DESCRIPTION:
The idea to play Paganini's piece on an instrument with one single string has haunted me ever since i started studying it. When i met Patrick Charton a few years ago, i knew here was a guy who could make this work.
Long story short: here is the World Pemiere of our arrangement of Paganini's Variations, on the Charton B21 "Una Corda". It's got a head with only one tuning peg and a one-string tailpiece. Tuning has never been easier...
Not only is a one-string bass visually striking, but it also doesn't allow for sneaky little excursions to the second string (as some musicians do. Of course this doesn't make any sense in a piece that's expressly meant to be played on one string).
This is a recording we made the day after i received the neck, tailpiece and scroll. We could have made a better take once i had gotten used to the new set-up, but we were just too impatient to try out the instrument and to share this crazy idea. We'll probably make a "decent" video some time in the future.
Anyway, the wrong notes don't really bother us and we hope you'll enjoy our little moment of fun as much as we did.
The Dragonetti-style bow is by Jérôme Gastaldo, the Viola d'Amore is by Pierre Van Engeland, both from Brussels.
Since we don't always want to play everything just as it's written (we prefer authenticity of spirit rather than literal reproduction), and since it would be a mistake to take this piece all too seriously, we "improved" it by adding some foreign elements (just like Paganini used to do): a Japanese Folk Song, Mona Lisa, the Belgian national Hymn, a ditty of Dittersdorf, and more. Actually, we usually change the extra bits from one concert to the next.
Do try this at home!


Thank you for watching!

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