Francois Hunten, (1793-1878)

Volume 8 of the PIANO MUSIC of the PARI S IAN VIRTUOSOS 1810-1860 series. Francois [Franz] Hunten (1793-1878) owed his position as a Parisian virtuoso to his friend Henri Herz. Two interesting curiosities stand out in Hunten's oeuvre. The thematic subject matter of the Virelay et rondeau martial sur l'opera de G. Onslow Guise u Les Etats de Blois casts intriguing light on the historicizing tendencies of 1830s French romanticism (the "e;virelay"e; in question was written by Onslow, not Hunten). And the Fantaisie arabe sur l'air Kradoudja testifies to the Parisians' burgeoning fascination with musical orientalism, a fascination that received its decisive impulse from the premiere of Felicien David's Le desert in 1844.