The work is in three movements: A typical performance duration of the concerto takes 16 to 18 minutes.

The manuscript,[2] written in red, green, blue, and black ink, was formerly considered as a jocular attempt to rattle the intended performer, Mozart's friend Joseph Leutgeb.

However, recently it was suggested that the multicolored score may also be a kind of "color code".

[3] The last movement is a "quite obvious" example of the hunt topic, "in which the intervallic construction, featuring prominent tonic and dominant triads in the main melody, was to some degree dictated by the capability of the horn, and so was more closely allied with the original 'pure' characteristics of the 'chassé' as an open-air hunting call.

In 1963 Flanders and Swann set the Rondo movement to words for their song "Ill Wind" from the album At the Drop of Another Hat.