Paganini

I remember making this collage. It was in 1992, and I had just started playing the violin. Making this collage was a way for me to tell myself that playing Paganini Caprices on the violin was something that I could comfortably admit I would never be able to do. I believe I even cut up a perfectly good piece of music to make the collage. I imagine that the collage "says" a lot more about my state at that time than I am willing to admit, but I will leave that kind of interpretation to people who are more subjective than I am.

A few years ago, during a particularly strong technical surge and the deep desire to embrace the violinistic parts of my personality, I got myself a new copy of the Paganini Caprices. I would take it out from time to time, and then I would immediately put it away.

Now the Paganini caprices are on my stand. I have been chipping away daily at #13, one of the more accessible of the Caprices. I don't know how many of the Caprices I will be able to learn, but I do know that I will be able to learn and to play some of them.