Long before Robert Johnson ever went down to the crossroads, violinist & composer Niccolo Paganini was rumored to have
sold his soul to the devil in exchange for musical ability. Evidence against this theory: Paganini's 5th Caprice actually
prevented the devil from
stealing The Karate Kid's soul (the devil settled for stealing Ralph Macchio's career instead). Evidence in favor of this theory: When played on acoustic guitar, the virtuosity in his 24th Caprice really
seems supernaturally inspired. For my money, however, the perfect storm of ominous music & stringed instruments comes together in
this version of Carmina Burana (mp3 direct download), arranged for solo banjo.
posted by jonson
on Sep 27, 2006 -
35 comments
After a
Noel Mewton-Wood performance of
Hindemith's (.pdf) Ludus Tonalis, Dame
Myra Hess exclaimed: ‘The boy is truly remarkable, and
what shall he be like at 40-odd?’.
Glowing testimonials to his ‘genius’ (Sir Malcolm Sargent) from Beecham, Schnabel, Bliss, Hindemith and Britten were countered by indifference from the major record labels and concert managements. In 1953,
at the age of 31, the pianist, a shy young man susceptible to depression, committed suicide. Now, the
Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive of Middlesex University offers
a scan of the The London Evening News page with the report of Mewton-Wood's death. And here is
a mp3 page with some of his out-of-print work.
posted by matteo
on Mar 24, 2006 -
11 comments
