Mozart's Horn Concerto K417

Horn Concerto No. 2, K. 417 (1783) W. A. Mozart

i) Allegro

ii) Andante

iii) Rondo (Allegro)

Wolfgang Mozart’s second horn concerto is a very well-known and frequently played part of the horn repertoire. This is due to its accessibility and the fame of the composer as well as its artistic merit. As a concerto, it is typical of other music of its time in style and structure. The Mozart concerto’s influence in terms of melodic writing and style can be seen in a great number of later horn pieces.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was born in Salzburg, Austria. When he was just 5 years old, he started composing small and beautifully melodic pieces, mainly for the keyboard. At the age of six, Leopold Mozart and his wife Anna Maria took the young Wolfgang and his sister Nannerl on a tour of the European Courts to exhibit the children’s precocious talents. Mozart continued to develop his musicianship during his adolescence, and from 1774 to 1777 he worked as Konzertmeister in Salzburg. While visiting Vienna in 1781 he was dismissed from his Salzburg position and chose to stay in the capital, where over the rest of life he achieved fame but little financial security. The horn concerto K417 was written during his early years in Vienna, around the same time as his Mass in C minor.

This concerto was written for a small-bore natural horn in Eb. Musical instrument valves were not added to brass instruments until the mid-19th century. Robert Schumann (1810-1856) wrote the very first solo piece for a 3-valved horn in 1849 - “Adagio and Allegro”, and also the “Konzertstück” for four horns and orchestra in the same year, which was and may still be the most extensive work to feature solo valved horns. A display piece, the Konzertstück was written to show off the newly achievable valve horn techniques, and to encourage more of the horn virtuosi of the time to accept the new instrument. Schumann, who considered himself part of the musical ‘new wave’ at the time, took it as a challenge to compose something for horn that would exploit the new capabilities of the horn, and commend it to both virtuosi and traditionalists of his time.

By the time of Richard Strauss (1864-1949), the horn was an accepted solo instrument as well as an integral part of the orchestra. Romantic composers, particularly Strauss, Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) and Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) used the horn’s distinctive sound extensively in their orchestra writing. The two Strauss horn concerti typify the romantic horn-writing popular at the time, while also referring to the traditional natural horn style of writing which uses predominantly the notes of the harmonic series. Franz Strauss, Richard Strauss’ father, was a professional horn player as well as a composer, and so Richard was brought up with the sound of the horn, and soon loved it as much as his father did.

The first ever recording of a horn concerto was Aubrey Brain’s 1927 recording of this Mozart horn concerto, K 417, which testifies to the concerto’s popularity in the horn repertoire, particularly in the 20th century. Aubrey Brain and his son Dennis did for the modern horn in the 20th century what Leutgeb and his peers had done for the natural horn in the 16th century. Aubrey and Dennis Brain (and Dennis’ uncle Alfred) were much more adept at the difficult instrument than their contemporaries, and many compositions were written for them which would previously have been thought impossibly virtuosic. A new standard was set for future players and compositions, and horn playing was brought to a new audience and to higher levels of virtuosity by the Brains. 

Mozart’s horn concerto K417 is known as his second horn concerto, but was actually the first to be written. It set the pattern for the rest of Mozart’s horn concerti in both structure and style and like the subsequent concerti, it was written for Mozart’s friend and colleague in the Salzburg Court Orchestra, Ignaz Leutgeb. Leutgeb was a stunning virtuoso on an instrument then considered vulgar, fit only for hunting calls, and which was only rarely allowed into the concert hall. Though Leutgeb was twenty-five years his senior, the horn-player and the composer became good friends, and Mozart wrote numerous compositions for him, many of them annotated with jokes, such as the dedication on this concerto: “W. A. Mozart took pity on Leitgeb, ass, ox and fool in Vienna on 27 May 1783”.

For his favourite horn player, Mozart wrote the Concert Rondo, three complete horn concerti, K417, K447, K495, sketches for three more (now played as a whole concerto K412), the horn and string quintet K407, and numerous horn duets (composed “while playing skittles” as the inscription says, most likely against his friend Leutgeb). Mozart’s elegant music with its characteristic melodic beauty is deeply coloured by Italian opera, especially in the Andante movement of this concerto, though also rooted to traditional Viennese music.

Mozart wrote his horn concerti in an attempt to civilise the contemporary view of the horn through sophisticated and elegant music. However, to do this Mozart had to overcome the technical limitations of the horn, for in his lifetime, the horn didn’t have valves. This meant that the only notes that could be played on the horn were those in the harmonic series unless the player moved their hand in the bell, which would change the timbre of the note.Covering the opening of the bell would lower the pitch, and the more the opening is covered, the flatter the note becomes. Notes above the staff are generally unstable and hard to tune, so in the Mozart concerto they are used less frequently even though they are closer together. Any written notes outside the harmonic series must be hand-stopped to change the harmonic to the desired pitch.

