This finely crafted piece, which calls upon the violinist to play solely upon the G string ("per violino IV corda"), opens with a plangent and pensive introductory Adagio, which bears little relation to the lilting theme and variations that follow. The theme is from Gioachino Rossini's opera Mosè in Egitto, and serves as the occasion for a light-hearted, witty, and effervescent exploration of the violinistic possibilities inherent in the G string, which is exploited, in this piece, for all its tonal and expressive possibilities, including, but not limited to, artificial harmonics, flautando bowing, rapid staccato passages, and expressive leaps and slides. Conspicuously absent is left-hand pizzicato. But that is just as well, since the guitar does a fine job of accompanying the violin, and would not benefit from any added imitative effects. Whether or not Paganini ever spent time in prison armed only with a one-stringed (G string) violin, as legend has it, is matter for speculation. But it is clear that, through exercises such as playing solely upon the G string, Paganini was able to achieve a level of intonational exactitude unparalleled in his day, and which would serve as a yardstick for the great virtuosi of the nineteenth century, who, to a significant degree, owed their technical prowess to the influence of the great Romantic master of the violin.

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