David Buhl : Six Premiers Fanfare du Premier Consul, for 4 trumpets and percussion by Paul Wehage Brass Quartet - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1642320

David Buhl's Six First Fanfare for the First Consul, composed in 1799, is a ceremonial suite written to honor Napoleon Bonaparte shortly after he assumed power as First Consul of France. A military musician and composer affiliated with the French Republican Guard, Buhl crafted these short fanfares to reflect the grandeur and emerging cult of personality surrounding Napoleon at the dawn of his political ascendancy. Scored for brass and percussion, the Six First Fanfare exemplifies the martial optimism of the era, with bold, declarative motifs and rhythmic precision designed to accompany official processions or military reviews. The work captures a moment when music served not just as entertainment but as a tool of political symbolism and national identity.

Joseph David Buhl was born on February 21, 1781, in Amboise. The son of a musician employed by the Duke of Choiseul, he joined the Parisian Guard’s band as a trumpeter at age eleven and later served with the Grenadiers of the Consular Guard. In 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte tasked him with revamping military trumpet calls. Under the First Empire, Buhl directed the Cavalry Trumpet School in Versailles from 1805 to 1811. In 1814, Louis XVIII appointed him head of music for the royal bodyguards and awarded him the Legion of Honor. He later became principal trumpet at the Paris Opera and the Théâtre Italien. One of his trumpet calls, La Retraite, was notably reused by Berlioz in Eight Scenes from Faust (1828) and The Damnation of Faust (1846). After being severely injured during Charles X’s coronation in 1825, Buhl focused more on teaching. Among his pupils was François Dauverné, who called him “the most remarkable trumpeter of his time.”

In 1828, Buhl co-founded the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, where he played second trumpet beside Dauverné. As a composer, he authored the influential Méthode de trompette (1825), intended for both orchestral and cavalry trumpets. He also wrote suites of fanfares, some dating back to 1799, as well as marches such as the Marche du duc de Bordeaux and the Marche de Monsieur. His Quatre pas redoublés creatively contrasts cavalry fanfare with wind orchestra in the spirit of a concerto grosso. Buhl also produced numerous trumpet calls for mounted troops, helping to establish the modern French repertoire of cavalry signals. He died in Versailles on April 7, 1860.