This concerto in C Major has had me puzzled from the outset: just who was Wenceslas Behm, which courts offered him employment, and for whom did he compose this work?

This is the first concerto from the Öttingen-Wallerstein collection that I have found, thus far, in which the composer utilizes the combination of two trumpets [clarini] and tympani as the producers of the reinforcing harmony within the ritornelli of the outer movements. Usually one finds two flutes [or oboes] and two horns carrying this burden.

As I copied in the part for Violin II, I found it quite often to be independent of Violin I, unusual for the time, but a real plus musically. The viola, on the other hand, merely doubles the basso at the octave, and plays only in the ritornelli. Several rather open spots above the bass line indicate the need for harpsichord to fill in the harmonies; therefore, I have supplied the realization of basso continuo for the entirety of the concerto. A contrabasso must not be used in this concerto as it would clash with the tympani which, on many occasions, play the lowest pitches in the score.


The first movement contains the usual three episodes surrounded by four ritornelli; there is a just hint of recapitulation of Episode I at the start of Episode III. In order to offset the tonic-dominant harmony of the ritornello resulting from the use of trumpets and tympani, Behm has permeated it with syncopation. The slow movement, on the other hand, is notable for the plethora of dynamics allotted to the three ritornelli. Trumpets and tympani return for the finale, yet another movement set in ritornello form with three episodes for the soloist. All three episodes begin with the same thematic material, but there is no real sonata-form overlay here.

Although, on the surface, this seems to be a simple concerto, the presence of the two trumpets and tympani brings real excitement to this work, and I would recommend it to oboists who will eventually take on the anonymous concerto in C Major attributed to Franz Joseph Haydn, as it also contains the trumpet-tympani combination.