Pope himself by the friends of the dead man, and the Pope overruled the
decision of the archbishop and ordained that Christian burial should be
accorded to the artist. On the 21st of August, 1843, the Conte di
Cessole took away the coffin from Villafranca, and interred it in the
churchyard near Paganini's old residence at Villa Gavonà, near Parma.
Thus even after death he was the victim of superstition, as he had been
during his lifetime.

Paganini resolved not to publish his compositions until after he had
ceased to travel, for he was aware that his performances would lose much
of their interest if his works were available to everybody. He seldom
carried with him the solo parts, but only the orchestral scores of the
pieces that he played. His studies were pronounced impossible by some of
the best violinists of the day, so great were the difficulties which
they contained, and in his mastery of these difficulties, which he
himself created, may be found the true secret of his success. People
accounted for it in many ways, one man declaring that he saw the devil
standing at his elbow, and others stating that he was a child of the
devil, and that he was bewitched.

His compositions are remarkable for novelty in ideas, elegance of form,
richness of harmony, and variety in the effects of instrumentation. Few
compositions ever attained such fame as the "Streghe," of which the
theme was taken from the music of Süssmayer to the ballet of "Il Noce di
Benevento."

While it may be readily admitted that many of the effects with which
Paganini dazzled the multitude were tainted with charlatanism, yet the
fact remains that no one ever equalled him in surmounting difficulties,
and it is doubtful if, among all the excellent violinists of the present