Mozart composed four concerti for horn. Despite its numbering as Mozart's Horn Concerto 1, the concerto is actually the last of the four composed, having been written in the year of Mozart's death and left unfinished.
The first movement was completed by Mozart, a slow movement was never composed, and the finale was sketched out by Mozart but completed by Mozart's student, Franz Xaver Sussmayr. The result is a lovely but short concerto that, despite its brevity, is performed often and part of the standard horn repertoire.
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| FRANZ XAVER SUSSMAYR |
All four of Mozart's Horn Concerti were composed for Joseph Leutgeb, a hornist in Vienna and friend of the composer. Although the technical demands of Horn Concerto 1 are fewer when compared to the other three concerti, the work requires a level of virtuosity that testifies to Leutgeb's strong playing abilities.
