The origins of Joseph Haydn’s Violoncello Concerto in C major (Hob. VIIb:1) are unclear. Haydn’s entry in his work catalog which he began at the end of 1765, called the “Enwurf - Katalog”, was the only source testifying to the existence of this work until an l8th-century copy of the parts turned up in the Fonds Radenín of the Prague National Museum in 1961. Since then, the work has conquered the concert halls with lightning speed and has become a touchstone for ongoing concert cellists.

On the basis of musical as well as non-musical criteria, it is possible to date the concerto between 1762 and 1765. The concerto contains a great number of formal and structural elements of the symphony, and closely resembles the style of Haydn’s symphonies from this period.