belonged to that founding generation which established the fame of French horn players and passed it on through a school of its own. Duvernoy joined the orchestra of the Comédie-Italienne as a horn player in 1788. In 1797 he moved to the Paris Opera, where he worked as solo horn player from 1799 onwards. In 1801 he, along with the other principal wind players, was relieved of normal opera duties in order to concentrate on solo tasks. From that time on he also played in the „Chapelle Musique“, which was re-established by Napoleon Bonaparte, said to have been an admirer of Duvernoy. From 1795 he was also a teacher – alongside, at times, eight other horn players – at the Paris Conservatoire de Musique. Several different schools of horn playing developed there. There had always been a division between 1st and 2nd horn; the horn player Rudolphe, for instance, favoured a comprehensive use of the entire range, while Dauprat, especially later, favoured a clear separation into cor alto and cor basso. Duvernoy, quite literally, took the middle path: in his printed horn method he too distinguished between high and low horn and recommended differently sized mouthpieces, but in solo playing he advocated the „cor mixte“. This meant forgoing the particularly high and low notes; the middle range (roughly one and a half octaves) was rarely left, with greater emphasis placed instead on cantabile playing. Duvernoy retired in 1816, though he retained the position of solo horn player in the Chapelle Musique until 1830. He died in Paris on 19 July 1838. Duvernoy's works (12 horn concertos and numerous chamber works) were printed not only in Paris but also in Germany, for example by the publishers Simrock and Breitkopf.
Fantaisie No.6 for Piano and Horn
This work was written as part of a series of at least 8 fantasies, around 1820. The present 6th Fantaisie pour Piano et Cor, subtitled „Réveil de Rousseau“, was intended to commemorate the philosopher and composer Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778). The work was dedicated to the widow of the French general Jean-Victor-Marie Moreau (1763–1813). Louis XVIII later granted his widow the title of Maréchale, and had a monument to Moreau erected in Paris in 1819. The Fantaisie was published after 1820 by the Paris publishing house Richault.
The work stays largely within the middle register, making it very well suited to students.
