Hofmann, Leopold: Violin Concerto in B flat major (Badley Bb1) (AE032)

Hofmann, Leopold (1738-1793)

The present work was advertised in Supplement VI of the Breitkopf Catalogue (1771) and probably dates from the late 1760s. Only two complete copies of the concerto are extant although the solo part is preserved in a third source (A Wgm IX 30903) which contains an interesting variant reading (III/158) which has been incorporated into the text. The detailed articulation markings in the solo part, present in all sources, reveal a composer sensitive to the instrument's every nuance. In the absence of other evidence, it seems not unreasonable to assume that this is one of the concertos that Hofmann wrote for his own use. The principal source for this edition is a set of contemporary manuscript parts preserved in the Narodn Muzeum Prague under the signature XLIX C 139. The wrapper reads: " N:43 / Concerto in B / a / Violino Principale / Violino Primo / Violino Secundo / Viola / con / Basso / Del sig: Leopoldo Hoffmann ". In the absence of the autograph score or a set of authentic parts the edition presents as faithfully as possible the intentions of the composer as transmitted in this source. As is usual in Hofmann's concertos there are no dynamic markings in the solo sections; these are left to the discretion and good taste of the performer. The style and notation of articulation and dynamic markings have been standardized throughout, and, where missing from the source, reconstructed from parallel passages. These are indicated by the use of dotted slurs or brackets. Like most eighteenth century sources, the present manuscript is very inconsistent in its notation of appoggiature ; these too have been standardized to minimize confusion. Obvious wrong notes have been corrected without comment; editorial emendations with no authority from the source are placed within brackets. Allan Badley