Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Horn Quintet E flat major K. 407 (386c)
We not only owe three of Mozart’s horn concertos to his friendship with Ignaz Leutgeb; the solo part of this unusual chamber music work was also written especially for him.
Instead of having two violins, the accompanying string quartet has two violas, which complement the dark and warm timbre of the horn and lend the work a unique tonal effect. Echoes of motives from the “Abduction from the Seraglio” allow us to suppose that it was composed around the same time as the Singspiel. As the autograph is missing, this edition is based on the first edition. In addition the critical apparatus provides a careful evaluation of the secondary sources, affording important insights into Mozart’s intentions.
About the Composer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart is one of the few composers to have produced masterpieces in all genres. On the concert tours he undertook in his early years (London, Mannheim, Italy, Paris) he gained many varied musical impressions that he assimilated in his youth and which formed the prerequisite for his later consummate musical language.
| 1756 | Born in Salzburg on January 27, the son of musician and later court composer Leopold Mozart. His early regimented musical education from his father began in 1761, first compositions at age five. |
| 1763–66 | Extended concert tours through various German cities and to Paris, London, Amsterdam, Switzerland. He composes his first sonatas for violin and piano, K. 10–15, dedicated to Queen Charlotte, as well as the first symphonies from London, K. 16 and 19, which show the influence of the works of Johann Christian Bach and Karl Friedrich Abel (the three-movement Italian sinfonia form). |
| 1767 | Premiere in Salzburg of the sacred light opera “Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebotes,” K. 35 (written with Michael Haydn and Anton C. Adlgasser), and the intermezzo “Apollo et Hyacinthus,” K. 38. Journeys with his father and sister to Vienna. |
| 1768 | Probably the premiere in Vienna of his Singspiel “Bastien and Bastienne,” K. 50. Composition of his first masses. |
| 1769 | Performance in Salzburg of the dramma giocoso “La finta semplice,” K. 51. |
| 1769–71 | Two tours to Italy; he meets Farinelli, P. Nardini, and Padre Martini, among others, and, on the second trip, Hasse. Premieres in Milan of his opera seria “Mitridate, Re di Ponto” in 1770 and of the festa teatrale “Ascanio in Alba” in 1771. Composition of symphonies and his first string quartet (1770, K. 80). |
| 1771 | Composition of the oratorio “La Betulia liberate,” K. 118, in Salzburg/Italy. |
| 1772 | Premiere of the serenata drammatica “Il sogno di Scipione,” K. 126, for the accession of Salzburg Archbishop Hieronymus Count Colloredo. He receives an appointment as salaried concertmaster of the Salzburg Court Chapel (of which he had been an unpaid member since 1769). Third journey to Italy with his father, premiere in Milan of the dramma per musica “Lucio Silla,” with general success. The final trip to Italy spells the ends of his youthful phase of appropriation; he has tested out all important instrumental genres (symphony, sonata, string quartet) and all the main genres of opera (Singspiel, opera buffa, opera seria, festa teatrale). |
| from 1773 | Composition of string quartets (K. 168–173) under the influence of Haydn, and of symphonies, divertimenti, serenades. He increasingly devotes himself, contingent upon the duties of his post, to liturgical music; several masses are written. Begins to compose violin and piano concerti. |
| 1775 | Premiere in Munich of the dramma giocoso “La finta giardiniera” and the serenata “Il Rè pastore.” Piano sonatas, K. 279–284. |
| 1777 | He vacates his post temporarily to undertaken a promotional tour with his mother to Munich, Mannheim, and Paris. |
| 1778 | Composition of the “Paris” Symphony in D major (K. 297). In Paris he experiences the quarrel between the proponents of Gluck and those of Piccinni. Publication of violin sonatas. |
| 1779 | Resumes his duties in Salzburg, as court organist. Coronation Mass in C major. |
