Dittersdorf, Carl Ditters von (1739-1799)

The Sinfonia 'Nazionale nel gusto di cinque nazioni',unlike the 'Ovid' symphonies, is not a programmatic work in the sense that it represents a type of musical narrative; instead, it depicts - or more accurately parodies the musical tastes and characters of five nations: the Germans, Italians, English, French and Turks. Each of the nations is treated to a movement in its own right and the finale, a rondo, brings them all together in a kind of musical equivalent of the European Union. That Dittersdorf chooses the rondo theme to represent the Germans is surely an indication that he viewed the modern Austrian and South German symphonic style as the new musical lingua franca of Europe. The earliest known reference to the work is in the Sigmaringen Catalogue (1766) and it was advertised as [Sinfonia] Nazionale in Supplement III (1768) of the Breitkopf Catalogue. This edition is based on a set of manuscript parts preserved in the Musikarchiv at Stift Kremsmnster (Ser.H. Fasc.39 Nr.76). The wrapper reads: "Nationale / Violino Primo/ Violino Secondo. / Oboa Prima. / Oboa Seconda. / Corno Primo. / Corno Secondo. / Viola di Alto, / Con / Fundamento, /Del Siglre 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 very 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