- First Print -
As it has meanwhile turned out, the oeuvre for Horn by Hoffmeister is more extensive than previously assumed. So far there have been 3 concerts for horn, 3 concerts for 2 horns and one concert for 3 horns, which unfortunately only has the middle movement.
The present Concerto No. 3 in E major can be found in the estate of the Munich horn player Josef Suttner, who died in 1874. The title on the cover of the 1. Solohorns reads:
Concerto / for 2 French horns with accompaniment of 2 violins / viola, basso, 2 flauti and 2 corni / by / F. A. Hoffmeister, 1783 / Corno Primo Principale / J. J.
The copy has been reworked from E to E flat major. For this first edition, the E major version was restored. The soloistic claim is extraordinary. A range is used that even today very few soloists can even use. In addition, with almost 30 minutes playing time, this concert is unusually long. In the present first edition, this concert was created as No. 3. This is not an indication of a chronology, but merely the distinction between the three concerto for 2 horns, which, moreover, were all composed in the same key.
