Henle Blog

To the question of how many cello concertos Joseph Haydn left us there have been startlingly different answers in the last 200 years: Haydn’s own works’ catalogue of 1805 lists three concertos; in the 19^th century the number grew to eight before it was reduced in the 20^th century to those five found in Anthony van Hoboken’s catalogue of Haydn’s works. But our Urtext catalogue records only two! Why’s that? The short answer is that our Haydn Urtext Editions go back to the complete edition, Joseph Haydn Werke – and not only to what is printed, but also to what is not printed. The long answer provides an insight into a special area of Haydn research, the issue of authenticating the works dealt with under his name. Continue reading →