1798–1876 · France
Henri Bertini (1798–1876) was a French composer, pianist and teacher, born in London. He performed as a soloist and chamber musician, but he is best known for his studies: about 500 pieces in 20 books, from easy to concert level. These studies have become part of the teaching repertoire.
Henri Jérôme Bertini was born on 28 October 1798 in London, into a family of musicians. His father played the piano and composed, and his brother Auguste had studied with Muzio Clementi. Half a year after Henri was born the family returned to Paris. The boy received his first music lessons at home, from his father and his brother.
Even as a child Bertini was regarded as a prodigy. At twelve he went on tour with his father, travelling through England, Holland, Flanders and Germany, and audiences welcomed the young pianist warmly. While he toured Europe, François-Joseph Fétis took notice of the boy.
Bertini studied composition in Britain. He then taught for a time in Brussels. In 1821 he settled in Paris for good and went on performing in the city and the area around it.
Bertini gave many concerts. On 20 April 1828 he appeared alongside Franz Liszt at the Salons Pape. The programme included his own arrangement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 for eight hands; among the other players were Ludwig Schunke and Józef Sowiński.
People prized him as a solo player and in chamber ensembles. His friends the violinist Antoine Fontaine and the cellist Auguste Franchomme joined him in concerts.
He never won the wide fame of Friedrich Kalkbrenner or Henri Herz. Contemporaries noted in his playing the clarity and evenness associated with Clementi, together with the singing tone and elegance typical of the tradition of Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Ignaz Moscheles.
Bertini had a great name as a teacher. Among his pupils was Eugenie Santa Coloma Sourget. Antoine Marmontel gave Bertini the second chapter of his book on famous pianists. He wrote that Bertini taught with great care and a lively concern for how his pupils were advancing. After Bertini stopped teaching, some of his pupils went on to study with Marmontel, who came to appreciate how sound the principles were that they had learnt from Bertini.
Thomas Tapper wrote that in an age of showy virtuosity Bertini kept strict musical standards in his playing and in his compositions. His life, Tapper added, had few events and no official honours, yet the teaching works he left give it every claim to be counted a success.
Later Bertini gave up public performance and composing and settled at Meylan in the Dauphiné, near Grenoble. There he lived in seclusion and led an amateur men's choir, known as an orpheon. Henri Bertini died in Meylan on 30 September 1876.
Bertini's music joins features of late Classicism and early Romanticism. His works are marked by expressive melody, clear texture and moderate virtuosity. He did not chase outward effect and looked for a balance between form and content. Robert Schumann, reviewing one of his piano trios, noted the smooth flow of the harmony but found some movements overlong.
Bertini wrote piano trios, sextets, sonatas and two symphonies. One of his major chamber works is the Nonetto, Op. 107, of 1835, scored for piano with flute, oboe, bassoon, horn, trumpet, viola, cello and double bass. Hector Berlioz rated it highly in his reviews, praising the unity of the whole and the expressiveness of the Adagio, which he set beside Beethoven's sonatas for grandeur.
Bertini's main contribution to piano teaching is some 500 studies, issued in 20 collections. They range from the simplest tasks, for young pupils whose hands cannot yet stretch an octave, to concert-level virtuosity. What sets them apart is their melodic character: even a study meant to build fluency or finger strength has a clear singing line.
The site has the collection 25 Easy Etudes, Op. 100 (in the original, 25 Études faciles et progressives), at the level “Intermediate+”. It is a convenient place to begin with Bertini.
Bertini also wrote teaching manuals, for example Le Rudiment du pianiste and Méthode complète et progressive de piano. They had a marked effect on how the piano was taught in nineteenth-century France. He also wrote sets of studies for piano four hands and arranged Bach's preludes and fugues for four hands.