Around two hundred years ago, the gradual introduction of the valve system to the French horn began, a development that would go on to make life much easier for performers. Louis-François Dauprat, a professor at the Paris Conservatoire, was one of the last great virtuosos and teachers of the natural horn before this transition. Around 1813, he composed three quintets for horn and string quartet, which are distinguished by their technical virtuosity and timbral contrasts. In the final movement of the third, a Rondo, he evokes the imagery of ancient royal hunts with sophisticated writing that gives the horn a decisive leading role. Fittingly, this programme is rounded off with Mozart’s string quartet known by the epithet ‘The Hunt’, precisely because its opening motifs recall the horn calls associated with the hunts of that era.
Mozart & Dauprat
Thursday, 8 October, 6.00 pm, Auditório do Centro Cultural Casapiano
Solistas da Metropolitana
W. A. Mozart String Quartet No. 17, K. 458, ‘The Hunt’
L.-F. Dauprat Quintet for Horn and Strings No. 3, Op. 6
Jérôme Arnouf horn
José Teixeira, Olívia Andrade violins
Sérgio Sousa viola
Catarina Gonçalves cello
