Fahrenheit 635 by Guillaume Cottet-Dumoulin

Guillaume Cottet-Dumoulin, Principal Trombone of the Orchestre de Paris and trombone professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, released a new recording in December 2025. The album is devoted to French music for trombone and piano from the first half of the 20th century, composed for the Paris Conservatoire concours.

This project was born from an enthusiastic collaboration with pianist Aeyoung Byun and the label Les Yeux dans le Ciel. Guillaume Cottet-Dumoulin felt it was essential to bring this repertoire back to life, as it represents the very roots of the French trombone school, a tradition he deeply values.

At the time, these works were intended to be performed on small-bore trombones (often referred to as “.635”), yet for this recording he chose to play on a Courtois Florida large-bore trombone. Despite using a modern instrument, he succeeds in revealing the characteristic colours and stylistic nuances of the music from this period.

All the composers featured on the album, Bigot, Busser, Duclos, among others, were students of great masters such as Dukas, Massenet and Saint-Saëns. Although they remain relatively unknown today, they wrote music of remarkable beauty and craftsmanship.

The album is entitled Fahrenheit 635 for several reasons. Firstly, it refers to Fahrenheit, the iconic fragrance by Dior, symbolising the evocative “scent” or flavour of the trombone sound and musical language of this era. Secondly, it alludes to Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451, in which books are burned to erase memories of the past. Here, the intention is the opposite: Guillaume Cottet-Dumoulin invites us not to forget these works, originally written for the small-bore “.635” trombone.

The album is freely accessible on all major streaming platforms