PIERRE RODE 24 CAPRICEN IN THE FORM OF ETUDES FOR SOLO VIOLIN IN ALL 24 KEYS

Transcribed for the Viola by Gerald Manning

The French violinist and composer Jacques Pierre Joseph Rode was born in Bordeaux on Feb. 16, 1774, and died there on Nov. 25 1830. In Bordeaux he was a pupil of Fauvel, and in 1788 studied with Viotti in Paris. In 1790 he made his solo debut and then joined the orchestra of the Theatre Feydeau until 1794, when he toured Holland and Germany. His many appointments included a professorship at the new Conservatory, leader of the Opera orchestra, and violinist to Napoleon, and in 1803 he went with Boieldieu to St. Petersburg, where he became one of the Emperor�s private musicians. In 1813 when he was at Vienna he became associated with Beethoven, who composed the wonderful Sonata in G major, op.96 especially for him, and it received its first performance at a private concert with Rode and Archduke Rudolph. At the height of his career Rode was considered to be a very great artist. He composed thirteen concertos, 24 Caprices, twelve Etudes, and other pieces for the violin, also a method.

For the serious student of the violin the 24 Caprices placed alongside those of Kreutzer, Don�t, Wieniawski and Paganini remain essential building blocks for a well-rounded and secure technique and sound education on the violin. They are also a necessary adjunct and have great value when transcribed for the Viola. As that great violin pedagogue Leopold Auer says � There is no instrument whose absolute mastery at a later period presupposes such meticulous care and exactitude in the initial stages of study as does the violin.