Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major
Orchestra: 2 oboes, 2 horns and strings
Program Notes by Martin Pearlman
Haydn's D major cello concerto is dated 1783, approximately twenty years after his C major cello concerto. It is thought to have been written for Anton Kraft, a virtuoso cellist in Haydn's orchestra at Esterházy, and to have been carefully tailored to show off that performer's technical skills. At the time, Haydn was mainly preoccupied with composing and conducting operas at Esterházy and was only sporadically composing symphonies, so the commission for a cello concerto may have felt like something of a distraction. Nonetheless, the resulting work is one of his best known concertos today. It has been a popular virtuoso vehicle for cellists ever since the late nineteenth century, when its orchestration was expanded to suit Romantic tastes. That is when an edition was published that gave the piece a full wind section (flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and horns) along with strings. Haydn's original orchestration is more transparent and more typical of the eighteenth century, oboes and horns being the only winds.
Boston Baroque Performances
Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major
April 3, 1987
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor
Soloist:
Anner Bylsma, cello