Leopold Kohl was born around 1753; his biographical details cannot be established with certainty. In 1784 he went to France, hoping to obtain a position as principal horn player at the court of the French king. No further records of him survive after 1802.
These 6 Quartets Op. 1 were first published in 1784 by the Parisian firm Sieber. Its founder, Jean-Georges Sieber (1738–1822), had himself started out as a horn player at the Paris Opéra and the Concert spirituel before becoming a music publisher in 1770 — his catalogue also included works by the celebrated horn virtuoso Giovanni Punto. Kohl's arrival at the French court thus coincided with a golden age for the horn in Paris, where virtuosos such as Punto and the duo Palsa/Türrschmidt performed, and horn quartets enjoyed great popularity.
