Dittersdorf, Carl Ditters von: Flute Concerto in E minor (AE320)

Dittersdorf, Carl Ditters von (1739-1799)

The present work is one of Dittersdorf 's earliest compositions. The MS copy upon which the edition is based is dated 1760 which implies that the work was composed in Vienna possibly for one of the flautists in the theatre orchestras.

Dittersdorf appeared as a soloist on numerous occasions at the Burgtheater during the early 1760s and he also played in the theatre orchestra on a regular basis. Among his colleagues were such distinguished musicians as Boccherini (violoncello) and Leitgeb (horn). The flautists and oboists are often grouped together in the extant orchestra lists as they generally played both instruments. Dittersdorf worked with a number of players including Mayer (Myer), Schmidt and Sartori pre. Any one of these players - or none of them - might have been the recipient of the concerto. The solo part is reasonably taxing which increases the likelihood that it was written for a professional player.

This edition is based on a contemporary set of performing parts preserved in the Thurn und Taxis'sche Hofbibliothek in Regensburg under the shelfmark Dittersdorf 36.The wrapper reads: Concerto / Flauto traverso / Violini / Viola / e / Basso / Partes 5 [incipit] / De Carlo Ditters. / 1760. In the absence of the autograph score or a set of authentic parts this edition attempts to convey as clearly as possible the composer's intentions as they are transmitted in the source. The style and notation of articulation and dynamic markings have been standardised 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 manuscript is at times inconsistent in its notation of appoggiature; these too have been standardised to minimise confusion.

Obvious wrong notes have been corrected without comment; editorial emendations with no authority from the source are placed within brackets.

Allan Badley