Flute quartet

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The term flute quartet describes a form of chamber music . However, the term is applied to different ensembles, each consisting of four musicians, or quartet compositions created for them : on the one hand, the instrumentation flute with string trio, on the other hand, an instrumentation with 4 flutes. In both cases, the flute almost always means a transverse flute .

Instrument line-up Flute with string trio

Works of the instrumentation flute, violin , viola and violoncello , which are related to the string quartet (the flute takes the place of the first violin), reached their peak around the middle of the second half of the 18th century. In addition to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 4 quartets (D major KV 285, G major KV 285a, C major KV 285b, A major KV 298), the most famous contributions to the genre, numerous other composers wrote works for this line-up. These included, for example, Christian Cannabich , Domenico Cimarosa , Franz Danzi , François Devienne , Adalbert Gyrowetz , Joseph Haydn (6 quartets op. 5, authorship not confirmed), Franz Krommer , Ignaz Pleyel , Anton Reicha , Ferdinand Ries or Carlo Giuseppe Toeschi (the latter one of the first composers to write for this line-up). Works for combinations such as 2 flutes, viola and violoncello (e.g. by Johann Christian Bach ) or flute, 2 violins and cello were also produced as variants .

Unlike the string quartet genre, compositions for flute quartet were mainly aimed at amateurs. The interest of lovers in the instrumentation of flute with string trio, which at times achieved the popularity of the string quartet, is also borne out by contemporary publisher transcriptions of string quartets, such as Haydn's quartets. Also Gioacchino Rossini transcribed even four of his six Sonate a quattro (originally for strings).

Anton Reicha tried to condense the rather light structure of the original compositions resulting from the provision for amateurs in his Quartets op. 98. In the foreword to the first edition (Paris, before 1815) he wrote:

“I composed these quartets in the manner of Haydn, which means that each instrument is treated as an independent voice. Flute lovers should therefore not expect the voice of their instrument to lead constantly. [...] These are actual quartets [...] and not sonatas or solos for flute accompanied by violin, viola and cello [...] "

In the first decades of the 19th century the string quartet displaced this form of instrumentation almost completely, and hardly any new compositions were created. There are also only a few examples from the 20th century, such as works by Volkmar Andreae (quartet op.43), Gottfried von Eine (quartet op.85), Krzysztof Meyer ( Capriccio per sei strumenti op.69 ) or Aaron Copland ( Threnodies I and II ).

Instrumentation with 4 flutes

Works for four flutes were especially created at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. The most famous of this period include compositions by Friedrich Kuhlau (quartet in E major) and Anton Reicha (quartets op. 12, op. 19); other quartets, for example, come from Friedrich Hartmann Graf , Anton Bernhard Fürstenau or Luigi Gianella .

In the 20th century, quartets with 4 flutes experienced a renaissance, with the tonal range being partially expanded through the use of piccolo , alto or bass flute. The French wind tradition in particular took a liking to the specific, bright timbres of this line-up. Examples are works by Eugène Bozza ( Jour d'été à la montagne ), Florent Schmitt (Quartet op.106), Joseph Lauber ( Visions de Corse op.54), Marc Berthomieu ( Arcadie ), Joseph Jongen ( Elégie op.114 , 3) and Alexander Tscherepnin (Quartet op. 60). More recently, for example, genre contributions by Shigeru Kan-no , Sophie Lacaze and Daniel Theaker (3 quartets each) or Isang Yun .

Remarks

  1. ↑ translated from the new edition ed. by Vincenc Straka and Kurt Janetzky (Editio Supraphon, Prague 1984)

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