Henri Bertini

Henri Jérôme Bertini (October 28, 1798 - September 30, 1876) was a French classical composer and pianist.

Life

Henri Jérôme Bertini was born in London on October 28, 1798, but his family returned to Paris six months later. He received his early musical education from his father and his brother, a pupil of Muzio Clementi. He was considered a child prodigy and at the age of 12 his father took him on a tour of England, Holland, Flanders, and Germany where he was enthusiastically received. After studies in composition in England and Scotland he was appointed professor of music in Brussels but returned to Paris in 1821. It is known that Bertini gave a concert with Franz Liszt in the Salons Pape on April 20, 1828. The program included a transcription by Bertini of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A major for eight hands (the other pianists were Sowinsky and Schunke.) He was also admired as a chamber music performer, giving concerts with his friends Antoine Fontaine (violin) and Auguste Franchomme (cello). He remained active in and around Paris until around 1848 when he retired from the musical scene. In 1859 he moved to Meylan (near Grenoble) where he died on September 30, 1876.

Bertini concertized widely but was not as celebrated a virtuoso as either Friedrich Kalkbrenner or Henri Herz. One of his contemporaries (Marmontel) described his playing as having Clementi's evenness and clarity in rapid passages as well as the quality of sound, the manner of phrasing, and the ability to make the instrument sing characteristic of the school of Hummel and Moschelès. Thomas Tapper, in the preface of his edition of the Études Op.100 published by Oliver Ditson, says:

He was in his time a shining example of the most admirable qualities of an artist. Living in an age of garish virtuosity, and hailed as a brilliant executant himself, he maintained nevertheless the most rigorous standards of musicianship in his playing, in his compositions, and in the music which he appeared before the public to interpret. This is the more remarkable when one considers that his manhood was reached during the luxuriant period of French romanticism and that the extravagances of the literary outburst were reflected in the musical movements of the time. Virtuosity was subjected to sore temptations and many succumbed. Bertini stood for the sounder qualities of the artist and gradually acquired an extended and remunerative prestige. His life was singularly devoid of incident and official distinction, but the legacy of pedagogic works which he has left to us and his honorable activity give it every right to be called a success.

Bertini was celebrated as a teacher. Antoine Marmontel, who devoted the second chapter of his work on celebrated pianists to Bertini, wrote

He was unsurpassed as a teacher, giving his lessons with scrupulous care and the keenest interest in his pupils' progress. After he had given up teaching, a number of his pupils continued with me, and I recognized the soundness of the principles drawn from his instruction.

It is above all in the special class of studies and caprices, that Bertini's immense popularity is founded. It is here that he occupied a unique position and opened the path over which the next generation of composers was to rush after him. In each of his numerous collections of studies, embracing every degree of difficulty, he has insistently given to every piece, easy or difficult, brief or extended, a character of salient melody. The technical problem to be overcome presents itself as a song; even where the study is devoted to the problem of velocity the general contour falls into a melodic curve, and this is the first and transcendent cause of the universal success of these pieces, which are, furthermore, natural in respect to rhythm and carefully thought out harmonically.

Robert Schumann, in a review of one of Bertini's piano trios in the "Gesammelte Schriften", comments that Bertini writes easily flowing harmony but that the movements are too long. He continues: "With the best will in the world, we find it difficult to be angry with Bertini, yet he drives us to distraction with his perfumed Parisian phrases; all his music is as smooth as silk and satin." German sentimentality has never appreciated French elegance. (The quote is taken from Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music, Second Edition, Volume 1, page 124.)

Bertini is best remembered today for his piano method "Le Rudiment du pianiste", and his 20 books of approximately 500 studies.

For more information on the life of Bertini, see [http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pascal.beyls/bertini/bertini.html "Henri Bertini, pianiste virtuose, compositeur de musique"] (Grenoble, 1999) by [http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pascal.beyls/index.html Pascal Beyls] .

[http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Visualiseur?Destination=Gallica&O=IFN-7720211 Portraits of Henri Bertini]

Compositions

The Nonetto Op. 107

The Nonetto opus 107 for flute, oboe, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, viola, cello, double bass, and piano, composed in 1835, is one of Bertini's major works. Berlioz wrote a review in Maurice Schlesinger's widely distributed and very influential "La Revue et Gazette musicale de Paris" of a performance at a music evening given by the Tilmant brothers on May 6, 1838:

That same evening a Nonetto by Bertini for piano, viola, cello, oboe, flute, horn, bassoon, trumpet and bass, was performed. It is a great and beautiful composition in which each instrument contributes to the whole according to its importance and idiomatic qualities, without trying to stand out individually. The piano itself is only entrusted those parts which contribute to the musical sense of the moment, and makes no effort toward brilliance for brilliance's sake. Beethoven himself followed this philosophy in his immortal trios. Amongst other movements, this Nonetto includes an adagio entitled La Melancolie which provides more than its title might indicate; it is so grandiose, at times so majestically sombre, that the sentiment of melancholy one expects is overshadowed by ideas of a much higher and rare order. In no way do I mean to quibble with the title, God forbid; all I wish to say is that this admirable work is not only melancholic, but also much more. In the Scherzo and Finale one finds details of graceful melancholy as well as vivacious charm, but the Adagio rises up in the centre of the work like the Mont Blanc among its neighbouring peaks; it dominates all; it is a sublime and profound meditation which provides an almost painful impression that cannot be forgotten.

