Mengal, Martin-Joseph, * 27 January 1784 in Ghent, † 3 July 1851 in Ghent. Mengal took violin lessons with Prévôt and Wauthier at the same time. At the age of twelve he appeared publicly as a violin soloist for the first time; a year later he took up the position of first horn at the theatre of his home town. Already during this period he made his first attempts at composition. Supported by the prefect Faitpoult on account of his exceptional musicality, he studied from 1804 at the Paris Conservatoire with F. Duvernoy (horn) and with Catel (harmony). He then joined the Grenadier Regiment of the Imperial Guard and travelled with it to Italy, Austria and Prussia. After each campaign he returned to Paris to continue his musical studies. Having finally completed his military service, he won the first prize for horn and the second for harmony in 1807. He completed his training in composition with Anton Reicha.
Mengal worked as a hornist in the orchestra of the Théâtre de l'Odéon; he then belonged to the orchestra of the Théâtre Feydeau as first hornist for thirteen years. His operas date from this period, during which he also enjoyed the favour of Talleyrand. In 1824 he applied for the post of director of the orchestra of the Grand Théâtre in Brussels, but Ch. Hanssens was preferred over him; in 1825 he himself was appointed to the same post in Ghent. He later exchanged the directorship for the position of conductor, which he held until 1830. Mengal was also active as first hornist and conductor at the Société de Sainte-Cécile, and in 1828 he was honoured by the city of Antwerp 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 permanently to his home town, where he was placed in charge of the newly founded Conservatoire. His most important pupils were F. A. Gevaert and K. Miry.
The Mengal brothers are frequently confused in the literature. There were two: Martin-Joseph Mengal (1784–1851) and his younger brother Jean Mengal (1796–1878); both were horn players of note. Jean was trained in Paris by the hornist Domnich and, like his brother (who had done so in 1809), won the first prize of the Paris Conservatoire, in his case in 1814. He was first hornist at the Paris Opéra and also composed for his instrument. As a result, individual compositions cannot always be attributed with certainty to one brother or the other. These trios, edited by Robert Ostermeyer, are, however, certainly the work of Martin-Joseph Mengal.
This first edition of the 23 trios for three horns is based on the autograph manuscript of the parts, held in the library of the Conservatoire in Ghent, Belgium. The composition dates from before 1820, that is, still from Mengal's time in Paris. Some of the pieces (e.g. No. 13) show parallels with the 25 duos for two horns by Joseph Kenn (ROM 69). It is quite possible that Mengal performed these duos in Paris and drew on some of their ideas for his own trios.
