Kreutzer, Rodolphe

Kreutzer, Rodolphe

(kroit`sər, Fr. rôdôlf` krötzĕr`), 1766–1831, French composer and violinist. He was professor of violin at the Paris Conservatory from its founding in 1795 until 1826 and was one of the authors of the violin method taught there. Although he composed some 40 operas and numerous concertos and sonatas, he is remembered for his 40 études for the violin, which remain unsurpassed. Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata is dedicated to him.

Kreutzer, Rodolphe

 

Born Nov. 16, 1766, in Versailles; died Jan. 6, 1831, in Geneva. French violinist, composer, conductor, and teacher.

Kreutzer was a founder of the 19th-century French school of violin. He enjoyed world fame as a violinist. Beethoven valued his playing and dedicated the Violin Sonata Opus 47 to him (the Kreutzer Sonata). In 1795, Kreutzer became a professor at the Paris Conservatory; his pupils included the violinists C. Lafont and J. L. Massart. His collection Forty-two Etudes or Caprices for Violin is a classic work in pedagogic literature. He wrote violin studies (with P. Baillot and P. Rode, published in 1802) and composed violin concertos, operas, ballets, and chamber music.

REFERENCES

Kling, H. Rodolphe Kreutzer. Brussels, 1898.
Cutter, B. How to Study Kreutzer. London, 1907.

I. M. IAMPOL’SKII