Composed: ca. 1761-1765
Premiered: 1962, Prague (after discovery)
Duration: 25 minutes

Haydn’s “other” cello concerto, the one in D Major, has been known for many years. While there have always been questions about its authenticity, such is not the case with the Cello Concerto in C Major. The score was discovered in 1961 in the Prague National Museum, and it is certainly by Haydn – he included it in his list of compositions prepared for his employer, the Prince Esterházy, in 1765. Its reappearance was hailed by the Haydn scholar, H.C. Robbins Landon, as “the greatest musicological discovery since World War II.” It has been performed by most of the leading cellists of our time.

In the early 1760s, Haydn was Vice-Kapellmeister at the Esterházy court. His duties included the composition and performance of an abundance of many kinds of music for the entertainment of the prince and his family. From the parts written for the members of his small orchestra, we can tell that they were excellent players, very willing to show off their skills. The single cellist at the time was Joseph Weigl, a close friend of the composer, and the concerto was likely written for him.

Edward Niel Furse, who wrote a detailed thesis on this concerto in 2009, says, “This work includes an array of compositional techniques and slights of hand that blend seamlessly into the piece as a whole… Themes and musical elements are arranged carefully, so as to familiarize the listener with some and surprise them with others. Virtuosity abounds throughout the work and is effectively integrated into the musical whole.”

Program note by the late Dr. C.W. Helleiner.