Concerto in D major for Horn, 2 Oboes, 2 Violins, Viola and Basso
A concerto by an anonymous composer is always a delicate matter for publishers and dealers: Where does the piece belong? How can a dealer tell it apart from the many other anonymous works? The anonymous author is an unloved child. But a good composition remains a good composition.
Provenance
Unfortunately, this concerto has come down to us only anonymously. It comes from the holdings of the Counts of Clam-Gallas and was last kept at Frýdlant Castle (German: Friedland) in northern Bohemia. It may originally have been part of the count's court music in Prague. In 1947 the collection was transferred to the National Library in Prague. Today it is held under the shelfmark XLII-C-382 in the National Museum in Prague, Czech Museum of Music.
There is no title page; the individual parts bear only the names of their instruments. The scoring is solo horn, two oboes, two violins, viola and basso. The horn part includes the opening tutti passages, and because of the markings in it, one cannot rule out that two tutti horns were originally intended.
About the work
The solo horn is taken up to a written g³. This is a very high register, though not unusual for the period. The melodic writing shows that the concerto was composed for a highly skilled horn player. It dates from the second half of the 18th century, around 1760.
In 2002, floods in Prague also inundated parts of the National Library. This concerto suffered severe damage (see picture 2) and was at first classified as unreadable. With a great deal of luck, patience and technical effort, it could be saved.
