Editing Pierre Baillot (section)

==Biography==

===Early life===
Pierre Baillot, who was associated with Rode and Kreutzer in the compilation of the celebrated ''Methode du Violon'', was born at [[Passy]], near [[Paris]], and became one of the best violinists of his time. 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 remarkable at an early age, and he received his first instruction from an Italian named Polidori. At the age of nine, he was placed under a French teacher named Sainte-Marie,{{cn|date=August 2022}} whose training gave him the severe state and methodical qualities by which his playing was distinguished.

At the age of ten, he heard [[Viotti]] play one of his concertos, becoming his model. When his father died a year or two later, the [[intendant]] of Corsica, [[Claude-François Bertrand de Boucheporn|M. de Boucheporn]], sent him, with his own children, to [[Rome]], where he was placed with Pollani, a pupil of [[Pietro Nardini|Nardini]], under whom he made rapid progress, and soon began to play in public. He was, however, unable to follow directly in the path of his profession, and for five years he travelled with his benefactor, acting as private secretary.

===Career===
In 1791, he returned to Paris,<ref name=Musicologie>{{cite web|last=Musicologie|title=Baillot Pierre Marie François de Sales 1771-1842|url=http://www.musicologie.org/Biographies/b/baillot_pierre.html|publisher=Musicologie.org|accessdate=22 February 2012|language=fr}}</ref> and Viotti secured a place for him in the opera orchestra. But on being offered a position in the Ministère des Finances, he gave up his operatic work, and for some years devoted only his leisure to the study of the violin. He served in the army for twenty months, after which he once more determined to take up music as a profession, soon appearing in public with a concerto by Viotti. This performance established his reputation, and he was offered a professorship of violin playing at the Conservatoire, then recently opened.

His next appointment was to the private band of [[Napoleon]], after which he travelled for three years in Russia with the violoncello player Lemare. Returning to [[Paris]], he established concerts for chamber music, which proved successful, and built up for him a reputation as a quartet player. He frequently performed together with the Polish pianist and composer [[Maria Agata Szymanowska]].

Baillot travelled again, visiting the [[Netherlands]], [[Belgium]], and England, and then he became leader of the opera band in Paris and of the royal band. In March 1825, while serving as concertmaster of the Paris Opéra, Baillot and [[Luigi Cherubini]] evaluated [[Felix Mendelssohn]]'s application for admission to the Paris Conservatory by playing his Quartet for Piano and Strings in B minor. Mendelssohn was only 16 years old. An anecdote mentioned that, overcome with emotion, Baillot approached the young composer after the performance and, without uttering a word, simply embraced him.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Chameleon Arts Ensemble |title=Season Program Notes|author=Gabriel Langfur|date=October 2013}}</ref>

Baillot made a final tour in [[Switzerland]] in 1833, and died in [[Paris]] in 1842.