Paganini and Wieniawski were among the nineteenth century's most famous
violin virtuosos and composed some of the solo violin repertoire's most
treasured works. Here, in one large-format playing edition, are three of
their most celebrated works for solo violin: Paganini's innovative
Caprices, Op. 1, and Wieniawski's much-admired collections, L'Ecole
Moderne, Op. 10, and Etudes Caprices, Op. 18.
Nicoló Paganini (1782-1840) developed a phenomenal playing technique,
and literally transformed violin playing with his dazzling technical
breakthroughs -- fingered octaves, double-, triple-, and quadruple-stop
chords, and ricochet bowings among them. His twenty-four Caprices,
reprinted here from the definitive C. F. Peters edition, are a virtual
textbook summation of his extraordinary achievements.
Henryk Wieniawski (1835-80) greatly enriched the violin literature with
his highly individual style, combining Paganini's technical advances
with a soaring Romanticism and distinctive Slavonic coloring. His
collections of etudes, reprinted here from authoritative editions, are,
like Paganini's Caprices, among the most demanding works in the solo
violin repertory and essential parts of every violinist's training.