Merri Franquin
Encyclopedia
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
trumpeter, cornetist, and flugelhorn
Flugelhorn
The flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
ist who was professor of trumpet at the Paris Conservatory from 1894 until 1925. Franquin was a teacher of both Georges Mager
Georges Mager
Georges C. Mager was a French musician, and principal trumpet with the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1919 until his death in 1950. He was a renowned trumpeter in Paris before the First World War, playing at the Paris Opera, Concerts Lamoureux, and the Concerts of the Society of the Conservatory...
(1885–1950) who was principal trumpet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
from 1919 until 1950, and Eugene Foveau (1886–1957) who became professor of cornet at the Paris Conservatory in 1925. His collaboration with Romanian composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Georges Enescu (1881–1955) led to the composition in 1906 of Legende
Legende
Legende is a solo work for trumpet and piano, composed by George Enescu and premiered by Merri Franquin, professor of cornet at the Paris Conservatoire. It reflects the impressionistic style of Enesco's teachers Jules Massenet and Gabriel Fauré. The title is an homage to Professor Franquin...
, one of the great twentieth-century works for solo trumpet and piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. Franquin's book, Methode Complète de la Trompette Moderne de Cornet a Pistons et de Bugle, has been an influential teaching aid for many trumpet players, notably Maurice André
Maurice André
Maurice André is a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field.-Biography:He is a classical virtuoso trumpeter, born in Alès, France in the Cévennes into a mining family. His father was an amateur musician....
. Franquin's most notable accomplishment while at the Paris Conservatory was his push for the C Trumpet to replace the low F trumpet as a more versatile orchestral instrument. A more modern form of this instrument was introduced to American symphony orchestras by Georges Mager
Georges Mager
Georges C. Mager was a French musician, and principal trumpet with the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1919 until his death in 1950. He was a renowned trumpeter in Paris before the First World War, playing at the Paris Opera, Concerts Lamoureux, and the Concerts of the Society of the Conservatory...
, and it remains very much in popular use in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Merri Franquin was born 1848 in the small Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...
town of Lançon
Lançon
Lançon may refer to the following places in France:*Lançon, Ardennes, a commune in the Ardennes department*Lançon, Hautes-Pyrénées, a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department*Lançon-Provence, a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department...
in southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He was self-taught on cornet for four years before moving to Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
. There he played cornet in the Marseille Casino Musical and later as soloist at the Palais Lyrique and the Théâtre Chave. In 1870 he became solo flugelhornist with the band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
of the Marseille Garde National, and in 1872 he was admitted to the Paris Conservatory where he joined the cornet class of the famous cornetist Jean-Baptiste Arban
Jean-Baptiste Arban
Joseph Jean-Baptiste Laurent Arban was a cornetist, conductor, composer, pedagogue and the first famed virtuoso of the cornet à piston or valved cornet...
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Franquin's playing career began when he was 28 years old. He was first soloist at the Concerts Populaires Pasdeloup from 1876 until 1892, solo trumpet at the Concerts Colonne
Concerts Colonne
The Colonne Orchestra is a French symphony orchestra, founded in 1873 by the violinist and conductor Édouard Colonne.-History:While leader of the Opéra de Paris orchestra, Édouard Colonne was engaged by the publisher Georges Hartmann to lead a series of popular concerts which he founded under the...
from 1884 until 1892, first solo trumpet at the Théâtre National de I'Opera from 1880 until 1901, and solo trumpet of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
The Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire was a symphony orchestra established in Paris in 1828. It gave its first concert on 9 March 1828 with music by Beethoven, Rossini, Meifreid, Rode and Cherubini....
from 1892 until 1901.