belonged to that founding generation which established the fame of the French hornists and passed it on through a school of their own. Duvernoy joined the orchestra of the Comédie-Italienne as a hornist in 1788. In 1797 he moved to the Paris Opéra, and from 1799 he served there as solo horn. In 1801 he and the other principal wind players were released from regular opera duty so that they could devote themselves more fully to solo work. From this time on he also played in the „Chapelle Musique“, which had been re-established by Napoleon Bonaparte, said to have been an admirer of Duvernoy's playing. From 1795 he was also a teacher (alongside, at times, eight other hornists) at the Paris Conservatoire de Musique.
Various schools of horn playing developed there. There had always been a division into 1st and 2nd horn; the hornist Rudolphe, for example, favoured comprehensive use of the entire range, while Kenn and, later, especially Dauprat favoured a clear separation into cor alto and cor basso. Duvernoy, quite literally, took the middle path: in his printed horn method he too distinguished between high and low horn and recommended mouthpieces of different sizes, but in solo playing he propagated the „cor mixte“. This meant avoiding the particularly high and low notes; the middle register (about 1 ½ octaves) was rarely left, with greater emphasis placed instead on a singing tone.
In 1816 Duvernoy retired, though he held the position of solo horn in the Chapelle Musique until 1830. He died in Paris on 19 July 1838. Duvernoy's works (12 concertos for horn and numerous chamber pieces) were printed not only in Paris but also appeared in Germany, for example with the publishers Simrock and Breitkopf.
Fantaisie No. 8 for Piano and Horn
This work was written as part of a series of at least 8 fantasies, around 1820. The present 8th Fantaisie pour Piano et cor, subtitled „Barcarolle Vénitienne“, was published after 1820 by the Paris firm Richault and is dedicated to Duvernoy's friend Louis Joseph Costes, a former reserve general.
Thanks to its range, which stays deliberately within the middle register, the work is very well suited to students.
