Quartet in E flat major for Horn, Violin, Viola and Cello
First edition
Friedrich Witt was born on 8 November 1770 in Niederstetten. At about the age of 17 he came to the court of Oettingen-Wallerstein to complete his musical training, likely as a pupil of Antonio Rosetti (1750–1792). The Wallerstein archive holds an appointment decree dated 21 January 1790 stating that Witt, from Mergentheim, had been engaged by the court orchestra since 1 October with an annual salary of 300 guilders. He served in the orchestra as a cellist. The prince granted him leave on several occasions for concert tours, some of which he undertook together with the clarinettist Joseph Beer (1770–1819), also engaged at Wallerstein, travelling to Potsdam, Ludwigslust and Vienna, among other places. Witt is thought to have spent an extended period in Vienna from 1796 onward. In 1802 he was appointed Kapellmeister to the Bishop of Würzburg, a post he held until the court music establishment was dissolved in 1814. From 1804 he also served as music director of the newly founded Würzburg municipal theatre. He died, highly honoured, on 3 January 1836 in Würzburg.
This first edition of the quartet for horn, violin, viola and cello is based on a copy by an unknown copyist from the princely library of Löwenstein-Wertheim. The title reads: Quatuor pour Cor, Violin, Alto & Violoncello, composés par F. Witt, Maître de Capelle de S. A. F. le Grand Duc de Wirzebourg.
The work can therefore be dated to between 1802 and 1814. Unfortunately there is no evidence as to which horn player it was written for. In 1995 this aristocratic library was sold at public auction. Since none of the auctioned music had ever been microfilmed, many of these works became untraceable afterwards — an act of cultural vandalism. Fortunately, a German collector acquired part of the collection and made the set of parts available for this edition.
