Though Viotti only performed on the violin for approximately ten years he had a profound effect on public taste and inspiration. His compositions consist of a number of works for the violin including quartets, trios and duos as well as his important twenty nine concertos. The smaller works were demonstratively composed for the dominance of the violin as the duos were most often scored for violin and bass and the trios for two violins and bass. Viotti's twenty nine violin concertos are a clear indication of the advent of Romanticism with expressiveness that was heretofore, and not even in Viotti's works, completely realized. Though most of the concertos were also indicative of the inherited galant style the last ten were technically well-conceived, with comparably full orchestration, diverse attitudes and accompaniments that changed from concerto to concerto and section to section. Viotti had been a student of Pugnani who had been influenced by the Corelli school and he had a lasting influence on the music of Beethoven, Rode, Kreutzer and Spohr. He had served at the court in Turin, Versailles, London and as the director of the Paris opera. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi