Prussian Blue: Flute Music at the Court of Frederick the Great

Featuring

Sophia Aretz
Alexander von Heißen
Friedrich II von Preussen (Frederick the Great)
Johann Joachim Quantz
Amalie von Preußen
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

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Composer Biography

Frederick the Great's profound love for music, especially playing the 'flûte traversière' (transverse flute), was a singular passion he discovered young and never forgot.

Composition History

Johann Joachim Quantz, a flutist 15 years older than Frederick the Great, taught the monarch regularly and composed nearly 300 flute concertos and countless sonatas for him.

Critical Reception

The English music historian Charles Burney noted that only C.P.E. Bach and Francis Benda dared to have an original style among Prussian court musicians, while others, including Quantz and Graun, imitated Vinci and Vivaldi.

Historical Context

Johann Sebastian Bach, father of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, disparaged Berlin music, calling it 'Prussian blue' that 'won't last,' as his own compositional aesthetic was considered old-fashioned.

Compositional Technique

Frederick the Great's flute solos, with their endless passages of alternating notes, triadic breaks, and scales, demonstrate his phenomenal virtuoso skills on the instrument.

Composer Biography

Frederick II of Prussia, also known as Frederick the Great, was a complex figure who loved his dogs more than people and was a tormented character full of contradictions.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Frederick the Great preferred the 'galant' style of music, characterized by lightness, transparency, and songfulness, and rejected stylistic innovations.