Les gens
Here is a list of five french composers that were involved in classical music. Towards the end of my research, I realized that all five composers below are connected through the Conservatoire de Paris.
Rodolphe Kreutzer
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Rodolphe Kreutzer was a composer and violinist. He became one of the foremost violin virtuosos of his day, appearing as a soloist until 1810. He was a violin professor at the Conservatoire de Paris from its foundation in 1795 until 1826. He was co-author of the Conservatoire's violin method with Pierre Rode and Pierre Baillot, and the three are considered the founding trinity of the French school of violin playing. He was well known for his style of bowing, his splendid tone, and the clearness of his execution. His compositions are mostly concertos, chamber music, and operas. His best-known works are the 42 études or capriccios, which are fundamental pedagogic studies.
Pierre Baillot
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Pierre Marie François de Sales Baillot was a brilliant violinist and composer. He became one of the most excellent violinists that France ever produced. He studied the violin under Giovanni Battista Viotti and taught at the Paris Conservatoire together with Pierre Rode (also a pupil of Viotti) and Rodolphe Kreutzer, who wrote the conservatoire's official violin method. He was sole author of the instructional L'art du violon (1834). Baillot's teachings had a profound influence on technical and musical development in an age in which virtuosity was openly encouraged. He was leader of the Paris Opéra. He gave solo recitals and was a notable performer of chamber music. His eminence in his profession was not obtained without a long struggle against great difficulties, for at the age of twelve he lost his father, who had kept a school, and became dependent upon friends for his education. His musical talent was remarkable at an early age, and he received his first instruction from an Italian named Polidori. At the age of nine he was placed under a French teacher named Sainte-Marie, whose training gave him the severe state and methodical qualities by which his playing was always distinguished. His love for his instrument was greatly augmented when, at the age of ten, he heard Viotti play one of his concertos, and from that day the great violinist became his model. His next appointment was to the private band of Napoleon, after which he traveled for three years in Russia with the violincello player Lemare, earning great fame. Returning to Paris, he established concerts for chamber music, which proved successful, and built up for him a reputation as an unrivaled quartet player. He traveled again, visiting the Netherlands, Belgium, and England, and then he became leader of the opera band in Paris and of the royal band. He made a final tour in Switzerland in 1833, and died in 1842. Baillot is considered to have been the last distinguished representative of the great classical school of violin playing in Paris.
Pierre Rode
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Pierre Rode is one of the most influential violinists of his time. He was extremely gifted in the musical arts. He traveled to Paris at the age of 13 and soon became a favorite pupil of the great Giovanni Battista Viotti, who found the boy so talented that he charged him no fee for the lessons. Rode inherited his teacher's style, to which he added more mildness and a more refined tone. It is also recorded that he made extensive use of portamento, which is a part of glissando(which means to slide of glide in french). He collaborated with Baillot and Kreutzer on the official Violin Method of the Conservatoire de Paris, published in 1802. Rode served as violin soloist to Napoleon and toured extensively in the Netherlands, Germany, England and Spain. Ludwig van Beethoven wrote his last violin sonata (Op. 96) for Rode when the violinist was visiting Vienna. He also performed chamber music, but the backbone of his repertoire was formed by Viotti's concertos, which served as models for his own concertos. In all, Pierre Rode composed 13 violin concertos and many other works for violin, including at least four Quatuor brillant for violin and string trio.
Charles Dancla
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Charles Dancla was a Violinist, Composer and Teacher, and the most celebrated member of his family. He won seven prizes altogether for his string quartets ( 14 in all ) and his works for male chorus. However it is through his didactic works that his music survives. He is regarded as the last exponent of the classical French school of violin playing. He was teacher at the Conservatoire de Paris during the second half of the 19th Century. He is now appreciated for his excellent violin compositions, which are very sought-after both for their concert style and their didactic value. He is best known for his many violin concertos, string quartets, string trios, violin duos, and book of Six Aires Varies. His compositions were mostly chamber music, concertos and orchestral pieces.
Jacques Fereol Mazas
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Mazas was a brilliant pupil of Pierre Baillot at the Paris Conservatoire, from which he received the first prize in 1805. His compositions for violin are, for the most part, studies, chamber music and duets for young string players of all abilities that constitute methods for both violin and viola. He composed many duets, trios, and études (which means study in french).
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