Niccolo Paganini
From Philosopedia
Paganini, Niccolò (27 October 1782 - 27 May 1840)
Paganini, an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer, was born in Genoa, Italy.
He composed his first sonata before the age of 9, made his first public appearance in 1793, and was known for having perfect pitch. Paginini was appointed first violinist at the Lucca Court, where his diligent application (reportedly practicing up to 15 hours a day as a youth) made him Europe's foremost virtuoso violinist. Paganini's acclaimed 6-year world tour, wowing audiences with his legendary showmanship, made him wealthy and an international celebrity.
He played his own songs, considered to be so diabolically intricate that the superstitious widely accused him of having made a pact with the Devil. Yet his tender passages routinely brought his audience to tears.
When he retired to his villa in Parma, a time when he lost his voice and, later, died from cancer of the larynx, he lived a religion-free life, refused the sacraments of the Roman Catholic church on his deathbed, and wanted no religious ritual at his burial. Even his religious biographer, Count Conestabili,in Vita de Niccolo Paganini (1851) admitted Paganini's "religious indifferentism." Joseph McCabe wrote that Paganini’s friends knew he was an atheist.
