The Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra in C major, Hob.VIIg:C1, once attributed to Joseph Haydn has been now been convincingly discredited as his work. It is but one example of a substantial body of disputed Haydn works, either lost or otherwise discounted. However, based on its melodic distinction and high degree of craftsmanship alone, this is a work that has long challenged Haydn scholars, and which seems set to retain its status in the concerto literature for oboe, irrespective of its real authorship.

Cast in the accepted Classical concerto format of three movements-fast (Allegro spiritoso), slow (Andante), fast (Rondo: Allegretto)-the work has one obvious feature above all that signals it to come from a hand other than Haydn's. This is its orchestration; it is unlikely that Haydn himself would have used trumpets and kettledrums in an orchestral accompaniment for a concerto of this type, especially one involving such a light-voiced solo instrument as the oboe.

There is, however, one important historical example which seems to cast important light on the problem; there exists a particularly brilliant and virtuosic concerto for bassoon and orchestra by Johann Antonin Kozeluch (1738-1814: cousin of the more famous Leopold Anton Kozeluch) which is very similar. This also employs the same orchestration, and is written in the characteristically exuberant Bohemian manner.

It seems likely that Haydn's name was added only speculatively to the manuscript in any case, when it was inscribed by an unknown hand (definitely not Haydn's) on the title page of the only surviving copy in the monastic library at Zittau. However, it is far more difficult to authenticate than the D major Flute Concerto, Hob. VIIf:D1, which has been shown to be in all probability by the prolific Leopold Hofmann.

The Oboe Concerto, Hob. VIIg:C1, is nevertheless an exemplary instance of the Classical wind concerto; melodic lines are finely contoured, and the full range of technical possibilities then available are richly exploited. Particularly attractive are the slow movement and finale, in which the oboe's songful capabilities and bravura potential are the features which come most powerfully to the fore. The work is thought to date from the first decade of the nineteenth century, but precise authentication remains impossible.

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