Mozart coped with these restrictions through careful decisions and alterations, and even used the change in timbre of ‘stopped’ notes to his advantage – using the harsher sound to emphasise a certain note or harmony. The addition in 1825 of valves to the horn was revolutionary, as it gave the horn the ability to play chromatically throughout the entire register, without changing the timbre of the note. Suddenly the bugle-like instrument became expressive and virtuosic, and could play in every key.

The Mozart concerto is typical of the classical concerto in terms of form and related harmony. The first movement is in a condensed sonata form, the second in a miniature ternary form, and the final movement is a lively rondo. Here is an illustration of the major sections of the first movement, showing the sonata form.

This shows that Mozart has balanced his three major sections so that the exposition and recapitulation are roughly the same length, and the development is much shorter. The introduction to the movement introduces the two main themes, and some other motifs which are used again in the transition sections.

The concerto begins with a tutti passage in Eb major, which introduces the style and tonality of the concerto, as well as the two principal themes of the movement, both in the tonic key of Eb major. When the horn enters, we hear the first main theme, accompanied by simple chords. This light-hearted theme is embellished with scalic semiquaver runs, which lead towards the modulation into Bb major for the second subject. The music heard in the introduction is revisited, and then a new, ornamented version follows. The second subject is more legato than the first, though the music soon breaks into joyful semiquavers, which emphasise the perfect cadence. A playful new melody then follows, distinctive with its staccato quavers, again leading to the semiquaver cadence which marks the end of the solo, leaving the orchestra to finish the exposition with the music from the end of the introduction. A brief development follows, introducing a new chromatic melody in Bb minor to change the mood. A rising sequence leads the music through various keys, finally settling back into Eb major for the recapitulation. The development is quite short, as is typical of the classical concerto, and here Mozart is limited in his choice of keys by the achievable notes on the horn.

After this, the music from the introduction is played once more to introduce the recapitulation. This section follows the traditional model of Sonata form by bringing back the two themes of the exposition both in the tonic key. The second subject is altered, with a higher, more virtuosic solo part, which leads to an imitative sequence between the orchestra and horn. The cheeky second part of the second subject is more ornate, to emphasise the finality of the passage. A short orchestral Coda finishes the movement with music from the end of the introduction.

The second movement is much calmer than the first, in a slow 3/8 with a lilting feel. Again, the orchestra introduces the main theme, and then the soloist reiterates it. The melody is simple but beautiful, displaying Mozart’s classical elegance and poignancy. This movement owes much to the influences of Italian opera, for it is very similar to an operatic Aria in the phrasing of the melody, the simplicity of the accompaniment, and the strophic form. To develop musical ideas in the second movement, Mozart adds small variations to the melodies each time they return. Towards the end of the movement, the first theme is played again, this time with an unexpected interrupted cadence which leads to the finality of a short coda in the tonic key of Bb major.

A concluding hunt-inspired Rondo in 6/8 time sets the pattern for the rest of Mozart's Leutgeb concertos. This movement is irrepressibly light and jolly, and in the key of Eb major. The Rondo theme opens and ends the movement, as expected, and dialogue between the soloist and orchestra adds variety to the music. The stringed instruments of the orchestra were much more agile than the horn, and so were able to play more complex melodies. The first episode remains in Eb major, and retains the bouncing rhythm of the theme, but Mozart later creates more contrast between the theme and episodes with a variety of keys and styles. The distinctive motif throughout the movement is reminiscent of a horse’s hoof-beats, and is used by Mozart to modulate between sections.

The longest episode, in the middle of the movement, is in the relative minor key, and it keeps the lightness of the rondo theme with the characteristic crotchet-quaver rhythm. The orchestra lead the music back to Eb major for another appearance of the rondo theme using the semiquaver motif heard previously. This rondo theme is followed by a sweetly legato episode, more like a folksong than a hunting call, which is accompanied by held chords. The penultimate rondo theme is very quiet and fragmented, which is a surprise for the listener as it destroys the musical impetus felt from the beginning of the movement, but the audience is soon re-assured with a lively, faster rendition of the theme. As the orchestra round off the piece with a perfect cadence, the hunter and his horse gallop away into the distance, leaving the hounds to catch up.

Mozart makes great use of surprise within the music, to defy the listeners’ musical expectations, and also uses contrasts of tone, articulation, range and melody. He creates variety in the repetition of themes by making unexpected changes to the harmony or melody. Modulations to unexpected keys are also used to surprise listeners. Mozart also liked to utilise the wide range of timbres and articulation available on the horn and this exploration adds variety to the concerti. Comparing the opening phrases of the second and third movements of the Mozart concerto show this variety of tone clearly.

Mozart’s music is enhanced by his regular form and straight-forward key structure. Simplicity adds to the musical beauty in a way that is complemented by the tonal variations of the natural horn.