Violin Concertos Nos 1, 8 and 9

Abstract

Beirot could play with the technical facility of Paganini and performed the violin with a sensibility few could equal. A student of Robberechts and Baillot, Beriot's abilities brought him a professorship at the Brussels Conservatoire. (He had turned down an offer from the Paris Conservatory.) His prominence was in performance not in composition. He did succeed at composing 10 violin concertos, a number of airs and diverse shorter pieces -- indicative of his elegance and lack of extensive analytical substance -- and wrote duets for violin and piano in conjunction with such greats as Thalberg and Osborne.