Who was the first composer to write a concerto for a single french horn?

Hi pjmulberry,
  
I believe the composer was Robert Schumann (1810-1856).
   
"Halévy's opera La Juive (1835) was the first orchestral score
specifically to feature a valve-horn, and Schumann the first composer
to write for it as a solo instrument with his Adagio and Allegro for
horn and piano in 1849."
http://www.geocities.co.jp/MusicHall/1921/article5e.html
(see "Bernard Shaw's Irony", last paragraph)
  
"It was Robert Schumann who was the first major composer to make a
substantial break with hand horn tradition, writing chromatically for
the instrument throughout its range. In 1849 he wrote two wonderful
pieces for the valve horn. In February he composed in three days the
Adagio and Allegro for horn and piano, which he described to Clara in
a letter, writing "the piece is splendid, fresh and passionate, so
that I like it!"
http://www.osmun.com/reference/brahms/Chapter%203.html
   
"He [Schumann] wrote the first major work for valved horn called
Adagio and Allegro written in 1849, exhausting many of the
possibilities of the new valved horn. He also expanded the horn
repertoire by composing a four horn Konzertstück, which demands
extreme virtuosity among the players and for many years was considered
"unplayable" by several members of the horn community. Schumann's C
Major Symphony contains a great horn call that is a favorite of many
horn players."
http://netvigator.com/~ivan/horn1.htm
   
The French Horn
http://cnx.rice.edu/content/m11617/latest/
  
  
I hope this answers your question. 
  
regards,
  
jackburton
  
  
----------
Search terms:
"first composer" concerto french horn
"first composer" schumann french horn
"first composer" schumann 1849 horn
schumann 1849 horn " Adagio and Allegro" "french horn"

pjmulberry --

Assuming that (1) you are using the term "concerto" in its broad sense
of a large piece for solo instrument with orchestra (not necessarily
in strict sonata form); that (2) you are referring to one written
specifically for "valved" horn; and that (3) you would be satisfied
with a work by a *major* composer, one candidate from 19th century
France is Saint-Saens's "Concert Piece in F Minor (Op. 94).

Here is its description in some program notes for the Cleveland Orchestra:

"Saint-Saëns's Concert Piece in F minor is on a slightly more
ambitious scale. Although it is in a single movement, it "mimics" the
three-movement outline of a traditional concerto by containing a slow
"Adagio" between two faster sections. But the work is rather short for
a concerto, there are no breaks between "movements" (or sections), and
the last section begins with a recall of the melody with which the
piece opened, reinforcing the "one-movement" feel of the entire
composition."
Cleveland Orchestra (about half way down the page)
http://clevelandorchestra.com/images/FTPImages/Performance/program_notes/081503.html


markj-ga

Mozart wrote four French horn concertos between 1782 and 1787. These
were written for the natural horn, not the valved horn (which had not
been invented yet).

This is an excellent article:
http://www.hornplanet.com/hornpage/museum/history/horn_history1.html