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The transition from the valveless natural horn to the modern valved horn in 19th-century Paris was different from similar transitions in other countries. While valve technology was received happily by players of other members of the brass family, strong support for the natural horn, with its varied color palette and virtuoso performance traditions, slowed the reception and application of the valve to the horn.Using primary sources including Conservatoire method books, accounts of performances and technological advances, and other evidence, this book tells the story of the transition from natural horn to valved horn at the Conservatoire, from 1792 to 1903, including close examination of horn teaching before the arrival of valved brass in Paris, the initial reception and application of this technology to the horn, the persistence of the natural horn, and the progression of acceptance, use, controversies, and eventual adoption of the valved instrument in the Parisian community and at the Conservatoire.Active scholars, performers, and students interested in the horn, 19th-century brass instruments, teaching methods associated with the Conservatoire, and the intersection of technology and performing practice will find this book useful in its details and conclusions, including ramifications on historically-informed performance today.
List of contents
Chapter 1 Introduction
Overview of the Problem
The Structure of this Book
Chapter 2 Early Horn Tutors in France, the Formation of the Conservatoire, and the Conservatoire's First Horn Teachers
Mid- to Late Eighteenth-Century Horn Tutors in France
The Formation of the Conservatoire
Horn Teaching at the Conservatoire 1802-1842
Summary of Teaching Methods and the State of Horn Playing in Paris, 1830
Backdrop for Music in Paris and at the Conservatoire in 1830
Chapter 3 Valved Brass Instruments in Paris
The Arrival and Application of Valve Technology in France
Horn parts in Halévy's La Juive
Hector Berlioz and his Traité d'instrumentation
A Word on Further Developments in Valve Technology in Germany
Chapter 4 Hand and Valve: Joseph-Émile Meifred, Jacques-François Gallay and Horn Teaching at the Conservatoire 1833-1863
Joseph-Émile Meifred
Meifred's Méthode
Gallay and the Natural Horn at the Conservatoire 1833-1863
Chapter 5 Other Valved Horn Activity in Paris: Two Valves or Three?
Georges Kastner
Donatien Urbin
Other Parisian Valved Horn Methods in the 1840s
Chapter 6 Late Nineteenth-Century Developments at the Conservatoire
Mohr, Gallay's Successor
The Valved Horn in Paris in the 1860s, 1870s, and 1880s
Garigue, Chaussier, and the Panel Comparison of 1891
François Brémond and the Final Transition to Valved Horn
Summary
Chapter 7 Applications to Performing Practices and Hand and/or Valve Today
The Aesthetics of Stopped Notes
The Natural Horn, Stopped Notes, and Musicality
The Valved Horn Conundrum
Performing Practices for Valved Horn
Conclusion
Appendices
Appendix 1: Foreign Language Quotations
Appendix 2: Writings and Compositions of Joseph-Émile Meifred
Report
'The book is very well researched, very well written and will be a substantial contribution to the history of the horn. In structure and scope, this book goes deeper into the history of the horn in France in the nineteenth century than anything written previously. Highly recommended.'
Professor Richard Seraphinoff, IU Jacobs School of Music, USA
