Joseph Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 1 in C majorThe Cello Concerto...

Joseph Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major
The Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major, Hob. VIIb/1, by Joseph Haydn was composed around 1761-65 for longtime friend Joseph Franz Weigl, then the principal cellist of Prince Nicolaus's Esterházy Orchestra.The work was published 1800-1900.Although the full work was discovered in 1961, Haydn had written the beginning of the principal theme of the first movement in his draft catalogue of 1765.This early work, contemporaneous with symphonies 6, 7 and 8 and predating his D major cello concerto by around twenty years, already shows Haydn as a master of instrumental writing. The solo cello part is thoroughly idiomatic. The concerto reflects the ritornello form of the baroque concerto as well as the emerging structure of the sonata-allegro form. As in the baroque concerto grosso, the accompanying ensemble is small: strings, two oboes, and two horns. It is possible that Weigl was the only cellist in the Esterházy Orchestra when Haydn composed the concerto, since there is only one cello line in the score, marked alternately “solo” and “tutti.” There is also, however, a basso continuo line, that might have been played by another cellist, or by Haydn himself on the harpsichord, or by a string bass player.

Cello : Harriet Krijgh (born 1991) is a Dutch cellist. She received her first cello lessons at the age of five. In 2000, she was accepted into the young talent class at the Utrechts Conservatorium, where she was taught by Lenian Benjamins. In 2004, Harriet moved to Vienna to study cello with Lilia Schulz-Bayrova and Jontscho Bayrov at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna. Since September 2013, Harriet has been studying as a "Young Soloist" at the Kronberg Academy with Frans Helmerson, a study made possible by the Casals Scholarship. She continues her artistic training with Schulz-Bayrova in Vienna in parallel. In 2019, she took over the cello part in the Artemis Quartet from founding member Eckart Runge [de]. In 2008, she won the first prize of the Princess Christina Concours. She also won first prizes at the national final of the Prima la Musica Competition in Austria and at the Fidelio Competition in Vienna, as well as the "Nicole Janigro Prize" at the international "Antonio Janigro Cello Competition" in Croatia. A success was the 1st prize and the audience award at the Cello Biennale Amsterdam in November 2012.