Piano Concerto no. 24 in C minor, K. 491

Entered in Mozart's catalogue on 24 March 1786 and played by him at the Burgtheater soon afterwards. It calls for the largest orchestra of any of his concertos — oboes and clarinets together, with trumpets and drums — and is the second and last of the two he wrote in a minor key. The autograph is unusually untidy, full of crossings-out and alternative passages, which suggests work done quickly and against a deadline. The finale is a set of variations that refuses to turn to the major at the close, a decision Beethoven is said to have admired.