In the previous chapters, I presented how the contemporary musicians and horn players felt about the valves, when and where did it had its first orchestral engagement, how it immigrated (back)to Germany, and the most important people who made the Ventilhorn famous among the progressive composers. However, the important places in the history of the horn are more or less similar to the most important cities of the music history, Paris, Wien, etc; but the most important, when we are talking about the valve horn and how it settled in the romantic/modern orchestra, is Dresden. Already in earlier times we can find a lot of familiar, and important names on the list where all the musicians of the Dresdner Staatskapelle are listed,1 such as Johann Georg Knechtl, Anton Joseph Hampel, Joseph Rudolf Lewy, Heinrich Carl August Hübler, Julius Ernst Schlitterlau, Oscar Franz, and Peter Damm. These names are really the biggest names in the history of the horn. After my background research, I would say too, that Dresden was the place where the romantic horn and horn playing was born. The style of playing and the use of the instrument, where the composers and hornists tried to make the perfect mixture of the natural and the valve horn. Their aim was to keep and use the unique character of the horn, which developed in the classical era, but use the potential of the valves.
In the periode, between 1844 and 1849 we have all the essential elements that are necessary to make a new instrument successful. From 1837, Joseph Rudolf Lewy, the greatest early valve horn player, was the principal hornist of the orchestra. One of the most influential composers, who wanted to reform the music, the opera, the orchestral sound, Richard Wagner from 1842; and from 1844, Robert Schumann, who possibly understood the best both versions of the horn, and could take all the advantages and strength from both to create the already mentioned romantic horn sound.
Unfortunately, I have not found any clear statement by Schumann, whether in one of his letters, or in any other document, what was the actual reason to start to use the valve horn, nor why he uses both instruments, I would say that he got to the end of a phase, while he was getting know better Wagner, the new instrument, Lewy, and the musical medium in Dresden.
We know from his letters and articles that he did not really like Wagner’s style of writing at the beginning. Not so much, that in one of his letter to Mendelssohn said the following:
“There is Wagner, who has just finished another opera [Tannhäuser]. He is certainly a clever fellow, full of crazy ideas and audacious to a degree. Society still raves over Rienzi. Yet he cannot write or think out four consecutive bars of beautiful, even good music. All these young musicians are weak in harmony, in the art of four-part writing. How can an enduring work be produced in that way? … The music is no better than Rienzi, but duller and more unnatural if anything. If one says anything of the sort it is always put down to envy, and that is why I only say it to you, knowing you have long been of the same opinion….” 2 3
But he changed his mind slowly, as we can see from another letter which was written a couple of weeks later:
“I may have a chance to talk to you about Tannhäuser soon. I must take back one or two things I said after reading the score.It has quite a different effect on the stage. Much of it impressed me deeply.” 4 5
But, it was not enough to accept Wagner’s style and technique; it was also important that a world class horn player, and horn section was present in Dresden also at that time. I would like to refer to Schumann's letters again. On 9th November 1945, he wrote to Mendelssohn, that their orchestra is a competent one, the winds are excellent…6 But, he also had to have a good relationship, at least collegially, with J.R. Lewy., because in 1849, Lewy composed his only preserved exercise collection, for horn and piano, and Schumann recommended the work to his friend, Hermann Härtel. Beside supporting to publish the 12 Etudes pour Cor chromatique et Cor simple, Schumann also wrote his two major works for the horn in this year, and Lewy and the members of the horn section in Dresden played on the first try outs.
For me, it makes sense to state that 1848 Dresden was the time and place when the valve horn finally made the breakthrough and became one of the most important instruments of romanticism and the orchestra. The whole musical community, and its leading people in the city led Schumann to try out and use this new tool.