Dittersdorf, Carl Ditters von (1739-1799)

The dating of the present work is problematic as there are no corroborative catalogue entries or performance dates preserved on either of the two extant copies. The authority for Margaret Grave's tentative 1782 dating probably rests largely upon stylistic evidence. The symphony is clearly a mature work and is comparable in stature - and in its use of expanded orchestral forces - with the famous 'Ovid' symphonies composed around the same time. This edition is based on a set of manuscript parts held in the Archbishopric Castle Music Archive at Kromeriz (Czech Republic) under the shelfmark IV-A-59 / A-3515. The title wrapper reads: '32 (corrected to 31)/ Sinfonia in Eb / / Violini due / Oboe due / Fagotti due / Flauto Traverso / Corni due /Clarini due / Timpani / Violoncello Basso / Di Carlo de Dittersdorff (incipit)' 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 Kromeriz source. The style and notation of articulation and dynamic markings have been standardized 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 where appropriate. Like most eighteenth-century sources, the present manuscript is at times 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