His on-stage performances were so flamboyant and masterful that some believed he had “made a pact with the devil”. Paganini would become the greatest violinist of his era, cultivating a technical prowess and mystique not previously matched.
The Breezer - the joyride for a curious mind: A weekly newsletter from Steve Winduss at the Batting the Breeze podcast. Spend a few minutes with me discovering historical snippets and fascinating facts related to the forthcoming week. Add to that updates relating to the podcast, a touch of humour and a dash of "lots more".25th May 2025.
Happy Sunday! You no doubt paused for a moment’s reflection last Tuesday to celebrate the 8th World Bee Day. The United Nations first designated this day on 20 May 2018 as an ongoing reminder of the role bees play in our delicate ecosystem. No? Well, up until a couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have either. But I was lucky to catch up with Paul Carnell for the podcast. Paula is a global expert in naturopathic beekeeping and highlighted how bees are under threat in today’s environment. She believes bees should be nurtured in a way that supports their natural lifestyle rather than works against it. The bees are happier, and the honey is more sustainable.
Out of Curiosity
There are 22,000 species of bees worldwide, but only 11 make honey. In fact the only species of honey bee found in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, most of Europe and parts of Africa and the Middle East is the Western honey bee, or Apis mellifera (Apis is Latin for ‘bee’ and mellifera Latin for ‘honey-bearing’).
The Western honey bee, Apis mellifera.
The conversation was wide-ranging, but one topic stood out in particular: the habits of the male drone. This is what Paula had to say about that…
The drone could leave the hive and go off to a drone congregation area. So it’s like a big pub for male bees where they all hang out quite often near a landmark like a tall tree or hillside….
The drone senses the pheromones of a queen, he’ll chase the queen and mate with her. If he’s successful with mating, as he goes to pull away, his genitals are ripped away from him, and he falls to the ground to his death.
Ouch. Paula’s success as a naturopathic bee-keeping guru is even more remarkable as she has had to learn to live with a debilitating disorder, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). EDS, actually a group of disorders, affects the connective tissue supporting the skin, ligaments, tendons, bones, internal organs, and blood vessels. The disorders affect people in different ways, but broadly speaking, those with EDS have ultra-stretchy skin, exhibit an increased range of joint movement, suffer skin breaks and bruise easily. The symptoms range from extremely inconvenient to life-threatening. I hadn’t encountered Ehlers-Danlos before I met Paula, but it turns out she is in good company.
Niccolò Paganini was born in October 1782 in Genoa, Italy. His father, Antonio, an amateur mandolinist, introduced him to the mandolin at the age of five. Niccolò switched to the violin at seven and was giving public performances by the age of eleven. Paganini would become the greatest violinist of his era, cultivating a technical prowess and mystique not previously matched. His on-stage performances were so flamboyant and masterful that some believed he had “made a pact with the devil”. Niccolò’s on-stage presence wasn’t the only feature attracting his diabolical reputation. He was tall and thin with a naturally pale and gaunt frame. Missing teeth and long, black hair complemented his gothic black outfits. Paganini’s playing style was marked by contorted, jerking motions, wild, rolling eyes and seemingly uncontrollable limb movements. Then there were his hands. Niccolò possessed unusually long, spindly fingers that danced over the strings with extraordinary dexterity. The speed and precision of the movement were uncanny; individual fingers would dart across the fingerboard and back with the agility of a spider scurrying for cover.
Visual artist Hetty Krist’s interpretation of the performing Niccolò Paganini.
After one performance, the German writer Ludwig Boerne noted…
It was a divine, a diabolic enthusiasm; I never saw or heard anything to equal it in all my life. People have all gone crazy. But you should see how awkward he was. He is the most magnificent lout that nature ever invented.
Paganini’s personal physician, Dr Franceso Bennati noted that he could “bend the first joints of his left fingers sideways to their natural motion” and that his thumb “could flex backwards until the thumbnail touched the back of his hand”. This would help to explain Niccolò’s delight in performing the most technically complex pieces. He once composed and performed the Moses Fantasy, a piece played entirely on the violin’s G string. In simple terms, this would have required Paganini to sprint up and down a single string with extraordinary speed and accuracy. The composition’s extreme difficulty may have elicited his comment….
I don’t believe in mistakes, only unexpected harmonies.
It’s no wonder Niccolò was imagined as supernatural and referred to as “The Devil’s Violinist”. Medical experts today believe that Paganini may have been born with the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome I mentioned earlier. Apart from the renowned elasticity of his fingers, Niccolò’s “cadaverous” appearance and chronic joint pain are also indicators of the presence of EDS. Paganini’s musical ability translated into his compositions. He started writing music almost as early as he learned to play the violin. Many of his compositions were tailored to his own virtuosity, with little sympathy for other, less dextrous, violinists. Modern-day professional violinists regard Paganini’s 24 Caprices for Solo Violin as a rite of passage in their musical careers, a bucket list item to be ticked to demonstrate the highest level of technical ability.
