Eight by Gallay 

These performances are less a product of professional expertise and more reflective of the aspirational art of the avocational musician. In the constellation of virtuoso hornists in early 19th century Paris — Frédéric Duvernoy, Heinrich Domnich, and Louis-François Dauprat, among them — Jacques-François Gallay (1795-1864) shone brightest. A superstar performer and pedagogue nonpareil, he also was a composer of fertile gifts. Largely ignored by modern-day hornists, these brief pieces are nonetheless engaging, and though their charms might be modest, they are undeniably real.

Mr. Gelles plays a Kruspe pre-WWI ‘Horner’ model double horn.

Recorded at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Albany, CA, in January 2020.

Recording engineer-producer was Mark Lemaire.