Scan 18
Violin master works and their interpretation, 1925
18 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Sonata); Corelli's "Follia d'Espagna"; the two Sonatas by Locatelli edited by Julius Röntgen, in Amsterdam; the D major Sonata and E minor Concerto by Nardini; and Vitali's "Ciaconna."** one of two readings
2Sonata); Corelli's "Follia d'Espagna"; the two Sonatas by Locatelli edited by Julius Röntgen, in Amsterdam; the D major Sonata and E minor Concerto by Nardini; and Vitali's "Ciaconna."* one of two readings
4In the works just mentioned we find, aside from musical invention, dramatic conception and perfection of form. They rank among the most significant compositions included in the entire range of violin literature, And their spontaneity is not merely a mental, an intellectual originality, an originality of clever calculation, as is the case with the majority of newly-discovered works by distinguished masters, whose very names are full of promise; but they have their origin in those deep founts from which genius alone draws inspiration.
6Tartini's "Devil's Trill" Sonata **(Il Trillo del Diavolo)—Tartini was a bit of a mystic—came to him in a dream,*** and if it really was inspired by the devil, proves that whatever his other faults, His Satanic Majesty is a musician of the first order.
8The First Movement of the "Devil's Trill" Sonata, a Larghetto affetuoso, begins in lyric style, yet ever and anon takes a profoundly sorrowful inflection as, for instance, in the fourth measure after letter A:
101. etc.
11ff
13* Revised and edited by Leopold Auer. Carl Fischer, Inc., New York.
15** Giuseppe Tartini, Sonata (Il Trillo del Diavolo). Revised and edited by Leopold Auer. Carl Fischer, Inc., New York.
17*** Tartini's own verbal account of how he came to write it (Laland: Voyage d'un François en Italie, en 1765 et 1766, Tome 8), is worth quoting, since it may aid the student to fix the mood of the whole composition. Says the composer: "One night, it was in the year 1713, I dreamed that I had signed over my soul to the devil. All went exactly according to my desire, and my new servant anticipated my every wish. It occurred to me, among other things, to hand him my violin in order to see whether he would be able to play some attractive composition on it. How great was my astonishment, however, when I heard a sonata so glorious and beautiful, and played with so great an art and understanding that it seemed beyond the most daring flight of human fancy! I was carried away, delighted and enraptured to such a degree that I could hardly breathe, and I awoke! At once I seized my violin in order to catch and hold at least some of the tones I heard in my dream. In vain. It is true that the music I composed on this occasion is the best I ever wrote in my life, and I still call it 'The Devil's Sonata;' yet the gulf between it and that which had so moved me is so great that I would have broken my instrument and foresworn music forever, had I found it possible to deprive myself of the enjoyment it gives me."
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.