Caprice Caprice, from the Italian ''capriccio'', may refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Caprice'' (1913 film), a film starring Mary Pickford * ''Caprices'' (film), a 1942 French comedy film * ''Caprice'' (1967 film), a film starring Richard Harris ...

No. 5 is one of 24 caprices for solo violin composed by

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'', or ; Late Latin ''virtuosus''; Latin ''virtus''; 'virtue', 'excellence' or 'skill') is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist

Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; ; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices ...

in the early 19th century. The piece is known for its fast tempo and technical difficulty. Paganini is said to have been able to play it on one string, but there is no evidence to support or refute this.

Transcription for other instruments

The piece has been transcribed for several instruments, including saxophone, piano, cello, bassoon, accordion, and guitar. The piece is also associated with the movie ''

Crossroads Crossroads is a junction where four roads meet. Crossroads, crossroad, cross road(s) or similar may also refer to: Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a ...

'' as "Eugene's Trick Bag," which was written and performed by

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai ( ; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a Transcription (music), transc ...

and heavily inspired by the caprice. The first recorded true transcription of the piece appeared on Eliot Fisk's landmark recording that transcribed the entire 24 Caprices for the classical guitar.

Influence on contemporary music

Though written for the violin, the piece has also become known amongst

guitarists A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

, particularly because of its appeal to the technical proficiency of the

shred guitar Shred guitar is a virtuosic style of electric guitar performance. Categorized by its use of advanced techniques, shredding is a complex art form. Shred guitar includes fast alternate picking, sweep-picking, diminished and harmonic minor scales, t ...

genre. This can be seen from virtuoso

Jason Becker Jason Eli Becker (born July 22, 1969) is an American composer and former guitarist. At the age of 16, he became part of the Shrapnel Records-produced duo Cacophony with his friend Marty Friedman, and they released two albums, '' Speed Metal Sy ...

's version of the piece, re-arranged for

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

(see External Links) and for

Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen (; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, on 30 June 1963) is a Swedish-American guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical metal, neoclassical playing style in heavy metal music, heavy metal, and has ...

's use of Paganini inspired techniques in his music. Yngwie Malmsteen created a

guitar tab Tablature (or tab for short) is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering or the location of the played notes rather than musical pitches. Tablature is common for fretted stringed instruments such as the guitar, lute or vihuela ...

transcription for the piece (which deviated from the original score) in an issue of ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists and fans of guitar-based music and trends. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...

'' magazine. The following are examples of the piece in modern music: * The piece inspired rapper

Busdriver Regan Farquhar (born February 12, 1978), better known by his stage name Busdriver (sometimes stylized in all caps), is an American rapper and producer from Los Angeles. He has collaborated with rappers such as Myka 9, R.A.P. Ferreira, Nocando ...

for the intermission part of his song "Imaginary Places". * The title track of

Michael Angelo Batio Michael Angelo Batio ( ; born June 12, 1956), also known as Michael Angelo, Mike Batio or MAB, is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal guitarist. He was the lead guitarist for the glam metal band Nitro (band), Nitro in the late 1980s and ...

's '' No Boundaries'' contains an arrangement of the piece. * Finnish

neo-classical metal Neoclassical metal is a Music subgenre, subgenre of heavy metal music, heavy metal that is heavily influenced by classical music and usually features very technical playing,Stephan Forté, "Metal néoclassique" in ''Guitarist Magazine Pedago'', ...

band Virtuocity used a variation in the song "Eye for an Eye" on their debut album ''Secret Visions''. *

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

heavy metal band

Domain A domain is a geographic area controlled by a single person or organization. Domain may also refer to: Law and human geography * Demesne, in English common law and other Medieval European contexts, lands directly managed by their holder rather ...

uses a variation in the solo for their song "Warpath" on the album ''The Sixth Dimension''. * Joe Stump uses elements of the piece in the track "Paganini's Revenge" from the album ''

Guitar Dominance ''Guitar Dominance!'' is the first studio album by guitarist Joe Stump, released in 1993 through David Chastain, Leviathan Records; a remastered edition was reissued in 2003.''Guitar Dominance!'' (CD edition liner notes). Critical reception Ro ...

''.Guitar Dominance! (CD edition liner notes). * The first notes of the composition are used in

The Faint The Faint is an American indie rock band. Formed in Omaha, Nebraska, the band consists of Todd Fink, Graham Ulicny, Dapose and Clark Baechle. The Faint was originally known as Norman Bailer and included Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes (band), Brig ...

's album ''

Wet from Birth ''Wet from Birth'' is the fourth studio album by the American band The Faint, released on September 14, 2004. The U.S. release uses HDCD encoding, but the package is not labeled as HDCD. Track listing In popular culture *The instrumental b ...

'' at the beginning of the first track, "Desperate Guys".

References in contemporary art

Cory Arcangel Cory Arcangel (born May 25, 1978) is an American post-conceptual artist who makes work in many different media, including drawing, music, video, performance art, and video game modifications, for which he is best known. Arcangel often uses th ...

produced a mashup video, or Caprice No. 5

supercut A supercut is a genre of video editing consisting of a montage (filmmaking), montage of short digital video, clips with the same theme. The theme may be an action, a scene, a word or phrase, an object, a gesture, or a cliché or trope. The techniq ...

, for his 2011 Solo show at the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

References

External links

Violinist Nate Robinson playing Paganini's Fifth Caprice

Paganini Caprice no. 5 for violin (played with original bowing)

. {{Authority control Paganini Caprice 05 Caprice 05 Paganini 05