Berlioz later made further comments about this evening in the July 6 edition of "Le Journal des débats":

The Nonetto by Bertini... is the work of a great musician with a lively and ardent imagination, who will grow stronger and more powerful if he refrains from his attempts to encourage applause as he occasionally sought to do in the first movement. His peroration was all too obvious and he is seen to be too preoccupied with achieving success and producing effects. This detracts from the free flowing of his thoughts. This fault does not exist in the other parts of the Nonetto. In composing these the author, fully involved in his subject, undoubtedly forgot that he was actually writing for his public, and concerned himself only with the task at hand and the ultimate unity of the work. Which of these last three movements is our favourite? The Adagio, above all, is without question a noble and magnificent inspiration whose sombre poetry reminds us of the sublime greatness of Beethoven's Sonatas. This is admirable.

The Nonetto was reduced to a quintet (flute or violin, violin, viola, cello and piano) by Charles Schwencke, a pianist and composer from Hamburg who was living in Paris. This appears to have been done for amateur musicians: the flute part, which can be replaced by a violin, contains frequent octave transpositions to make it easier to play.

The Etudes

Bertini wrote approximately 500 études, ranging from easy studies for young students whose hands cannot span an octave to concert études. They were published in sets of 25 studies each. Roughly in order of difficulty they are:

*Études faciles composées expressément pour les petites mains
** opus 100
** opus 137
** opus 166

* Introduction à celles de Cramer
** opus 29
** opus 32

* Études mélodiques
** opus 86 sur les romances de A. Romagnési
** opus 141 précédées chacune d'un prélude en deux suites. No. 1
** opus 142 précédées chacune d'un prélude en deux suites. No. 2

* Introduction aux Études caractéristiques de l'opus 66
** opus 134

* Études caractéristiques
** opus 66

* Études caprices ou Complément aux Études caractéristiques
** opus 94

* Grandes Études artistiques de première force
** opus 122

* Bertini also wrote several sets of études for piano four hands
** opus 160 L'Art de la mesure pour les petites mains à quatre mains
** opus 149 Études très facile à quatre mains
** opus 150 Études très facile à quatre mains
** opus 97 Études musicales à quatre mains pour le piano
** opus 135 Études musicales à quatre mains pour le piano
** WoO Frère et soeur. Quatre petits Duos pour le piano à quatre mains composés pour Henri et Isabelle.
** WoO Mère et fille. Quatre petits Duos pour le piano à quatre mains suite à Frère et soeur.

* In addition to these, the last five published books of études appear to have been conceived as a set
** opus 175 Études préparatoires
** opus 176 Études intermédiares
** opus 177 Études spéciales de la vélocité, du trille et de la main gauche
** opus 178 Études normales et classiques
** opus 179 Études suite de l'opus 150 à quatre mains pour le piano

Catalogue of Works

Early works, without opus

Caïn. Scène biblique

Françoise de Rimini

Cinq Morceaux religieux. Paroles latines à usage des séminaires, communautés religieuses, chapelles et maisons d'education. Ave Maris Stella, O Salutaris, Tantum Ergo, Ave Maris Stella, Ave Maria

Deuxième Messe à quatre voix pour deux ténors et deux basses avec accompagnement d'orgue

La Melodie Religieuse. Collection de motets au Saint Sacrement et à la Sainte Vierge à une ou plusieurs voix avec accompagnement d'orgue

Studies

La Gymnastique des doigts. Préparation à l'étude du piano

La Semaine du Pianiste. Etudes journalières de la gamme dans tous les tons majeurs et mineurs

Etudes pour le piano forte en 24 exercices

Exercices en doubles notes

Exercices en octaves, exercices en accord

Premières leçons doigtées et arrangées pour les petites mains

Cinquantes Leçons progressives, faisant suite aux précédentes

Douze Etudes spéciales

Miscellaneous piano pieces

La Romanesca

Scherzo en do majeur pour piano

Storielle amorosa pour piano

Compositions Written in Colaboration With Other Musicians

Duos for piano and violin by Bertini and Antoine Fontaine

1^er livre. L'Amitié, grand Duo pour piano et violon

2^ème livre. Les saisons, Duo brillant pour piano, violon ou violoncelle

3^ème livre. Fantaisie et variations brillantes sur un air suisse pour piano et violon concertantes

4^ème livre. Fantaisie concertante sur "Robin des Bois" pour piano et violon

5^ème livre. L'automne. Grand duo concertant pour piano et violon

6^ème livre. La Conversation. Duo concertant pour piano et violon

7^ème livre. Duetto pour piano et violon

8^ème livre. Serenata pour piano et violon

9^ème livre. Notturno pour piano et violon

Duo for piano and violin by Bertini and Auguste Franchomme

Thème varié pour piano et violoncelle

Duo for piano and flute by Bertini and Joseph Guillou

Fantaisie pour piano et flûte

Arrangements

Collection des préludes et fugues de Sébastien Bach arrangés pour le piano à quatre mains. Ecole de la musique d'ensemble. Etudes spéciales du style élévé, de la mesure et de toutes les combinaisons les plus difficiles du rythme [http://icking-music-archive.org/ByComposer/Bertini.php download music from WIMA]

Methods

Méthode pratique pour le piano forte rédigée d'après le mode d'enseignement indiqué par J.Jacotet et composée de morceaux choisis

Méthode élémentaire et facile de piano

Méthode complète et progressive de piano

Works fingered by Bertini

Muzio Clémenti, Etudes journières des gammes.

(In progress.)

External links

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