Out of Curiosity
Niccolò was born in the heart of the Classical era of Western music, 1750-1820, characterised by composers Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). The Classical era would give way to the Romantic era, a movement shaped by Paganini himself, alongside the likes of Franz Schubert (1797–1828), Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868) and Hector Berlioz(1803–1869).
By all means check out the 24 Caprices, but to experience the archetypal Paganini, I would recommend his Violin Concerto No. 1. This flourishing and uplifting 35 minutes of musical pyrotechnicswas premiered by Paganini himself in March 1819 at the Teatro del Fondo in Naples.
Il Violino Magico, 'the magic violin', featuring violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini on a bed of clouds, being presented with a violin by the devil. The lithograph was produced by James Anthony Minasi during Paganini's first visit to London in 1831.
Approaching 50 years old, Niccolò’s health was declining. Ehlers-Danlos and a mercury treatment for syphilis were largely responsible, later compounded by tuberculosis. By the age of 52, Paganini was forced to retire from public performances. A failed business venture in Paris left Niccolò impoverished by the time of his miserable death, 185 years ago this Tuesday, 27 May 1840, aged 57. As a final insult, the rumours of Niccolò’s ‘pact with the devil’, exacerbated by his refusal of last rites (he didn’t actually think he was dying), led to the Catholic Church denying him a burial on consecrated ground. After a plea to Pope Gregory XVI by Paganini's son Achille, Niccolò was finally buried 36 years after his death. He was later reinterred in 1896 in the Cimitero della Villetta in Parma.
Dates with History
Thursday…
The British imposition of the Stamp Act in 1765 on the American colonies is widely recognised as a catalyst leading to the American War of Independence (Revolutionary War). The act imposed a series of direct taxes on a wide range of paper products, e.g. newspapers, legal documents, magazines etc. The Brits might have got away with it but for the intervention of an up-and-coming lawyer from Studley, Virginia… Patrick Henry. Henry was born on 29 May 1736. It turned out that he would be celebrating his 29th birthday in some style. Two hundred and sixty years ago this Thursday, 29 May 1765, Henry stood up in the Virginia House of Burgesses and delivered a rampaging speech against the Stamp Act. Some members of the House grew concerned when Henry suggested that King George III might follow in the footsteps of Julius Caesar or even Charles I. But Henry was defiant. When such a member stood up and shouted “Treason!”, Henry retorted…
If this be treason, make the most of it!”
The speech established Patrick Henry as a leading voice for revolution. His memorable quote became a rallying cry for colonial Americans who opposed British rule.
Patrick Henry's "If this be treason, make the most of it!" speech against the Stamp Act of 1765. Painting by Peter F. Rothermel, 1851.
Saturday…
Next Saturday marks 75,000 days since Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev discovered the continent of Antarctica, 27 January 1820. The Russian admiral and fleet commander sailed the sloops Vostok and Mirny from Kronstadt near St Petersburg, via Copenhagen in Denmark and Deal and Portsmouth in England, before heading south. The Vostok and Mirny circumnavigated the Antarctic continent twice during the 751-day expedition. Although not landing on Antarctica, Bellingshausen and Lazarev came within 15 kilometres of the coastline on nine occasions, close enough to make the first confirmed sightings of the continent. The first confirmed landing on Antarctica would have to wait another 75 years until a Norwegian whaling ship, the Antarctic, went ashore at Cape Adare, Victoria Land, in January 1895.
130th anniversary Soviet Union postage stamp showing the Bellingshausen-Lazarev Antarctic Expedition, including 'Mirny' and 'Vostok' (sloops-of-war) and the route.
By the Way
The Kola Peninsula is a promontory in the northwest corner of Russia, bordering Finland and Norway. Apart from its strategic military importance, the peninsula is an area of outstanding landscapes, rich in minerals and home to a biodiverse collection of flora and fauna. In 1970, the USSR Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources announced a new ambitious project for the Kola Peninsula. Fifty-five years ago yesterday, 24 May 1970, work started on drilling a vertical borehole, which would become the deepest ever man-made hole in the Earth. Twenty-two years later in 1992, the Kola Peninsula Superdeep Borehole was abandoned, having reached a depth of 12,262 metres below the Earth’s surface. This represents an equivalent depth of 23 times the height of the Freedom Tower in New York. The project was ultimately defeated due to the pressure and temperature at that depth (reaching 180°C). Nonetheless, scientists developed a greater understanding of the composition of the Earth’s crust and made some surprising discoveries: water was detected below 5,000 metres and fossilised plankton, thought to be over two billion years old, was discovered at 6,000 metres. The drilling rig would have had to drill 520 times deeper to reach the Earth’s core.
The site of the abandoned Kola Peninsula Superdeep Borehole.
