M. de Bériot did not recover from this shock for more than a year, but
remained secluded at his country place near Brussels. It was not till
Pauline Garcia (subsequently Mme. Viardot) made her _debut_ in concert
in 1837, that De Bériot again appeared in public before one of the most
brilliant audiences which had ever assembled in Brussels. In honor of
this occasion the Philharmonic Society of that city caused two medals
to be struck for M. de Bériot and Mlle. Garcia, the molds of which were
instantly destroyed. The violinist gave a series of concerts assisted
by the young singer in Belgium, Germany, and France, and returned to
Brussels again on the anniversary of their first concert, where they
appeared in the Théâtre de la Renaissance before a most crowded and
enthusiastic audience. Among the features of the performance which
called out the warmest applause was Panseron's grand duo for voice and
violin, "Le Songe de Tartini," Mlle. Garcia both singing and playing
the piano-forte accompaniment with remarkable skill. Two years afterward
Mile. Garcia married M. Viardot, director of the Italian Opera at Paris,
and De Bériot espoused Mlle. Huber, daughter of a Viennese magistrate,
and ward of Prince Dietrischten Preskau, who had adopted her at an early
age.
De Bériot became identified with the Royal Conservatory of Music at
Brussels in the year 1840, and thenceforward his life was devoted to
composition and the direction of the violin school. He gave much time
and care to the education of his son Charles, who, in addition to a
wonderful resemblance to his mother, appears to have inherited much of
the musical endowment of both parents. Had not an ample fortune rendered
professional labor unnecessary, it is probable that the son of Malibran
and De Bériot would have attained a musical eminence worthy of his
lineage; but he is even now celebrated for his admirable performances
in private, and his musical evenings are said to be among the most
delightful entertainments in Parisian society, gathering the most
celebrated artists and _litterateurs_ of the great capital.
De Bériot ceased giving public concerts after taking charge of the
violin classes of the Brussels Conservatoire, though he continued to
charm select audiences in private concerts. Many of his pupils became
distinguished players, among whom may be named Monasterio, Standish,
Lauterbach, and, chief of all, Henri Vieuxtemps, with whose precocious
talents he was so much pleased that he gave him lessons gratuitously.
During his life at Brussels, and indeed during the whole of his
career, De Bériot enjoyed the friendship and esteem of many of the
most distinguished men of the day, among his most intimate friends and
admirers having been Prince de Chimay, the Russian Prince Youssoupoff,
and King Leopold I, of Belgium. The latter part of his life was not
un-laborious in composition, but otherwise of affluent and elegant ease.
During the last two years his eyesight failed him, and he gradually
became totally blind. He died, April 13, 1870, at the age of
sixty-eight, while visiting his friend Prince Youssoupoff at St.
Petersburg, of the brain malady which had long been making fatal inroads
on his health.
In originality as a composer for the violin, probably no one can surpass
De Bériot except Paganini, who exerted a remarkable modifying influence
on him after he had formed his own first style. His works are full
of grace and poetic feeling, and worked out with an intellectual
completeness of form which gives him an honorable distinction even among
those musicians marked by affluence of ideas. These compositions are
likely to be among the violin classics, though some of the violinists
of the Spohr school have criticised them for want of depth. He produced
seven concertos, eleven _airs variés_, several books of studies,
four trios for piano, violin, and 'cello, and, together with Osborne,
Thalberg, and other pianists, a number of brilliant duos for piano and
violin. His book of instruction for the violin is among the best ever
written, though somewhat diffuse in detail. He may be considered the
founder of the Franco-Belgian school of violinists, as distinguished
from the classical French school founded by Viotti, and illustrated by
Rode and Baillot. His early playing was molded entirely in this style,
but the dazzling example of Paganini, in course of time, had its
effect on him, as he soon adopted the captivating effects of harmonics,
arpeggios, pizzicatos, etc., which the Genoese had introduced, though
he stopped short of sacrificing his breadth and richness of tone. He
combined the Paganini school with that of Viotti, and gave status to
a peculiar _genre_ of players, in which may be numbered such great
virtuosos as Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski, who successively occupied the
same professional place formerly illustrated by De Bériot, and the
latter of whom recently died. De Bériot's playing was noted for accuracy
of intonation, remarkable deftness and facility in bowing, grace,
elegance, and piquancy, though he never succeeded in creating the
unbounded enthusiasm which everywhere greeted Paganini.