The Belloli family of horn players has today fallen into near-total obscurity. It included Luigi Belloli, born on 2 February 1770 in Castel-Franco near Bologna (other sources give 2 February 1769), who died in October 1817 in Milan; his brother Agostino Belloli (1778–1839); Giuseppe Belloli (1775–?); and Luigi Belloli's two sons, Giovanni (1794 – after 1846) and Giacomo (b. 1795). All are documented as horn players in various Italian orchestras.
Compositions by Luigi, Agostino, and Giuseppe Belloli have survived to the present day.
Luigi Belloli first worked as a horn player in Parma before joining Milan's La Scala as principal horn in 1803. Alongside his orchestral duties, he also taught at the Conservatory there until his death in October 1817. His brother Agostino succeeded him in these positions.
Luigi Belloli's virtuosity must have been extraordinary, especially considering that he played his surviving concertos on the valveless natural horn. His compositions include horn quartets (and other chamber music), several horn concertos, two concertos for two horns, and one for three horns.
Numerous sources were consulted for this edition. The principal sources were a set of parts for 39 quartets and a full-score copy of 42 quartets, both made around 1830. The latter was copied by Carlo Alinovi, who studied horn with Belloli's brother Agostino in Milan from 1 February 1826 to 4 October 1829.
Belloli's quartets are remarkably chromatic in their treatment of the instruments — all the more notable given that he could not yet have known valved instruments.
Because of its size, the edition was divided into two volumes.
