Antonio Tosoroni

Antonio Tosoroni was a premiere horn player in the court in Florence, Italy of S.A.I. e R. Ludwig II of Tuscany from ca. 1822 to1846. On April 16, 1831 he introduced the Florence audience to the valved horn in a performance at the Vocal and Instrumental Academy in the Goldoni Theater Hall in Florence on April 16, 1831. He was accompanied by Maestro Maximilian Joseph Leidesdorf² on the piano:

A few of the performances with Sig. Tosoroni as principal horn given at I.R. Teatro degl'Immobili in via della Pergola:
Autumn 1828, Giulietta e Romeo, Nicolo Vaccaj and Felice Romanida, (corni: Antonio Tosoroni, Francesco Berni)

Lent, 1829, Mose e Faraone O il Passaggio Dell'eritreo, Oratorio Sacro, Gioacchino Rossini

Carnevale, 1839 (premiere), Salvini e Adelson, melodramma semiserio, Luigi Savi and Jacopo Ferretti, (corni: Antonio Tosoroni, Leopoldo Braschi)

Apiil 1, 1842 (primiere), Vannina d'Ornano, Fabio Campana and Francesco Guidi, (corni: Antonio Tosoroni, Leopoldo Braschi)

Sig. Tosoroni retired from the service to the court of Leopold II on February 15, 1846. His successor in that position was Francesco Paoli and both were accademici professori at the Imperiale e Reale, Accademia delle belle arti di Firenze.

Sig. Tosoroni is also credited, with Josef Riedl of Vienna, with the peculiar design of the valved horn shown below, which became very popular in bands in northern Italy into the twentieth century. Right-handed horns of this pattern with the valves next to the bell were produced by several makers including Ferdinando Roth and Daniel Meinl. In his presentation to the Historic Brass Society (July, 2008) titled “The Writings of Antonio Tosoroni”, Dr. Eric Brummitt made the following statements regarding Tosoroni and his horn design:

"Tosoroni’s Method for the Horn with Three Valves was the first such method published in Italy. His Practical Treatise of Instrumentation is contemporary to similar books by Berlioz and Mayr. It contains a wealth of information about 19th century instruments, including both the natural horn and the valved horn.

"Eyewitness testimony confirming the high caliber of Tosoroni’s horn playing comes from the Danish diplomat and amateur horn player Rudolph Bay. Bay heard Tosoroni play on two separate occasions. After hearing Tosoroni play the natural horn in 1822, Bay wrote this: “Never have I heard such virtuosity as his. His masterly treatment of this instrument was like a flute.” Bay heard Tosoroni play another time, in 1842, but after that experience his reaction was not as kind: “It was no longer those soft melting sounds from the past in Livorno. His horn, by God, had become a valve horn, and his mouthpiece, formerly the size of a thimble, through which he squeezed the highest notes like a nightingale, had now turned into a clumsy kettle, growling bass notes like a bear.” Despite his criticism, Bay must have been impressed at least a little bit. He made a point of recording that Tosoroni played a transcription of a violin concerto!

"You might find it interesting that the valves are located on the “wrong” side of this instrument. In order to operate the valves, the performer has to remove the hand from the bell altogether, thereby eliminating the ability to use any natural horn hand-stopping techniques.

"Tosoroni says that the left hand/arm must support the instrument so that the right hand can be free to operate the keys. He also says that this may at first seem strange or awkward, but that with time it will become more comfortable.

"He may mean simply that having the hand out of the bell may seem awkward, but he may also mean that holding the mouth-pipe with the left hand could seem awkward. If that is what he means, his comment may seem strange to those of us today who hold our instruments with the left hand on the mouth-pipe and the right in the bell. Evidently the Belloli family and their students may have played their natural horns with their left hands in the bell and their right hands on the mouth-pipe. Since Tosoroni was a student of Giuseppe Belloli, he may have normally played his horn this way. If that was the case, it would certainly have seemed strange to him to hold a horn with his left hand near his face and have the bell pointing to his right.

"Regarding the horn itself, Tosoroni writes: “The more recent and better horns are those that conform to the attached design of me and Mr. Joseph Riedl of Vienna. They are well equipped to execute the four principal keys of the horn, i.e.: G, F, E and E-flat.”

"It appears from the engraving that this horn has an internal crook similar to those used in cor solo instruments. It is possible that Tosoroni had a hand in designing this horn with or for the Riedl firm, but of course, another possibility is that he had firms in or near Florence making instruments of his own design. His statement is unclear on this particular point, but hopefully further investigation will shed more light on the subject."

Special thanks to Eric Brummitt for sharing his presentation on the "Writings of Antonio Torosoni."

