Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Hornkonzert Nr. 4 Es-dur KV 495 (Breitkopf Urtext)

Joke or color code?

Mozart composed all horn concertos for Joseph Leutgeb, a longtime friend of his family. In Salzburg, Leutgeb was a horn player and violinist in the court orchestra there, then went to Vienna and performed here, among other things, as an interpreter of Mozart's horn concertos. In 1786 Mozart wrote his fourth horn concerto in E-flat major, the autograph of which has unfortunately survived only incompletely. For the present new edition in the "Breitkopf Urtext", therefore, recourse was made to a reliable early printing for the missing parts. Nevertheless, the autograph is a very valuable source, since it contains Mozart's notation of the work in colored ink! The question of whether this was a typical joke by Mozart on Leutgeb or whether he had something else in mind remains unanswered to this day. Those who are curious can form their own opinion, because Breitkopf will print the autograph parts of the score true to the original in color in its new edition.