- Biography of Antonio Rosetti
- List of Rosetti's horn concertos with their different numbering systems
Antonio Rosetti (1750–1792)
Concerto in E-flat major for Horn (RWV C42)
This c
oncerto is listed as C42 in the Rosetti Werkverzeichnis (RWV). Previously, the musicologist Oskar Kaul had included it as III:41 in his catalogue of Rosetti's works.
The sources are two nearly identical manuscript copies, both preserved in Salzburg today: one in the Salzburg Museum, the other in the collection of the Mozarteum Salzburg. The copyist of the latter is believed to be the Salzburg horn player Joseph Michael Mayr (1751–1807).
Both sources bear the title:
Concerto | a | Cornu Secundo Principale | Violino Primo | Violino Secundo | Oboe Primo & | Oboe Secundo & Obligato | Cornu Primo & | Cornu Secundo & | Alto Viola | con Violone. | Del Sige: Rosetti.
In the upper right corner there is also the note ex Dis.
Both copies share several identical errors, most often a missing accidental on the A-flat, so that A natural is written instead. This may indicate that their common source was in fact notated in D-sharp: in that key the piece has only two flats in the key signature (instead of three in E-flat major), and the A-flat is written as an accidental each time it occurs.
The third movement is headed “Rondeaux” in the manuscripts and “Rondo” in the new edition.
The solo horn is designated Cornu secundo Principale, i.e. a horn that uses the middle and low register. Rosetti also wrote for the corno secundo in other solo concertos, for example the Concerto in E-flat major C54.
Sterling Murray attributes this concerto to Rosetti without reservation. However, the short introduction and the relatively brief first movement are rather atypical of Rosetti's usual compositional style.
Audio sample
Concerto in E-flat major for Horn