Flute Music of the Danish Golden Age

J.P.E.HARTMANN (1805 -1900)

Flute Sonata in B Flat Major, Op. 1

Prelude in G Minor

J. F. FROHLICH (1806-1860)

Flute Sonata in A Minor

C.E.F.WEYSE (1774-1842)

Rondeau in D Minor

Friedrich KUHLAU (1786 -1832)

Duo brillant, Op. 110, No.1 (from Trois duos brillants)

The Hartmann family established themselves in Denmark in the eighteenth century, with Johann Ernst Hartmann, a composer and violinist of Silesian origin, who moved to Copenhagen, finally settling there in 1766 as a violinist in the royal musical establishment and as director two years later. His two sons continued the tradition, with August Wilhelm following his father as a violinist in the orchestra of the royal chapel, before appointment in 1817 as organist of the Garnisonkirke. His son Johann Peter Emilius Hartmann was born in 1805 and in 1824 succeeded his father as organist at the Garnisonkirke. Following the wishes of his father he studied law at the University of Copenhagen and thereafter combined the career of government service with that of music, in the latter capacity occupying a leading position in Denmark as a composer, with operas, ballets, the latter with his friend Bournonville, the distinguished dancer and choreographer, and incidental music with instrumental and vocal compositions of all kinds. As an organist he succeeded C.E.F. Weyse at the Vor Frue Kirke and won much honour in his own country, although it was his son-in-law Niels W. Gade who achieved greater international fame. His Flute Sonata in B flat major, Opus 1, carries the date June 1825. The work opens with a flourish, the descending arpeggios of the flute answered by the rapid descending scale of the piano. A short flute cadenza leads to the second subject, introduced expressively by the piano. The development section at the heart of the movement allows interplay between the two instruments, with the register of the flute dramatically exploited before an unexpected modulation leads to a recapitulation, with a further cadenza for the flute before the re-appearance of the second subject. A further shift of key, explicable more easily in enharmonic terms, prefaces the final section. The Andante, a movement that eventually settles into D major, a key already hinted in the first movement, opens, nevertheless, with B flat chords that introduce a brief modulation, after which the flute can announce the principal theme. Secondary material is introduced in A major, before the return of the original theme and key, briefly interrupted by a return to B flat major, before the D major conclusion. The Scherzo, in G minor, is in 6/4, leading to a second section in G major. The original key is re- established in the final Allegro molto, where much use is made of the opening decending scale figuration.

Hartmann's Prelude in G minor opens with a gentle flute melody, the first section ending in B flat major before the introduction of new melodic material moving to D major. The closing section, in G minor once more, includes a brief flute cadenza.

Johannes Frederik Frohlich, of German ancestry, was born and died in Copenhagen, where he was employed from 1821 as a violinist in the royal orchestra, later establishing himself as a chamber-music player, composer and conductor, in the last capacity particularly in the opera-house. His Flute Sonata in A minor remains undated, but followed a presumably earlier sonata written in 1829. The first movement is in tripartite sonata form, with a chromatic flavour that provides the flute with a great deal of activity, not least in the high register of the instrument. The central F major Andante again exploits the technique of the flute before the final Allegro, marked by its principal theme, which re-appears modified in a concluding Presto.

Born in Altona in 1774, Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse studied in Copenhagen with the Kapellrneister of the Royal Theatre J .A.P .Schulz, winning an early reputation as a keyboard-player, finally, from 1805 until his death in 1842, as organist of the Cathedral. As court composer he occupied a position of dominant importance in Danish musical life, providing music that remained firmly rooted in the classical tradition of Vienna. His Rondeau in D minor for flute and piano, dated 9th April 1837, starts with an Andante introduction. The Allegretto principal theme is continued, framing first a derived episode in F major, a second episode in B flat, later heard in D major, followed, after modulation, by the main theme.

Friedrich Kuhlau, born at Uelzen near Hanover in 1786 and a student in Hamburg, escaped to Copenhagen in 1810, when the armies of Napoleon marched on the city, an event that had also sent the Mendelssohns from Hamburg to Berlin. Kuhlau won a name for himself in Denmark and other Scandinavian countries as a pianist. He was appointed a court chamber musician and established himself as a composer, necessarily augmenting the income of his official appointment with a variety of compositions that include a quantity of piano music, as well as a considerable amount of music for flute, much of it submitted, at least, to the court orchestra flautist Bruun for his approval before publication, since Kuhlau himself admitted that he had little practical knowledge of the instrument. Kuhlau's Trois duos brillants, Opus 110, were published in Paris in 1830. The first of these, in B flat major and marked Allegro non tanto, is opened by the piano with a theme then taken up by the flute. The music, which provides opportunities for virtuosity to both flautist and pianist, is in tripartite sonata form, with two themes of contrasting key and contour, a central development and a final recapitulation. This is followed by an Adagio patetico, marked con molta espressione. This opens with a chordal theme from the piano, then ornamented by the flute and treated with further elaboration. It is the piano again that opens the third movement rondo, marked Allegro ma non troppo, its theme taken up by the flute and intervening between subsequent contrasting episodes.

Henrik Wenzel Andreasen

The flautist Hendrik Wenzel Andreasen was born in Copenhagen in 1965 and studied in Odense, Copenhagen and London, making his professional debut to critical acclaim in Copenhagen in 1993 in works ranging from Schubert and Kuhlau to Prokofiev and Berio. He has appeared on Danish Television and was appointed in 1994 principal flautist in the North-South concerts arranged by Scandinavian broadcasting companies for transmission to eight countries. He has recently appeared as soloist in concertos by Mozart, lbert and Rodrigo.

Anne Oland

The Danish pianist Anne Oland was born on the island of Funen in 1949 and studied at the Royal Danish College of Music, in Rome, Salzburg and Geneva, making her debut in Copenhagen in 1977, the following year winning first prize in Nordic Competition for Young Pianists. She had her London debut at the Wigmore Hall in 1981 and now teaches at the Royal Danish College of Music, while continuing her career as a soloist in Denmark and abroad. Her recordings include the complete piano music of Carl Nielsen.

The producers of this recording are grateful to Beckett Fonden and Kong Frederiks og Dronning Ingrids Fond til Humanitrere og Kulturelle formal for their support.