Hofmann, Leopold (1738-1793)

The present concerto, advertised in Supplement VI (1771) of the Breitkopf Catalogue , was probably composed several years earlier. Two copies of the work survive in addition to a version in C major for bassoon and strings preserved in Stift Kremsmünster. This edition is based on a set of contemporary manuscript parts preserved in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preuischer Kulturbesitz Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn Archiv under the signature Mus.ms.10725/1. The wrapper reads " Concerto / a / Violoncello Concertato / 2. Corni. / 2. Violini. / Viola / f / Basso / Del Sigl. Leop: Hoffmann ." The second movement is written in the subdominant whereas the Stift Heiligenkreuz copy utilizes the dominant as does the version for bassoon. Cadenzas have been written into the solo part by the copyist, but, as these are of little musical merit and do not appear to be the work of the composer, they have been omitted from the edition which otherwise presents as faithfully as possible the intentions of the composer as transmitted in this source. In keeping with Hofmann's usual practice 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