Paganini

He pushed violin technique forward by a full generation: left-hand pizzicato, double harmonics, whole passages played on a single string. The rumour of the time was that he had sold his soul, and the Church refused him burial; his body was moved around for thirty-six years before it was finally interred.

The real explanation is duller and more convincing — he probably had Marfan syndrome or a similar connective-tissue disorder, giving him unusually long and flexible fingers. The twenty-four Caprices are the only work of his in wide circulation, and the theme of the last has been used as a basis for variations by Brahms, Rachmaninoff and Lutosławski among many others, making it one of the most rewritten melodies in music.