Paganini, Niccolò: Cantabile

In the comparatively few compositions written by Paganini primarily for his own diversion rather than for purposes of public performance, the composer generally appoints the accompanying part to the guitar which, as is well known, was the violinists other favourite instrument, mastered by him with no lesser degree of skill than the violin. Among the vast number of manuscripts discovered after Paganini's death and now in the possession of Wilhelm Heyer's Museum of Musical Historics in Cologne (see Preface), there was found only one piece originally written for Violin and Piano. This was the Cantabile in D major, allegedly composed for a special occasion, and now published for the first time. It is a comparatively easy piece combining melodic charm with absolute fidelity to the form and, though thoroughly instrumental in character, still possesses the graceful line peculiar to the operatic cavatinas of its time. It awakens memories of Bellini and other composers of that period.