Horn Concerto No. 4 (Mozart)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 4 in E-flat major, K. 495 was completed in 1786.

Structure

The work is in three movements:

*I. Allegro moderato
*II. Romance (Andante)
*III. Rondo (Allegro vivace) 6/8 [Jean-Pierre Marty, "The Tempo Indications of Mozart". New Haven & London: Yale University Press (1988): 43. "The very absence of sixteenths is also an incentive towards overly fast tempos, and this is why the finales of the Horn Concertos K.386b, 417 and 447 are almost always performed faster than 88/264. Yet, the finale of K.417 ends with a coda marked Più allegro, and the finale of the fourth horn concerto (K.495), though very similar in style to the other three, is marked Allegro vivace."]

The manuscript, written in red, green, blue, and black ink, was formerly considered as a jocular attempt to rattle the intended performer, Mozart´s friend Joseph Leutgeb.

The last movement is a "quite obvious" example of the hunt topic, "in which the intervallic construction, featuring prominent tonic and dominant triads in the main melody, was to some degree dictated by the capability of the horn, and so was more closely allied with the original 'pure' characteristics of the 'chasse' as an open-air hunting call." [John Irving, "Mozart, the "Haydn" quartets". Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1998): 95, note 20. "Once defined, however, such 'chasse' characteristics could survive transplantation to other instruments and genres," such as the String Quartet in B-flat, K. 458.]

This concerto is one of Mozart's two horn concerti to have ripieno horns (horns included in the orchestra besides the soloist), though in contrast to K. 417, the solo horn in this one duplicates the first ripieno horn's part in the tutti passages. [Ralph Leavis, "Mozart's Last Horn Concerto" "Music & Letters" 34, 4 (1953): 316]

Discography

Given its duration (no more than 20 minutes) it is quite common to find this Horn Concerto on the same CD as Mozart's other three, or in boxed sets of Mozart's concerti for wind instruments or even all his concerti. One example is Dennis Brain's 1953 recording of the four horn concertos on EMI ("Mozart Horn Concertos Nos. 1-4") with The Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan. From Naxos Records, Michael Thompson's recording as both hornist and conductor of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta is available as part of the album "Complete Works for Horn & Orchestra".

Fred Rizner recorded this concerto in 1995 together with K. 447 with the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by José Luis García Asensio on a Summit disc which also includes the Clarinet Concerto, K. 622 (with clarinetist Joaquin Valdepeñas). [ [http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Concerto-clarinet-horn-No4/dp/B0000038J3 http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Concerto-clarinet-horn-No4/dp/B0000038J3] ]

In 1963, Flanders and Swann used the Rondo movement for the tune of their song "Ill Wind" in the album "At the Drop of Another Hat".

References