1. The dates 1787-1855 for Tosoroni's life are cited by both John Humphries and Gabriele Rocchetti, however these dates need additional confirmation.
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2. Maximilian Joseph Leidesdorf was born on July 5th, 1787 in Vienna, a son of wholesaler Joseph Leidesdorf. He studied with Albrechtsberger, Salieri and E.A Förster. In addition, he studied the piano and guitar and 1803 published his op. 1 in Vienna where he lived as respected pianist, piano and guitar teacher. With Ignaz Sauer he founded a music publishing house in1822 and became the sole owner from May 9th, 1827 until about 1835 when it was transferred to Diabelli. In 1827 Leidesdorf went to Florence where he was appointed court and chamber virtuoso by the grand duke of Tuscany. He was also a professor at the conservatory and remained in Florence until his death on September 27, 1840. Leidesdorf,with Camillo Bellonci, composed a Sonata in E-flat for Horn and Piano, op. 164.
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Antonio Tosoroni was a premiere horn player in the court in Florence, Italy of S.A.I. e R. Ludwig II of Tuscany from ca. 1822 to1846. On April 16, 1831 he introduced the Florence audience to the valved horn in a performance at the Vocal and Instrumental Academy in the Goldoni Theater Hall in Florence on April 16, 1831. He was accompanied by Maestro Maximilian Joseph Leidesdorf² on the piano: A few of the performances with Sig. Tosoroni as principal horn given at I.R. Teatro degl'Immobili in via della Pergola: Autumn 1828, Giulietta e Romeo, Nicolo Vaccaj and Felice Romanida, (corni: Antonio Tosoroni, Francesco Berni) Lent, 1829, Mose e Faraone O il Passaggio Dell'eritreo, Oratorio Sacro, Gioacchino Rossini Carnevale, 1839 (premiere), Salvini e Adelson, melodramma semiserio, Luigi Savi and Jacopo Ferretti, (corni: Antonio Tosoroni, Leopoldo Braschi) Apiil 1, 1842 (primiere), Vannina d'Ornano, Fabio Campana and Francesco Guidi, (corni: Antonio Tosoroni, Leopoldo Braschi) Sig. Tosoroni retired from the service to the court of Leopold II on February 15, 1846. His successor in that position was Francesco Paoli and both were accademici professori at the Imperiale e Reale, Accademia delle belle arti di Firenze. Sig. Tosoroni is also credited, with Josef Riedl of Vienna, with the peculiar design of the valved horn shown below, which became very popular in bands in northern Italy into the twentieth century. Right-handed horns of this pattern with the valves next to the bell were produced by several makers including Ferdinando Roth and Daniel Meinl. In his presentation to the Historic Brass Society (July, 2008) titled “The Writings of Antonio Tosoroni”, Dr. Eric Brummitt made the following statements regarding Tosoroni and his horn design:
"Antonio Tosoroni was a horn player in Florence during the first half of the 19th century. He published two books that provide valuable information regarding the development of valved horn playing: they are his Metodo per il corno a tre pistoni and Trattato pratico di strumentazione. "Tosoroni’s Method for the Horn with Three Valves was the first such method published in Italy. His Practical Treatise of Instrumentation is contemporary to similar books by Berlioz and Mayr. It contains a wealth of information about 19th century instruments, including both the natural horn and the valved horn. "Eyewitness testimony confirming the high caliber of Tosoroni’s horn playing comes from the Danish diplomat and amateur horn player Rudolph Bay. Bay heard Tosoroni play on two separate occasions. After hearing Tosoroni play the natural horn in 1822, Bay wrote this: “Never have I heard such virtuosity as his. His masterly treatment of this instrument was like a flute.” Bay heard Tosoroni play another time, in 1842, but after that experience his reaction was not as kind: “It was no longer those soft melting sounds from the past in Livorno. His horn, by God, had become a valve horn, and his mouthpiece, formerly the size of a thimble, through which he squeezed the highest notes like a nightingale, had now turned into a clumsy kettle, growling bass notes like a bear.” Despite his criticism, Bay must have been impressed at least a little bit. He made a point of recording that Tosoroni played a transcription of a violin concerto! "You might find it interesting that the valves are located on the “wrong” side of this instrument. In order to operate the valves, the performer has to remove the hand from the bell altogether, thereby eliminating the ability to use any natural horn hand-stopping techniques. "Tosoroni says that the left hand/arm must support the instrument so that the right hand can be free to operate the keys. He also says that this may at first seem strange or awkward, but that with time it will become more comfortable.	Horn designed by Tosoroni as shown in his Methodo of 1846 "He may mean simply that having the hand out of the bell may seem awkward, but he may also mean that holding the mouth-pipe with the left hand could seem awkward. If that is what he means, his comment may seem strange to those of us today who hold our instruments with the left hand on the mouth-pipe and the right in the bell. Evidently the Belloli family and their students may have played their natural horns with their left hands in the bell and their right hands on the mouth-pipe. Since Tosoroni was a student of Giuseppe Belloli, he may have normally played his horn this way. If that was the case, it would certainly have seemed strange to him to hold a horn with his left hand near his face and have the bell pointing to his right. "Regarding the horn itself, Tosoroni writes: “The more recent and better horns are those that conform to the attached design of me and Mr. Joseph Riedl of Vienna. They are well equipped to execute the four principal keys of the horn, i.e.: G, F, E and E-flat.” "It appears from the engraving that this horn has an internal crook similar to those used in cor solo instruments. It is possible that Tosoroni had a hand in designing this horn with or for the Riedl firm, but of course, another possibility is that he had firms in or near Florence making instruments of his own design. His statement is unclear on this particular point, but hopefully further investigation will shed more light on the subject."