The Devil's Trill Sonata: An Analysis (Part 1 - The Story)
- cdlawrieofficial
- May 23, 2021
- 4 min read
If anyone knows me even remotely well, they’ll know I’m a classical nut. Not a nerd, per say, as I don’t think I’m technically knowledgeable enough to adorn myself with that title, but still enthused enough about the genre and certain eras with almost eight years of classical piano experience backing me. So, in this five-part (yes, five) series, I want to scrounge up some of that nerdiness and nuttiness to break down one of my favourite classical pieces of all time: Giuseppe Tartini’s The Devil’s Trill Sonata (its “classical” name being Violin Sonata in G Minor but most know it as The Devil’s Trill.) We’ll be breaking down the technical and emotional features of each movement, using sheet music and audio clips to visually and audibly accompany what I’ll be entailing. But first, today, I’m going to begin with a bit of history and retell the tales of both Tartini and the piece itself, as well as speculate on a few other instances in which the violin has been, quite interestingly, associated with the devil…
Giuseppe Tartini (1692 – 1770) was a Baroque violinist, composer, and theorist hailing from Italy. Before becoming fully fledged with the violin, he had quite the outlandish backstory (one I thought was falsely fabricated when first hearing of it) that I’d like to share: Tartini was actually a skilled fencer with a solid reputation and was simultaneously studying law and divinity at the University of Padua. All this was before the age of 20 where he disreputably married a woman affiliated with an archbishop (how exactly she was linked is unclear, as one source said she was his wife, another his niece, and a third his protege). To avoid arrest, Tartini had to flee the city, dressed as a monk, and hunkered down in a monastery in Assisi. It was there he indulged in the violin.
The story behind The Devil’s Trill flows in the same suspenseful vein as Tartini’s personal history, and it begins with a dream in which Tartini sold his soul to the devil. In exchange, the dark archangel would fulfill his every wish and act as a servant. At one point, Tartini gave the devil his violin for him to play, and that was when Tartini first heard what would later become this sonata. Tartini claimed it was so beautiful that he awoke with a start and rushed to his own instrument to capture everything he could remember. However, much of what he had heard had been lost, and I’d like to insert this quote from the composer himself that addressed the matter:
“The music which I at this time composed is indeed the best that I ever wrote, and I still call it ‘The Devil’s Trill,’ but the difference between it and that which so moved me is so great that I would have destroyed my instrument and have said farewell to music forever if it had been possible for me to live without the enjoyment it affords me.”
(In essence, Tartini is saying that his sonata, despite its brilliance, in no way holds up to what he had heard in his dream, and if he did not love the violin as he did, he would abandon music forever as he knew that nothing he could create would ever be on par with what the devil played that night.)
Now, this is not the first time the violin (whether that be a piece, a composer, or the instrument itself) has been associated with Satan. One Romantic era composer (also Italian) is famously known for his affiliation with the devil, given his wicked technique, the notoriously difficult pieces he composed, some questionable behaviour due to the pressures of fame at an early age, and his distorted physical appearance as a result of a myriad of ailments. This man’s name was Niccolo Paganini (1782 – 1840). There were, and still are, many rumours speculating that his gifts were given to him by Satan, or even that he himself was the embodiment of the devil. There were claims of people having seen the composer, except with horns and hooves, and that one audience member from a concert in Vienna had witnessed the devil aiding Paganini in his performance. Nevertheless, “The Devil’s Violinist” (as the 2013 film dubs him) is still renowned as one of the greatest virtuosos of the instrument of all time. An instrument that also shares a connection with evil, especially in the eyes of religious leaders of the 19th century. Since it was often played at festive gatherings such as weddings, where drinking and dancing ensued, the fiddle was labeled by the church as “The Devil’s Instrument” to deter the faithful from playing it.
It’s fascinating to me that this beautiful instrument has such a seemingly long-winded history and dozens of tales of it associated with such evil. But, seeing as the devil has laid claim in other genres (the blues once tagged as “The Devil’s Music”) and many more modern musicians such as blues guitarist Robert Johnson and Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osbourne having legends or associations with Satan, I start to wonder why exactly music, of any style or era, can become so closely linked with darkness. And I start to wonder if it’s the people who should only be linked to it, because while some wrongly christened Paganini to be Satan incarnate, the music he actually played can in no way be called anything other than gorgeous and pure.
Regardless, now that we know most everything leading up to its creation, in Part 2 we’re going to begin our deep dive into the piece itself, starting with the 1st movement!
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