An oboe concerto in Lund formed from three operatic arias by Antonio Lotti

Abstract

Manuscript parts for an anonymous oboe concerto in G minor shelfmarked L:10 are found in the Wenster collection at the University Library in Lund. The concerto has the peculiarity that each of its three movements is cast in da capo aria form. It turns out that the movements have been taken from arias in two operas by Antonio Lotti, Giove in Argo (1717) and Ascanio (1718), written for performance in Dresden. The manner of conversion from aria to concerto movement is very simple, entailing the reassignment of the vocal line to oboe, lightening of the string accompaniment in some solo passages and otherwise only minimal recomposition. Great care has been taken to match the movements to one another to create an instrumental pasticcio. The evidence that Lotti himself undertook the conversion is very strong, since his only other known solo concerto (for oboe d’amore, in A major) likewise uses da capo aria form for each movement, something previously not encountered in the genre. The identity of the performer for whom these concertos were written is considered, a likely candidate being the Dresden oboist Johann Christian Richter, whom Lotti had probably first encountered in Venice in 1716–1717.