Gretsch - Cello Concerto in C major (Urtext edition)

This edition represents the first modern publication of Gretsch’s Cello Concerto in C major, scored for solo cello, two horns, and strings, with the basso part designated as fondamento. The edition is based on a manuscript set of parts preserved in the Musikabteilung of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz. We are grateful to the library for granting access to this source, shelfmark KHM 1983, formerly D19.

The concerto is cast in three movements and was composed in or before 1770, placing it within the same general period as Joseph Haydn’s C-major concertos for cello and violin. In its formal clarity, sonic palette, and treatment of the solo instrument, the work at times recalls both of these concertos. The technical demands of the solo part are comparable to the concertos of C. P. E. Bach and to some of the more accessible works by Boccherini.

All deviations from the source have been indicated with editorial markings or explained in footnotes. For practical purposes, the solo part has been transcribed from alto clef into tenor clef.

This set includes the score, solo cello part, and orchestra parts.

ASTA level: 3.5 to 4