Rode, (Jacques-) Pierre (Joseph)

Rode, (Jacques-) Pierre (Joseph) , renowned French violinist and composer; b. Bordeaux, Feb. 16, 1774; d. Château de Bourbon, near Damazan, Nov. 25, 1830. He studied violin with André-Joseph Fauvel (1780–88), making his first public appearance at age 12 in Bordeaux. He then was taken to Paris by Fauvel and became a pupil of Viotti (1787). He made his first appearance there as soloist in Viotti’s 13^th Concerto (1790), and introduced Viotti’s 17^th and 18^th concertos to the Parisian public (1792); was a violinist in the orch. of the Théâtre de Monsieur (1789–92). In 1795 he was appointed prof. of violin at the Paris Cons., but immediately embarked on a tour of Holland and Germany; also appeared in London, but was exiled (along with Viotti) for political reasons in 1798. He returned to Paris in 1799 and resumed his duties at the Cons.; also served as solo violin at the Opéra. He became solo violinist to Napoleon in 1800, and brought out his extraordinarily successful 7^th Violin Concerto. While on his way to Russia in 1803, he played throughout Germany; served as solo violinist to Czar Alexander I in St. Petersburg (1804–08). He scored an enormous success in Russia, but after his return to Paris his playing declined. In 1811–12 he toured Europe, and while in Vienna he performed Beethoven’s Violin Sonata, op.96—a score written expressly for him—with Archduke Rudolph (Dec. 29, 1812). He returned to France in 1819, but made only a few unsuccessful appearances in subsequent seasons; a disastrous appearance in Paris in 1828 caused him to abandon the concert stage. At the apex of his career, Rode was acclaimed as the foremost representative of the French violin school. He was also esteemed as a composer. In addition to 13 notable violin concertos, he composed 12 string quartets (quatuors brilliants), 24 duos for 2 Violins, 24 caprices, airs variés, etc. With Baillot and Kreutzer, he wrote the violin method for the Cons. (1803).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire