Devil’s Trill and others / Eduard Melkus
This is a collection of violin sonatas by Vitali, Tartini, and Nardini. Vitali’s Chaconne is written by the exact same basso ostenato as the final piece of Biber’s Rosary Sonata. This type of music was also popular in France, and Lambert’s Air de Coeur is almost entirely based on this bassline. Tartini’s “Devil’s Trill” is known for its well-crafted episodes, but it is a piece that requires so-called “superb technique”. A lot of difficult trills are used in the fast sixteenth notes of the second movement. But unfortunately, they are not “devil’s trills”. The real “Devil’s Trill” appears in the third movement when the Andante changes to Allegro assai. This is a nearly impossible part where you have to play the trill with your two fingers of left hand while playing the melody line with the rest of your fingers.”Theme and 30 Variations” is based on Corelli’s gavotte and titled “L’Arte Dell’ Arco (Bowing Technique)”. He is also the discoverer of the “difference tone (tartini tone),” which I explained here before.
