The music collection of the National Museum in Prague holds a manuscript copy of the horn concerto presented here in print for the first time. It comes from the collection of the monastery of Osek in northern Bohemia. The exact title reads:
Concerto in E la fa / a / Corno Principalo / Due Violini / Viola / Due Oboi / Due Corni in E la fa / con / Basso / Authore Fux
The composer may well be Peter Fux (also spelled Fuchs), who was born on 22 January 1753 and died in Vienna on 15 June 1831. More about Peter Fux can be found here.
The concerto shows features of the Classical style and was composed around 1780. In the first movement the solo horn part lies exceptionally high.
The copyist added a simplified version of the first movement to the manuscript, which shows that the horn part was already considered problematic when it was written. With this version, even the high passages should no longer pose insurmountable difficulties. The original high version has also been edited in a B-flat part for “Corno da caccia”.
The orchestral parts are supplied as a set of 4/4/3/4 plus wind parts.
Audio samples
Concerto in E-flat for Horn (original version)
Concerto in E-flat for Horn, 1st movement (alternative version)
