...the strange tale of Niccolo Paganini...

"Paganini's hand is not larger than normal; but because all its parts are so stretchable, it can double its reach. For example, without changing the position of the hand, he is able to bend the first joints of the left fingers --which touch the strings--sideways, at a right angle to the natural motion of the joint, and he can do it with effortless ease, assurance, and speed. Essentially, Paganini's art is based on physical endowment, increased and developed by ceaseless practicing." - Dr. Bennati, personal physician to Niccolo, 1831

The story of Paganini and the devil may have began when a patron of the arts had apparently seen a demon appear during a concert of the violinist.  Some stories place it with the receipt of Il Cannone Guarnerius, a violin given to Paganini when he had lost his own while gambling.  This would have made it sometime around, or after, 1743.

The story of selling his soul to the demon would be contemporary: the Church refused to bury him on the grounds that they could not repudiate the story that had become so pervasive with Niccolo.  Either the wild story followed him until his death, or it was the feats of grandeur, or his brazen lifestyle with drink, gambling and women.  The latter half of the equation fed into the first, surely.  Having a child out of wedlock, his reputation already tarnished as a ne'er-do-well, must have cemented Niccolo's lot and wont.

Undeniably, Paganini was a virtuoso.  He locked himself away after his teenage years with a violin and did not come from his sequestration until the age of 22.  Perhaps it was in these years that he made the (unlikely) pact - asking that all of his energies and talents be funneled into becoming expert on that (and many other) instruments.  Undoubtedly, he was a phenomenon.  He sought only new music to play from, as the old was too infirm for his lightening fingers to play.

It was said, in performance, his fingers would bleed.  His fingers could also bend and shape themselves in ways not seen before.  He could cut strings, purposefully during performance, and continue on, having only one string next and the music quite unbroken.

Who would not believe that a demon did not have a hand in that?