Unfortunately, no biographical details can be established about the hornist P. Melchior. Four of his composed works survive in print: "Trois grands Duos concertants pour premier et seconde cor" op.2 (ROM 180), "Trois Duos concertants pour deux cors" op.3 (ROM 201), and the third volume, once again with 3 duos, op.4 (ROM 178). Opus 4 is dedicated to "Monsieur le Comte Cormiev du Medic", who was apparently involved in French military music. He is described on the print as "Capitaine commandante au troiseme Regiment de la garde Royale". The op.3 duos are dedicated to his friend F. Roussot.
P. Melchior’s biography is illuminated a little by another print – presumably his first published work – without an opus number (ROM 179), titled „Trois grands Trios concertants pour trois cors en mi".
This trio is dedicated to Frédéric Duvernoy ("par son Elève" P. Melchior).
So Melchior probably studied in Paris at the Conservatoire under Duvernoy.
Duvernoy was born in Montbeliard on 16 October 1765 and came to Paris in 1788 as a hornist with the orchestra of the Comédie-Italienne. In 1797 he moved to the Paris Opera. In 1801, together with other solo players, he was relieved of normal opera duties in order to devote himself better to solo work. From 1795, he was also a teacher at the Paris Conservatoire de Musique (alongside up to 8 other hornists at times). Duvernoy created the "cor mixte" style of playing, in which he advocated the almost exclusive use of the middle register of the horn. Duvernoy was pensioned in 1816 and died on 19 July 1838 in Paris.
On the print, Duvernoy is described as "Chevalier de l’Ordre Royal de la Légion d’Honneur, 1er Cor récitant de la Chapelle et de la Chambre du Roi".
Based on this information, all three of P. Melchior’s publications can be assumed to have appeared after 1815. The trios were printed by the Parisian publisher Henry Lemoine in cooperation with the Parisian publisher David. Both duo editions, op.2 and op.4, were published solely by David. Op.3 was published by Dufaut et Dubois.
