Op. 9, Variations on "God save the King." Théme, Andante, G major, with Six Variations. One principal feature is the intermingling of left hand staccato with bowed notes. At the close there are sustained open notes on the G and D strings, bowed, with double pizzicato, in sixths, above. Op. 10, Variations on "The Carnival of Venice." For this the violin is tuned a semitone higher, the solo being played in A, and the accompaniment in B flat. The theme is a popular Venetian air, "O Mamma!" Paganini heard it when in Venice in 1816, but whether he then composed the variations is not certain. It was not long, however, before Paganini made the air a favourite everywhere he went, and it is to him the melody owes its world-wide popularity. The composer of the air remains unknown. Joseph Ghys published, at Paris and Berlin, what purported to be Paganini's variations; Ernst and Sivori played versions more or less exactly in accordance with the original; but the text was finally settled by the publication of the piece in 1851. There are twenty variations. The 9th and 14th are for the fourth string; the 11th has alternate bowed and pizzicato notes; the 15th and 18th are pizzicato throughout; the 19th is in tenths and thirds; and the piece ends with a short brilliant coda. Op. 11, _Moto Perpetuo._ Allegro vivace, C major. Fétis terms this piece a movement from a Sonata for violin and orchestra. It is in the repertory for all violinists, and its running passages of staccato semiquavers need no description. Op. 12, Introduction and Variations on the air "Non più mesta accanto al fuoco." The theme is from Rossini's opera "La Cenerentola" (Cinderella), produced at Rome during the Carnival season of 1817, and forms the concluding number of the work. Paganini again directs the violin to be tuned a semitone higher, writing the solo part in D, and the accompaniment in E flat. The Introduction, Adagio Cantabile, is another example of Paganini's pure Italian style of melody. The theme seems to have appealed to him--doubtless he witnessed the _première_ of the opera--for the variations have a spontaneity and brilliance of their own. There are four variations, and a Finale full of dashing _bravura_. Op. 13, Introduction and Variations on the air "Di tanti palpiti," from Rossini's first serious opera, "Tancredi," produced at Venice in 1813. Rossini is said to have taken the theme from a Greek Litany he heard sung in a church on one of the Islets of the Laguna, near Venice. A Signora Righetti, a singer, writing in 1823 (?), stated that there was no truth in the assertion. Be that as it may, "Di tanti palpiti" made the opera, and Paganini's variations extended its popularity. The introduction is an elaborate movement, the violin tuned a semitone higher, and the part written in A, with accompaniment in B flat. There are three variations, the second being almost throughout in harmonics, single and double, and excessively difficult. This piece is very rarely played.