| 1781 | Premiere in Munich of his tragédie lyrique “Idomeneo,” in which French and Italian elements are synthesized. Journey to Vienna. After his falling out with the Archbishop of Salzburg, he gives up his post, moves to Vienna, and earns his living as a free composer through concertizing and giving music lessons. His last great period of creativity begins. |
| 1782 | He becomes acquainted with the works of Bach and Handel through Baron van Swieten; after this he arranges Bachian fugues and incorporates the “learned style” (fugues and counterpoint) into his works beside the “galant style” (e.g. in the String Quartet in G major, K. 387, in 1782; Piano Sonata in F major, K. 533, in 1786; the Jupiter Symphony, K. 551, in 1788; “Die Zauberflöte” (“The Magic Flute”), and the Requiem in D minor, K. 626, both in 1791). Premiere in Vienna of his Singspiel “Die Entführung aus dem Serail” (“The Abduction from the Seraglio”). Composition of the Haffner Symphony in D major, K. 385. |
| 1783 | Mass in C minor, K. 427; Linz Symphony in C major, K. 425. |
| 1784 | Hunt Quartet in B-flat major, K. 458. |
| 1785 | Premiere in Vienna of the oratorio “Davide penitente,” K. 469. “Dissonance” Quartet in C major, K. 465. |
| 1786 | Premiere of the comedy with music “Der Schauspieldirektor” (“The Impresario”), K. 486, which Salieri’s competing work “Prima la musica e poi le parole” (“First the Music and Then the Words”) bests. Premiere in Vienna of the opera buffa “Le nozze di Figaro” (“The Marriage of Figaro”), whose extended action-packed finales form a highpoint of opera buffa. Prague Symphony in D major, K. 504. |
| 1787 | Serenade in G major (“Eine kleine Nachtmusik”), K. 525. He is named imperial and royal chamber composer. Premiere in Prague of the dramma giocoso “Il dissoluto punito ossia Il Don Giovanni,” a synthesis of serious and comic opera. |
| 1788 | Composition of the large Symphonies in E-flat major, K. 543; G minor, K. 550; and C major (Jupiter Symphony), K. 551. Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581. |
| 1790 | Premiere in Vienna of the dramma giocoso “Così fan tutte ossia La scuola degli amanti.” |
| 1791 | Premiere in Prague of the opera seria “La clemenza di Tito” and in Vienna of the Singspiel “Die Zauberflöte.” Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622. The Requiem remains unfinished. Dies in Vienna on December 5. |
About the Authors
Norbert Müllemann (Editor)
Dr. Norbert Müllemann, born in 1976 in Cologne, studied musicology, German philology and philosophy at the University of Cologne whilst at the same time studying the piano at the Music Conservatory in Cologne.
In 2004 he began working at G. Henle Publishers as an intern. In 2005 he became a junior editor, whilst at the same time starting his doctorate at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. He completed it in 2008 with a thesis entitled “Handschriften Frédéric Chopins bis 1830. Studien zur Authentizität, Datierung und Werkgenese”. Since 2008 Müllemann has been an editor at the publishing house, becoming editor-in-chief in 2017 and Head of Publishing in 2024. He has edited numerous Urtext editions for the publisher with a particular focus on the works of Frédéric Chopin.
Henrik Wiese (Editor)
Henrik Wiese was born in 1971 in Vienna. He first studied the flute with Paul Meisen (Munich). He later took a degree in Indo-European studies, general linguistics and musicology. From 1995 to 2006 he was solo flautist at the Bavarian State Opera (Munich), since 2006 he has held the same position with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Wiese was a prize-winner at the German Music Competition (1995) and at several international flute competitions (including the ARD Music Competition in 2000).
As part of his editorial work for G. Henle Publishers, studying sources led him to historical performance practice and the transverse flute. He plays this instrument with the Accademia giocosa. Wiese gives master-classes around the world and tries to impart an understanding of how to deal with editions and sources to his pupils, to show them how to write cadenzas and to hone their awareness of intonation. His artistic work as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral musician has been documented on numerous CDs.
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