Violin Concerto No.9 by De Bériot

Rarely if ever have I met a composer of mainly violin music who was equally, if not to say more, good at piano. However, in the nineteenth century it seemed to have been more common: Belgian violinist and composer Charles Auguste de Bériot was also a pianist, and, which is particularly impressing – a virtuosic one.

Fate of this Romantic composer is quite tragic. Deafness of Beethoven is well-known even to people with little to no interest in classical music, but not many know that by the end of his life, De Bériot became blind and, perhaps even worse, a paralysis of the left arm made him unable to play an instrument. Be that as it may, he composed a lot of violin works before that to happen. Among them are educational music and violin concertos, and the latter are being almost entirely forgotten these days. Both time and neglect are impuissant to affect their value still: these have always been among the finest violin works of Romantic era. Here is De Bériot’s Violin Concerto No.9, Op.104 (Score for Two Performers).