Mysliveček - Cello Concerto in C major (Urtext, Solo Part and Piano Score)

Josef Mysliveček (1737–1781) produced a large body of work during his relatively short life, including more than fifty symphonies, twenty-six operas, concertos, and chamber music for strings and winds. Born in Prague, he moved to Italy in 1763, where he became known as “Il Boemo,” or “the Bohemian.” While much of Mysliveček’s music reflects the Classical style of his day, some of his chamber works still retain basso continuo and figured bass practice, including his sonatas for two cellos and his six orchestral trios for two violins and cello.

Mysliveček composed ten violin concertos, a few keyboard concertos, and a flute concerto. He also transcribed one of his violin concertos, EvaM 9b:C1, for cello. The cello concerto survives in three manuscript copies: one at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, one at the Národní Muzeum in Prague, and one at the Národní knihovna České republiky in Prague.

This edition is the first urtext edition of Mysliveček’s Cello Concerto available on the market. It is based, with kind permission, on the manuscript set housed at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. Although the source is undated, it can safely be placed before 1820. The solo cello part in the source is notated in four clefs: bass, tenor, alto, and soprano. This reflects eighteenth-century practice, also seen in Haydn’s C-major Cello Concerto, works by Boccherini, some works by Bréval, and others. The clefs have been updated for modern use in this edition.

This set contains a newly composed piano reduction and solo cello parts with and without fingerings and bowings. The solo part without fingerings and bowings is urtext. The concerto is suitable for advanced cellists and is an important addition to the Classical cello concerto repertoire, especially for performers, teachers, and researchers interested in eighteenth-century cello works beyond Haydn and Boccherini.

ASTA level: 4