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For some time, this wonderful work by Franz Anton Rosetti (c.1750-1792) has been available in score format, in an edition made in 1925 by Oskar Kaul for Volume 25 of Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Bayern. I first heard about it by way of an interview with Heinz Holliger published in the IRDS Double Reed.  When the library of the Öttingen-Wallerstein Family became available on microfiche in the late 1980's, I immediately had copyflo of this septet made for future use.

The first thing one notices about the manuscript parts (copied c.1780), is the beauty of the calligraphy. But this is very misleading, because this is one of the poorest copies I have ever seen of any work. There are missing measures in some parts, and, even worse, dynamics and articulation are extrordinarily haphazard. One can only guess that the latter were added in haste. So, the job of repairing this work was extensive. I should not complain so much, though, since Finale eased this work greatly; I imagine that Oskar Kaul really had his work cut out for him, as he worked in a pre-computer age!

The scoring for a solo oboe, two oboes, two horns, bassoon, and violone is unique. Perhaps it was composed for a celebrated oboist like Carlo Besozzi, who might have visited the court of Prince Kraft Ernst at Schloss Wallerstein where Rosetti (born Frantisek Antonín Rösler) functioned as double bass player, and later as Kapellmeister from 1773 to 1789. In the first movement, a compact sonata form, the initial passage in the solo oboe involves high E3 resolving into high F3; and the oboe's tessitura remains relatively high throughout the work. Then too, the parts for the two horns are quite demanding, particularly in the rondo finale which contains flourishes for both instruments. And with good reason: horn playing at Schloss Wallerstein was dominated by the fabulous dynasties initiated by Friedrich Domnich and Johann Thürrschmidt, two of the top horn players in Europe. By the way, double bass is a suitable substitute for the violone part; apparently Rosetti played both instruments.

The second of the four movements, a rondo in C Major (Andante grazioso), contains a most unusual notation for the horns. Instead of changing crooks from F to C, Rosetti maintains the F crooks and notates the horn parts in G major, which results in C major: he does not utilize the correct key signature for G Major, though. Instead, all F#s are written in as accidentals! In order to perform this work on a 18th century instrument, hand horn technique is a necessity.

Hemiola abounds in the third movement (Menuetto: Fresco). Through the use of the piano and forte dynamics, Rosetti makes sure the players get the point! Overall, this work will bring great joy to wind players: it stands up well along the great Harmoniemusik of Mozart and Beethoven.