Rodolphe Kreutzer (November 16, 1766
- January 6, 1831) was a French violinist, teacher, composer and
conductor.
He was born in Versailles, and was initially taught by his father
with later lessons from Anton Stamitz. He became one of the foremost
violin virtuosi of his day, appearing as a soloist until 1810.
After hearing him play the violin in Vienna, Ludwig van Beethoven
dedicated his ninth violin sonata (the so-called Kreutzer Sonata,
1803) to him. For a time he was leader of the Paris Opera, and
from 1817 conducted there.
He was a violin professor at the Paris Conservatoire from its
foundation in 1795 until 1826. He was co-author of the Conservatoire's
violin method with Pierre Rode and Pierre Baillot. The three are
considered the founding trinity of the French school of violin
playing.
Kreutzer died in Geneva.
Kreutzer's compositions include nineteen violin concertos and
around forty operas. He is best known today, however, for the 42 études
ou caprices (1796), which are still used as pedagogic studies.
Rodolphe Kreutzer was the brother of violinist and composer Jean
Nicolas Auguste Kreutzer (1778-1832) and the uncle of the writer
on music Léon Charles François Kreutzer (1817-1868).
Composers