Horn Concerto No. 4 (Mozart)
Encyclopedia
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
's Horn Concerto No. 4 in E-flat major, K. 495 was completed in 1786.
:
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. However, recently it was suggested, that the multicolored score may be also a kind of "color code".
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."
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.
's November, 1953 recording of the four horn concertos on EMI with The Philharmonia Orchestra
conducted by Herbert von Karajan
.
In 1963, Flanders and Swann
set the Rondo movement to words for their song "Ill Wind" from the album At the Drop of Another Hat
.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Horn Concerto No. 4 in E-flat major, K. 495 was completed in 1786.
Structure
The work is in three movementsMovement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
:
- I. Allegro moderato
- II. Romance (Andante)
- III. RondoRondoRondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also to a character-type that is distinct from the form...
(Allegro vivace) 6/8
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. However, recently it was suggested, that the multicolored score may be also a kind of "color code".
The last movement is a "quite obvious" example of the hunt topic, "in which the intervallic construction, featuring prominent tonic
Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
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
Chasse
Chasse or chassé rarely chassée is a dance step used in many dances in many variants, all of them being triple-step patterns of gliding character, steps going basically step-together-step. The word came from ballet terminology...
' as an open-air hunting call."
This concerto is one of Mozart's two horn concerti to have ripieno
Ripieno
Ripieno or tutti can refer to:*the larger of the two ensembles in the concerto grosso. This is opposed to the concertino which are the soloists.*the notes added when realizing the figured bass of a basso continuo....
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
Tutti
Tutti is an Italian word literally meaning all or together and is used as a musical term, for the whole orchestra as opposed to the soloist...
passages.
Notable discography
Given its duration (no more than 20 minutes) it is quite common to find this Horn Concerto with Mozart's other three. The foremost example is Dennis BrainDennis Brain
Dennis Brain was a British virtuoso horn player and was largely credited for popularizing the horn as a solo classical instrument with the post-war British public...
's November, 1953 recording of the four horn concertos on EMI with The Philharmonia Orchestra
Philharmonia
The Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...
conducted by Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor. To the wider world he was perhaps most famously associated with the Berlin Philharmonic, of which he was principal conductor for 35 years...
.
In 1963, Flanders and Swann
Flanders and Swann
The British duo Flanders and Swann were the actor and singer Michael Flanders and the composer, pianist and linguist Donald Swann , who collaborated in writing and performing comic songs....
set the Rondo movement to words for their song "Ill Wind" from the album At the Drop of Another Hat
At the Drop of Another Hat
At the Drop of Another Hat is musical revue by Flanders and Swann, similar in format to its long-running predecessor, At the Drop of a Hat . In the show, they both sang on a nearly bare stage, accompanied by Swann on the piano. The songs were linked by contemporary social commentary, mostly by...
.