It is an all-too-commonly accepted trope that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) disliked the flute. And yet, he wrote a fair amount of music for the instrument, with at least four orchestral works showcasing the flute in just one year, 1778: Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra in C major, K. 299; two more concertos for flute and orchestra, in G major (K. 313) and D major (K. 314) respectively; and another concerto-like work, Andante for flute and orchestra in C major, K. 315/285e.
In addition, his K. 297b work (later renumbered variously as Anh. 9 and Anh. C 14.01), Sinfonia Concertante for Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon and Orchestra in E flat major is now thought to be a spurious arrangement of a lost Sinfonia Concertante for Flute, Oboe, Horn, Bassoon, and Orchestra from that same year.
Mozart’s ‘violin’ sonatas numbers 5 to 10 (K. 10-15) are described for Keyboard with Violin (or Flute) and Cello. He also wrote four ‘flute’ quartets (flute, violin, viola, cello), of which the first two (D major K. 285; and G major K. 285a) were written in that extremely ‘fluteful’ gestation period 1777-1778, while the third and fourth were written a little later, C major K. 285 b in 1781-1782 and A major K. 298 in 1786-1787 respectively.
Mozart’s final (and considered by many as his best in several aspects) opera, as we know, is Die Zauberflöte (the Magic Flute). The flute, when it appears in his orchestral music, which is most of the time, is given no step-motherly treatment in relation to other instruments in the quality of the writing. Hardly evidence to suggest that Mozart ‘disliked’ the flute. On the contrary, his flute music is quite beautiful.
So where did this notion even begin? It seems to hinge around a letter Mozart wrote to his father from Mannheim, dated 14 February 1778 (the same year incidentally of his prodigious surge in writing for the instrument): “I never have a quiet hour here … besides, one is not always in the mood for working. I could certainly scribble things the whole day long, but when a composition of this kind goes out into the world, naturally I do not want to to be ashamed of my name on the title page. Moreover, you know I am quite powerless to write for an instrument [the flute] which I cannot bear.” He was referring to the flute compositions he had received a commission to write while at Mannheim for the amateur Dutch flautist H. de Jean (or Dechamps).
Musicologist Martha Kingdon Ward discussed this at length in her article ‘Mozart and the Flute’ (Music and Letters, vol. 35, no. 4 pp. 294-308). She reminds us that Mozart was a young twenty-something in 1778 when he wrote the letter against which he is being held to account. As she puts it, tongue firmly in cheek: “Now if everyone is to have his letters believed implicitly, many people would have to take greater care what they write, certainly at the age of twenty-two.”
She ascribes his throwaway comment to a “passing aversion” to the instrument, which was brought on by the fact that he had not been fully paid (and quite rightly, as he hadn’t finished the commission!); that it wasn’t a commission he was enjoying writing, a mere trifle for an amateur; and perhaps Mozart truly felt the flute was more limited in expression than, say, the clarinet.
The reason for any possible aversion may also have been due to the imperfections inherent in the crafting of the flutes of the day, with the holes being bored into the wooden instrument to suit the spread of the hand sometimes to the disadvantage to pitch, causing several notes to sound out of tune unless blown with great care.
You have an opportunity to hear for yourself one of Mozart’s “graceful, refined, and irresistibly charming” flute quartets. Child’s Play India Foundation is pleased to showcase the Baridisi quartet in a performance (21 September 2019, 6 pm, Menezes Braganza hall; donation passes at Furtados) of his Flute Quartet No. 4 in A major, K. 298. It was his final composition for flute quartet. Unlike the previous three quartets, written for the flutist Ferdinand De Jean, the Quartet in A is believed to have been written for recreational purposes, and not written on commission.
The quartet is in three movements: 1. Andante, Theme and variations 2. Menuetto and Trio D major, and 3. Rondeau: Allegretto grazioso.
In the score, Mozart gives a humorously detailed tempo indication for the final movement: “Rondieaoux: Allegretto grazioso, ma non troppo presto, però non troppo adagio. Così-così—con molto garbo ed espressione” (or, translated, “A joke rondo: Allegretto grazioso, but not too fast, nor too slow. So-so—with great elegance and expression”).
It is light, airy music with vivid contrasts, delicious textures and irrepressible wit.
Many of you will remember Jonathan Bager (flute); he is no stranger to the Indian concert stage. In Goa he has performed twice, once as part of the Bager trio with his two sons Jeremy (bassoon) and Frederick (piano); and more recently in 2016 a benefit concert for Child’s Play in a piano trio with Laura Riccardi (violin) and Angela Feola (piano).
He returns with Riccardi specially to celebrate Child’s Play’s tenth anniversary milestone concert, where they will be joined by Gudrun Theodora Sigurdadottir, formerly cellist in the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra (and currently teaching cello at Child’s Play) and yours truly (viola).
Jeffrey Khaner, Principal Flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra takes the view that Mozart would have thought primarily as a pianist or a singer or as a string player. So he tries to play the slow movements as though they are soprano arias, concert arias he might have written for voice. Whereas in the fast moments, he tries to articulate the way he hears pianists articulate in piano concertos.
His imagery of the flute in slow movements is quite imaginative: he imagines “a music box”, inside which is “a beautiful dancer who moves so smoothly and gracefully.”
So come along, to the opening of Mozart’s exquisite music box and the enchanting dance and call of the flute!
(An edited version of this article was published on 08 September 2019 in my weekend column ‘On the Upbeat’ in the Panorama section of the Navhind Times Goa India)