Hornkonzert Nr.3 Es-Dur KV 447 - MVSR1892 | Musica

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) wrote his four horn concertos in Vienna between 1781 and 1791. We still do not know why Mozart did not register those concertos fully dated in his catalogue of works. The dating used in the Köchel catalog turned out to be wrong, though the numeration remains. Today we assume that the Horn Concerto No. 3 KV 447 was composed after the Horn Concerto No. 4 KV 495, probably in 1787. Mozart wrote the four horn concertos for Ignaz Leutgeb (1732-1811), an excellent horn player and a friend of Mozart. It is to Leutgeb that we owe the preferential treatment of the horn in many of the composer’s works. Mozart often included remarks both friendly and mocking in his manuscripts, e.g. in the Horn Concerto No. 2 KV 417:

“Wolfgang Amadé Mozart took pity on Leitgeb the ass, ox and fool /
Vienna, the 27th of May 1783“.

The second movement, the wonderful “Romance” can justifiably be regarded as a pearl among Mozart’s middle movements. There are several indications that this movement was the first of the concerto’s three to be composed. This edition of the popular work makes it accessible to a wide range of performers and audiences. While it pays due homage to Mozart’s compositional genius, in comparison to the original, Loritz utilizes the greater tonal possibilities offered by the modern wind ensemble.