A century of Austrian concertos or concerto- like works, ranging from Biber’s Battaglia à 10 (1673) , an extraordinary evocation of seventeenth-century warfare scored for nine-part rings with solo violin, to Mozart’s virtuoso motet ‘Exsultate jubilate’, K. 165 (1773), a vocal concerto in all but name.  Muffat’s Concerto No.12 in G (‘Propitia sydera’, 1701) is a fascinating reworking of the G major Armonico tributo sonata played in Friday’s concert, ending with a revised and extended version of the passacaglia. 

The second half of the programme consist of three contrasted works by Joseph Haydn and his brother Michael: Joseph’s Horn Concerto No. 2 in D major, Hob. VIId: 3 (1762), Michael’s Concertino for bassoon in B flat major, and Joseph’s C major Concerto, Hob. VIIb: 1 (c.1762), surely the greatest cello concerto of the eighteenth century.