Joseph Haydn | Violin Concerto G Major Hob. VIIa:4

Description

In 1909 the Leipzig publishers Breitkopf & Härtel issued two previously unpublished and little-known violin concertos by Joseph Haydn: the C major Concerto (Hob. VIIa:1), written for the Esterházy orchestra’s principal violinist Luigi Tomasini, and the G major Concerto (Hob. VIIa:4*) presented here, which is considered the earliest of Haydn’s violin concertos and was apparently written before Haydn was taken into the service of the Esterházy prince Paul Anton. As a reviewer re- Paul Anton. As a reviewer remarked, it is “difficult to say which of the two is more beautiful […]; the former is perhaps more brilliant and noble, the latter more lovely and ingratiating to the ear.” The easier of the two – so the article continues – is doubtless the G major work, of which the critic singles out for praise the “uniquely beautiful” Adagio with its “unmatched intimacy and loveliness” while the “high-spirited” final movement, with its charming bagpipe imitation (bars 84 ff.), will put players and audience alike in the best of moods from the outset. That this concerto is more than an engaging work for learners, and can even fascinate virtuosos, is proved by the cadenzas written for it by George Enescu (see W. Berger: Doua cadente inedite de George Enescu, in: Muzica, xix/3, Bucharest 1969, p. 13).