“I’ve known many pieces in repertoire where composers have been misattributed,” says Paul Chou, Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra Music Director.

“I find it very intriguing how authorship of music was assigned to other composers and how small the world was in that time. This concert will give the audience insight as to what they are actually listening to,” says Chou.

The Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra presents “Spurious Works (Who wrote that, anyhow?” 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14, with a pre-concert talk, 6:30 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, Allentown.

The concert opens with the well-known “Adagio for Strings and Organ,” a piece previously attributed to Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751) and now credited to Remo Giazotto (1910-1995), Italian composer, musicologist, music critic, Albinoni biographer and creator of an extensive catalog of Albinoni works.

Giazotto purportedly discovered a manuscript fragment of a previously-unknown Albinoni trio sonata, which he claimed to have received from the Saxon State Library, Dresden, Germany. Utilizing the manuscript fragment, Giazotto completed the “Adagio for Strings and Organ,” which was then copyrighted and published in 1958.

Says Chou, “The facts are: There is no physical proof that the Albinoni fragment ever existed and Giazotto certainly knew enough about Albinoni’s music to compose in the style of Albinoni. So, who wrote that piece: Albinoni or Giazotto?”

The concert continues, featuring Chou as violin soloist in “Violin Concerto No. 6 in E-flat Major” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), or perhaps by Johann Friedrich Eck (1767-1838).

The date of the composition is in question and some scholars believe that although the concerto may contain material by Mozart, the construction seems done by a lesser-skilled composer.

“No one really knows and its authenticity is still heavily discussed,” explains Chou, “but as soloist for this work, there is evidence of fragments of Mozart in these movements.

“That said, the solo violin part is not characteristically Mozart in that it is quite virtuosic and technical, which is perhaps more evident in pre-Mozart era compositions.

“This is a new experience for me and great fun to play, but the solo violin part is in a much higher register than usual, double-stops are excessive, there is no cadenza and there are entirely too many notes on every page. It certainly keeps me on my toes and I live for the Mozart moments.”

After intermission, the concert closes with “Symphony No. 14 in C Major,” also known as the “Jena Symphony” where fragments of the work were discovered in Jena, Germany.

Initially thought to be the work of Ludwig van Beethoven (1700-1827), scholars later discovered two copies of a completed symphony by Friedrich Witt (1700-1836) containing the same content.

“We understand that Beethoven wanted to write a symphony modeled after [Franz Josef] Haydn’s ‘Symphony No. 97,’” says Chou.

“It is also known that Haydn sent his symphony manuscripts to numerous courts, including that of Prince von Oettingen-Wallerstein where Witt, a cellist of the court orchestra, would have access to the work and, in my opinion, the work sounds more like Haydn than Beethoven.”

Says Chou, “My goal for our concerts is to program interesting music which is creative and innovative. To the ears of the audience for this concert, I look forward to what they have to say about these compositions.”

Paul Hsun-Ling Chou, PSO Music Director, Conductor and violinist, began playing the violin at age three as one of the earliest students of the renowned Suzuki Method. At age 15, he was featured soloist with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and has continued to build an international performing career.

Chou received a Bachelor of Music with high distinction from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and a Master of Music from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

He has concertized extensively abroad and since 2018 participates in Festival International de Musica de Camara PPGM-UFPB, Paraiba, Brazil, where he conducts the Festival Orchestra and performs as soloist and chamber musician.

While maintaining his passion for music, Chou pursued a career as a systems consultant on Wall Street and is Co-Managing Director and Senior Client Partner, Global Education Practice with consulting firm, Korn/Ferry International, Philadelphia.

Chou maintains that “music is a form of development to help people in whatever career path they choose.

“Music has helped me not only in my music career, but as an abstract systems thinker, creative problem-solver and to understand how to collaborate, develop leadership skills and, of course, music is a lot of fun!”

“Spurious Works (Who wrote that, anyhow?),” Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra, 7:30 p.m. concert, 6:30 p.m. pre-concert talk, Sept. 14, First Presbyterian Church, 3231 W. Tilghman St., Allentown. Tickets: PSO office, 1524 W. Linden St., Allentown; 610-434-7811; https://www.pasinfonia.org/

“Classical View” is a column about classical music concerts, conductors and performers. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com