During the winter of 1777, Mozart spent three months in Mannheim, the German city which was renowned for having one of Europe’s most elite and cutting edge orchestras.
Months earlier, the 21-year-old composer had resigned from a position which he found stifling in his hometown of Salzburg. Accompanied by his mother, he set out on a job hunt that would take him to Paris. Ultimately, the trip ended in disappointment. But while in Mannheim, Mozart received a commission from the amateur flutist and wealthy Dutch East India merchant, Ferdinand De Jean, for “three easy, short flute concertos, and two quartets.” The flute, played by the likes of Frederick the Great of Prussia and George III of England, was a status symbol of the aristocracy.
When it came time to collect the payment, Mozart received only 96 of the promised 200 gulden. He quickly soured on the job, writing home to his father,
It is not surprising I’ve been unable to finish all the pieces for Monsieur De Jean. I never have a single quiet hour here, so that I can only compose in the late hours of the night. Then, of course, I cannot get up early as well. Besides, one is not always in the mood for working. I could, to be sure, scribble off things the whole day long, but a composition of this kind goes out into the world, and naturally I do not want to be ashamed of my name on a title page. Moreover, you know I become quite powerless whenever I must write for an instrument I cannot bear!
Scored for flute, violin, viola, and cello, the first of quartets (in D Major, K. 285) was completed on Christmas Day, 1777. Bright, compact, and filled with delicious melodies, it is set in a “concertante” style in which the flute rises to prominence. Did Mozart really find the flute unbearable or was he just blowing off steam? Regardless, from the Quartet’s opening bars, the flute sparkles with dazzling virtuosity and infectious joy.
Shifting to lamenting B minor, the second movement (Adagio) is a magical serenade in which the flute is accompanied by pizzicati. The biographer Alfred Einstein described it as “of the sweetest melancholy, perhaps the most beautiful accompanied solo ever written for the flute.” Dreamy and ephemeral, the final bars fade away with an upward-floating flute cadenza which leads without pause into the final movement, a frolicking and effervescent rondo.
I. Allegro:
II. Adagio:
III. Rondeau. Allegretto:
Recordings
- Mozart: Quartet for Flute, Violin, Viola and Violoncello No.1 in D Major, K. 285, Karl-Heinz Schütz · Albena Danailova · Tobias Lea · Tamás Varga Amazon
Featured Image: flutist Karl-Heinz Schütz