Carl (Christian) Eisner, a 19th-century horn virtuoso, was born on 19 July 1802 in Pulsnitz, Saxony, and trained in Dresden. He was employed as an Imperial court musician in St. Petersburg until 1836, yet still found time to tour Europe as a soloist.
In 1836 Eisner joined the court orchestra in Dresden, where he remained as principal horn until 1 August 1871; in 1853 he is named as a full chamber musician. He was the first horn teacher at the conservatory founded in 1856. He died in Dresden on 22 January 1874.
On 12 January 1843 Eisner performed the present work at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, still billed as an Imperial Russian court musician. It is possible that the “Concert in the form of a vocal scene for Waldhorn” performed at the Gewandhaus by Hermann Steglich on 16 December 1847, and the Concertino for horn played by Gewandhaus hornist Eduard Pohle on 17 February 1848, are the same work.
In December 1843 Scene und Arie Op. 10 was published by Kistner of Leipzig. The print is dedicated to the Berlin hornist Carl Schunke, a member of a large and famous family of horn players and a friend of Eisner. The work was composed for the then still new valve horn (also called chromatic horn), and the title page of the print specifies accompaniment by orchestra or pianoforte. The piano version survives in various libraries and collections, but the editor knows of no surviving orchestral version. In June 1898 Kistner advertised the work once more, but now only in the version for horn and piano.
