Paganini Concerto 1 in . Eb Major vs. D Major

February 12, 2005 at 12:51 AM · From what I understand Paganini tuned his violin up a half step and played the solo part as if it were in D major. I guess he did this to get a brighter sound from his instrument. When the manuscript was published I assume they just put it in D major since tuning became higher.

February 12, 2005 at 01:05 AM · this is actually very interesting because I just received my subscription calendar from the New York Phil. and supposedly Inglof Turban will be playing the concerto in E-flat. Hmm, I'm very curious to see how this would sound a half step higher. And yes, I'm sure it was transposed due to the fact that D-major is much easier to play than E-flat...at least on the violin.

February 12, 2005 at 05:02 AM · I have an engraved first edition of this concerto. (my collection comes in handy sometimes!) The violin part is in D major with the scordaturra tuning and the orchestra parts are in Eb...hope this helps! My guess would be that this change came about with Wilhelgm (spelling?) he made this concerto very popular. Also Emile Sauret helped out in making this concerto more popular after Paganini's death. As for CD's Maximo Quartra has the only recording with the Eb and scordaturra tuning as Paganini intended. Keep in mind with the violin tuned up the violinist is reading in the key of D major, sounds much brighter and stands out against an orchestra playing in Eb.

February 12, 2005 at 02:42 AM · i always thought it was to help him project over the orchestra, e flat is much less resonant.

February 12, 2005 at 05:03 AM · "Keep in mind with the violin tuned up the violinist is reading in the key of D major, sounds much brighter and stands out against an orchestra playing in Eb"

February 12, 2005 at 10:21 AM · if you want to here it in eb, you can here it for free here http://www.massimoquarta.com/paganini_01.htm