Question of the Week
After Britain and France formally declared war on Germany in September 1939, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was deployed along the Belgian-French border in preparation for the inevitable German offensive. When the assault was unleashed, it proved a disaster for the Allies. Within 16 days, they had been forced back to the northern French coast. With 400,000 troops trapped on the beaches in and around Dunkirk, one of the great rescue stories of World War II commenced 85 years ago tomorrow, 26 May 1940. Hundreds of civilian boats of every description heroically set off from England across the English Channel, determined to rescue as many soldiers as possible before making a swift return. Pleasure craft, fishing boats, lifeboats and ferries criss-crossed the Channel for nine days before the Germans finally took control of the area. What was the codename given to the dramatic evacuation from Dunkirk between 26 May and 4 June 1940?
Three of the armada of 'little ships' which brought the men of the BEF from the shores in and around Dunkirk to safety.
And Finally…
In a previous newsletter, I reflected on the wonderful William of Orange - the pigeon, not the former King of England. In 1939, the British formed the National Pigeon Service to relay messages from the front lines in World War II back to Blighty to deliver battle-critical messages. Pigeons have extraordinary homing capabilities. They combine visual clues with an inner power known as magnetoreception, navigating by the Earth’s magnetic field. In all, 200,000 proud pigeons served in the RAF during the war. When a pigeon was called into action from the front line to relay a message back to Britain, it first had to evade German soldiers with shotguns, general artillery fire and often atrocious weather conditions. If the gallant flapper was still in the air once it had crossed the English Channel, it then had to evade peckish birds of prey along the English coastline scouting for their next meal. Not surprisingly, only a few pigeons completed the task. On 19 September 1944, William of Orange was set loose from a position near the Rhine Bridge at Arnhem, Netherlands. Four hours and 250 miles later, he reached his pigeon loft in Knutsford.
William of Orange – the pigeon, 1944.
The unflappable pigeon was awarded the Dickin Medal in May 1945 for “conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty”, alerting British High Command of a potentially disastrous situation at Arnhem during the Operation Market Garden offensive. All well and good, but today we honour a pigeon whose legendary deed, achieved a century before, still stands as the pinnacle of avian achievement. One hundred and eighty years ago next Sunday, 1 June 1845, an unnamed pigeon owned by Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington of Battle of Waterloo fame, set off from Ichaboe Island, Namibia and headed for London. Fifty-five days and 6,800 miles later, Feathers Wellesley arrived back in London. The speed and duration of the achievement are unsurpassed in homing pigeon history. Feathers really was the Eliud Kipchoge of homing pigeons. Unfortunately, the story has a tragic ending. You may remember the legend of Pheidippides, who - in 490 BCE - ran the first marathon, 26 miles from the battlefield on the plains of Marathon to the capital city of Athens, to proclaim a Greek victory against the invading Persians. Pheidippides collapsed and died moments after delivering his message.
Pheidippides gives word of victory before collapsing and dying, 490 BCE, Luc-Olivier Merson.
Similarly, our intrepid long-distance flyer had ruffled one too many feathers. Just one mile short of his loft in Nine Elms, Feathers plummeted from the sky and unceremoniously face-planted in a gutter. The deceased pigeon was retrieved a short while later.
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Steve
HOST & CHIEF STORY HUNTER
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The dramatic evacuation from Dunkirk between 26 May 1940 and 4 June 1940 was codenamed Operation Dynamo. Of the 400,000 soldiers awaiting rescue at Dunkirk, 338,326 were successfully evacuated. Without these men, Britain would have been unable to continue its resistance against Nazi Germany.
A photograph of Allied troops wading out into the sea awaiting rescue by boat during Operation Dynamo, May-June 1940.
Visual artist Hetty Krist’s interpretation of the performing Niccolò Paganini: Hetty Krist., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Il Violino Magico, 'the magic violin', featuring violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini on a bed of clouds, being presented with a violin by the devil. The lithograph was produced by James Anthony Minasi during Paganini's first visit to London in 1831: Courtesy of British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
Patrick Henry's "If this be treason, make the most of it!" speech against the Stamp Act of 1765. Painting by Peter F. Rothermel, 1851: Peter F. Rothermel (1812–1895), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
130th anniversary Soviet Union postage stamp showing the Bellingshausen-Lazarev Antarctic Expedition, including 'Mirny' and 'Vostok' (sloops-of-war) and the route: Post of the Soviet Union (V. V. Zavialov)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Three of the armada of 'little ships' which brought the men of the BEF from the shores in and around Dunkirk to safety: Courtesy of Imperial War Museums.
A photograph of Allied troops wading out into the sea awaiting rescue by boat during Operation Dynamo, May-June 1940: Courtesy of Imperial War Museums.
William of Orange – the pigeon, 1944: See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Pheidippides gives word of victory before collapsing and dying, 490 BCE, Luc-Olivier Merson: Danotal, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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