The present work, composed no later than 1763, the year Göttweig monastery acquired a copy, is one of Hofmann’s smallest symphonies. As form and
function are so often inseparable in eighteenth-century music, the extreme brevity of this symphony argues strongly in favour of performance in church; it can hardly have been intended to dazzle audiences at large public concerts even with its attractive central Andante and lively finale.
This edition is based on a set of contemporary manuscript parts preserved in the archive of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien (Q 18438). The wrapper reads:
“Sinfonia / a / Violino Primo / Violino Secondo / Oboa Prima / Oboa Seconda / Viola e Basso / Del Sigre Leopoldo Hoffmann”. In the absence of both the autograph score and an authentic set of parts the edition sets out to reflect as faithfully as possible the intentions of the composer as transmitted in the 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. Like most eighteenth-century sources, the present 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.
