- We don’t know exactly when Paganini wrote his 24 Caprices for Solo Violin; however, we do know the collection was published as Opus 1 in 1820, signifying that this was the first work the composer had published for the public.
- These “caprices” are a unique combination of concertante cadenza and technical etude that Paganini pioneered. These works “embody all the new technical possibilities which [Paganini] had worked out for his instrument.”1
- Four of the caprices have nicknames:
- Caprice No. 1 in E Major, “The Arpeggio”
- Caprice No. 6 in g minor, “The Trill”
- Caprice No. 9 in E Major, “The Hunt”
- Caprice No. 13 in B-flat Major, “Devil’s Laughter”2
- Fun fact – the final caprice, No. 24, is one of the most quoted melodies in Western classical music. For example:
- Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
- Liszt’s Grandes études de Paganini
- See the full list here
Sources
- Alberto Cantù and Ernst Herttrich, “Preface: 24 Capricci op. 1,” G. Henle Verlag (1990), accessed October 12, 2025, https://www.henle.de/en/24-Capricci-op.-1/HN-450.
- “24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op.1 (Paganini, Niccolò),” IMSLP, accessed November 12, 2025, https://imslp.org/wiki/24_Caprices_for_Solo_Violin,_Op.1_(Paganini,_Niccol%C3%B2).
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