Duvernoy belonged to that founding generation which established the fame of French horn players and passed it on through a school of its own. He 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 principal horn from 1799 onwards. In 1801 he was released, together with other principal wind players, from regular opera duty in order to concentrate on solo work. From this time on he also played in the “Chapelle Musique”, which was reestablished by Napoleon Bonaparte – who is said to have been an admirer of Duvernoy. From 1795 he also taught (at times alongside eight other horn players) at the Paris Conservatoire de Musique.
Several different schools of horn playing developed there. While there had always been a division into 1st and 2nd horn, the horn player Rodolphe favored a comprehensive use of the entire range, whereas Kenn and, later especially, Dauprat advocated a clear separation into cor alto and cor basso. Duvernoy, quite literally, took the middle path: like the others, he too distinguished, for instance in his printed horn method, between high and low horn and recommended mouthpieces of different sizes accordingly – but for solo playing he championed the “cor mixte”. This meant doing without the particularly high and low notes: the middle range (roughly an octave and a half) was rarely left, with more emphasis placed instead on a singing tone.
Duvernoy retired in 1816, but continued to hold the position of solo horn in the Chapelle Musique until 1830. He died in Paris on July 19, 1838. Duvernoy’s works (12 horn concertos and numerous chamber pieces) were printed not only in Paris but also appeared in Germany, published by Simrock, Breitkopf and others.
Trio No. 1 for piano, horn and violin (or flute)
This work was composed as part of a series of “Trois Trios concertants” for piano, horn and violin after 1820 and was first published by the Paris publisher Richault. Unlike several earlier editions from other publishers, which reworked the piece considerably, the present edition follows the first print as closely as possible. In addition, a flute part has been edited as an alternative to the violin.
