Dittersdorf, Carl Ditters von (1739-1799)

Unlike the 'Ovid' symphonies, the present work, the Sinfonia 'Il delirio delli compositori, ossia Il gusto d'oggidi', has no clear programme beyond that of presenting a rather fine parody of the 'Sturm und Drang' symphony of the period. Although the title of the work is preserved in only two of the seven extant sources, it is probably genuine, or, at the very least, represents a corruption of an authentic Dittersdorf title. The symphony was advertised in Supplement XIII (1779-80) of the Breitkopf Catalogue and may have been written several years earlier. This edition is based on a set of manuscript parts now preserved in the Musikarchiv at Stift Kremsmnster (Ser.H Fasc.34 Nr.317). The wrapper reads: "Sinfonia in a. / a /Basso. / 2. Violini. / Viola. / 2. Oboe. / 2. Corni in C / Del Sign. Ditters". The wrapper does not differentiate between the violoncello and basso parts (as does the entry in Breitkopf) and its designation of the horn crooks is only partially accurate as Dittersdorf has the first and second horns crooked in C alto and A respectively in the outer movements. All the parts are in the same extremely untidy hand and do not appear to be the work of a professional copyist. In the absence of both the autograph score and an authentic set of parts, the edition presents as faithfully as possible the intentions of the composer as transmitted in the Kremsmnster source. The style and notation of articulation and dynamic markings have been standardised throughout, and, where missing, reconstructed from parallel passages. These are indicated by the use of dotted slurs or brackets where appropriate. Like most eighteenth-century sources, the present manuscript is very 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