The most extensive source of horn music from the first half of the 18th century is a handwritten collection of the Academic Chapel (Akademiska kapellet), now held in the University Library in 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 horn player who had visited Dresden.
List of the Horn Concertos in the Lund Collection
The Wenster Collection contains 18 concertos and trios with horn. The numbering follows the original order of the collection ("Dis" = E-flat major, "D" = D major):
No. 1 Schultz – Concerto ex Dis for horn, transverse flute, 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)
Lund No. 5: Christoph Förster – Concerto ex Dis (E-flat major) for Corno concertato, 2 Violins, Viola and Basso
The composer of this work is probably Christoph Förster (1693–1745). Born in Bibra, Thuringia, Förster studied with Johann David Heinichen in Weißenfels and worked at the court chapel there as a musician and concertmaster. In 1719 he visited Heinichen in Dresden, and in 1723 he took part in the coronation of the king in Prague. These journeys led to numerous contacts with the Dresden and Viennese courts. In 1743 he became vice-Kapellmeister in Rudolstadt, where he died on 5 December 1745.
This edition is based on the copy preserved in Lund (S-L / Saml. Wenster J:1-17). Another copy of the concerto is held in the Saxon State and University Library (SLUB) in Dresden under the shelfmark Mus. 2323-O-4. It shows minor differences in the musical text.
Orchestral parts are available as a set (3/3/2/3).
