Niccolò Paganini

Terzetto M.S. 69

Paganini’s compositions for a trio comprising strings and guitar form a small but significant corpus consisting of five works of differing length, formal structure and weight of scoring such as the Serenata in F major M.S. 115, the Terzetto in A minor M.S. 116, the Serenata in C major M.S. 17, the Terzetto concertante in D major M.S. 114 and the Terzetto in D major M.S. 69 here published. This last-named work demonstrates the high level of composition that Nicolò Paganini had attained to in his full artistic maturity and may be considered among the most successful and typical works of this great Genoese musician. The work shows an evoluted instrumental and formal conception, in which the three instruments are perfectly balanced and the guitar, emancipated from merely filling in the harmony, is allowed a more prominent role.