belonged to that founding generation which established the fame of French hornists and passed it on within a school of their own. In 1788 Duvernoy joined the orchestra of the Comédie-Italienne as a hornist. In 1797 he moved to the Paris Opéra, where he served as solo horn from 1799 onwards. In 1801 he was relieved of normal opera duties, together with the other principal wind players, in order to concentrate more fully on solo work. From that time he also played in the "Chapelle Musique", which had been re-established by Napoleon Bonaparte, who is said to have been an admirer of Duvernoy. From 1795 he also taught at the Paris Conservatoire de Musique, alongside as many as eight other horn teachers at times. Various schools of horn playing developed there. While a division into 1st and 2nd horn had always existed, the hornist Rodolphe favored a comprehensive use of the entire range, whereas Kenn and, particularly later, Dauprat advocated a clear separation into cor alto and cor basso.
Duvernoy took the middle path in the truest sense of the word: although, in his printed horn method for instance, he too distinguished between high and low horn and recommended differently sized mouthpieces, in solo playing he championed the "cor mixte". This meant renouncing the particularly high and low notes; the middle range (about one and a half octaves) was rarely left, with greater emphasis placed instead on cantabile playing.
In 1816 Duvernoy retired, though until 1830 he still held the position of solo hornist in the Chapelle Musique. He died in Paris on July 19th, 1838. Duvernoy's works (12 concertos for horn and numerous chamber pieces) were not only printed in Paris but also appeared in Germany, e.g. with the publishing houses Simrock or Breitkopf.
Fantaisie No. 7 for Piano and Horn
This work was created as part of a series of at least eight fantasies, around 1820. The present 7th Fantaisie pour Piano et cor, subtitled "O Pescator dell'onda", takes a Venetian fisherman's song as its theme.
Thanks to its range, deliberately kept within the middle register, the work is very well suited for students.
