Ordonez, Karl von: Symphony in C major (Brown C2) (AE061)

Ordonez, Karl von (1734-1786)

For a part-time composer Ordonez was a surprisingly prolific. In addition to his two operatic works - a marionette opera, Musica della Parodie d'Alceste and a Singspiel, Diesmal hat der Mann den Willen - Ordonez is known to have composed a significant amount of church music (now lost), a secular cantata, 73 symphonies, a violin concerto and a large corpus of chamber music of which the 27 authenticated string quartets are of particular importance. Ordonez's sophisticated experiments with cyclic unity and his liking for contrapuntal textures gives much of his music a very distinctive and original quality. His symphonies were widely disseminated in manuscript copies and Abbé Stadler noted that they "received great applause". If the number of extant copies of a work is any judge of its contemporary popularity then the present work was undoubtedly one of the best known of Ordonez's symphonies. Although cast in three movements, the symphony opens with an Adagio introduction which adds a certain weight to the work. The introduction has subtle thematic links to the ensuing Allegro molto although no strenuous attempt is made within the work as a whole to establish a deeper unification of the cycle. The slow movement is remarkable for its employment of violin and violoncello obbligati. Ordonez was by all accounts a good violinist and it is tempting to think that the solo violin part was first performed by the composer himself. As is so often the case with music of this period it is impossible to establish a reliable composition date.

This edition is based on a set of contemporary manuscript parts now in the possession of the Fürst Thurn und Taxis'sche Hofbibliothek in Regensburg. This source omits the clarini and timpani parts found elsewhere but the work is musically complete with the 'standard' orchestral scoring of oboes, horns and strings. The wrapper reads "Sinfonia [in C] / à / Violino Principale / Due Violini / Alto viola / Due Oboe / Due Corni / Violoncello Obl: in Andante / con / Basso / Del Siglre Ordonez ". In the absence of the autograph score or a set of authentic performing parts, the edition seeks to present as faithfully as possible the intentions of the composer as transmitted in the Regensburg source. The style and notation of articulation and dynamic markings have been standardised throughout, and, where missing, reconstructed from parallel passages. These are indicated by the use of dotted slurs or brackets where appropriate. Like most eighteenth-century sources, the Regensburg manuscript is 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