Mozart's 'A Musical Joke,' KV 522, composed after his father's death, parodies second-rate composers and bad musicianship with intentional mistakes in harmony, phrasing, and structure.
Composition History
Mozart composed solo pieces for horn at the request of Joseph Leutgeb, starting with the Horn Quintet, KV 407, in 1782.
Instruments
The natural horn, used in Mozart's time, is a valveless instrument similar to a hunting horn, where intermediate tones are produced by hand-stopping.
Compositional Technique
The Horn Quintet, KV 407, features an unusual string quartet accompaniment of one violin, two violas, and a cello, creating a darker timbre that complements the E-flat horn.
Composer Biography
Joseph Leutgeb, a legendary horn player in Mozart's time, was born in Vienna in 1732 and established his reputation as a traveling horn virtuoso from 1750 onwards.
Compositional Technique
In the Horn Concerto in E-flat major, KV 447, Mozart experimented by composing the second movement, Romance, in A-flat major while the horn is tuned in E-flat, creating unexpected melodic possibilities.
Composer Biography
Mozart frequently teased his older friend, the horn player Joseph Leutgeb, even writing disparaging comments in the scores of his horn concertos.
