Martin Joseph Mengal
Octet for 6 Horns and 2 Trombones (or 2 Horns)
– First Edition –
Martin Joseph Mengal, born 27 January 1784 in Ghent, died 3 July 1851 in the same city. Mengal received violin lessons simultaneously from Prévôt and Wauthier and made his first public appearance as a violin soloist at the age of twelve; a year later he took up the post of first horn at the theatre of his native city. During this period he already made his first attempts at composition. Supported by Prefect Faitpoult on account of his exceptional musicality, he studied from 1804 at the Paris Conservatoire under F. Duvernoy (horn) and Catel (harmony). He subsequently joined the Grenadier Regiment of the Imperial Guard and marched with it to Italy, Austria and Prussia. After each campaign he returned to Paris to continue his musical studies. Having returned to Paris for good to complete his military service, he won first prize for horn and second prize for harmony in 1807. He completed his training in composition under A. Reicha.
Mengal first worked as a horn player in the orchestra of the Théâtre de l'Odéon, and then for thirteen years as first horn at the Théâtre Feydeau. His operas date from this period, during which he enjoyed Talleyrand's favour. In 1824 he applied for the post of conductor of the orchestra of the Grand Théâtre in Brussels, but Ch. Hanssens was preferred over him; he himself was appointed to this post in Ghent in 1825. He later exchanged the directorship for the post of conductor, which he held until 1830. Mengal was also active as first horn and conductor of the Société de Sainte-Cécile and was honoured by the city of Antwerp in 1828 for his playing. After the Revolution of 1830 he conducted the opera orchestra in Antwerp and was subsequently appointed to the same post in The Hague. In 1835 he returned to his native city for good, where he was entrusted with the direction of the newly founded Conservatoire. His most important pupils were F. A. Gevaert and K. Miry.
According to the testimony of his contemporaries, Mengal was a horn virtuoso of extraordinary rank; he was also highly regarded as an opera and choral conductor. A conclusive judgement of his compositions is barely possible today – his works consistently show him to be an experienced craftsman and skilful arranger. Particularly in his romances, whose melodic writing owes much to the pathos-laden French vocal style, he proves himself a true child of his time; his romance Le Chevalier errant enjoyed unparalleled success.
The Mengal brothers are frequently confused in the specialist literature: there is Martin Joseph Mengal (1784–1851) and his younger brother Jean Mengal (1796–1878) – both were horn players of note. Further biographical notes on Martin Joseph Mengal can be read elsewhere. His younger brother Jean trained in Paris under the horn player Domnich and won first prize at the Paris Conservatoire in 1814. He was first horn at the Paris Opéra and likewise composed for his instrument. The attribution of individual compositions to one or other of the brothers is therefore not always unambiguous.
About this Edition
This first edition of the Octet for 6 horns and 2 trombones was composed for natural horns in the keys of 1st/2nd horn in B alto, 3rd/4th horn in E flat and 5th/6th horn in F. For performances with valve horn, a transposed part in F was additionally prepared for the 1st and 2nd horn. The original scoring for 2 trombones is surely owed to the fact that the bass register was not chromatically available on natural horns; additional parts were likewise prepared as a substitute for the two trombones, so that with horns 7 and 8 (in F) the work can also be performed with 8 horns. For performances, the two B-alto horns may also be replaced by 2 trumpets. This edition thus comprises 12 parts (and one score) and opens up four different possible scorings.
