Concertante No. 1 in E major for 2 Horns and Orchestra
Johann Christoph Vogel was born in Nuremberg in 1758 and received his first training from the Nuremberg Kapellmeister G. W. Gruber. He later continued his studies with J. Riepel in Regensburg, who introduced him to the works of Graun and Hasse. It is unclear with whom and when Vogel learned to play the horn. In 1776 he went to Paris (according to Fétis; around 1778 according to Gerber (ATL)), where he worked as a hornist in the orchestras of the Dukes of Montmorency and Valentinois. In Paris he witnessed the dramatic dispute over the reform of Parisian opera and became a fanatical partisan of Gluck.
In 1786 his first stage work, "La Toison d'or" (The Golden Fleece), was performed in Paris with great success. This success was surpassed in 1788 by his opera "Démophon". Vogel, however, did not live to see this triumph, as he died in Paris on 27 June 1788.
His two Concertantes for 2 horns and orchestra were printed in the 1780s by the Parisian publisher Sieber. Both works are in E major. The 1st Concertante is scored for 2 oboes and 2 horns tutti with strings. The title of the 2nd Concertante names the same scoring, but it additionally includes 2 flute parts, which are written independently of the two oboes.
Formally, the works also seem to be modelled on those of Rosetti. They show numerous stylistic features of horn concertos of the period, such as the romantic middle section and the 6/8 rhythm of the 3rd movement, which is also described as a "Rondo à la chasse".
