Baillot, Pierre (-Marie-François de Sales)

Baillot, Pierre (-Marie-François de Sales), celebrated French violinist and composer; b. Passy, near Paris, Oct. 1, 1771; d. Paris, Sept. 15, 1842. At the age of nine, he became a violin pupil of Sainte-Marie. Following studies with Pollani in Rome, he returned to Paris in 1791 and became a member of the orch. of the Théâtre Feydeau. In 1795 he became a teacher of violin at the newly opened Paris Cons. During this time, he also pursued training in composition with Cherubini, Reicha, and Catel. In 1802 he became a member of Napoleon’s private instrumental ensemble. From 1805 to 1808 he toured in Russia with the cellist Lamarre. In 1814 he organized a series of chamber music concerts in Paris, but also continued to make tours. In 1821 he became first violinist in the orch. of the Paris Opéra. He also was solo violinist in the Royal Orch. from 1825. Baillot’s repertoire was quite extensive for a violinist of his day. In addition to the great composers of the period, he included the works of early masters at his concerts. On March 23, 1828, he was soloist in the first Paris performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto at a concert of the Société des Concerts du Cons. Among his works were a Sym. Concertante for Two Violins and Orch., nine violin concertos, three string quartets, 15 trios, and six violin duos. He wrote the manual L’Art du violon (1834; Eng. tr., 1991, as The Art of the Violin).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire