The album features performances on both a natural horn (Marcel Auguste Raoux, early 19th century) and a 2-valved horn (Louis Müller, c. 1840).
Composer Biography
Gioacchino Rossini, the composer of operas such as 'L'Italiana in Algeri', played several instruments, including the natural horn, and often gave it important thematic material in his works.
Historical Context
The period saw a conflict between proponents of the new valve instruments and those who favored the traditional natural horn, a debate that continued until the early 20th century.
Composer Biography
Louis-François Dauprat, a famous horn professor, trained many pupils who became notable artists, including Jacques-François Gallay, a virtuoso horn player and professor at the Paris Conservatoire.
Compositional Technique
Jacques-François Gallay's Caprices for horn are considered daring challenges to the instrument's chromatic possibilities, pushing the natural horn to its physical limits.
Compositional Technique
Louis-François Dauprat, a horn professor and composer, used horns tuned in different keys together, a technique later adopted by Berlioz, to achieve a rich harmonic language.
Historical Context
The Dictionnaire de Musique moderne (1828) by Castil-Blaze, which includes an article on the horn, makes no mention of the new valve mechanisms, despite their appearance in Germany before 1820.
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