Most of Haydn's concertos are early works, written in the years immediately before or after his engagement at the Esterhazy court in 1761. During that time, he composed four violin concertos, of which three-all except Hob.VIIa, No.2 in D major - survive, none of them in autograph form. Hob.VIIa No.3, in A major turned up only in 1949.

Leopold Hofmann (1738-1793) was regarded by his contemporaries as one of the most gifted and influential composers of his generation. Although a church musician by profession, Hofmann was also an important and prolific composer of instrumental music. His symphonies, concertos and chamber works were played all over Europe and the avidity with which they were collected is attested to by the large number of surviving manuscript copies. Hofmann was famed for his violin playing and several of his concertos were probably written for his own use. He held a number of important church music positions in Vienna, foremost among them, that of Kapellmeister at St Stephan's Cathedral (1772-1793) and also served for some years as Hofklaviermeister.