The four Horn Concertos by

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

were written for his friend

Joseph Leutgeb Joseph Leutgeb (or Leitgeb; October 6, 1732 – February 27, 1811) was an outstanding horn player of the classical era, a friend and musical inspiration for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Life Leutgeb was born in Neulerchenfeld, but little is known o ...

whom he had known since childhood. Leutgeb was a skilled player, as the works are difficult to perform on the

natural horn The natural horn is a musical instrument that is the predecessor to the modern-day (French) horn (differentiated by its lack of valves). Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth century the natural horn evolved as a separation from the trump ...

of the period, requiring

lip trill The trill (or shake, as it was known from the 16th until the early 20th century) is a musical ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes, usually a semitone or tone apart, which can be identified with the context of ...

s, much

hand-stopping Hand-stopping is a List of horn techniques, technique by which a natural horn can be made to produce notes outside of its normal Harmonic series (music), harmonic series. By inserting the hand, cupped, into the bell, the player can reduce the pitc ...

, and rapid

tonguing Tonguing is a technique used with wind instruments to enunciate notes using the tongue on the palate or the reed or mouthpiece. A silent "tee" is made when the tongue strikes the reed or roof of the mouth causing a slight breach in the air fl ...

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Concertos

* Horn Concerto No. 1 in

D major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : Ch ...

, K. 412 (1791, unfinished at Mozart's death) * Horn Concerto No. 2 in

E-flat major E-flat major (or the key of E-flat) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically ...

, K. 417 (1783) * Horn Concerto No. 3 in E-flat major, K. 447 (c. 1784–87) * Horn Concerto No. 4 in E-flat major, K. 495 (1786)

Fragmentary and incomplete works

In addition to the four works listed above, there are two incomplete concerto movements, K. 370b and the Concert Rondo, K. 371, both from 1781 and both in E-flat major, and a 91-bar fragment of the first movement for a concerto in E major (K. 494a), written in 1785 or 1786.

Discography

Given the duration of the concertos (no more than 20 minutes each) it is quite common to find these horn concertos on the same CD, or in boxed sets of Mozart's concertos for wind instruments or even all his concertos. The

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about 1 ...

CD ''Complete Works for Horn & Orchestra'' includes, besides the concertos, three rondos for horn and orchestra completed by musicologists.

Concertos

Fragmentary and incomplete works

Discography

References

Further reading