Charles-Auguste de Bériot

Charles-Auguste de Bériot (b Leuven, 20 Feb 1802; d Brussels, 8 April 1870). Belgian violinist and composer.

He studied with J.-F. Tiby, and later with André Robberechts. In 1821 he travelled to Paris and played for Viotti, who encouraged him with these words: ‘You have a fine style; endeavour to perfect it. Hear all men of talent – profit by all but imitate no one.’ Unable to obtain lessons from Viotti, who was then director of the Paris Opéra, Bériot turned to Baillot. For a few months he attended Baillot’s violin class at the Paris Conservatoire but could not submit to the academic discipline. It is known that Baillot disliked the technical ‘eccentricities’ which were characteristic of Bériot’s style. Shortly afterwards, Bériot made a highly successful début in Paris, meeting with equal acclaim in London, where he played his own Concertino at the Philharmonic Society on 1 May 1826. After his return to Brussels, he was named solo violinist to King William I of the Netherlands at a salary of 2000 guilder, but the appointment was terminated by the revolution of 1830.

In 1829 Bériot met the famous singer Maria Malibran. For the next six years they travelled together, giving joint concerts in Belgium, England, France and Italy. This liaison led to their marriage on 29 March 1836. Less than six months later, Maria died unexpectedly in Manchester, shortly after appearing at a concert. The grief-stricken Bériot returned to Brussels and temporarily left the concert platform.

He resumed his career in 1838 when he undertook a concert tour to Austria and Italy with the singer Pauline Garcia, the younger sister of his late wife. Spohr heard one of their concerts in Karlsbad and praised Bériot’s playing, although he disliked his compositions. In 1840, while playing again in Vienna, Bériot married Marie Huber, the daughter of an Austrian magistrate. That year he played in Russia. In 1842 he was offered a professorship at the Paris Conservatoire as successor to Baillot. However, he declined, preferring to accept an appointment to the Brussels Conservatory. Here he served as head of the violin faculty from 1843 to 1852, when he was forced to retire because of failing eyesight. He became totally blind in 1858 but continued to be active as an author.

Bériot occupies an important place in the history of violin playing. He adapted the technical brilliance of Paganini to the elegance and piquancy of the Parisian style. Thus he modernized the classical French school, established by Viotti and perpetuated at the Conservatoire by Rode, Kreutzer and Baillot. Not being a true disciple of that school, Bériot was able to break the stranglehold of tradition and developed a new, essentially Romantic, approach, known as the Franco-Belgian School. Much of Bériot’s technique – harmonics, left-hand pizzicato, ricochet, even scordatura – was influenced by Paganini; this is particularly evident in Bériot’s Second Violin Concerto, first played by the composer in London in 1835. On the other hand, Bériot’s characteristic style of sweetness and elegance was already formed in the 1820s, before he met Paganini, as can be seen in his early Airs variés and the First Violin Concerto. Bériot’s success was not based merely on technical brilliance; he could play with such melting warmth as to make Heine exclaim, ‘It seems as if the soul of his late wife sings through his violin.’ As a composer, Bériot aimed at effect rather than depth; his melodies are sweet and sentimental, his technical display is ingenious and sparkling though basically less difficult than that of Paganini. His concertos and shorter pieces were widely popular in their time; today they are used mainly for study purposes. The elegance and elfin grace of Bériot helped initiate a new approach to the violin, and reflections of his style can be found in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. He was a methodical teacher and left several useful instruction books (Méthode de violon, 1858; Ecole transcendante de violon, 1867). His most famous pupil was Henry Vieuxtemps.