Organ concerto in C Hob. XVIII:1
Concerto for organ and violin in F Hob. XVIII:6
Organ Concerto in D Hob. XVIII:2

It is not easy to make a list of the organ concertos by Joseph Haydn. First of all there are some doubts about the author. Once ten concertos were attributed to Haydn, but now there are some serious doubt as to four of them are Haydn's at all. Secondly there is the choice of the solo instrument. In the second half of the 18th century the German word ‘Klavier’ could mean at least four instruments: pianoforte, harpsichord, organ en clavichord. The last one is the first to drop out, for instance because of the very soft sound, which makes the clavichord not appropriate as solo instrument in a concerto. The pianoforte is an instrument that gets a more prominent role in Haydn's later works and is not yet in the picture of his position as 'Kapelmeister' at the court of Esterhazy. There are some indications that suggest that also Haydn himself had the organ or harpsichord in mind for instance for the Concerto in C Hob.XVIII, because he has written that down in the so-called ‘Entwurf-Katalog’ which he made of his own works. In these early concerto's it is not about 'showing off' ones solistic qualities, but more about the creative mixture and combining of solo and tutti, and the finding of new colours and of course Haydn's always sparkling theme's.

ARTIST BACKGROUND Catherine Manson enjoys a versatile performing career specialising in period performance as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader. She was appointed as leader of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra in 2006 As first violinist of the classical London Haydn Quartet she has performed in venues such as the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Library of Congress, Washington and London’s Wigmore Hall in addition to starting several new concert series in the UK. The quartet’s recent recordings for Hyperion and Glossa have met with high critical acclaim. She is regularly invited as a guest leader for projects with ensembles including Smithsonian Chamber Players and Santa Fe Pro Musica in the USA, Il Gardellino and Ensemble Explorations in Belgium. She has appeared frequently as a chamber musician together with such artists as Ton, Koopman, Trevor Pinnock, Anner Bylsma, Malcolm Bilson, Steven Isserlis and Michael Chance, and has also recorded for Hyperion, Dorian, Glossa, ASV and Teldec, in addition to many radio recordings and broadcasts worldwide. Ton Koopman (1944) studied organ (Simon C. Jansen), harpsichord (Gustav Leonhardt) and musicology in Amsterdam and was awarded the Prix d’Excellence for both instruments. As an organist he has performed on the most prestigious historical instruments of Europe, and as a harpsichord player and conductor of his Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra (founded 1979) & Choir (1993) he has been a regular guest at venues which include the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Theatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the Philharmonie in Munich, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, the Lincoln Center in New York, and leading concert halls in Vienna, London, Berlin, Brussels, Sydney, Melbourne, Madrid, Rome, Salzburg, Tokyo and Osaka. Ton Koopman edited the complete Handel Organ Concertos for Breitkopf & Härtel and will edit a number of Buxtehude works for Carus Verlag. He is president of the International Dieterich Buxtehude Society. He recorded a.o. for Erato, Teldec, Sony, Philips and DGG. In 2003 he created Antoine Marchand, his own sub-label of Challenge Records. Here he publishes the Complete Bach Cantatas, as well as his other recent and future recordings, including this Complete Buxtehude project. Ton Koopman founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra in 1979. The group consists of internationally renowned baroque specialists who meet up several times a year and work together to prepare and perform new exciting programmes. For the musicians each concert is a new experience and Koopman's boundless energy and enthusiasm are a sure guarantee of the highest quality. Teaching has always been an important part of her musical life; in 2001 she co-founded and now directs MusicWorks an organisation which runs chamber music courses for young people. In addition to giving classes at the Royal Academy of Music and King’s College, London she has taught at the Baroque Performance Institute in Oberlin College, USA, and the Domaine Forget chamber music courses in Canada. She is on the faculty of the Granada Festival’s Musical Interpretation summer course for students interested in further study of period instrument playing.