Douglas Lundeen & Barbara González-Palmer - Le cor français authentique (2018) [Hi-Res]

“Le cor français authentique” brings a style of purely French musicianship with an all-French repertoire on a French horn in the hands of a master musician, Douglas Lundeen, who has researched the horn in its various incarnations throughout the ages. Here he plays on a design of the French horn that would have been a standard for the 19th century and beyond. The singular sound of this instrument, as heard on this album, harkens back to some of the best virtuosic players of the golden age of the design. The repertoire of Planel, Tomasi, Bozza, Gounod, Dukas, Saint-Saens and others are presented as these composers intended and “heard” their works to be played on this French valved instrument. The technical competence required for each track is unique, as some of them were regarded as a test of the highest level of performance. The Saint-Saens and Gounod tracks are included as examples of the pure vocal treatment of the horn by two of France’s greatest composers. The Dukas track was the first conservatory test-piece for horn to specifically exploit the newly “legitimized” valve instrument. Tomasi describes what he composed in this way: “I write for the public at large. Music that doesn’t come from the heart isn’t music.” Listening to this album will give you a peek into a world of the French horn which has seldom been heard, and certainly not in one collection such as this, played by one of the instrument’s best and most studied masters.