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Le
Charme de Padua, Divertimento pour Violon et Piano
concertant, compost par Nicolo Paganini. This
piece was published in London
before the date of Paganini's first concert, and possibly before the arrival of that
artist in England. It was issued by a firm of repute, Wessel
and Stodar, who were the first publishers in England
of the works of Chopin. The music was reviewed
in The Harntonicottf June 1831, the notice concluding thus : " It perhaps is a bagatelle on which he
(Paganini) has bestowed little time
and less thought. It certainly is a
flimsy affair, and might have been produced by
the dullest and most mechanical repieno in the band of a
suburb {sic) theatre." The piece consists of a Larghetto and
Presto, in C major, the slow introduction being in six-eight rhjrthm, the Presto in six-four. There is one principal
theme in the first part, given out by the violin and
repeated by the pianoforte, a simple melody, with embellishments.
The Presto is in Rondo form, with leading
theme for pianoforte, continued by violin, and relieved by an episode contrasted in character. The music
is not great, but unprejudiced musicians will scarcely
endorse the captious remarks of the reviewer. The
firm of Edwin Ashdown (successor to Wessel) publish the composition, also a version by S. Godb6 for
viola and pianoforte. In this the themes are written an
octave lower, and modifications occur in double-stops, and
so forth, to suit the viola. There is likewise an arrangement for flute and pianoforte, by J. Sedlazek. It is
not stated by whom the pianoforte part was written, but
it is very well done, and is not a mere accompaniment.