Album Notes

Music for two flutes and piano

This recording takes us on a musical journey from the Clearness of Classicism to the “Sehnsucht“ of Romanticism. Geographically it follows an almost vertical line from Salzburg (detour Vienna) to Denmark, and finally back to Munich to the inventor of the modern flute. 

The celebrated W.A. Mozart´s Sonata in D major K.448 (originally written for two pianos) is presented here in a version for two flutes and piano, arranged by Marko Zupan (Mozart arrangement and Frøhlich scores will be available for download). The piece is written in a classical sonata form with three movements. The thematic material clear in character, and is typically Mozartian in its Apollonian beauty. It was used in the “Mozart effect“ study with surprising results. Perhaps the overall balance between form and content is the secret behind the “effect”.

As L.van Beethoven's dedication reads, he composed the Duo for 2 flutes in G major, WoO 26 “for friend Degenharth, 23rd August, 12 at night”. It is a delightful composition with a colorful movement in a sonata form,and a minuet, where the trio part evokes the cheering and singing sounds of a german Brauerei. It was a time when Beethoven, still unaffected by the future loss of hearing, was enjoying his free time exchanging ideas with his friends.

A german/danish composer F. Kuhlau, once presented the merry champagne-drinking company with a musical puzzle around Bach's name (the four letters forming the notes B-A-C-H). Beethoven responded with a canon on the same theme using his colleague´s name as text “Kühl, nicht lau“ - cool, not lukewarm. The Trio for piano and two flutes, op.119 is an elegant work, written in the last years of Kuhlau's life. It was after a devastating fire in 1930, when a big number of his manuscripts burned, that his health deteriorated. A couple of years later he died.

A student of Kuhlau and one of the central figures of Danish romantic period, J. F. Frøhlich, is mainly known as a composer of ballet music for choreographer August Bourneville, the celebrated founder of Danish ballet tradition. On the other hand, his music for flute is almost ignored among the players - unjustly. Among several of his compositions for flute, the Duet in C minor reveals Frøhlich´s mastery of the sonata structure, intricate use of harmony, rhythm and rich melodic invention. His virtuosic writing for flute, should have made his music a part of the standard flute repertoire, worthy of his teacher Kuhlau. This CD presents the world premier recording of his Duet in C minor.