Strauss's two Horn Concertos date from diametrically opposite ends of his career, this first one composed in 1882–3 when he was still in his teens, the second (in the same key also preferred by Mozart) in 1942 when he was almost in his eighties. No.1 was doubtless written out of respect for his father Franz who was principal horn of the Munich court orchestra for nearly half a century and to whom the surviving autograph manuscript (AV below) is dedicated, but he never actually played it in public and it was eventually officially dedicated to the eminent virtuoso Oscar Franz. However, the first performance in March 1885 was not given by him either, but by the local first horn of the Meiningen orchestra Gustav Leinhos, who, Strauss was able to report to his father with glee, was a soloist of “kolossaler Sicherheit” (colossal secureness). Though such a very early work, this is such a supremely and thrillingly effective concerto that it justly takes its place today, alongside Mozart's Nos. 3 and 4, in the triumvirate of reigning horn concertos.

In this piece the most important textual issues are the notes in 4F Vl 2 (section 1 below) and 8K 1.Clar (section 3).

sources

(A  Autograph full score, lost)

AV  Autograph score for Horn and Piano (also containing instrumental indications), in the Städtische Musikbibliothek, München, published in facsimile by Hans Schneider, Tutzing in 1971. Fortuitously since A is lost, Strauss adheres closely to the orchestral score in AV as opposed to rewriting it pianistically, so that AV is unexpectedly valuable as an authoritative source for deducing slurs or staccato in individual instruments, even precise details of chording. However, it does not always show the final version of the text; revisions were evidently made subsequently, in both PX and the proofs for B.

One strange feature of AV is the very many breath marks in the Solo part. These are of course all in Strauss's hand, and indeed survive in S,V; but they are ignored in E, as also always in performance, and it seems extraordinary and after almost every slur, breaking up every phrase impossibly. that Strauss could have expected them, for they come in almost every bar,