The brothers Mengal have often been mistaken for one another. There is Martin-Joseph Mengal (1784 - 1851) and his younger brother Jean Mengal (1792 - 1878). Both have been famous horn players.
Jean was taught by the Parisian horn player Domnich. He and his brother won the first prize at the Conservatoire (Jean 1814, Martin 1809). Jean had been the first horn player at the opera house in Paris and composed for his instrument. Sometimes compositions get mixed between the brothers.
This also applies to the work on hand, Valse - Précédée d'une Introduction op.20, in which the editor here adopts Jean Mengal as the composer. Mengal is named as Premier Cor Solo de l'Académie Royale de Musique on the print. It is dedicated to "Son Ami M. Dauverné": this could be the trumpeter F.G.A. Dauverné. He had designed a kind of slide trumpet around 1830. The composition uses melodies from Adrien Boieldieu's (1775 - 1834) stage entertainment "Charles de France" of 1816. In the same year this composition on hand also must have been published for the first time by the publishing house Janet et Cotelle in Paris. The work was dedicated to Mengal's pupil Alfred Duboullais.
