A snake holds up the sheet music for a distressed conductor, while a long-legged alligator attempts to read the music below a figure playing the bones on a wooden barrel. Below, a team of witches and demons (labeled “As It Is!”) create a chaotic orchestra. On top, labeled “As It Should Be” we can see an ensemble of angels, playing instruments associated with heaven-organ, flute, trumpet, harp, cello, and lute. Published during the country’s recovery from the Civil War (1861-1865), the cover shows two musical scenes. In this version, you can even see the penciled markings of the performer as they painstakingly learned the difficult work.Īnother cover featuring witches is an interesting song from 1868: Reconstruction Grand March. Virtuosic songs like this are rather rare in the Levy collection, as most publishers wanted as many people as possible to buy their sheet music. Both of these songs are transcriptions of Paganini’s theme for the piano, and a glance through the sheet music reveals the skill required to perform them. He has collapsed through the ground and landed on a throne, surrounded by a horde of demons (a few of which can be seen playing the violin themselves).
The tree itself is even coming to life under the influence of his playing, with faces forming in the knots.Īnother version of the song (above) shows a more humanized Paganini, albeit apparently in hell. In addition to the witches and creatures dancing below him, more are joining in from the horizon and foreground. The sheet music cover above captures this supernatural vision of Paganini-here, he shares a tree branch with the devil himself (in fact, he’s almost twice as big as the grimacing devil). He was Faust come to life-a role model for countless geniuses, charlatans, entertainers, and adolescents ever since his first appearances abroad.” – Oxford Western Music
“With his gaunt and gangling appearance and his demoniac temperament, Paganini almost single-handedly forged the romantic mystique of virtuosity as a superhuman, even diabolical endowment. Their unusual appearance combined with their unprecedented skill led some to think they had made pacts with the devil to obtain their talent. Both were tall and thin with abnormally long and flexible fingers, allowing them to physically reach places on their instruments that weren’t possible for other musicians. The 19 th century saw the rise of two scarily virtuosic musicians-Niccolo Paganini on the violin and Franz Liszt on the piano.
#DEMONS SONG VIOLIN MOVIE#
From Binx the talking cat to the iconic “ I Put A Spell on You” dance scene, the movie has become a cult classic-and although we’re far from Halloween, I thought I’d spend the week searching the Levy Collection for witches, demons, and other creepy characters. One of the greatest movies to come out of the 1990’s was Hocus Pocus, with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy.
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