"The Devil's Laughter" is a masterpiece by the great Italian violinist Paganini in the 19th century. I personally think that Paganini is the most outstanding violinist in history, because he not only has top performance skills, but also has master-level music creation ability, and musicians with both abilities at the same time are very rare. Paganini was not only a performer with outstanding technical achievements, but also an artist with progressive democratic ideas and positive romantic enthusiasm.

Paganini studied music since he was a child. Like many musical geniuses, he began traveling and performing around the world at the age of fifteen. He dazzled the audience at that time with his superb performance skills and musical expression level, and was known as the "King of Violin".

Paganini's original achievements in the art of violin performance not only enriched the violin playing skills, but also deeply influenced the development of piano creation techniques by Schumann, Liszt and others.

Paganini's major works include two violin concertos and twenty-four violin capriccios. Many violin lovers know that there are two famous violin pieces, one is called "The Devil's Laughter" and the other is called "The Devil's Trill", and it is easy to confuse the two.

"The Devil's Trill" was composed by the Italian composer Tartini in the early 18th century, while "The Devil's Laughter" was composed by Paganini. It is the thirteenth song in "Twenty-Four Caprices". Because this piece has a distinctive musical image and is extremely difficult to perform, later generations named it "The Devil's Laughter." Paganini was only nineteen years old when he composed "Twenty-Four Caprices". Because this was his first work, it was called Opus No. 1

Paganini's As a boy, he was deeply influenced by Tartini and Locatelli. Tartini's violin sonata "The Devil's Trill" and Locatelli's "Violin Art" concerto collection greatly broadened his horizons and aroused his creative impulse. "Twenty-Four Caprices" were written in Born under this background. In these pieces, he creatively used various difficult and even unprecedented playing techniques, and expressed his rich imagination on the violin without the need for any musical accompaniment.

The Thirteenth Caprice is in the key of B flat major, in 6/8 time, in a three-part form. The first section of the piece has a soft melody. It cleverly uses a series of descending semitones of thirds and double tones. It sounds like a person is laughing, which immediately attracts the audience.

The second section of the music shifts to the key of G minor, and its first half shows the cadenza in the bass area of ??the violin, which is highly decorative. The decomposition of the octave and semitones makes the sound sound like laughter, but it sounds a bit scary. The second half of the melody appears in the high register. Jumping sound patterns, opposite directions and changes in intensity give the music a brilliant and magical color. The ending reproduces the first paragraph.

When the score of "Twenty-Four Caprices" appeared in the music world, it was rejected by some authorities. Violin professors at the Paris Conservatoire believed that such a difficult piece of music could not be played on the violin. Even accused it of being a scam. However, when they heard Paganini's performance with their own ears, they were finally impressed by this young man's genius.

The German poet Heine said: "Every swing of Paganini's bow evokes visual images and pictures in front of my eyes." German composer Schumann also praised Paganini's melody as "unique", "beautiful and gentle". At that time, many people in society called Paganini a "devil-like violinist." The naming of Caprice No. 13 "The Devil's Laughter" should be related to people's understanding of Paganini.