Franz Joseph Haydn, 1732-1809. Concerto in C Major for Violoncello and Orchestra, Hoboken VIIb:1. Completed approximately 1761-1765, first modern performance May 19, 1962, in Prague. Scored for 2 oboes, 2 horns, violins, viola, and contrabass.
Franz Joseph (``Papa'') Haydn was perhaps the most prolific composer of all time, writing 18 operas, 104 symphonies, 83 string quartets, endless songs, choral works, chamber music, puppet operas, and even 32 pieces for mechanical clocks. The complete listing of his works occupies nearly 40 pages in Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians---and this doesn't include many works that have been lost over the centuries!
One work that had been thought lost was the first C Major cello concerto. It was probably written for Joseph Weigl, a close friend of Haydn who was the principal cellist in the court orchestra of Prince Esterházy, Haydn's patron. The concerto was listed in a catalog Haydn had made of his works, but lay unknown for nearly two centuries until discovered in 1961 at the National Museum in Prague by Oldrich Pulkert, a Czech musicologist. Only one set of orchestral parts, copied in what is probably Weigl's hand, survived the ravages of time and war to bring us what is now Haydn's most popular work in the genre.
The concerto is written in the traditional fast-slow-fast style, beginning with a moderato movement in which the main theme is slightly varied each time it appears. The lovely central adagio is written for strings only, perhaps the better to show off Weigl's renowned tone. The final allegro molto allows the soloist a typical virtuosic display amid abundant melodic invention, bringing a satisfying conclusion to this charming work.
© 1995, Geoff Kuenning
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