He actually didn’t have a deal with the devil… His parents blessed him. But, for fun… 🙂
My Parents blessed me by saying, “You can do whatever you put your mind to.” So, I listened, and became a writer. 🙂
Here’s Vivaldi. I’ll let the listeners decide which is which. Is Johnny Vivaldi or Paganini? It can be hard to tell because I don’t think either were necessarily evil. I think people with talent ought to live off of their talent.
But the story here is that Paganini’s mother was supposed to have made a deal with the devil to make Paganini the world’s greatest violinist. And people all throughout Europe hated him because they thought that his “Talent” could only come from a satanic agency.
The truth is he was just way ahead of his time. Some atonal influences, Spanish guitar, and some modernism. What’s interesting about him is how much influence he’s had on musical structures in the Silent Era. If you listen closely, his scores, or things like it, were performed in Old Hollywood. This was a time when Hollywood was notably pure, and simple and not debased like it is now.
Though, there is some striking element to Paganini that would make one think he made a deal with the devil. Not for his apparent quality, but for his lack of quality. He’s certainly not the best Violinist. He’s certainly not the most influential. Vivaldi’s score here has had more lasting impact on music than Paganini. Some of the theories in Vivaldi are being implemented now, especially some of the ending techniques and climaxes. Which make Vivaldi a little bit more influential on modern music, but Paganini definitely had huge influence on a period of melody.
Which, neither had a “deal with the devil.” It’s just that Paganini was doing something that sounded like it should be in the 1930’s when he was born in the late Eighteenth Century. And Vivaldi, actually, was far more advanced in his musicality. Some of the stuff he is doing in this selection sounds like it should be from modern era, with the musicality and drops and transitions. Which, makes him a little more skilled as a composer and all around musician, considering he tapped into something more permanent, and less niche.
But, beauty wise, I like Jazz. And Paganini sounds more like Jazz. In fact, the influences are almost uncanny, how Paganini did pieces that actually sound like Jazz in the 1940’s Swing Era, just with the melody.
So, the question is, which of these musicians is Johnny? Do we ultimately equate success with “Satanic Influences”? Because here, my beloveds, is someone who made a deal with the devil:
The devil does not make it a habit of passing off good music as good music. Normally, it’s his way to make good music seem as if it was from his influence. And then this gets passed off as music, this and seven minutes of silence. And, I’ve heard some of his songs which could compare well to both Vivaldi and Paganini, but really, a person who’s famous for this can only be famous for having “Made a deal with the devil” or in laymen’s terms, selling out his profession for fame and fortune.
And the reason you can’t and ought not do this is because it makes artists who do have talents much harder to actually break into their field. If it were level, and aesthetics were judged based on merit, there wouldn’t be this atonal music because it is a sign of decadence and corruption when this becomes famous, and otherwise brilliant composers and musicians get marginalized for their traditions.
