With the exception of a spurious work now attributed to François Devienne (K.Anh. 230a), the piece at hand is the only extant work Mozart wrote for solo bassoon. It is possible that he composed others; he is reputed to have composed three further bassoon concertos and a bassoon sonata for Thaddäus Baron von Dürnitz, the recipient of the Piano Sonata in D, K. 284. But none has been accounted for. The B flat concerto was completed in Salzburg in June 1774. That year the teenage Mozart was afforded the rare luxury of remaining at home, at least until he and his father traveled to Munich in December to supervise the first performances of his opera buffa, La finta giardiniera. The concerto, composed for an unknown recipient, is cast in the usual three movements, and its sunny, bubbling lyricism perhaps shows the influence of Italian opera. The thoroughly idiomatic writing for the solo instrument exploits both its lyrical qualities (especially in the central movement, unusually marked Andante ma adagio) and its playful ones, making one regret the possible loss of other concertos. The most notable feature of the work is the theme of the slow movement, which bears a close resemblance to the famous aria "Porgi amor" from The Marriage of Figaro. The first movement goes by the book, with an orchestral exposition that introduces two themes. Despite its youthful origin, which does show up in the concerto's lack of depth, this is a centerpiece of the bassoon's limited concerto repertoire. It is the among the first concertos that Mozart composed.

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