| Subtitle: | No. 2 |
| Composer: | W. A. Mozart |
| Key: | E-flat major |
| Catalogue: | K. 417 |
| Genre: | Concerto |
| Style: | Classical period |
| Movements: | Three (Allegro maestoso, Andante, Rondo (Più allegro)) |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 2 in E-flat major, K. 417 was completed in 1783.
The concerto is scored for solo horn and an orchestra of two oboes, two horns, and strings. This is one of two horn concertos of Mozart to omit bassoons.[1] It is also one of Mozart's two horn concertos to have ripieno horns (horns included in the orchestra besides the soloist), though in contrast to Horn Concerto No. 4, K. 495, the solo horn in this one does not duplicate the first ripieno horn's part in the tutti passages.[2]
Mozart's good-natured ribbing of his friend, hornist Joseph Leutgeb for whom this and other works were written, is evident in the manuscript's inscription "W. A. Mozart took pity on Leitgeb, ass, ox and fool in Vienna on 27 May 1783."[3]
The finale of the concerto was used in various movies and TV shows such as Little Einsteins and JFK.
The work is in three movements:
Given its duration (no more than 20 minutes), the concerto is typically grouped with Mozart's other 3 for the instrument. The foremost example[5] is Dennis Brain's November 1953 recording of the four horn concertos on EMI with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan.