Merri Franquin

Merri Jean Baptiste Franquin (19 October 1848 in Lançon-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône – 1934 in Paris) was a French trumpeter, cornetist, and flugelhornist who was professor of trumpet at the Conservatoire de Paris from 1894 until 1925. Franquin was a teacher of Eugène Foveau (1886–1957) who became professor of cornet at the Paris Conservatory in 1925. Georges Mager (1885–1950), who was principal trumpet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1919 until 1950, studied in the cornet class under Joseph Mellet, but seems to have been influenced as well by the teachings of Franquin; Mager may have studied with him informally and certainly worked with several of his successful students. Franquin's collaboration with Romanian composer Georges Enescu (1881–1955) led to the composition in 1906 of Légende, one of the great twentieth-century works for solo trumpet and piano. Franquin's book, Methode Complète de la Trompette Moderne de Cornet a Pistons et de Bugle, has been an influential teaching aid for many trumpet players, notably Maurice André. Franquin's most notable accomplishment while at the Paris Conservatory was his push for the C Trumpet to replace the low F trumpet as a more versatile orchestral instrument. A more modern form of this instrument was introduced to American symphony orchestras by Georges Mager, and it remains very much in popular use in the United States.