Description
Paganini's Caprice No. 24 is the kind of piece musicians have a complicated relationship with. Short, merciless, and always just slightly faster than is comfortable. Written originally for violin, but here the saxophone takes the lead, whether it wants to or not.
Where a violinist can rely on strings and bow, a saxophonist has only breath, fingers, and sheer stubbornness. This does not make the piece more forgiving.
Paganini himself attracted no shortage of stories. He allegedly performed in cemeteries, dressed in black, face pale as chalk, before audiences who were (for whatever reason) very quiet. Whether any of this is true is another matter, but it fits neatly with the image of a man who had clearly decided that being an ordinary musician was not for him.
