Mozart: Horn Concertos Nos. 2 & 3, Horn Quintet, K. 407 & Other Works

Featuring

Frank Struck
Volker Hartung
Davide Toso
Christine Kaulbach
William Lithgow
Ansgar Faust

Filippo Faes
Georg Stahl
Michael Schubert
Anouck von Perlfaster
Junge Philharmonie Köln
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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Composition History

Mozart's Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, K. 478, is likely the first major work composed for this genre in chamber music repertoire.

Critical Reception

The publisher Franz Anton Hoffmeister initially thought Mozart's Piano Quartet No. 1 would be too difficult for audiences and amateur musicians, leading him to release Mozart from his commission for three quartets.

Compositional Technique

The last movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11, known as 'Alla turca' or 'Turkish March', imitates the sound of Turkish Janissary bands, which were popular at the time.

Composition History

Mozart's good-natured teasing of his friend Joseph Leutgeb is evident in the manuscript inscription for Horn Concerto No. 2: "W. A. Mozart took pity on Leutgeb, ass, ox and fool in Vienna on 27 May 1783."

Composer Biography

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 2 was written for his friend Joseph Leutgeb, a horn player in the Salzburg court orchestra and one of the best horn players of the late 18th century.

Historical Context

Mozart's Violin Sonata No. 21 in E minor, K. 304, is the only work he wrote in the key of E minor, reflecting his concerns during his mother's illness and death in Paris in 1778.

Compositional Technique

Mozart's Horn Quintet in E flat Major K. 407 features an unusual string combination of one violin, two violas, and a cello, giving it a more resonant sonority than a regular string quartet.