Frederick II of Prussia (1712–1786)
2 Sonatas in E minor
for (transverse) flute and basso continuo
Edited by Franz Müller-Busch
Realization of the thorough bass by Eckhart KuperGirolamo G 13.001, score and 2 parts, € 24,00
ISMN 979-0-50084-014-5
Preface
If ever there lived someone with a split soul, then it was Frederick II of Prussia (1712–1786), called Frederick the Great.
On the one hand, like his father, he embodied the warlike monarch and army commander who was skilled in strengthening and expanding the power of Prussia. On the other hand he was most knowledgable in many arts and sciences and devoted most aspects of his life to the ideas of rationalism and the Enlightenment.
Frederick had a professional standard as a flautist. As a composer he was rather an obedient pupil of his teacher Johann Joachim Quantz than a revolutionary with new ideas. His works are interspersed with virtuoso passages that adorned his daily concerts with great musicians such as C. Ph. E. Bach, C. H. and J. G. Graun, F. and J. Benda as well as J. F. Agricola with royal brilliance.
The manuscripts of the sonatas presented here are kept in the Royal Library in Copenhagen, Giedde’s Collection, under the shelf marks mu 6210.1531, (I, 12) and mu 6210.1831 (I, 14). Here I should like to thank the direction of the library for their kind consent to publish these works.
The drafts were finished by two different copyists and bear the titles
Flauto Traverso Solo ex E mol / con / Basso Continuo / di: Friederico a Prussia
and
Sonata a Flauto Traverso Solo et Basso Di S. M. Friderico II Re di Prussia etc.
Some doubtful and incorrect passages of the draft needed corrections that are documented in foot notes. All additions by the editor exceeding the careful modernization of the notation are clearly indicated. A suitable accompaniment would be a harpsichord with cello or gamba as also piano but then probably without an additional bass support.
Translation: J. Whybrow
Calw, June 1996, Franz Müller-Busch
