Sunday, October 29, 2017

Giuseppe Tartini - Devil's Trill Sonata

Halloween is upon us, and so appropriately fiendish music is the order of the day.  Giuseppe Tartini is the first person that we know owned a Stradivarius violin, and was renowned for his skill on that instrument.  This is his most famous composition, and is notoriously difficult to play.  One legend is that he had six fingers, which allowed him to perform like no other in his day.

It is said that this music came to him in a dream, a dream where he sold his soul to the Devil:
One night, in the year 1713 I dreamed I had made a pact with the devil for my soul. Everything went as I wished: my new servant anticipated my every desire. Among other things, I gave him my violin to see if he could play. How great was my astonishment on hearing a sonata so wonderful and so beautiful, played with such great art and intelligence, as I had never even conceived in my boldest flights of fantasy. I felt enraptured, transported, enchanted: my breath failed me, and I awoke. I immediately grasped my violin in order to retain, in part at least, the impression of my dream. In vain! The music which I at this time composed is indeed the best that I ever wrote, and I still call it the "Devil's Trill", but the difference between it and that which so moved me is so great that I would have destroyed my instrument and have said farewell to music forever if it had been possible for me to live without the enjoyment it affords me.
Whether there is any truth to this (or to the claim of six fingeredness) is lost in the mists of time.

3 comments:

  1. SiGraybeardOctober 29, 2017 at 1:00 PM

    We know the devil is a good violin player because Charlie Daniels immortalized that in his song.

    But Tartini having six fingers? The violin only has four strings, why would an extra finger help and not just get in the way?

    ReplyDelete
  2. libertymanOctober 29, 2017 at 3:09 PM

    Another new one for me, I should have paid closer attention to Music Appreciation at good old State U. !

    ReplyDelete
  3. BorepatchOctober 29, 2017 at 6:15 PM

    Graybeard, funny on Charlie Daniels. As to six fingers, I could see that being helpful for guitar. Not sure about violin, but I never played violin.

    ReplyDelete

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