Charles-Wilfrid Bériot

Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot was a French pianist, teacher and composer.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article on Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot.

From the period sources

Charles-Wilfrid Bériot, born in Paris on February 12, 1833, was a French pianist and composer, and the son of the celebrated violinist Charles-Auguste de Bériot. He inherited a musical talent from his illustrious parents, his mother being the renowned Marietta Garcia-Malibran, according to the Biographie universelle des musiciens (1880). Bériot began his public career as a pianist at the age of ten in Louvain, though his parents later sent him to study at the Collège Louis-le-Grand in Paris. He was a pupil of Thalberg in 1855 and later became a professor of piano at the Paris Conservatoire (A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1905).

His compositions include a symphonic poem titled “Fernand Cortez,” overtures, three piano concertos, and numerous genre pieces for piano such as “Tarentelle” and “Valse-caprice” (A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1905; Biographie universelle des musiciens, 1880). He also wrote “Operas sans paroles” for piano and violin, a Fantaisie-Ballet for violin, a septet, two piano quartets, a piano trio, and a sonata for piano and flute, alongside many songs (A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1905). Collaborating with his father, he co-authored a “Methode d’accompagnement.” The Biographie universelle des musiciens (1880) notes that he was an artist of style, particularly distinguished in the execution of classical music.