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Johann Joachim QUANTZ (1697-1773) - MusicWeb Flute Concertos Concerto in a minor (QV 5,236) [21:11] Concerto in F (QV 5,162) [20:45] Concerto in G (QV 5,178) [23:48] Concerto in e minor (QV 5,116): cantabile e frezzante (con sordini) [4:52] Greg Dikmans (transverse flute), Elysium Ensemble rec. 2018/2019, St Joseph's Church, Melbourne, Australia RESONUS CLASSICS RES10252 [70:73]

Johann Joachim Quantz is not a major name with music lovers in general. There is no doubt about his importance in music history, especially because of his treatise of 1752, entitled Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen (Essay of a Method for Playing the Transverse Flute), but his music seldom appears on the programmes of ensembles specializing in 18th-century repertoire. In the last twenty years or so, some discs with concertos and sonatas have been released, but only a small part of his sizeable oeuvre is available in recordings.

The scepticism with regard to his output can probably partly be explained by his long association with Frederick the Great. The King of Prussia was a fanatical lover of the flute, and wanted to play virtually every day. Most of Quantz's sonatas and concertos were written for such performances in Frederick's palace, and the King also composed music himself. However, his taste is often described as rather conservative, and it has also been suggested that he preferred 'simple' and 'gentle' music in the galant idiom to the more substantial and experimental compositions by, for instance, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who for a number of years acted as the court's harpsichordist.

Whether the present disc will contribute to Quantz's oeuvre becoming more popular is questionable. That is not due to the level of playing of the Elysium Ensemble, but rather the character of Quantz's music. Its flautist, Greg Dikmans, has extensively studied his oeuvre as well as his treatise, and in the liner-notes, he discusses many aspects of Quantz's style of composing and his ideas on performance practice at length. It seems fair to say that restraint and moderation are the main features of Quantz's music and aesthetical views and that seems at odds with what is a tendency in modern performance practice, where not a few performers try to impress with break-neck speeds, an overload of embellishments and virtuosic cadenzas. If Dikmans's analysis is correct, that is not what Quantz aimed at - on the contrary.

It is useful to quote here, how Dikmans summarises Quantz's views, a product of the Enlightenment and an expression of the galant aesthetics: "Three important characteristics of this Age of Reason influenced not only aesthetic thought, but also many aspects of life, such as social behaviour, fashion, public afairs and even the conduct of military campaigns. (1) Style: taste, refinement and elegance; (2) Restraint: moderation, delicacy and composure; and (3) Propriety: appropriateness. These characteristics underlie much of Quantz's thinking throughout the Versuch."

He then mentions the consequences for performance practice. With regard to the tempo of fast movements, Quantz emphasises that expression of the sentiment is more important than "quick playing". It is important to choose a tempo which allows for a clear articulation and phrasing, and the addition of proper ornamentation. This is in line with Quantz's vocal ideal: good singing should be a guide for instrumental performance. He also states that it is the main task of a performer to move the listener. Dikmans sums up six principles regarding a good execution of a piece of music. These concern things like a differentiation in articulation, the emphasis of 'good' verses 'bad' notes and the dynamic differentiation on long notes in slow movements. It is also notable that Quantz connects the various tempo indications, like allegro and adagio, with all its variants, to passions as gaiety, melancholy, boldness and flattery.

Dikmans and his colleagues aim at integrating all these elements into their performances. Two aspects are particularly important. The first concerns the choice of tempo. On the basis of his study of Quantz, Dikmans has come to conclusions about the speed of the different movements of the concertos included here, founded on a pulse beat of 80 per minute. The second is about the application of ornamentation and cadenzas. In the former category Quantz makes a distinction between "essential graces", such as mordents and trills, on the one hand, and "extempore or arbitrary variations" on the other. The latter are more specifically related to a particular piece and give the performer a larger amount of liberty. Quantz's view on the performance of cadenzas is in line with his general ideal of moderation. The soloist was not expected to display his virtuosity. "A cadenza must stem from the principle passion of the piece", Dikmans writes.

Lastly, two further features of this recording need to be mentioned. The pitch is lower than we have come to expect in 18th century (German) music: a=392 Hz, which was not only common in France, but also at Frederick's court. This is based on the pitch of Quantz's own flute; Dikmans plays a copy of this instrument. Moreover, the tutti are performed with one instrument per part. There are good reasons to assume that this was general use in the baroque era. Obviously there may have been exceptions to the rule, depending on the circumstances and the venue of a performance. However, Quantz's concertos were intended for a performance in Frederick's palace, and from that perspective, the line-up in these performances seems fully justified. It is notable that no harpsichord is used. According to Dikmans, after 1747 the fortepiano was used instead of the harpsichord. For this recording it was decided not to use a fortepiano, but rather a theorbo, as it "has tonal characteristics in common with the fortepiano". I have no problems with that as such, but I wonder whether a fortepiano would have been more in line with what was common practice at Frederick's court. I also don't quite understand why this decision was taken.

However, that is a small detail. I find this disc quite fascinating. This repertoire and the way it is played here will probably not attract a wide audience. This disc requires concentrated listening. The lengthy and detailed liner-notes and the comment on every movement included are very helpful to understanding the character of the music and the reasons why it is played as it is here. I have nothing but praise for the way Dikmans and his colleagues have put Quantz's instructions into practice. This disc is a fine illustration of Quantz's aesthetic ideals. At the same time, it is far from an academic discourse. This disc is also an example of excellent music making. I urge anyone who may think that Quantz is boring, to give these performances a fair chance. If you like the transverse flute, you definitely should not miss it.

