Joseph Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 2 in

D Major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : Ch ...

is a cello concerto, Hob. VIIb/2, Op. 101, was for many years thought to have been composed in 1783 for

Antonín Kraft image:AntonKraft.jpg, Antonín Kraft Antonín Kraft (30 December 1749, Rokycany – 28 August 1820, Vienna) was a Czech people, Czech cello, cellist and composer. He was a close friend of Joseph Haydn, Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart, and Lu ...

, a cellist of Prince Nikolaus's Esterházy Orchestra. New research, published in 2019 by Thomas Tolley and building on discoveries of Simon McVeigh, shows it was neither written for nor debuted by Kraft, an assertion that was made by Kraft's son to musicologist Gustav Schilling, and later repeated in Schilling's influential musical encyclopedias. However, original advertisements in the London press announced that ‘A new Concerto, Violoncello, Mr Cervetto, composed by Haydn’ had its premier on March 24, 1784 at Hannover Square. A second performance was advertised a week later as being a ‘Concerto Violoncello, Mr Cervetto, composed by Haydn’. The C major concerto, Haydn's only other violoncello concerto, was, at this point, more than twenty years old. The soloist of the premiere,

James Cervetto James Cervetto (8 January 1748 – 5 February 1837) was an English cellist, playing in aristocratic venues and in important concerts of the day. He was the soloist for the premiere of Haydn’s second cello concerto. Life Cervetto was born in Lo ...

(son of noted cellist Jacob Cervetto) was the principal cellist of the Italian Opera in London and one of England’s leading solo cellists. The piece's authenticity was doubted for some time, and at one stage it was suggested that Kraft himself had written it,Donald Tovey, Essays in Musical Analysis, Concertos but most experts now believe that the work is indeed authentic after Haydn's autograph score was discovered in 1951.

Music

The concerto is structure in the usual three

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

: #

Allegro Allegro may refer to: Common meanings * Allegro (music), a tempo marking indicate to play fast, quickly and bright * Allegro (ballet), brisk and lively movement Artistic works * L'Allegro (1645), a poem by John Milton * ''Allegro'' (Satie), an ...

moderato #

Adagio Adagio (Italian for 'slowly', ) may refer to: Music * Adagio, a tempo marking, indicating that music is to be played slowly, or a composition intended to be played in this manner * Adagio (band), a French progressive metal band Albums * ''Adagi ...

Rondo The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period. Etymology The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round". Despite the common etymological root, rondo ...

(Allegro) In the first movement of the D Major Concerto, the tone is leisurely and soothing. However, the piece soon enters the

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photograph ...

phase, where another theme, building upon the opening theme, is discovered. Finally, the recapitulation returns to the main theme. In the second movement, the key shifts to the dominant, A major. The tempo marking is "

", slower than many of Haydn's slow movements which are marked "

Andante Andante may refer to: Arts * Andante (tempo), a moderately slow musical tempo * Andante (manga), ''Andante'' (manga), a shōjo manga by Miho Obana * Andante (song), "Andante" (song), a song by Hitomi Yaida * "Andante, Andante", a 1980 song by A ...

". In the middle of the second movement, there is an episode in the rather distant key C major. The final movement is the shortest movement of the concerto. It is in

rondo form The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period. Etymology The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round". Despite the common etymological root, rondo ...

, featuring an episode in the dominant key of A major and a more somber digression in D minor. The work ends with a rather cheerful affirmation, less overtly virtuosic than Haydn's First Cello Concerto.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Haydn, Cello Concerto No. 2 Concertos by Joseph Haydn 1783 compositions Compositions in D major