Unknown late baroque concerto

Little is known about the life of the composer Johann Christian Schultze (around 1740); for a long time he was placed in the pre-classical period due to a confusion with a namesake. His surviving oeuvre is also limited: five overture suites for two recorders and basso continuo plus a recorder concerto that has long been known. A further concerto has now been added to this oeuvre.

Klaus Hofmann presents the three-movement concerto in B flat major as a first edition. Like the one in G major, it is in the late Baroque style. The first movement begins with a heroic triadic break and consists mainly of scales and arpeggios, while the string writing is reduced and does not make high demands on the orchestra. The middle movement, an expressive adagio, is characterized by a sighing melody in the flute part floating above the pizzicato quavers of the strings. Surprisingly, after the freely improvised cadenza (for which there is also a suggestion by the editor), it ends in a dramatic string tutti, which again takes up the chordal breaks of the first movement. The rondo-like third movement is based on the first movement and adds large leaps in the solo part as a new difficulty. The sparse continuo figuring only appears in the tutti sections and has also been added by the editor for the solo parts. This concerto is a welcome addition to the repertoire for recorder players, even if - or perhaps because - the technical demands are limited.

Johann Christian Schultze: Concerto in B flat major for treble recorder, strings and basso continuo, edited by Klaus Hofmann, score, EW 986, € 21.80, Edition Walhall, Magdeburg 2016