Basset Horn Recording Project
The Vauxhall Band’s debut recording, for the Deux-Elles label, was developed and curated using Artistic Director Laura Piras’s research into three remarkable Bohemian basset horn players: Franz Dworschak, Anton David and Vincent Springer.
The original trio arrived in London in 1791 and performed over 40 times at Vauxhall Gardens as concerto soloists. They also performed at the famous Haydn-Salomon Concerts. Before arriving in London the trio toured Europe for 10 years and met Mozart in Vienna, who wrote music for them. Surprisingly, the trio are little known today, but were pioneers of the newly invented basset horn and highly esteemed performers.
Our recording is a celebration of the basset horn. Bringing together concertos, orchestral music, chamber music and vocal works, the programme reflects not only the instrument’s versatility, but also the varied working lives of the travelling professional musicians who played it.
The recording sessions took place in 2026, preceded by a concert in 2025. The album is due for release by Deux-Elles in 2027.
Artists
The Vauxhall Band Basset Horn Trio, Katherine Spencer, Sarah Thurlow and Fiona Mitchell, are at the heart of the recording.
They were joined by sopranos Grace Davidson and Julia Doyle and bass-baritone Edward Grint in chamber music for voices, basset horns and clarinets by Mozart, with horn players Richard Bayliss and Martin Lawrence joining for a nocturne by Giovanni Paisiello.
Bassoonist Chris Rawley features in Franz Anton Hoffmeister’s little-known Divertimento. The trio also recorded music for basset horn trio by Mozart.
Matthew Truscott directed The Vauxhall Band from the violin in Mozart’s Maurerische Trauermusik and Georg Druschetzky’s Concerto for Three Basset Horns.
The recording is produced by Andrew Storey for Deux-Elles.
Research, Performance and Outreach
The recording project brings together several strands of The Vauxhall Band’s work: historically informed performance, original research, the rediscovery of rarely heard repertoire, and the preservation and promotion of historic instruments.
Music from the project has also formed part of our wider outreach work, including a visit to the Little Sisters of the Poor care home in Vauxhall.
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With Thanks
This project has been made possible through generous project grant support from:
Angel Early Music
Continuo Foundation
The Clarinet and Saxophone Society of Great Britain
The Golsoncott Foundation
The Laurence Modiano Charitable Trust
We are grateful for donations from The Vauxhall Band’s Friends and Supporters, including:
Anza Clarke
Linda and Dave Scragg
Professor Ellen Solomon
and those who have chosen to remain anonymous
Thank you to Vauxhall One for supporting our care-home outreach, to Staybridge Suites Vauxhall for their generous support in kind, and to Deux-Elles for their support of the recording and release.
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Projects such as this are only possible because we are able to bring together support from many different sources. Help us to create future performances, recordings, research and education projects – make a donation or become a Friend of The Vauxhall Band through regular giving.
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For further information about the recording project please contact Laura Piras, Artistic Director – laura@thevauxhallband.com