Horn concerts (Mozart)

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Barbara Krafft : Portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1819)

The four concertos for horn and orchestra ( KV 412, 417, 447 and 495) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart form an important part of the repertoire of most professional horn players .

Emergence

Mozart wrote the four concerts during his time as a freelance composer in Vienna (1781–1791). The Concerto in Eb KV 417 and the Concerto in Eb KV 495 were dated by Mozart himself, namely May 27, 1783 (KV 417) and June 26, 1786 (KV 495). The other two concerts, the Concerto in D KV 412 and the Concerto in Eb KV 447, were not dated by Mozart. Ludwig von Köchel stated that these two concerts were composed in 1782 for KV 412 and 1783 for KV 447. This results in the order of the concerts:

  1. KV 412 ("No. 1")
  2. KV 417 ("No. 2")
  3. KV 447 ("No. 3")
  4. KV 495 ("No. 4")

This numbering is still in use, although it has been found to be incorrect. Today it is assumed that the supposedly third concert (KV 447) must have originated in 1787, that is after KV 495 ("No. 4"). However, it remains unclear why Mozart did not enter it in his own thematic directory. The supposedly first concert (KV 412) is assumed to have been composed not as the first, but as the last of the four concerts, namely in 1791. This late date of composition would also explain that this concert, which consists exclusively of a first movement and a rondo that has not been fully orchestrated , a middle movement is missing. The correct order of the four horn concertos would be:

  1. KV 417 ("No. 2")
  2. KV 495 ("No. 4")
  3. KV 447 ("No. 3")
  4. KV 412 ("No. 1")

Mozart wrote the first three horn concertos KV 417, 495 and 447 as well as the incompletely orchestrated rondo movement from KV 412 for the horn player Joseph Leutgeb (1732–1811). Joseph Leutgeb was born in Neulerchenfeld (then Lower Austria) in 1732 . It is unclear where and with whom Leutgeb studied. From 1764 to 1773 he was listed as a "hunter horn player" in the Salzburg court calendar, two public appearances are documented in Vienna (1752 and 1762) and in 1770 he is mentioned in Paris, where he performed two or three solo concerts he composed himself and achieved great success. Leutgeb's solo concerts, however, cannot be found. Almost all works composed for Leutgeb are provided with a written reference to the horn player, mostly an ironic remark, for example the dedication of the concerto in Eb KV 417: Wolfgang Amadé Mozart had pity on the Leitgeb Esel, Ochs, und Narr / / at Vienna the 27th May 1783 . The Rondo draft KV 412 is even provided with ironic remarks throughout.

swell

  • Franz Giegling (Ed.): New Mozart Edition . Series V: Concerts. Work group 14: Concerts for one or more string, wind and plucked instruments and orchestra. Volume 5: Horn Concerts. 1987. Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel.

literature

  • Peter Gülke: The concerts. In: Silke Leopold (ed.): Mozart manual . Kassel, 2005, pp. 327-381, especially pp. 365-369.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Martin Staehelin : Concerts for wind instruments. Work inventory. In: Bruges, Joachim; Knispel, Claudia Maria (Ed.): Mozart's orchestral works and concerts. Laaber, 2007, Laaber-Verlag
  2. ↑ Karl Maria Pisarowitz: Mozart Schnorrer Leutgeb; Its primary biography, Mitteilungen der Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum, VIII (1970), Vol. 3/4, pp. 21-26.