TROIS CHANSONS

Jacques-Francois Gallay is considered one of the most distinguished horn players France has ever seen. He was born in Perpignan in 1795 and his earliest musical training was with a local musician, Artus, with whom the ten-year-old Gallay studied solfege. Two years later he began to learn the horn with his father, an amateur horn player; his early progress is thought to have been due more to the student’s disposition than to the teacher’s talent. Gallay first came to public attention when, at the precocious age of fourteen, he stepped into the shoes of the indisposed cor solo (principal horn) of the local theatre orchestra. This was all the more remarkable as the work in question was Devienne’s Les Visitandines, which contains a demanding obbligato horn solo in the aria ‘O toi dont ma me´moire’.
For a time Perpignan offered Gallay sufficient musical opportunities both as a horn player and as a composer, but eventually, encouraged by visiting musical dignitaries, Gallay made the decision to travel to Paris with a view to enrolling at the Conservatoire. From its early days the Paris Conservatoire placed the training of wind and brass students at the centre of its curriculum, attracting several important teachers. The calibre of hand-horn players in France helped prevent the new valve-horn gaining acceptance during the nineteenth century, and led instead to the development of a hand technique that pushed the instrument almost to its limits. Gallay was to epitomise this level of musicality and virtuosity. His career was, however, almost thwarted from the start as, despite being accepted as a student by Dauprat, Gallay, now aged twenty-four, was technically too old to enrol. But dispensation was eventually granted and he was accepted on both the horn and the composition courses.
Upon graduation Gallay quickly established himself in the Parisian musical scene. He initially joined the orchestra of the Odeon, but this position was soon superseded by his appointment as cor solo of the Theatre-Italien, a position that would bring him into contact with a number of important musicians, notably Gioacchino Rossini. Whilst this was not the only position Gallay was to hold – he was a member of the Societe des concerts du Conservatoire, the Chapelle Royale, the Musique du Roi, the Cercle Musical (also known as the Societe Musicale) and professor at the Paris Conservatoire – this was a role that greatly influenced his compositions, which are highly dramatic works, redolent of Italian Grand Opera. In recognition of the high regard in which he was held, Gallay was created a Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur. In accounts of Parisian musical life we often see Gallay identified as one of the leading performers of the time:
"M. Gallay, M. Tulou, M. Labarre, here are three names who provide the idea of perfection for their three instruments. Each of these artists would seem to be born for his instrument: I cannot conceive of the harp without M. Labarre, the horn without M. Gallay, or the flute without M. Tulou." - Anonymous, Revue Musicale, 21st of January 1832
Solo instrumentalists were by default composers as well and charged with creating much of their own repertoire. This was especially the case with wind and brass instrumentalists, who saw rapid development of their instruments during the century. This made them best placed to understand both the risks and the potential of emerging designs and techniques. Gallay was a prolific composer, writing over sixty works and contributing to every genre of horn repertoire, from solo caprices and preludes through to large works for horn and orchestra. Many of his works, including his Fantaisie brillante sur l’opera Les martyrs de Donizetti, Op.49 show the strong influence of his role as principal horn of the Theatre-Italien. Many of his works, including this one, show the strong influence of his role as principal horn of the Theatre-Italien.
Having set themes from L’elisire d’amore in his Fantasia Op.46, Gallay returns to famous Act II aria ‘Une larme furtive’ (‘Una furtiva lagrima’) in the first of the Deux morceaux de concert (1839). The vocal line is a direct transcription of the vocal line (Nemorino) whilst the horn line is a mixture of the solo bassoon, clarinet and horn lines from the original orchestration. In the duet ‘Fuis Laisse Moi' (‘Da che Tornasti') taken from Act I, scene 9 of Robert Devereux the vocal line takes the role of Sara whilst the horn takes the role of Roberto.
‘L’appel du chasseur’ (‘Alla caccia!’) is a setting of an unusual duet for two tenors from Mercadante’s Soirées italiennes or, in its original Italian form, Serate italiane (c.1836). The duet, with words by Count Pepoli, was designed to wow Parisian salons and dedicated to the two tenors Giovanni Battista Rubini (1794–1864) and Nicola Ivanoff (1810–1880). In 1836 Rossini had invited Mercadante to write his first work, I Briganti, for the Théâtre Italien. I Briganti featured both Rubini in the role of Ermano and Gallay in the horn obligato for the aria “Ove a me rivolgui un guardo”. The opera “starts with a horn solo, performed with the surety, melodic grace and good style that characterises the talent of Mr. Gallay” (Revue et gazette musicale de Paris, Volume 3, 1836, p. 99). Whilst the horn takes some of the vocal lines, Gallay reduces most of Mercadante’s original vocal lines to one part giving the horn idiomatic hunting calls that comment on the action.
An author in his own right, Louis-Ernest Crevel, (1806–1882, also known under the nom de plume of Crevel de Charlemagne) was also a noted translator of both Italian and German libretti. His translations of these particular works are quite “loose” and therefore translations of the French rather than the more well known Italian texts have been provided here. Roberto’s unspoken words voiced by the horn part in ‘Fuis laisse moi’ are reproduced from Etienne Monnier’s 1841 translation of Robert Devereux for the Théâtre des Arts de Rouen.

• Donizetti arr. Gallay - Fuis Laisse Moi (Da Che Tornasti) de Robert Devereux
• Mercadante arr. Gallay - L'Appel du Chasseur (Alla Caccia) de Soirees Italiennes

Delivery Details

We endeavour to dispatch all orders which are in stock on the day the order has been placed. If you need delivery by a certain time please state this clearly on your order and we will do our best to oblige.

For Royal Mail Special Delivery, Airmail (Signed For) and Courier shipments, a signature may be required upon delivery to your address. You are responsible for your order once the package arrives at the supplied delivery address. We cannot be held responsible if the package(s) goes missing once delivered. If any goods are received faulty or damaged on receipt, you must notify us within 7 days of receiving them (via email or telephone) quoting your order reference. We cannot be held responsible for goods that do not arrive with the customer due to errors made by the customer when entering their address details. Please ensure that you check all your details before confirming your order. For more information on deliveries, please click here.