Francois Hunten, (1793-1878)

Volume 8 of the PIANO MUSIC of the PARI S IAN VIRTUOSOS 1810-1860 series. Franois [Franz] Hnten (1793-1878) owed his position as a Parisian virtuoso to his friend Henri Herz. Two interesting curiosities stand out in Hnten's oeuvre. The thematic subject matter of the Virelay et rondeau martial sur l'opra de G. Onslow Guise u Les tats de Blois casts intriguing light on the historicizing tendencies of 1830s French romanticism (the "virelay" in question was written by Onslow, not Hnten). 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 Flicien David's Le dsert in 1844.