Pierre Baillot

Pierre Baillot (Pierre Marie François de Sales Baillot) was a French violinist, composer, and teacher born on October 1, 1771 (Mozart was 15 years old.) He is best known for his violin method (published circa 1805), written in collaboration with Rodolphe Kreutzer and Pierre Rode, for the Paris Conservatory. His own teacher was Giovanni Viotti, though he had studied with other teachers from an early age. After acting as private secretary to his main patron for five years – he had lost his father at age 12 – he was hired by the opera orchestra in Paris in 1791. He then gave this position up to work for the Ministry of Finance for a few years. (Charles Dancla did something similar.) Finally, after being offered a teaching position at the Paris Conservatory (1795), he devoted himself full-time to concertizing and even joined Napoleon’s private orchestra (1802) with which he did much travelling. He was also highly regarded as a chamber music player. He also wrote nine violin concertos which are no longer played. Baillot died on September 15, 1842, in Paris, at 70 years of age. Mozart and Beethoven had by then long been dead.

Giovanni Viotti

Giovanni Battista Viotti was an Italian violinist, composer, and conductor born on May 23 (or May 12) 1755 (one year before Mozart was born.) He took lessons from Gaetano Pugnani (pupil of Giovanni Somis) and later even toured with him until he made his Paris debut in 1782, where he was an immediate success. In fact, by all accounts, Viotti was the most brilliant violinist the public had ever heard until Paganini came along.  Partly due to the French Revolution, he moved to London in 1792, where he enjoyed acclaim, playing for royalty and directing various musical enterprises. He played many concerts alongside Johann Peter Salomon, another highly acclaimed violinist and impresario in London at the time.  Unfortunately, Viotti was forced to leave England after France and England became engaged in hostilities. He then retired from playing to run some kind of wine business which ultimately did not do very well. From 1819 to 1821, he ran the Royal Academy of Music in Paris. His pupils included Rode and Baillot who were instrumental in establishing a French school of violin playing, whatever that means.  It has been said that Viotti was very particular about who would be admitted into his violin class but never charged his students for lessons.  Viotti wrote 29 violin concertos, now seldom played. Nevertheless, Viotti's violin concerto number 22 in A minor was very much admired by Brahms. It has even been said that Joachim admired this Viotti concerto more than the Mendelssohn or Brahms concertos.  Viotti also wrote chamber music and a few songs plus a violin study book which remained unpublished until Habeneck incorporated a portion of it in his own method book many years later.  A famous (and beautiful) Stradivarius violin from 1709 is named after him. Viotti died (in London) on March 3, 1824, at age 68 (about three years before Beethoven.)

Jacques Pierre Rode

Jacques Pierre Joseph Rode was a French violinist and composer born on this day (February 16), 1774 (Mozart was 18 years old.) At age 13, Pierre Rode traveled to Paris to study with Viotti, whose favorite pupil he soon became. Some people say that Viotti charged Rode nothing for his lessons. Together with Kreutzer and Baillot, he wrote the official Violin Method of the Paris Conservatory which came out in 1802. Rode eventually became violin soloist to Napoleon I of France. He also toured Europe extensively as a violin virtuoso. He was in St Petersburg from 1804 until 1809. From 1814 to 1819 he lived in Berlin and there composed the well-known 24 Caprices which every young violinist uses to this day. Axel Strauss has recorded the Rode Caprices (as has Oscar Shumsky) and the recording will soon be issued by the Naxos label. Among his compositions are 13 violin concertos which are now seldom played. Rode died in 1830 (Mozart was long gone and Beethoven had been dead 3 years).