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Joseph Leutgeb (or Leitgeb; 6 October 1732 – 27 February 1811) was an outstanding natural horn player of the classical era, a friend and musical inspiration for Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Heartz suggests that at this time (1762) Joseph Haydn wrote his Concerto in D, Hob. VIId/3D, for Leutgeb. The two were likely friends, as on 3 July 1763 Haydn's wife served as godmother for Leutgeb's child Maria Anna Apollonia. Contrary to the assumption of and , Haydn did not stand godparent of Leutgeb's daughter . Michael Lorenz showed that Leutgeb's signature can be found on the autograph score of Haydn's Horn concerto. In February 1763 Leutgeb was briefly a part of the musical establishment of the Esterházy family, directed at the time by Haydn. He was paid a "high yearly salary" but departed, for reasons unknown, after only one month.
In the same year Leutgeb moved to Salzburg and joined the musical establishment of the ruling Prince-Archbishop, and thus became a colleague of Leopold Mozart and (later the same year), the Konzertmeister Michael Haydn.Haydn's appointment took effect 14 August 1763; New Grove article "Michael Haydn" He also made friends with a seven-year-old child prodigy, Leopold's son Wolfgang. A letter to friends from Leopold, traveling with his family on tour (20 August 1763), includes a list of people that Wolfgang told Leopold he missed; Leutgeb was one of them. Wolfgang was ultimately employed by the court music establishment and thus became Leutgeb's colleague.
Like Leopold and Wolfgang, Leutgeb took frequent leaves from his job to perform in other cities, including Paris, Vienna, Frankfurt, and cities in Italy; the three of them actually toured together in Italy in February 1773. In Milan, Wolfgang and Leopold wrote home to Salzburg about Leutgeb's reception and predicted great success for him.
In 1777, Leutgeb moved back to Vienna and bought a small house in , assisted by a loan from Leopold; in 1782, Wolfgang, who had moved there before, wrote to Leopold about the loan, which was still unpaid: "Please have a little patience with poor Leutgeb. If you knew his circumstances and saw how he has to muddle through, you would certainly feel sorry for him. I shall have a word with him and I feel sure that he will pay you, at any rate by installments."Translation from .
Leutgeb continued to work as a horn player in Vienna (see following section), but did not retire from playing in 1792. Based on Leutgeb's letter to Leopold older reference sources sometimes assert that Leutgeb ran a cheese shop;The story is reported, for instance, in the influential mid-19th century biography by Otto Jahn . this in fact had been a sausage shop run by his father-in-law, who until his death in 1763 had worked as a "Cervelat", producing Italian sausages. The sausage shop was sold in 1764. Leutgeb never owned a cheese shop. Leutgeb died in Vienna.
A press review of one of Leutgeb's performances in Paris ( Mercure de France) indicates he was a fine performer: the reviewer said Leutgeb was a "superior talent", with the ability to "sing an adagio as perfectly as the most mellow, interesting and accurate voice".
Mozart had a curious joking relationship with Leutgeb, seen for instance in the mocking comments he placed in Leutgeb's horn parts. K. 417 bears the mock dedication: "Wolfgang Amadé Mozart takes pity on Leutgeb, ass, ox, and simpleton, at Vienna, 27 March 1783". In one place he marks the orchestra part "Allegro" and the solo part "Adagio", perhaps mocking the tendency of horn notes to come in late, dragging the tempo. For another possible instance, see K. 412. The multicolored inks in K. 495 are often taken to be a kind of joke, though Mozart biographer Konrad Küster has claimed they had a purpose, specifically "to make some musical suggestions to the interpreters."
Letters from the end of Mozart's life suggests that Leutgeb did not mind the teasing and that the two had a good friendship. A letter by Mozart of 6 June 1791 indicates that, while his wife Constanze Mozart was away, he stayed for several nights at Leutgeb's, "because I had discharged the Leonore and I would have been all alone at home, which would not have been pleasant." Later the same year, after the highly successful premiere of his opera The Magic Flute, Mozart repeatedly took friends and relatives to performances, and wrote in a letter (8–9 October) "Leutgeb begged me to take him a second time and I did so."
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