%0 Journal Article %T The French Art of the Natural Horn Playing and the Adaptation of Valve Mechanisms in the 19th Century %A Rozwadowska, Alicja %J Kwartalnik Młodych Muzykologów UJ %V English Issues %R 10.4467/23537094KMMUJ.20.028.13901 %N Issue 45 (2/2020) %P 5-22 %K natural horn, valve horn, French horn, cor d’orchestre, cor solo, adaptation of valve horns %@ 2956-4107 %D 2020 %U https://ejournals.eu/czasopismo/kmmuj/artykul/the-french-art-of-the-natural-horn-playing-and-the-adaptation-of-valve-mechanisms-in-the-19th-century %X The article is an attempt at identifying issues related to the problem of the adaptation of valve mechanisms in Parisian orchestras and Conservatoire. Opinions and postulates of supporters and opponents are being presented, as well as the concepts of combining the valve instrument with the use of the natural horn playing technique. In this context, the perspective of natural horn players, who contributed to the significant delay in the adaptation of valve horns in Paris, are being discussed. Further parts of the text explain the construction of natural horns commonly used in the discussed period in France (cor solo and cor d’orchestre), as well as various issues related to the specific playing technique. The differences between cor alto and cor basse are being examined as well as the concept of cor mixte proposed by Frédéric Duvernoy.