01612-67133-2 Produced and Engineered by John Tylor Cover Photo by Fredric Petters Design by Kristen Stephen Recorded June 6-8, 1993 in the Parish Church of Holy Trinity, Weston, Hertfordshire, England. Publication and Copy right: 1994, MusicMasters, Inc. 1710 Highway 35, Ocean, NJ 07712 Made in USA Distributed in the USA by BMG Music

This collaboration with Eliot Fisk has been a great joy for me. What he has done in adapting this work to the guitar from the original solo violin version is no less than a "recomposition". Besides producing an unbelievable extension of guitar technique, he has at the same time explored and utilized every conceivable expressive possibility of the instrument. No Composer I can think of could have imagined these possibilities. One would have to be a guitarist / artist of Fisk's caliber to be able to imagine what he, in fact, did. There are many "borrowings," in the Caprice Variations. For example, I took some variations from Brahms' two sets of Paganini 24th Caprice Variations for the piano and transcribed them for solo violin. "Borrowing" is a time-honored tradition; no period in the history of music has been without it. There are some, of course, who are offended by the idea or concept of "borrowing" but it is quite acceptable to today's musicians. Many different styles, asthetics, attitudes live side by side in this work. As a whole it represents Paganini, a host of earlier and later composers, myself - and now in this version, Eliot Fisk.

1. Variation 1: Allegro energico 2. Variation 50: Fantasy 3. Variation 41: Allegro molto(after Webern Passacaglia, Op. 1) 4. Variation 35: Allegro molto; fantastico 5. Variation 5Poco agitato ma con molto rubato 6. Variation 20: Quasi cadenza; andante con molto espressivo 7. Variation 7: Presto(after Beethoven Op. 74, Scherzo) 8. Variation 10: Vivace(after Brahms Op. 35, Bk. I, No. 3) 9. Variation 16: Andante amoroso 10. Variation 2: Presto 11. Variation 3: Allegro molto e con fuoco 12. Variation 13: Feroce energico(after Brahms Op. 35, Bk. II, No. 10) 13. Variation 39: Elegiac; fantastico 14. Variation 37: Barcarolle; legatissimo e dolcissiomo 15. Variation 33: Moderato; con umore 16. Variation 18: Allegro fantastico 17. Variation 4: Poco allegro ma quasi recitando 18. Variation 14: Alla guitarra; allegretto con molto rubato 19. Variation 6: Poco allegretto ma con rubato 20. Variation 36: Largo; sereno 21. Variation 44: Scherzo(after Mahler Symphony No. 5, Scherzo) 22. Variation 21: Allegro con brio(after Beethoven Symphony No. 7, Finale) 23. Variation 25: Scherzo 24. Variation 19: Vivace; exact rhythm throughout 25. Variation 11: Andante(after Brahms Op. 35, Bk. I, No. 1) 26. Variation 9: Non troppo presto(after Brahms Op. 35, Bk I, No.2) 27. Variation 17: Poco adagio, molto rubato 28. Variation 12: Andante con molto(after Brahms Op. 35, Bk I, No.12) 29. Variation 34: Molto adagio 30. Variation 24: Allegretto 31. Variation 28: Molto agitato 32. Variation 32: Allegro assai; burlesco 33. Variation 8: Languido(after Schubert Waltz, Op. 9, No.22) 34. Variation 49: Feroce 35. Variation 15: Con grazia; un poco agitato 36. Variation 29: Lento ma non troppo 37. Variation 46: Bravura; sempre recitando; in the "grand manner" 38. Variation 47: Arabesque; fantastico 39. Variation 22: Molto espressivo e cantando 40. Variation 30: Poco allegretto e leggiero 41. Variation 48: Moderately fast; fantastico 42. Variation 43: Andantino 43. Variation 40: Robust; do not rush 44. Variation 42: Nocturnal; slow 45. Variation 23: Andante grazioso e tranquillo 46. Variation 27: Aria 47. Variation 45: Presto 48. Variation 26: Con brio 49. Variation 31: Molto adagio 50. Variation 38: Can-can tempo; presto 51. Variation 51: Quasi robusto; (Paganini's theme from Caprice XXIV, Bk. II)

Discography (CD)