Pierre Rode

Born in Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France, Pierre Rode traveled in 1787 to Paris and soon became a favourite pupil of the great Giovanni Battista Viotti, who found the boy so talented that he charged him no fee for the lessons.

Rode served as violin soloist to Napoleon and toured extensively in the Netherlands, Germany, England and Spain, staying with François-Adrien Boieldieu in Saint Petersburg from 1804 until 1809, and later spending much time in Moscow.

However, according to some sources, he suffered from a lymphatic infection caused by streptococcus bacteria that affected his right arm, reducing his ability to bow with any force or rapidity.

It was such a fiasco that it was widely believed (as reported by Schuenemana, in citation above) that it hastened his death, on 25 November 1830 at Château de Bourbon near Damazan, Lot-et-Garonne, in his native Aquitaine.

His major enduring contribution to the literature are his 24 Caprices, which are a standard part of the repertoire for advanced study of the violin.