Alec Frank-Gemmill 19th-century Horn Insight film 4 Piston Horn

Concluding his 19th-century horn odyssey, Alec Frank-Gemmill, BBT Fellowship winner 2014, turns from Viennese ’pumpenvalve’ to the British and French Cor à pistons – in the shape of an early 20th-century instrument made by Victor Charles Mahillon, Brussels. Illustrated by excerpts from Dukas’ Villanelle, as featured on his BIS debut disc 'The Horn is a Noble and Melancholy Instrument' (BIS SACD 2228), Alec describes the horn’s versatility in marrying virtuosity when using the pistons and the ability (without pistons) to hark back to the natural horn.