Harpsichord or piano?

[FideLeo]

But look at the quality!  The flute concertos are as good as the ones for piano or violin.  (Of course, he wrote the latter for himself and the former for noble patrons; still-- )

I am a flute player, but I'd say most of Mozart's fortepiano concertos (after K. 271) are better quality music than his flute concertos.  Your mileage may vary though...

ps.  Don't forget Mozart's vast amount of chamber music involving a fortepiano - trios,
quartets, one quintet which use the keyboard instrument in a highly concertante style.

[Florestan]

But look at the quality!  The flute concertos are as good as the ones for piano or violin.  (Of course, he wrote the latter for himself and the former for noble patrons; still-- )

And the flute quartets... sheer delight.

[FideLeo]

And the flute quartets... sheer delight.

Right.  The fortepiano quartets...sublime and divine. 

[Mark G. Simon]

I am a flute player, but I'd say most of Mozart's fortepiano concertos (after K. 271) are better quality music than his flute concertos.  Your mileage may vary though...

And one of those flute concertos is just an arrangement of the oboe concerto, because Mozart didn't want to bother with writing another flute concerto from scratch.

[FideLeo]

And one of those flute concertos is just an arrangement of the oboe concerto, because Mozart didn't want to bother with writing another flute concerto from scratch.

No I meant the authentic flute concerto plus the double concerto for flute and harp (which is no arrangement either).

[jochanaan]

And one of those flute concertos is just an arrangement of the oboe concerto, because Mozart didn't want to bother with writing another flute concerto from scratch.

Or didn't have time to bother.

[Mozart]

And the flute quartets... sheer delight.

He never got paid for those!

[George]

He never got paid for those!

Dontcha mean "I?"

[Mark G. Simon]

No I meant the authentic flute concerto plus the double concerto for flute and harp (which is no arrangement either).

That's a nice one (fl & harp), especially the slow movement.

[Florestan]

That's a nice one (fl & harp), especially the slow movement.

Agreed.

[George]

Agreed.

Yep.  0:)

[FideLeo]

Yep.  0:)

But compare that to the Adagio in the fortepiano concerto K. 488 (f minor), and hear the difference.  Mozart spoke his soul foremostly on the keyboard.

[stingo]

I understood Mozart hated the flute... am I mistaken?

[FideLeo]

I understood Mozart hated the flute... am I mistaken?

Mozart loved the fortepiano. So much so he even had favourite makers -
Andreas Stein in Augsburg, Anton Walter in Vienna.  I don't know if Mozart
ALWAYS hated the flute - there are many, many beautiful flute solos in his
concertos for fortepiano especially.  Hard to imagine this about a composer
who was supposed to a flute-hater.

[jochanaan]

...Hard to imagine this about a composer
who was supposed to a flute-hater.

Well, you have a point there.  Flutist Eugenia Zukerman has theorized that Mozart's "hatred" was really directed more at the situation in which he found himself; according to her, his "I become quite powerless when forced to write for an instrument I cannot bear" is really a mature version of "The dog ate my manuscript."

But I think we need to remember in this context that, for Mozart, Haydn and the other composers of the time, music-making was as much a craft as an art, something he did not just from an inner compulsion but because others were commissioning him.  A trained craftsman with a professional attitude takes pride in always doing good work; it's a point of honor with him/her.  Mozart had that honor to a high degree; in the same letter he reiterated that he would not release anything for which he "would be ashamed of my name on the title page."  (This remains true among many composers.  Messiaen's last orchestral composition, Éclairs sur l'Au-Dela, was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic.)

But we're getting off-topic.  Perhaps we should ask whether Mozart's flute concertos should be played on modern or period flutes...?

[Mozart]

Dontcha mean "I?"

Dontcha know God refers to himself in the 3rd person? 

[George]

Dontcha know God refers to himself in the 3rd person? 

Whah - whahhh. 

[Mozart]

Whah - whahhh. 

Mozart!

Thou shan't say his name in vain!

[George]

Mozart!

Thou shan't say his name in vain!

Hallowed be thy ego.  0:)

[Mozart]

Hallowed be thy ego.  0:)

And what be knot?