Francois Hunten, (1793-1878)

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