W. A Mozart
4 Flute Quartets
arranged as
4 Sonatas
for Flute and Piano
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer, violinist and piano virtuoso,
was born on January 26,1756 in Salzburg, Austria and died on December 5,
1791 in Vienna, Austria. Mozart’s works are identified by Köchel
numbers (pronounced “Kershel”), named for the Austrian musicologist Ludwig Köchel
who, in 1862, published a numerical list of Mozart’s works in the order
in which they had been written - i.e., K. 1 was the first piece Mozart
wrote and K. 626, the last.
While in Mannheim, in late 1777, Mozart received a commission for several Flute Concertos (for flute and orchestra) and Flute Quartets (for flute and string trio - violin, viola and cello) from a wealthy amateur flautist, Ferdinand Dejean
(1731-1797). Unfortunately, our knowledge of much of Mozart’s flute
literature, exactly how many flute concertos and flute quartets he
wrote, rests on the information contained in Mozart’s letters to his
father and Mozart wasn’t very consistent: in December, 1777 he reported
3 concertos and a couple of quartets; at the end of January, 1778 the
number of quartets had increased to 4; February, 1778, it was 2
concertos and only 3 quartets; in July, 1778, only 2 quartets; but in
October, 1778, again it was 3 quartets.
Most modern scholars agree on 4 Flute Quartets (2 from this period in Mannheim and 2 from later in Vienna) and 2 Flute Concertos - Andante in C Major (K. 315) was supposedly written as a replacement for the 2nd movement of Flute Concerto No. 1 in G Major (K. 313)
- because Dejean found the original 2nd movement too difficult. At
that point Mozart began to lose interest in the commission and for Flute Concerto No. 2 in D Major (K. 314) simply transposed to D Major an already existing Oboe Concerto in C Major (K. 271k) written in 1777 for Oboist Giuseppe Ferlendis (1755-1810).
This caused Dejean to become angry with Mozart and refuse to pay the
commission - contributing to Mozart’s alleged dislike of the flute. In
March 1778, while in Paris, Mozart met another wealthy amateur flautist,
the Count of Guines (1735-1806), whose daughter was an excellent harpist; Flute and Harp Concerto (K. 299)
was written for them in April, 1778 - one of the few commissions
received by Mozart while in Paris but for which he also was not fully
paid.
The purpose of Mozart’s 1777-1778 trip had been to try to secure a position somewhere in Europe other than
Salzburg, where he felt his talents were wasted; not only did he not
receive any offers for a position, his mother died while they were
staying in Paris in 1778.
4 Flute Sonatas
Although not very difficult, the Four Flute Quartets are rarely played by High School Flute students because of the necessity of 3 string players (Violin, Viola and Cello) and because of the unfriendly keys employed: A, D, G & C - keys not often seen in school band.
These
Sonatas were “created” by transposing the Flute Quartets up a tone or
semitone in order to put them into flat keys, and then arranging the
String Trio parts for the Piano. Some meters were also changed to avoid
the use of sixteenth or thirty-second notes.
K. 285 in Eb (origianally in D)
K. 285a in Ab (origianally in G)
K. 285b in Bb (origianally in C)
K. 298 in Bb (origianally in A)
This deluxe edition - $39.95 - includes:
Solo Flute part - 9”X12” - 28 pages
Piano Part - 9”X12” - 72 pages
3 Audio CDs contain:
Disc 1 (72:28)
Strings and Solo
Quartet in Eb Major (K. 285)
1. - 1st Movement (2 bar intro)
2. - 2nd Movement (1 bar intro)
3. - 3rd Movement (4 bar intro)
Quartet in Ab Major (K. 285a)
4. - 1st Movement (2 bar intro)
5. - 2nd Movement (2 bar intro)
Strings Only (No Fl)
Quartet in Eb Major (K. 285)
6. - 1st Movement (2 bar intro)
7. - 2nd Movement (1 bar intro)
8. - 3rd Movement (4 bar intro)
Quartet in Ab Major (K. 285a)
9. - 1st Movement (2 bar intro)
10. - 2nd Movement (2 bar intro)
Fl & Piano (Solo - left ;Piano - right)
Sonata in Eb Major (K. 285)
11. - 1st Movement (2 bar intro)
12. - 2nd Movement (1 bar intro)
13. - 3rd Movement (4 bar intro)
Sonata in Ab Major (K. 285a)
14. - 1st Movement (2 bar intro)
15. - 2nd Movement (2 bar intro)
Disc 2 (57:56)
Strings and Solo
Quartet in Bb Major (K. 285b)
1. - 1st Movement (4 bar intro)
2. - 2nd Movement (2 bar intro)
Quartet in Bb Major (K. 298)
3. - 1st Movement (2 bar intro)
4. - 2nd Movement (2 bar intro)
5. - 3rd Movement (4 bar intro)
Strings Only (No Fl)
Quartet in Bb Major (K. 285b)
6. - 1st Movement (4 bar intro)
7. - 2nd Movement (2 bar intro)
Quartet in Bb Major (K. 298)
8. - 1st Movement (2 bar intro)
9. - 2nd Movement (2 bar intro)
10. - 3rd Movement (4 bar intro)
Disc 3 (28:54)
Fl & Piano (Solo - left ;Piano - right)
Sonata in Bb Major (K. 285b)
1. - 1st Movement (4 bar intro)
2. - 2nd Movement (2 bar intro)
Sonata in Bb Major (K. 298)
3. - 1st Movement (2 bar intro)
4. - 2nd Movement (2 bar intro)
5. - 3rd Movement (4 bar intro)
