Johann Melchior Molter is a composer well-known among enthusiasts of music for winds, but generally his output is performed on modern instruments. Extensive research in...

Johann Melchior Molter is a composer well-known among enthusiasts of music for winds, but generally his output is performed on modern instruments. Extensive research in the field of historically informed performance practice theoretically allows for the faithful reconstruction of the original sound of this music, but there exist only very few trumpetists today who are able to play on the required natural, valveless instruments. Jean-Francois Madeuf is one of these, extracting a warm, noble sound that makes these concertos a very pleasurable listening experience. Active for many years in numerous Baroque ensembles in France, Europe or on other continents, both in concerts and recordings, Jean-Francois Madeuf is at the moment still one of the rare musicians who plays natural trumpet and horn in the most historically informed way, without the aid of vent holes invented for compromise instruments. In 2009 Madeuf received the Christopher Monk Award by the Histoic Brass Society “for his significant contribution as a performer and teacher and his dedication to historically informed performance practice” and is now conducting research leading to a doctorate at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel and Vrije Universiteit Brussel on the subject of natural trumpet playing.