October 27 - Niccolò Paganini; Conlon Nancarrow (The Musical Birthday Series)

Niccolò Paganini (27 October 1782 – 27 May 1840) was a fantastically successful violin virtuoso and composer.

Paganini was terribly clever,

And having no fear whatsoever,

Did devilish things

On those four catgut strings

That affected the fiddle forever.

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪  

Conlon Nancarrow (27 October 1912 – 10 August 1997) was an experimental composer of pieces of enormous complexity.

Nancarrow was never at ease

With ten fingers for 88 keys,

And cutting new holes

In some old piano roles, 

Said, “Instead of my hands, I’ll use these”

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