Story Behind The Song

This is one of two horn concerti of Mozart to include bassoons (the other is K. 447), but in this one he "treats them indifferently in the first movement."[2] It is the only one of Mozart's horn concerti to be in D major (the rest are in E-flat major) and the only one to have just two movements instead of the usual three. Although numbered first, this was actually the last of the four to be completed. Compared to the other three concertos, it is shorter in duration (two movements rather than three), and is much simpler in regard to both range and technique, perhaps in a nod to Leitgeb's, the horn player and Mozart's great friend, advanced age and (presumably) reduced capabilities at the time of composition. The second movement was shown by Alan Tyson to have been finished by Mozart's student Franz Xaver Süssmayr after Mozart's death.

Song Description

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 1 in D major, K. 412/386b was completed in 1791. The work is in two movements: Allegro and Rondo. This version was arranged and performed on the MDT French Horn by Bart Brady Ciampa, BMI. The background was constructed using Roland SC-8850, XV-2020, and Kurzweil K-2000 synthesizers.