According to Hans Engel [de], the piece was composed in Italy,[2] although Salzburg is written on the title page and is accepted as the place of composition.
Music with string solos was fashionable at the time, led by Mozart's employer Archbishop Colloredo, who himself played the violin.
The flautist Johann Baptist Wendling was enthusiastic about the Concertone and arranged to have it performed in Paris or possibly Mannheim.
[8] The Mozart scholar Alexander Hyatt King remarked "a hybrid work in which the old genre got a new soul ... the juxtaposition of baroque concerto grosso instruments mixes well with the new galant style”.
The extended long second movement displays lyrical trills and a masterful polyphonic interaction of the solo performers.
The minuet finale is cheerful and at a faster tempo, also affording the soloists opportunities to display their virtuosic skills.