Concerto for 2 Horns and Orchestra Eb major (RWV C57)
The present score for this concert represents both the wish and the nightmare of every editor, due to its complex sources. Although there are five sources for this work, none of them exist as autographs or provide clear evidence of originality. Four sources were used for the publication:
- The only print of a concerto for 2 horns by Rosetti, which was published around 1786 by Sieber in Paris.
- A copy of the concert from the Zwierzina/Wallerstein collection (III 4 ½ 2° 433).
- A copy of the concert from Melk Abbey in Austria (IV N 341).
- A copy of the concert from the collection of the Mozarteum in Salzburg (423c).
All copies have differences, although Sieber's print is in E major and not in E major. When publishing, an attempt was made to determine what was probably the most original version. However, this procedure reached its limits in the bars from bar 103 in the 3rd movement, so that all four different final parts are presented.
The version of the Paris print with a coda ending is also documented for the horn concerto C 49 preserved in the autograph. Nevertheless, all variants appear to be possible, practical and of equal value, so that any of them could be neglected.
All copies have small peculiarities. For example, the Wallerstein copy lacks a cadenza in the first movement, while the Salzburg copy was made by the horn player Johann Michael Mayr and the solo part was adapted to his solo skills. Curiously, the copy from Melk was once attributed to Mozart, although the copyist clearly states Ant. Rosetti as the author.
There are also different scoring options in the copies, such as additional oboe parts in the Wallerstein copy and a rewritten viola part of the 1st solo horn in the Melk copy.
The popularity of this work is evident from the numerous copies, but the concerto does not appear to have been composed for the horn players Nagel and Zwierzina. As early as 1780, the horn players Palsa and Türrschmidt performed a double horn concerto by Rosetti in various cities, including Paris and Leipzig. Rosetti dedicated the Horn Concerto C 49 to the horn player Türrschmidt, and the coda ending mentioned in the Paris print is similar in form to this concerto. The instrumentation with flutes and the absence of the "second" viola part indicate an earlier date of composition, going back to Palsa and Türrschmidt, rather than the later instrumentation of the concerti for Nagel and Zwierzina.
The appendix contains two cadenzas for the 1st movement from the copies from Melk and Salzburg, which are intended to offer the opportunity to practice variants from this period on the historically correct natural horn.
