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  • Original research article
  • August 27, 2026
  • Open access

A creative image of Giovanni Punto, a horn player and composer, in the context of the 18th-century European musical culture

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Abstract

The aim of the study is to reconstruct a comprehensive creative image of Jan Václav Stich (Giovanni Punto, 1746-1803), an outstanding Czech horn player and composer, within the context of his era. Based on fragmented information from foreign sources introduced into Russian musicology for the first time, the authors trace the main stages of the musician’s biography – from his origins as a serf in Count Thun’s estate to his triumphant return home after decades of European tours; this accounts for the scientific novelty of the study. Special attention is paid to Punto’s interaction with leading composers of his time, W. A. Mozart and L. van Beethoven, as well as to the analysis of his legacy, which includes horn concerti, chamber ensembles, and methodological treatises. The research establishes that Giovanni Punto made a significant contribution to improving the technique of playing the natural horn, thereby greatly expanding its expressive capabilities and establishing it as a solo voice in concert practice. His activities had a substantial impact on the development of horn performance, fostering greater interest in the instrument among both composers and audiences. The life and artistic path of this Bohemian virtuoso provide an example of musical art professionalization and growing authority of a performer-composer during the Age of Enlightenment.

Research materials

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Author information

Maria Vladimirovna Kholodova

PhD

Dmitry Hvorostovsky Siberian State Academy of Arts, Krasnoyarsk

Olga Yurievna Kolpetskaya

PhD

Dmitry Hvorostovsky Siberian State Academy of Arts, Krasnoyarsk

Ilya Igorevich Safronov

Krasnoyarsk College of Arts named after P. I. Ivanov-Radkevich

About this article

Publication history

  • Received: August 6, 2026.
  • Published: August 27, 2026.

Keywords

  • Джованни Пунто
  • Ян Вацлав Штих
  • валторновое исполнительство
  • чешские валторнисты
  • музыкальная культура Европы эпохи классицизма
  • Giovanni Punto
  • Jan Václav Stich
  • horn performance
  • Czech horn players
  • 18th-century European classical music culture

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)
© 2026 Gramota Publishing, LLC

User license

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)