Concertante No 2 E major for 2 Horns and Orchestra
Johann Christoph Vogel was born in Nuremberg in 1758 and received his first musical training from the Nuremberg Kapellmeister G.W. Gruber. J. Riepel later continued his training in Regensburg and introduced Vogel to the works of Graun and Hasse. It remains unclear from whom and when Vogel learned to play the horn, but in 1776 he went to Paris (according to Fétis, according to GerberATL around 1778) and worked there as a horn player in the orchestras of the Dukes of Montmorency and Valentinois. In the charged atmosphere of the Paris opera reform, he became a fanatical supporter of Gluck.
In 1786 his first stage work "The Golden Fleece" was performed in Paris with great success. This success was surpassed in 1788 with his opera “Demophon”. Unfortunately, Vogel was no longer able to witness this triumph as he died in Paris on June 27, 1788.
His two Concertantes for 2 horns and orchestra were printed by the Paris publisher Sieber in the 1780s. Both works are composed in E major. The 1st Concertante is scored for 2 oboes and 2 horns tutti with the strings. The same instrumentation is also mentioned in the title of the 2nd Concertante, but there are also 2 flute parts, which are set independently and independently of the two oboes.
The design of the works also seems to be formally based on the works of Rosetti. There are numerous stylistic features of the horn concertos of this time, such as the romantic middle section and the 6/8 rhythm of the 3rd movement, which is also described as "Rondo a la chasse".