Hofmann, Leopold (1738-1793)

The present work was advertised in Supplement II (1767) of the Breitkopf Catalogue but was written, in all likelihood, a year or two earlier. Although only two sets of parts survive - one in the Furst Thurn und Taxis Hofbibliothek in Regensburg (Hofmann 17) and the other in the Narodní Muzeum, Prague (XXVII B 55) - its listing in Breitkopf and in the slighter later Ringmacher Catalogue suggest that the concerto circulated fairly widely during Hofmann's lifetime. This edition is based on the Prague MS which agrees in most details with the Regensburg source. The wrapper reads: " N:5 / Concerto a 5 In D / a /un FlautoTraverso Solo / Due Violini Alto Viola e Basso / del Sigl: Leopoldo Hoffmann ". In the absence of both the autograph score and an authentic set of parts, this edition presents as faithfully as possible the intentions of the composer as transmitted in the Regensburg source. As is usual in Hofmann's concertos, there are no dynamic markings in the solo sections; these are left to the discretion and good taste of the performer. The style and notation of articulation and dynamic markings have been standardised throughout, and, where missing from the source, markings have been reconstructed from parallel passages; these are indicated by the use of dotted slurs or brackets. Like most eighteenth-century sources, the present manuscript is inconsistent in its notation of appoggiature ; these too have been standardised to minimise confusion. Obvious wrong notes have been corrected without comment; editorial emendations with no authority from the source are placed within brackets. Allan Badley