When you lose your fear, you play better.
2) Transpose difficult passages in the order of the cycle of fifths until you have played the difficult
passage in 12 keys. (A "passage" may be as short as 4 notes!)
3) Experiment with various rhythmic alterations of difficult passages.
24 CAPRICES, OP. 1
Volume 2
XIII Bb major: Allegro
XIV Eb major: Moderato
XV E minor: Posato
XVI G minor: Presto
XVII Eb major: Sostenuto; Andante
XVIII C major: Corrente; Allegro
XIX Eb major: Lento; Allegro assai
XX D major: Allegretto
XXI A major: Amoroso; Presto
XXII F major: Marcato
XXIII Eb major: Posato
XXIV A minor: Quasi Presto
Paganini originally divided the Caprices into three books: I - VI, VII - XII, and XIII - XXIV
Italiano
English
