Charles-Auguste de Beriot

ArkivMusic is a great source for classical music recordings. They also have a weekly e-mail which advertises weekend specials, and introduces some new, sometimes off the beaten path, musical recordings. It was through one of those that I learned about Charles-Auguste de Beriot. So, as with Balakirev, I'm going backwards a little bit in the alphabet, this time with three CD's of violin concerti.

Some of the sources on Beriot indicate that he is familiar to many violinists, though more for practice pieces than for concert works. Beriot wrote ten violin concerti in all, and I was able to find recordings of concerti 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9. Two of the recordings come from the Naxos label, while the third is a German label CPO.

I love it when I discover a new Romantic-era composer, and Beriot, who lived from 1802 to 1870, lands right into that period. His works reflect the time as well. His Concerto No. 1 in D, Op. 16, is a one movement work subtitled "Military." And the piece does sound like it could be arranged for a marching or military band. He was influenced by Nicolo Paganini, as indicated by the virtuosic second and third concerti.

The sources say that Beriot was the father of the so-called Franco-Belgian school of violin playing; I didn't know there was such a thing. But in a neat case of serendipity, the school is mentioned in the interview with Hilary Hahn I linked in the entry below.

My method for writing these entries involves spending time with the recording(s) of interest, in alphabetical order as they are arranged in my collection. Sometimes, the pieces don't hold my interest, and I find my mind wandering away from the music and onto something else. I didn't find that with the Beriot recordings. I was able to play and listen to them time and again. I suspect that for many people music, particularly classical music, is something to occupy the background as they do something else unrelated. When I work with these recordings (and at other times, too) I just sit (or, during a migraine attack, lay in the dark) and listen, as I would at a concert. I find this to be an excellent way to spend time, and sometimes I come away from hearing a recording and feeling as if I have just experienced something very special. That is how I have felt with these concerti.

I also have a CD of solo violin works, plus a neat recording of works for two violins. I'll be spending my time with them next.