Hofmann, Leopold (1738-1793)

The present work, one of two cello concertos by Hofmann which appeared in Supplement VI (1771) of the Breitkopf Catalogue , probably dates from the late 1760s when Hofmann's principal position was that of Kapellmeister at St Peter's. This edition is based on a set of contemporary manuscript performing parts formerly belonging to Friedrich Wilhelm II, the cello-playing King of Prussia, and now preserved in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preuischer Kulturbesitz Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn Archiv (Mus.ms.10725/3). The wrapper reads " Concerto / a / Violoncello Concertato / 2. Violini /Viola / f. / Basso /Del Sigl. Leop: Hoffmann ". One of two other extant copies of the work, located in the archive of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien (IX 2348), includes a set of ripieno string parts unequivocal evidence that the solo sections were frequently accompanied by reduced forces - but otherwise conforms very closely in detail with both the Berlin copy and a third source preserved in the Narodn Muzeum in Prague. In the absence of the autograph score or an authentic set of parts this edition presents as faithfully as possible the composer's intentions as transmitted in the Berlin 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 standardized throughout, and, where missing from the source, reconstructed from parallel passages. These are indicated by the use of dotted slurs or brackets. Like most eighteenth century sources, the present manuscript is very inconsistent in its notation of appoggiature ; these too have been standardized to minimize confusion. Obvious wrong notes have been corrected without comment; editorial emendations with no authority from the source are placed within brackets. Allan Badley