On top of the original score of Mozart’s second horn concerto is a handwritten inscription: “Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has taken pity on Leutgub, donkey, ox, and fool, in Vienna, May 27.” Addressed to French hornist Joseph Leutgeb, it captures the playful dynamic between Mozart and one of his closest friends.
Leutgeb was 24 years Mozart’s senior and had first met the composer when Mozart was just 7. At that time, Leutgeb was the hornist of the Salzburg court orchestra where Mozart’s father, Leopold, also worked, quickly becoming a fixture in the Mozart family home.
Unfortunately for Leutgeb, he also became the target of many of Mozart’s whims. Even into adulthood, Mozart seemed to revert back to his 7-year-old self whenever Leutgeb was around. On one occasion, the composer scattered his manuscripts on the floor, refusing to continue composing until Leutgeb rearranged them in the proper order. On another, Mozart forced Leutgeb to hide behind a stove before agreeing to a simple request. Yet beneath the constant teasing, Leutgeb became one of Mozart’s closest confidants.
When Mozart’s wife, Constanze, left Vienna to receive medical attention in Baden, the lonely composer sought Leutgeb’s companionship. Mozart ended up staying multiple nights at his friend’s house, later writing about how he slept peacefully in the little bedroom beside the garden. But this being Mozart, he couldn’t help but complain that Leutgeb’s wife lacked the ability to properly tie his necktie.
A Friend in Need
In 1777, Leutgeb asked Mozart for a horn concerto. However, in the years following the request, Leutgeb faced financial problems: He found himself in debt after borrowing money from Leopold to buy a small house. When Leutgeb was unable to repay the sum, an increasingly irritated Leopold demanded the money back.
In 1782, Mozart intervened with a letter to his father. Mozart defended his friend—begging Leopold to have patience, suggesting that Leutgeb be allowed to pay back the debt in installments. On May 27 the following year, perhaps as a consolation to Leutgeb, Mozart finally delivered the promised horn concerto. Yet, as it turned out, Leutgeb never managed to repay Leopold.
A Playful Performance and an Uncertain Retirement
Though titled Horn Concerto No. 2, K. 417, this piece was actually Mozart’s first completed horn concerto. Following the initial inscription describing Leutgeb as a donkey and a fool, Mozart continued his jibes straight into the third Rondo movement.
Today’s recording of the Rondo runs from 09:46 to 13:36, and is performed and conducted by Radek Baborák with the Czech Sinfonietta. (Listen)
The movement starts with a lighthearted melody, but the antics soon begin. In the middle of the Rondo, violins seem to chuckle in mischievous delight (11:21) as Mozart has given the solo horn two incredibly difficult trills. After each trill (11:31, 11:36), the strings laugh mockingly at the soloist’s plight.
Near the end of the movement, Mozart forces the horn to play unusually quietly against the orchestra (12:56), as if the hornist has lost his nerve. The horn then begins the final restatement of the main theme, but Mozart intentionally places rests in the middle of the phrase. These brief, awkward interruptions make it sound as if the soloist has suddenly forgotten the music.
Finally, the hornist remembers the melody and ends with an exuberant restatement (13:10). Mozart marks the ending “piu allegro” (faster and more lively)—as if the horn player is relieved to see the finish line andis rushing to get there.
After a successful career as a musician, legend says that Leutgeb retired to become a cheesemonger in a country village. Though scholars today doubt the truth of this anecdote, it remains a fitting conclusion for the lifelong companion of a quirky, eccentric composer.
One can almost imagine Leutgeb in his shop making cheese, finally free from the practical jokes of his closest friend.
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