Article by Professor Bruce R. Schueneman, from his book "The French Violin School: Viotti, Rode, Kreutzer, Baillot and Their Contemporaries"
The father of the Franco-Belgian school was Charles de Bériot. Born at Louvain on February 20, 1820 into a noble family, he was orphaned at nine. The Baron de Tremont remarked about the prodigy’s astonishing progress: “One day he was rehearsing at my house the first movement of the Rode concerto in A major [Rode’s 4th Violin Concerto]. The first solo is in double-stops. They were in perfect tune, and we complimented him on the fact. Thereupon he drew the bow across the empty strings of his violin, to see if they were in tune – and the E-string was a quarter tone too low. This instinctive feel for true pitch, which unconsciously makes one place one’s fingers so as to correct the pitch of strings out of tune, is a very curious phenomenon in musical execution.”[1]
In 1820 Bériot studied with Robberechts and in 1821 he went to Paris. At that time Viotti was managing the Opéra and agreed to hear the prodigy from Belgium. Viotti’s words fully express the fact that a new star was about to rise in the firmament of violin virtuosi: “You have a fine style; endeavor to perfect it. Hear all musicians of talent – profit by all but imitate no one.”[2] Bériot studied briefly with Baillot (apparently only a matter of several months), then struck out on his own, creating a sensation in his Paris and London debuts. Bériot, following the principles of the philosopher Jacotot, believed in self-reliance and was in fact mostly self-taught. He was therefore both an extension of the French School while outside the tradition to a sufficient degree to strike out in a new romantic vein.
Bériot’s life, as well as his music, took on a romantic cast when he met Maria Malibran, perhaps the most famous diva of the 19th century. Malibran, a volatile on-the-edge personality, had fled from her French husband in New York (the marriage itself was a means of escaping her dictatorial father) and was the talk of Europe. In a highly romanticized account of their meeting, Maria was said to have fallen in love with the romantic figure of the dashing virtuoso.[3] Unfortunately Maria had not divorced her husband, so Malibran and Bériot lived as man and wife for years before obtaining an annulment. Though Bériot was one of the best-known violinists of his time, his fame (and the fees he commanded) paled in comparison to Malibran. Bériot, a devout Catholic, was more interested in a regular union, and more solicitous of their children, than was Malibran. Maria died while still in her twenties, apparently from complications arising from a riding accident. In true romantic fashion she collapsed on stage in England and died several days later. Bériot fled England precipitately after granting a near stranger the right to make the arrangements for Maria’s funeral; only later did Bériot try to have Maria brought back to Belgium. The English, now highly offended at Bériot’s behavior, refused to recognize his marriage. A legal impasse was finally broken when Maria’s mother claimed the body and brought it back to Belgium.
After Malibran’s death in 1836, Bériot led a more settled life, making only one extended tour to Germany in 1840-1843. When Baillot died in 1842 many (perhaps including Bériot himself) expected that the post of professor of violin at the Paris Conservatoire would be offered to Bériot, but Bériot was passed over in favor of Alard. In 1843 the same position became available in Brussels, and Bériot was named professor of violin at the Brussels Conservatoire. He was forced to retire in 1851 because of failing eyesight. He died in Brussels on April 8, 1870.
Bériot combined elements of French School charm and taste with the new pyrotechnics pioneered by Paganini. The Baron de Tremont, who played often with Bériot, wrote in 1841 that “I had heard all the great French and foreign violinists [including Paganini], beginning with Viotti, and I like Bériot the best.”[4] From the beginning the motto of the French School had been “to play well, you must sing well.” The opening solos of Viotti and Rode concerti almost always featured a singing line modeled on the voice. Bériot, as well as incorporating many of the new bowings and techniques of Paganini, used themes less vocal and more purely instrumental. Both Viotti and Rode had occasionally tied movements together (especially the second and third movements), but Bériot had taken this a step further by producing concerti that tied all the movements together. Sometimes the three movements were plainly visible within the single entity, but other concerti, such as the first, had more the character of a single movement. Bériot displayed all his élan and formal inventiveness in his very first concerto. Like so many principal French School themes, this concerto begins with a martial theme containing typical French School dotted rhythm.
Example 59. Bériot Violin Concerto No. 1 [1st mvt soloist's entrance]
Bériot makes good use of double stops in his first concerto, as well as alternating pizzicato and arco bowings and a passage in double-stopped tenths. The concerto is a brilliant piece, though all the difficulties are well thought out and natural to the violin. All ten of Bériot’s concerti are in the same vein, and as a true romantic Bériot rarely overstays his welcome. Bériot aimed for an effect (a romantic statement) and then retired – many of his concerti are melodious and full of difficulties but are also short.
Perhaps the best-known Bériot concerti, besides the splendid first, are the sixth, seventh, and especially the ninth. Like the first concerto, the ninth in A Minor is composed as a single movement, though even more than the first the three movements of the traditional concerto are plainly and audibly present. The Allegro maestoso opening section begins with the usual martial theme featuring the French School’s signature dotted rhythm.
Example 60. Bériot Violin Concerto No. 9 [soloist's entrance]
Bériot follows this martial opening with double stops and fast triplets at the point, which leads to an octave passage and then a melodic theme marked pianissimo. This leads to a section in 6/8 time, which, after various peregrinations, leads to an orchestral tutti. The tutti slowly winds down and sets the scene for a lovely Adagio section.
Example 61. Bériot Violin Concerto No. 9 [Adagio]
The Adagio ends with a marvelous section in double stops.
Example 62. Bériot Violin Concerto No. 9 [end of Adagio section]
The third section is a graceful 6/8 Rondo marked Allegretto moderato.
Example 63. Bériot Violin Concerto No. 9 [Rondo finale]
After an orchestral interlude and a contrasting theme for soloist, a fermata stop leads to a repetition of the 6/8 material from the opening section. The movement ends with a brilliant coda.
Bériot is still connected to the French School tradition, though he is moving outside its orbit. Bériot is entirely romantic and the classical structures are less important in his work than the sheer élan of virtuoso display. If Viotti and Rode had been tending in this direction, Bériot goes all the way, and certainly the composers that followed, while owing a debt to the French School, also imbibed the general romantic ideas of the times, not least of which was the slightly different concerto model developed in Vienna. While the Beethoven Violin Concerto was rarely performed for nearly thirty years after its composition (and Beethoven only wrote one), by mid century it was becoming the model for the violin concerto. At the same time, the romantic virtuoso technique of Paganini, Bériot, Vieuxtemps, Wieniawski and their contemporaries tended to make the concerti of Viotti, Rode, and the French School composers seem more “classical” in style, and to reduce the virtuosity of the solo part to only modest technical demands. Bériot is thus a transitional figure. He is a bridge from the great tradition of the French School to the high-powered romanticism of the latter 19th century, and, eventually, a door to modernity.
[1] Tremont, Baron de, quoted in Prod’homme, J. G. “Souvenirs of Beethoven and Other Contemporaries: Baron de Tremont,” Musical Quarterly 6(3) July 1920. p380.
[2] Schwarz, Boris. Great Masters of the Violin. Simon and Schuster, 1983. 207.
[3] See Madame Merlin’s description of their meeting in Pougin’s Maria Malibran: the Story of a Great Singer. London: Eveleigh Nash, 1911. p75.
[4] Tremont, Baron de, quoted in Prod’homme, J. G. “Souvenirs of Beethoven and Other Contemporaries: Baron de Tremont,” Musical Quarterly 6(3) July 1920. 378.