The present work probably dates from the early 1770s and was doubtless composed by Saint-Georges for performance with the Concert des Amateurs. It was issued in 1773 along with a second work by the Parisian publisher Bailleux. In what was to become a regular practice in the composition and publication of pairs of Saint-Georges concertos, one work in the set is scored for full orchestra - in this case, flutes, oboes horns and strings with divisi violas (Op.3 No.1) - and the other for strings alone. The title page of Bailleux's print reads: DEUX / CONCERTO / A VIOLON PRINCIPAL / Premier et Second Alto et Basse / hautbois flutes et deux cors ad libitum / Composs / Par Monsieur / DE. ST. GEORGE / Mis au Jour par Mr Bailleux / OEuvre III.a -/ A PARIS-
This edition is based on a copy of the Bailleux print now preserved in the Bibliothque Nationale de France under the shelfmark K.5401. The print is for the most part reasonably accurate although there are the usual instances of careless engraving, some of which may be due to unclear instructions in the copy used by the engraver to prepare the plates. In the absence of both the autograph score and an authentic set of parts, this edition presents as faithfully as possible the intentions of the composer as transmitted in Bailleux's print. The style and notation of articulation and dynamic markings have been standardised throughout, and, where missing, markings have been reconstructed from parallel passages. These are indicated by the use of dotted slurs or brackets where appropriate. Like most eighteenth century sources, the Bailleux print is inconsistent at times in its notation of appoggiature ; these too have been standardised to minimise confusion. Obvious wrong notes have been corrected without comment; editorial emendations with no authority from the source are placed within brackets.
Allan Badley