The most extensive source of horn music from the first half of the 18th century is a manuscript collection of the Academic Chapel, now held in the university library of Lund, Sweden. Many of the composers represented in it were connected in one way or another with the Dresden court. It is possible that the copyist was a hornist who had visited Dresden.
List of the Horn Concertos in the Lund Collection
The Wenster collection lists 18 concertos for horn. In the collection’s original numbering, they are:
No. 1 Schultz – Concerto ex Dis for horn, flute (traverso), violin and basso (ROM 018)
No. 2 Anonymous (Hoffmann) – Concerto ex Dis for horn, 2 oboes and strings (ROM 013)
No. 3 Quantz (C.G. Fischer?) – Concerto ex Dis for horn and strings
No. 4 Anonymous – Concerto ex Dis for horn, 2 oboes and basso (ROM 019)
No. 5 Förster – Concerto ex Dis for horn and strings (ROM 341)
No. 6 Anonymous – Concerto for horn, oboe d’amore and basso (ROM 020)
No. 7 Graun – Concerto ex D for horn, oboe d’amore and basso (ROM 181)
No. 8 Graun – Trio ex D for horn, violin and b.c. (ROM 182)
No. 9 Quantz – Concerto for horn, oboe and strings (ROM 021)
No. 13 Anonymous (Hampel?) – Concerto ex D for horn and strings (ROM 184)
No. 14 Röllig – Concerto ex Dis for horn and strings (ROM 022)
No. 15 Röllig – Concerto ex D for horn and strings (ROM 023)
No. 16 Graun – Concerto ex D for horn and strings (ROM 024)
No. 17a Reinhardt – Concerto ex Dis for horn and strings (ROM 025)
No. 17b Gehra – Concerto ex D for horn and strings (ROM 026)
“ex Dis” denotes E-flat major, “ex D” denotes D major.
Concerto del Sign. Hoffman
2. Concerto a 7 / Corne de Chasse, Violino primo, Violino secundo, Hautbois primo, Hautbois secundo, Viola et Basso continuo ex Dis
This is the original title of the work.
The manuscript, held by the SLUB Dresden (Saxon State and University Library), was copied by Johann Joachim Quantz. He is also named on the title page as “J.J. Quantus”.
Who is Sign. Hoffman?
Two composers come into question:
Georg Melchior Hofmann (1685–1715) was organist and music director at the Neukirche in Leipzig, as well as at the Collegium Musicum and the Leipzig opera. From 1704 he succeeded Telemann in the first two posts. Educated as a choirboy in Dresden, he directed public concerts and the opera theatre in Leipzig. During an extended trip to England, he was represented by Johann Georg Pisendel, who later became a celebrated violin virtuoso in Dresden.
Johann Georg Hoffmann (1700–1780) was an organist in Breslau and composed more than 400 concertos. In his youth he learned trumpet and horn in addition to singing and organ.
This concerto also survives as a copy in the Wenster collection J 1–17 in Lund, Sweden. No composer is named there, and only one oboe is used, described as “concertato”.
