Charles Auguste de Bériot

The Belgian violinist and teacher Charles-Auguste de Bériot was the founder of the virtuoso Franco-Belgian violin school that extended into the 20th century in the work of Eugène Ysaÿe, and thence into the 21st in the work of Hilary Hahn, a student of Ysaÿe's last student. Little known today, he combined French control with Italian virtuoso heroics and set a lasting pattern. In his teens Bériot caught the attention of Viotti and of Pierre Baillot, absorbing lessons from both, but also opening himself to influences from Paganini. He wrote ten violin concertos and a variety of other violin music, producing new music for his own use throughout his career. During his later years, Bériot wrote several instructional works that are still in use. ~ James Manheim