Dittersdorf, Carl Ditters von (1739-1799)

The present work was advertised in the Breitkopf Catalogue in 1766 although was probably composed by ca.1763. It is small in scale, around much the same length as many of the symphonies of Hofmann and Ordonez, but neatly organised and effectively scored. This edition is based on a set of manuscript parts now preserved in the Musikarchiv at Stift Kremsmnster under the shelfmark Ser.H Fasc.34 Nr.312 The wrapper, which is not contemporaneous with the parts, reads: 'Sinfonia in F / a / 2. Violini Alto Viola / 2. Oboe / 2. Corni / e / Basso / Del Sign: Carlo Ditters". In the absence of both the autograph score and an authentic set of parts, the edition presents as faithfully as possible the intentions of the composer as transmitted in the Kremsmnster 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 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. Allan Badley