Niccolò Paganini

Sonata

Introduced to the mandolin by his father Antonio, the young Niccolo was not at his first attempt when he composed this sonata "per rovene" for mandolin and guitar, a fusion of several pages of youth dedicated to these two plucked string instruments. Let us recall here that Paganini is notably the author of a sonata for solo mandolin published in the same collection and of a very virtuoso character. To accentuate the brilliant character of the mandolin, Paganini here chooses the main tonality of E major. The first movement entitled "andante sostenuto" proposes a very cantabile initial theme, a pretext for elegant and voluble variations, preceded by an introduction in the relative minor key which will also conclude this first movement. The second movement is an Andantino where the central part, in the relative minor key of the main key of G major, leaves a shadow of melancholy hanging which contrasts with the Finale of the sonata entitled "Brillante" in which the mandolin and the guitar compete in virtuosity and conclude with panache this major work of the chamber music repertoire of these two instruments.