Exchange Talk: Haydn Transformed: Recent Discoveries in Mid-19th Century Chamber Music for Brass

Nineteenth century Paris was a hotbed for musical innovations. Dr Coffin’s work sheds light on the development of brass chamber music as a genre, and the modern search to bring these works to light.

The first half of the nineteenth century was a time of immense technological advancements, and Paris was a hotbed for musical innovations, leading to fully chromatic families of brass instruments. No longer limited to a small series of notes, composers began to expand the repertoire for brass, while highly trained players strove to see how far they could push the limits of the instruments. Working together, brass chamber music emerged as a new genre, with significant original compositions and arrangements of major works appearing on the market. But by 1880, much of this music had vanished from sight. The modern search for such chamber works, prompted in part by the rediscovery of 12 multi-movement brass quintets by Jean-François Bellon composed in 1850, has led to significant other discoveries.

This talk focuses on Julien Tollot (c1816-1896) and his Collection des Quatuors d’Haydn, 16 unpublished manuscripts and 3 published editions of Haydn string quartets arranged for brass quintet c1860-1868 that I located in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. It shares the process by which these are now being brought to life, how such works shape our understanding of the past, and why they are still relevant for the future.

Sandy Coffin has recently completed her PhD at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, researching brass chamber music in mid-19th Century Paris. Fascinated by the search and rediscovery of ‘lost’ compositions, she is collaborating with John Wallace and The Wallace Collection Ensemble on the release of recordings and performance editions of several such works. Sandy has been elected Vice-President of the Historic Brass Society; she is also Founder/Artistic Director of the Music for Summer Evenings concert series in upstate New York. Sandy holds degrees in both Latin and Trumpet from the Oberlin College and Conservatory, and Manhattan School of Music.