,
during which he acquired the reputation of being one of the first
violinists in Europe. On his return to Paris, he turned his attention to
dramatic music, and composed two grand operas, which were performed
before the court, and secured for him the patronage of Marie Antoinette.
He also became first violin at the Opera Comique, and professor at the
Conservatoire, where he formed some excellent pupils, among them being
D'Artot, Rovelli, the teacher of Molique, Massart, the teacher of
Wieniawski and Teresina Tua, and Lafont, who also became a pupil of De
Beriot. On Rode's departure for Russia, Kreutzer succeeded him as solo
violin at the Opera, later becoming Chef d'Orchestre, and after fourteen
years' service in this capacity he was decorated with the insignia of
the Legion of Honour, and became General Director of the Music at the
Opera. In 1826 he resigned his post and retired to Geneva, where he died
in 1831. Kreutzer was a prolific composer, and his compositions include
forty dramatic works and a great number of pieces for the violin.

In 1798, when Kreutzer was at Vienna in the service of the French
ambassador, Bernadotte, he made the acquaintance of Beethoven, and was
afterwards honoured by that great composer with the dedication to him of
the famous Sonata, Op. 47, which was first played by Beethoven and the
violinist Bridgetower, at the Augarten, in May, 1803, either the 17th
or the 24th. This is the sonata the name of which Count Leo Tolstoi took
for his famous book, though to the vast majority of hearers it will
always remain a mystery how the classical harmonies of the sonata could
have aroused the passions which form the _raison d'etre_ of the book.

Kreutzer was noted for his style of bowing, his splendid tone, and the
clearness of his execution.

With three such masters as Baillot, Rode, and Kreutzer, besides Viotti,
who was frequently in Paris, the French school of violin playing had now
superseded the Italian.

Pierre Marie Francois de Sales Baillot, who was associated with Rode and
Kreutzer in the compilation of the celebrated "Methode du Violon," was
born at Passy, near Paris, in 1771, and became one of the most excellent
violinists that France ever produced. His eminence in his profession
was not obtained without a long struggle against great difficulties, for
at the age of twelve he lost his father, who had kept a school, and
became dependent upon friends for his education. His musical talent was