In his treatise Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen, devoted to playing the flute, one of the instrument’s greatest virtuosos, Johann Joachim Quantz, noted that at the dawn of the eighteenth century there was a shortage of compositions for his instrument in Germany. Flautists often used pieces written for the violin or oboe, adapting them for the flute. Thus, when music specifically for flute was composed in the 1720s, the part for this instrument often resembled violin parts, for example from works by Antonio Vivaldi. Quantz notes, however, that it was the Germans who established the principles of playing the flute, as reflected in the names of the instrument in English (‘German flute’) and French (‘flûte allemande’) used in that period. There is no doubt that the flute was an important instrument in the German states. Quantz’s pupils even included King Frederick II the Great of Prussia, who employed Quantz as his court composer in Berlin. The harpsichordist at the monarch’s court, meanwhile, was Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who scored some of his concertos for solo instruments other than the harpsichord. Such was the case with the Flute Concerto in G major, CPEB:CW III/4.1:3, also known in a version for keyboard instrument.
Simply… Philharmonic! Project 1:
The search for perfection in the art of music can have various facets. In the field of solo performance, it is reflected in virtuosity. In the Baroque era, examples of the first manifestations of this phenomenon in flute playing can be found in France, but in the eighteenth century, the most important centres boasting outstanding flautists were the German states.
Performance perfection, however, is not only about solo performance, but also about the ability of the musicians in an ensemble to communicate perfectly. Still today, the string quartet is regarded as the model in the field of chamber music. Although it is mainly associated with a Classical-Romantic pedigree, works for this line-up were already being composed by Alessandro Scarlatti during the Baroque era. He may have been looking to the old masters of the Renaissance madrigal for inspiration, as Scarlatti is known to have held the work of Carlo Gesualdo in high esteem.
Compositional ideals in the art of counterpoint, in turn, were formulated by Johann Sebastian Bach, in his symbolically last work Die Kunst der Fuge, where he showed the multitude of possibilities for contrapuntally elaborating a chosen theme. Thanks to Bach’s efforts to quickly publish the collection, Die Kunst der Fuge became not only a coherent compendium of his achievements in the field of instrumental writing, but also an emblematic culmination of his entire career as a composer.
Daniel Laskowski
