Giovanni Punto (1746-1803) : cor basse célèbre

Abstract

The thesis focuses on the sound and performance techniques of the horn player Giovanni Punto and argues which elements of his playing might contribute to a more diverse performance practice of solo horn parts and chamber music for horn from the classical period. A different sound ideal, with a distinction in timbre between cor alto (high horn) and cor basse (low horn), more diversity in articulation and the addition of more or less spontaneous ornamentation, are the most striking differences between what is documented in sources from the performance practice around 1800 and the current standard. The notion that Punto, the celebrated horn virtuoso of the eighteenth century, was a specialist on the cor basse, the low horn, resonates throughout this thesis. The thesis argues that Beethoven, who shared the stage with Punto and wrote his Sonata for piano and horn, op.17 for him, was aware of the distinction between the different horn types and opted for the mellower, velvety sound of the cor basse for horn solos in some of his orchestral works.