The nephew, however, who now arrived to take the old man home, on
hearing the story ran after Viotti, and offered to supply him with as
many as he would like for six francs apiece.

Violin literature owes much to Viotti, for his compositions are numerous
and contain beauties that have never been surpassed. His advice was
sought by many young musicians, and among these was Rossini, who was
destined to become great. De Bériot also sought out Viotti and played
before him, but the old violinist told him that he had already acquired
an original style which only required cultivating to lead to success,
and that he could do nothing for him.

Viotti was one of the first to use the Tourte bow, and he studied its
effects closely, so that the sweep of his bow became his great
characteristic, and was alike the admiration of his friends and the
despair of his rivals. He died in 1824, after about two years of
retirement.

Among Viotti's most prominent pupils were Roberrechts, Pixis, Alday le
jeune, Cartier, Rode, Mori, Durand, and Baillot, also Mlle. Gerbini and
Madame Paravicini. Roberrechts became the teacher of De Bériot, who in
turn taught Vieuxtemps, Teresa Milanollo, and Lauterbach. Baillot taught
Habeneck, who taught Alard, Léonard, Prume, Cuvillon, and Mazas. From
Alard we have Sarasate, and from Léonard, Marsick and Dengremont, while
through Rode we have Böhm, and from him a large number of eminent
violinists, including G. Hellmesberger, Ernst, Dont, Singer, L. Strauss,
Joachim, Rappoldi. Some of them we shall refer to at length as great
performers, others were celebrated more as teachers.

Rodolphe Kreutzer, who was born at Versailles in 1766, is the third in