Georg Boge, the cellist, has a long tradition with flute music, having taken recorder lessons for almost 10 years and playing chamber music exclusively with flutes for the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation.
Compositional Technique
Mozart's Quartet in A, K. 298, is a musical joke that parodies other composers by distorting, paraphrasing, and varying well-known melodies, including a song by Franz Anton Hoffmeister and an opera aria by Giovanni Paisiello.
Composition History
Mozart composed his flute quartets for a wealthy audience of dilettantes, including nobility and the burgeoning bourgeoisie, who primarily sought entertainment.
Recording & Production
The recording features an unconventional seating arrangement for the musicians, with high instruments on the outer flanks, to create a novel spatial effect and surprising musical dialogues.
Performer Biography
Ulf-Dieter Schaa, the flautist on this album, has been the principal flute of the RundfunkSinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB) since 1995 and has performed as a soloist with the RSB under conductors like Marin Alsop and Andris Nelsons.
Composer Biography
Mozart's enthusiasm for composing the flute quartets waned after he fell in love with Aloysia Weber, leading him to only partially complete the commission and resulting in a reduced payment.
Composition History
The commission for the flute quartets came from Ferdinand Dejean, a German physician and amateur flautist serving the Dutch in Asia, who offered 200 florins, a considerable sum compared to Mozart's annual salary.
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