Johan van Veen

Early Music Review - Dikmans Greg Dikmans flute, Lucinda Moon violin, Elysium Ensemble 70:37

It is important to note that the great theoretician of the Baroque flute, Quantz, author of the seminal Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte transversiere zu spielen (1752), much consulted by modern period instrument flautists, was also a very fine player himself as well as a talented composer. Quantz lives and breathes the galant (or empfindsam) style, and this sensibility in conjunction with his expertise on the flute produced works, which seem utterly redolent of the mid- eighteenth century. The Elysium Ensemble are entirely in tune with this sensibility, and they give wonderfully eloquent accounts of three of Quantz’s concerti with, as the programme note states it, ‘a bonus slow movement’, the beguiling Cantabile e frezzante QV 5:116. Played on muted strings and with ‘fizzing’ ornamentation, this charming ‘bonus’ in many ways sums up the group’s approach to Quantz’s music generally. A strong sense of melodic line is enhanced by deliciously appropriate ornamentation, while the wonderful sense of ensemble evokes perfectly the original performances of this music by Quantz himself and his colleagues at the Potsdam court. If ever an argument for one-to-a-part performances of concerti were needed, it is here in spades. In addition to providing some exemplary Baroque flute playing, intelligent and deeply moving, Greg Dikmans also supplies a very erudite programme note, which concentrates on applying Quantz’s theories of playing to his own music, while astutely leaving the biographical details to the group’s website. D. James Ross

QUANTZ Flute Concertos: No. 256 in A; No. 5 in b; No. 216 in c; No. 290 in G; No. 29 in g . • Rachel Brown, fl; Sally Jackson, bassoon; Roy Goodman, hpd, fp, cond; Brandenburg Consort. • HYPERION CSA66927 ( 76:06)

In erudite notes, flute soloist Brown describes Quantz's life and work, admirably explaining the genesis and the historical and social contexts of the five works here recorded. They come from among 300 or so concertos for flute and strings with continuo that Quantz composed, mostly for Frederick the Great. These five, recorded in 1996, appear to have been performed from manuscripts located in Berlin. Two of the works properly fall into the late Baroque period; for these, a harpsichord forms part of the ensemble. The three later pieces may be considered early classical works; in them, a fortepiano is used. Two of the concertos feature as well comparatively minor bassoon obbligato parts in the slow movements. I won't again get into the ongoing battle over modern versus original instruments. Suffice it to say that period instruments are used here; that the pedigrees of the flute, harpsichord, and fortepiano are supplied; that in these performances, A = 415 Hz; that lute, theorbo (archlute), and guitar are variously employed; and that the results are quite marvelous. There are recordings of Quantz concertos with modern flutes for those who are into high tech all around. Highly recommended for both musical and historical reasons, but with one caveat: none of my four machines would play the first seven seconds of this unusually long CD, even though I tried all the usual tricks. Prospective purchasers may wish to sample the first track in the store. John Lambert

This article originally appeared in Issue 21:2 (Nov/Dec 1997) of Fanfare Magazine.

Johann Joachim QUANTZ (1697-1773) - MusicWeb Flute Concerto in A minor, QV 5:238 [20:42] Flute Concerto in G, QV 5:165 [17:00] Flute Concerto in C minor, QV 5:38 [19:24] Flute Concerto in D minor, QV 5:81 [20:26] Mary Oleskiewicz (baroque transverse flute) Concerto Armonico/Miklós Spányi rec. 17-21 January, 2011, Phoenix Studio, Diósd, Hungary NAXOS 8.573120 [77:34]

Johann Joachim Quantz was the classical era’s leading flute composer and teacher, and he certainly had the era’s most famous student. Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, studied flute and composition with Quantz for three decades, employing the not-much-older man as his court composer. Quantz produced dozens of concertos for Frederick - apparently there are 300, counting other instruments - and the king himself played them with an ensemble.

The scholarship and artistry on display here are first-rate. Everyone plays on period instruments; the continuo switches from harpsichord to fortepiano for the later works. Flute soloist Mary Oleskiewicz personally rediscovered one of these concertos (in A minor) after scholars had presumed it lost in World War II. She very modestly describes the finding in her own booklet note. She also stumbled upon written cadenzas to the concerto in G, possibly copied directly from Quantz’s original score. The booklet does not mention the possibility that it was copied down from an actual improvisation by the king.

Make no mistake: the disc makes fascinating, stimulating listening. Quantz was influenced in his youth by Handel and Vivaldi, and in some ways he stayed in Vivaldi’s compositional school; the works here are scored for small ensembles, sometimes one instrument per part, and often use the ritornello structure. He’s his own man: you can hear this especially in the C minor concerto, the last piece Quantz ever wrote, which is haunted by a dark eight-minute slow movement in F minor. Quantz died before composing the finale, which was written by - who else - Frederick the Great. It is thus the final work of two different composers.

Mary Oleskiewicz has it all: she’s a skilled writer in the booklet, she’s an avid scholar who besides digging up some of this music has published critical editions of Quantz’s chamber music, and her playing on the transverse flute is pretty fantastic, too. Miklós Spányi and his Concerto Armonico will be a familiar sign of high quality to lovers of the CPE Bach series on BIS. Actually, if you like CPE Bach, you’re sure to enjoy this; the two composers share a niche as eccentric, colorful bridges between the baroque and classical eras.

We can only hope that this is the beginning of a series, or that some of the other musicological work Oleskiewicz is up to will be committed to disc similarly. She’s already recorded some Quantz and Frederick sonatas for Naxos and Hungaroton, but given that the C minor concerto is notated as “No. 300”, there’s got to be more stuff of this quality. My ears would be happy to hear it. To think: these world premieres may not have been played by any other flautist since Frederick himself.

Brian Reinhart