Flute Concerto in D major, K.314/285d

In WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART’s exceptional collection of instrumental concertos, there are 27 piano concertos, five each for violin and French horn, solo concertos for flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon, and seven more concertos for two or more instruments with orchestra. And while Mozart was creating his masterpieces, the world was still being discovered: in 1778, Captain James Cook embarked on his third voyage, during which he “discovered” the Hawaiian archipelago, and France signed treaties with the newly formed United States, officially recognizing the young republic. In September 1777, after successfully resigning from his position with Bishop Colloredo of Salzburg, Mozart set out on a journey with his mother in search of work. But before he even left, he composed an Oboe Concerto for Giuseppe Ferlandis, an oboist with the Salzburg Archbishop’s Orchestra, whom Mozart had met that same year. This concerto later became the prototype for Flute Concerto No. 2. Mozart’s first choice in his search for work was Mannheim, a place his father also recommended “as a court that illuminates all of Germany.” His efforts were unsuccessful, but Mozart nevertheless received several commissions while awaiting Karl Theodor’s decision. He encountered Ferdinand de Jean—a military doctor and amateur flutist—who commissioned three flute concertos and six quartets featuring the flute from him. Despite his negative attitude toward the flute and flutists, which Mozart himself mentions during the years of his violin and piano concertos, he nevertheless composed works for the flute. At the time of the commission, Mozart already had one completed flute concerto, KV. 313. As a second concerto, he evidently reworked the text of the Oboe Concerto in C major into D major and presented it as a new opus. He never managed to write a third concerto, nor three of the six commissioned quartets. The agreement fell through, and Mozart received only half of the remuneration, which, in all fairness, had been quite generous. In his letters, he expressed indignation at the idea of composing so many works for an amateur musician who lacked the necessary technique. For nearly 150 years, the Flute Concerto in D major, KV. 314, was regarded as an original work composed in Mannheim in 1778. But in 1920, musicologist Bernhard Paumgartner—director of the archives at the Salzburg Mozarteum—proved conclusively that this Concerto is a version of the Oboe Concerto KV. 271. According to the performers, the concertos were composed with detailed knowledge of the instrument’s capabilities. Analogies to other works by the composer can be found in the themes, technique, and form. The first movement is marked Allegro aperto (“open allegro”), which was unusual for its time, but Mozart had already experimented with this in his Violin Concerto in A major, KV. 219, and in two piano concertos (KV. 238 and KV. 246). The second movement is an instrumental cantilena. The finale is a lively rondo, which Mozart would repeat in 1782 in his opera The Abduction from the Seraglio, in Blonde’s second aria Welche Wonne, welche Lust.