October 28, 2012 <Back to Index>
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Henri Jérôme Bertini (October 28, 1798 – September 30, 1876) was a French classical composer and pianist. 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 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 wrote:
Bertini was celebrated as a teacher. Antoine Marmontel, who devoted the second chapter of his work on celebrated pianists to Bertini, wrote
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. Bertini is best remembered today for his piano method Le Rudiment du pianiste, and his 20 books of approximately 500 studies. 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.
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. |