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Louis-François
Dauprat (1781-1868), celebrated professor of horn and
composer for this instrument, was born in Paris, May 24, 1781,
and not in 1792, as is stated in the Universal Lexikon der
Tonkunst, published by M. Schilling. Possessor of a nice
voice, he was placed in Notre Dame as a choir boy and did not
leave it until the church was closed during the revolutionary
troubles. He was still a child when he became passionately fond
of the horn and it was this instrument he chose when he entered
the Conservatoire de Musique which was founded under the
Title of the Institut national de musique. His professor
was Kenn, one of the best Cor basses of this period. After six
months of lessons, he became a member of a band which Sarrette,
director of the Conservatoire provided for the camp des élèves
de Mars, on la plaine de Sablons, near Paris. Later
he entered the band of a camp of twenty thousand men formed in
the Trou d’Enfer, near Marley. In 1799 he Joined
the band of the garde des consuls, and took part in the
campaign of 1800, in Italy. On his return to Paris, ho obtained
his dismissal and was placed in the orchestra of the Théâtre
Montansier. At the same time he returned to the Conservatoire
and Catel gave him lessons to harmony; then he was admitted to
the class of composition directed by Gossec and took a complete
course. In 1806 an advantageous engagement in the Théâtre
de Bordeaux was offered to Dauprat. He accepted it, remained
in this city until 1808 and did not return to Paris until he
was called by the administration of the Opera to replace Keen
who had requested retirement. Some time afterwards, Frederic
Duvernoy being also retired, Dauprat was appointed to succeed
him as solo horn. After twenty—three years of service,
he left this theatre because the new administration in 1831
made certain terms which he did not believe he should accept.
Appointed in 1811 an honorary member of the Chapel of Emperor
Napoleon, he succeeded Domnich in the Chapel of King Louis XVIII
in 1816. In the same year he was made Professor of horn in the
Paris Conservatoire. In 1833 the chapel master Paër appointed
Dauprat for the part of Cor basse in the new royal band. When
he took his leave from the position of professor of horn at the
Conservatoire he had for his successor his student Gallay.
Dauprat defended the natural horn: ”Some have wished that by means of holes
and keys the considerable series of factitious sounds on the horn might be eliminated,
while at the same time and in the same way those that are totally lacking in
the low register would become possible. But this method, already applied to the
[keyed] trumpet, has changed the timbre of the instrument to the point of giving
it a quite peculiar character, creating an instrument which is neither a trumpet
nor any other known instrument. ... The horn would probably fare likewise
were it made to undergo similar alterations: it would lose its character and
the true quality of its natural and factitious tones. Most of these latter have
a charm that is particularly theirs, and which serve, so to speak, for shadings
and nuances in contrast with the natural sounds. It must then be presumed that,
far from gaining by their complete removal, the horn would lose a great deal.
And what is said here about the various sounds of the complete range of the instrument
must obviously extend to the different crooks.
Each of these, taken by itself, has its own color, its timbre, and its special
character; but if they were all combined in a single assembly, becoming but one
and the same instrument, this instrument would certainly have, if you will, the
same range of low, high, and middle sounds. However, the more the new inventions
produce equality among all the sounds, the more the characters, colors, and timbres
of the individual crooks would be distorted and confused.”
List of works List of Recordings
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