Merri Jean Baptiste Franquin (b. 19 October 1848, Lançon, Bouches-du-Rhône, France, d. 1934) was a French

trumpeter The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

cornetist The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopra ...

, and

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

ist who was professor of trumpet at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

from 1894 until 1925. Franquin was a teacher of Eugène Foveau (1886–1957) who became professor of cornet at the Paris Conservatory in 1925.

Georges Mager Georges C. Mager (1885–1950) 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 ...

(1885–1950), who was principal trumpet of the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1 ...

from 1919 until 1950, studied in the cornet class under Joseph Mellet, but seems to have been influenced as well by the teachings of Franquin; Mager may have studied with him informally and certainly worked with several of his successful students.''Shamu, Geoffrey. 2009. "Merri Franquin and His Contribution to the Art of Trumpet Playing". DMA dissertation. Boston: Boston University. , p. 75'' Franquin's collaboration with

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

composer Georges Enescu (1881–1955) led to the composition in 1906 of '' Légende'', one of the great twentieth-century works for solo trumpet and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

. 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 (21 May 1933 – 25 February 2012) was a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field. He was professor of trumpet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris where he introduced the teaching of the pic ...

. 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

, and it remains very much in popular use in the United States. Merri Franquin was born 1848 in the small

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and l ...

town of Lançon in southern France. He was self-taught on cornet for four years before moving to

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fran ...

. There he played cornet in the

Marseille Casino Musical Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fran ...

and later as soloist at the

Palais Lyrique Palais () may refer to: * Dance hall, popularly a ''palais de danse'', in the 1950s and 1960s in the UK * ''Palais'', French for palace **Grand Palais The Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées ( en, Great Palace of the Elysian Fields), commonly ...

and the Théâtre Chave. In 1870 he became solo flugelhornist with the

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

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 Joseph Jean-Baptiste Laurent Arban (28 February 1825 – 8 April 1889) was a cornetist, conductor, composer, pedagogue and the first famed virtuoso of the '' cornet à piston'' or valved cornet. He was influenced by Niccolò Paganini's virtuosi ...

. Franquin's playing career began when he was 28 years old. He was first soloist at the Concerts Pasdeloup from 1876 until 1892, solo trumpet at the

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 ...

from 1884 until 1892, first solo trumpet at the Théâtre National de l'Opéra from 1880 until 1901, and solo trumpet of the

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. Administered by the philha ...

from 1892 until 1901.

References

External links

Article on O.J.'s Trumpet PageMerri Franquin and His Contribution to the Art of Trumpet Playing
French classical trumpeters Male trumpeters 1848 births 1934 deaths People from Bouches-du-Rhône {{trumpeter-stub