Canadian guitarist Drew Henderson performs Three Sonatas from 37 Sonatas MS84 by Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840). This comes via Henderson’s excellent YouTube channel (one of my favourites, go subscribe). I’ve never thought much about these sonatas so it’s great to hear them come to life with Henderson’s excellent playing. I love his refined sound as well as careful articulations and near-outrageous playfulness in No.37.
0:00 – Sonata in C minor (no. 33)
3:27 – Sonata in A (no. 26)
6:42 – Sonata in A (no. 37)
Here’s his description on YouTube:
On top of being the greatest violin virtuoso, Paganini also wrote a considerable amount of guitar music! Played on two guitars by Mark Usherovich. The C minor Sonata (the only sonata in a minor key) is on a 622 scale Romantic guitar inspired by René Lacôte. The other two Sonatas were played on a 629mm. I tuned down about 10 cents as I felt the guitars were comfortable there.
I kept the strings Mark had on the guitar already, which were Nylgut by Aquila. They really added to the character of this music, to me it just feels correct on these guitars. Mark actually had a real gut string on the high E when I initially tried the guitar, but it was a little harsh for me. Mark also makes fantastic modern guitars, his new “traditional” model was really outstanding.
via Henderson’s YouTube channel
