Tartini and the Devil's Trill

The Lucifer of Liège (Le génie du mal) by Guillaume Geefs; Picture by Luc Viatour







The Devil's Trill Sonata (Il Trillo Del Diavolo), also known as the Violin Sonata in G minor, is a composition for solo violin by an Italian composer and violinist named Giuseppe Tartini (1692~1770), who was said to be inspired to write it after he met the Devil in his dream.

According to the interview accounts by a French astronomer and writer Jérôme Lalande, Tartini dreamed in 1713 that the Devil stood next to his bed and tried to possess his soul by making a compact. To challange the Devil, Tartini handed out his violin to the Devil and asked him to play it. Surprisingly, the Devil immediately played an exquisitely beautiful and ethereal music with such a great skill that Tartini listened with utter astonishment and shock.

When he woke up, Tartini instantly began to write down the Devil's Trill Sonata from his dream, trying to recapture the Devil's music. However, despite the sonata's reception and success, Tartini lamented that his music was very inferior to what he had heard.

He even writes, "The sonata I composed at that time was certainly my best, and I still call it the Devil’s Sonata, but this composition is so far beneath the one I heard in my dream, that I would have broken my violin and given up music altogether, had I been able to live without it."

The sonata itself is infamous for its technical difficulty.

Although the sonata is called the Devil's Sonata, it is very beautiful. I can only imagine the real music behind Tartini's dream and inspiration...

A Dream

I had a strange dream today. It was so impressionable that I can still vaguely remember and write...

I remember seeing a hauntingly beautiful yet somewhat strange starry night with a person that I know (I cannot remember who it was). There was the constellation Orion, brightly burning.

Then the sky developed a dark hole and I was somehow (quickly) sucked right into this hole; the sky was like a vacumn cleaner, and I was helpless against it. I was so terrified that I woke up, shaking, with a sensation of being lifted still lingering.

Is there a meaning behind this dream? Why was I so afraid?


I wonder if my dream can be called a nightmare.

My Favorite: Casa Batlló

By Caribb, Flickr

By MorBCN, Flickr

By guercio, Flickr

By (Erik), Flickr

Casa Batlló, one of Antoni Gaudí's most beautiful masterpieces, is located at Passeig de Gràcia of the Eixample District in Barcelona. The Eixample literally means "extension" in Catalan, and the district was constructed accordingly between the 19th and 20th century.

Locally also known as Casa dels ossos (House of... Bones), Casa Batlló was actually already built in 1877 in a conventional style; Antoni Gaudí only "remodeled" the building during the years 1905 to 1907. At the time, Barcelona was expanding rapidly and emerged as the largest city of Spain, and its economic prosperity brought the cultural movement known as the Catalan Renaissance or Renaixença.

The building's stunning architectural details show Gaudí's creative and deeply individualistic style, and some parts of the building (like the corridor shown) are very modern in design. It seems to me that Santiago Calatrava (another Spanish but contemporary architect) is inspired by Casa Batlló.

Gaudí certainly was aware of Art Nouveau and was deeply influenced by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc's writings and by his architectural visions regarding Gothic architecture. The building features organic motifs, including a colorful roof that resembles dragon's spine and skin and windows flanked by skeleton-like columns.

It is one of my favorite buildings by Gaudí. I am always stunned at how he used so many colors to decorate this building while not making it look kitsch.

The Finished Café Corner

Today I finally opened the box and spent a whole day assembling this set. It took almost eight hours to assemble, but I could not take my hands off until I finished.

I was quite impressed by sheer creativity permeating through its overall design. The treatment of corner walls and decorations of the building is utterly brilliant, and its dormer windows, its "Hotel" sign, and its entrance are also beautifully designed. Although I have played with Legos since childhood, there were some parts and colors that I was not familiar with.

Overall, I am glad that I bought this gorgeous set. It looks like a doll house. :)

Hmm... I now wish I had the Green Grocer...

I Had to Buy the Café Corner...

I brought home this precious thing from a Lego store yesterday, after years of longing.

The Café Corner is probably one of the most beautiful set that Lego has ever produced. It was expensive for my small student budget, but I was awed so much that I could not help myself but to buy it.

(Simply in Korean-> 어쩔 수 없이 질러버렸음;;; ㅠㅠ;;)

I still can't bring myself to open the box, for then I can't get a refund for the item.

At least I had a courage to pay... :)