A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Viotti, Giovanni

VIOTTI, Giovanni Battista, celebrated violin-player and composer for the violin, was born March 23, 1753, at Fontanetto, a village in Piedmont. His first musical instruction he got from his father, a blacksmith, and from an itinerant musician of the name of Giovannini. In 1766 a bishop, who had been struck by the cleverness of the boy's performance, sent him to Turin, where Prince Pozzo de la Cisterna placed him under Pugnani. He soon developed into a fine player and entered the Royal band. In 1780 he left Turin, and travelled with Pugnani through Germany to Poland and Russia, meeting with great success, especially at St. Petersburg, and winning the favour of the Empress Catherine, who endeavoured to attach him to her court. But Viotti did not remain long in Russia, and proceeded with Pugnani to London, where his success was so great as completely to throw every other violinist into the shade. From London he went to Paris, and there parted from Pugnani, who returned to Italy. He made his first appearance at the Concert Spirituel in 1782, and was at once acknowledged to be the greatest living violinist. He happened to be less successful on one occasion, while in the next concert a very inferior player earned a great success. This is said to have disgusted him so much that he altogether ceased to play in public. In 1783 he visited his native town and bought some property for his father. Returned to Paris, he occupied himself with teaching and composing, giving at his residence regular private performances, and playing his concertos as he finished them with the accompaniment of his pupils. After some time he accepted the leadership of the orchestra at private concerts which had been established By the Princes Conti, Soubise, and other members of the aristocracy. He also frequently played at the Royal Court, but kept to his resolve not to appear in public. In 1788 he was induced to undertake the artistic management of the Italian Opera, a licence for which had been granted to the Queen's hairdresser Léonard. He succeeded in bringing together a brilliant company of singers, and also secured Cherubini's services as composer. From 1789 to 1792 the Italian Opera gave performances in the Tuileries, but on the return of the Court from Versailles to Paris, had to be transferred to the Theatre Feydeau. On the outbreak of the revolution however the enterprise quickly collapsed, and Viotti, having lost almost everything he possessed, went to London. Here he renewed his former successes—appearing frequently at Salomon's concerts in Hanover Square Rooms and in the drawing-rooms of the aristocracy. London soon filled with refugee French noblemen. Owing probably to the circumstance that he had had some personal dealings with the Duc d'Orléans (Philippe Egalité) Viotti fell under suspicion, and was advised to leave England. He went to Hamburg, and for some time lived in complete retirement in the neighbourhood of that town. It was there that he composed a number of his famous violin duets. Fétis and Wasielewski are both mistaken in stating that he remained in Germany until 1795, as we find his name on the London concert programmes early in 1794, and in the winter of 1794 he was acting manager of the Italian Opera at the King's Theatre.^[1] At the same time he played frequently in Salomon's concerts, and acted as leader in Haydn's Benefit Concerts in 1794 and 1795. He was also director of the great Opera Concerts in 1795, for which he brought together a band containing the most eminent players in London, and declared to be unprecedented in brilliancy of effect. Financially however these and similar enterprises proved to be anything but successes, and as his old aversion to playing in public grew more and more upon him, he retired entirely from public life, and with the remnants of his fortune embarked in trade, entering as a partner in a wine merchant's firm. In 1802 he once more visited Paris. Although firmly resolved not to play in public, he could not resist the persuasion of his numerous old admirers, and after a lapse of twenty years appeared once more at the Conservatoire, showing, by the masterly performance of one of his later concertos, that his execution had lost none of its former perfection, while as a composer he had greatly advanced in maturity of ideas, style, and workmanship. After a few months he returned to his business in London. Viotti went to Paris once more in 1819, and undertook the post of director of the Opéra, at that period in a state of utter decadence. His administration did not restore prosperity, and in 1822 he was pensioned off. He returned to London, and died there March 10, 1824.

Viotti was one of the greatest violinists of all ages, and the last great representative of the classical Italian school. He retained in his style of playing and composing the dignified simplicity and noble pathos of the great masters of that school, treating his instrument above all as a singing voice, and keeping strictly within its natural resources. As a composer he was among the first to apply the extended modern sonata-form to the violin concerto, and to avail himself of the resources of the modern orchestra in his orchestral accompaniments. In both respects he was no doubt much influenced by Haydn, whose symphonies were played in Paris and London as early as 1765, and with whom, as we have already noticed, he came into frequent personal contact. His ideas, though neither of striking originality nor great force, are invariably refined and dignified. The Allegros are as a rule of pathetic character, and even in their quicker passages broad and reposeful. Some of his Adagios have great sentimental charm—they are however frequently mere outlines, which, according to the fashion of the time, the performer filled out and adorned by cadenzas, shakes and other ornamental passages. The Finales, with a few exceptions, strike the modern ear as somewhat antiquated. Of his 29 published Concertos, the 22nd (in A minor) is still played in public, being remarkable for its fine subjects and the symphonic treatment of the orchestra. The Adagio in E especially is a perfect gem. The exceptionally interesting and effective instrumentation of this concerto has been ascribed to Cherubini, but there is no valid evidence for this assumption. It is evident enough from Viotti's earlier works that his musical education, apart from violin-playing, was anything but complete—the form is clumsy, the harmonies poor; it is also true that it was by no means an unusual thing for a virtuoso to get assistance for the scoring of his concertos; but the steady progress to complete mastery of form observable in Viotti's later works, coupled with his long experience as leader and conductor, make it incredible that a man of his talent and musical instinct should not have acquired the necessary proficiency for writing an effective score.

His violin duets deserve special mention. They have not the richness of effect of Spohr's duets, but next to them they are the most valuable contributions to this branch of violin literature. His quartets, sonatas, trios, etc., are antiquated and entirely forgotten. He published (according to Fétis) 29 Violin Concertos, 2 Concertantes for 2 violins, 21 Quartets for stringed instruments, 21 Trios for 2 violins and a viola, 51 Violin-duets, 18 Sonatas for solo violin with bass, and a Sonata for piano and violin. Some of the duets he also arranged for piano and violin. Cherubini published an arrangement of some of the trios for piano and violin. The study of some of his concertos still forms part of the regular course of all schools of violin-playing.

The most eminent of Viotti's direct pupils were Rode and Baillot. The influence which he exercised on the style of violin-playing generally by his brilliant example was not less strong in Germany than in France.

Baillot published a memoir of Viotti (Paris, 1825).

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1. See Pohl, 'Mozart and Haydn in London.'