Though relatively little-known today, Carl Friedrich Abel was renowned as a major musical figure throughout Europe in the mid-to-late 1700s. Born into a famous musical family, he secured a coveted position in the court orchestra at Dresden, moved to England to become chamber-musician to Queen Charlotte, and in 1764 or 1765 established with Johann Christian Bach the Bach-Abel concerts, England's first subscription concerts - where, amongst numerous musical triumphs, many works of Haydn received their first English performance.
Written during the 1770s, these four works represent the huge demand for flute works at that time. Mozart's first Flute Quartet, K. 285, was written for a great patron of the arts Ferdinand de Jean, himself an amateur flautist. Abel wrote a great many works for the instrument, many of which date back to his time at Dresden working alongside celebrated flautists Buffardin and Quantz - the latter a prolific composer in his own right.
The works featured on this program give an insight into 18th century music’s transition from Baroque complexity to the melody-driven Classical style, and are illuminated through performances by flute soloist Georgia Browne and the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra, specialists in historical performance.
One final tidbit to link these works: at one point in the 19th century, one of Abel's symphonies was misattributed to Mozart! A manuscript in Mozart's handwriting was discovered and catalogued as his Symphony no. 3 in E flat, K. 18 - but it turned out to be a work of Abel's, copied out by Mozart as a student in London in 1764.
