Horn Concerto No. 1 in D Major, K. 412

Composer: MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus
  • Written in 1791
    • Mozart only completed the first movement and drafted the second before his death. The orchestration for the second movement was finished by Franz Xaver Süssmayr (who also helped complete Mozart’s Requiem).
  • Two movements:
    1. Allegro
    2. Rondo
  • Like his other horn concertos, this work was written for horn player Joseph Leutgeb based on comments Mozart left for the musician in the score.
  • *While this concerto is given the title of “No. 1,” it was actually the last of Mozart’s four horn concertos to be completed.1
  • Fun fact regarding Mozart and Joseph Leutgeb: Throughout the score, Mozart continuously pokes fun at Leutgeb’s playing. Going even further, Mozart wrote “Adagio” in the score of the horn soloist and “Allegro” for the orchestra, which pokes fun at Leutgeb’s tendency to drag the tempo. Lastly, Mozart wrote the score in 4 different colors to further confuse and distract Leutgeb.

Sources

  1. Henrik Wiese, “Preface,” G. Henle Verlag (2001), accessed January 7, 2025, https://www.henle.de/en/Horn-Concerto-no.-1-D-major-K.-412-514/HN-701.

Cut IDs

40549 49515 45780 44730 11990