Lecture Concert
“The Struggle for the King’s Favor – Johann Joachim Quantz, Friends and Rivals”
As flute teacher and chamber musician to Frederick the Great, Johann Joachim Quantz was a central figure in Berlin’s musical life. However, this did not always earn him friends. Johann Philipp Kirnberger, for instance, was known for provoking Quantz whenever possible: he composed a flute sonata in the most difficult key, E-flat minor, to challenge Quantz’s technical abilities. Yet, Quantz was renowned for his virtuosity on the flute, which is also reflected in his compositions for the king. He had likely learned from his Dresden teacher, Pierre-Gabriel Buffardin, whose flute sonata stands out for its stunning virtuosity.
By contrast, Quantz had a good relationship with his younger colleagues at the royal court, such as Franz Benda and Carl Heinrich Graun, and they benefited musically from each other.
Susanne Schrage leads an informative and entertaining presentation on the interconnections within these musician networks. Together with Ulrike Schaar and Reinhard Siegert, she brings these relationships to life with musical examples.
Susanne Schrage studied modern and Baroque flute and earned her doctorate in 2023 at the HfMT Cologne under Prof. Arnold Jacobshagen with a dissertation on Composition and Performance: The Berlin Flute Sonatas of Johann Joachim Quantz. She primarily performs chamber music in lecture-concert formats, including Behind the Mirrors of Sanssouci, Lives of Women Composers, and with the arcadie quartet.
For several years, she has been writing interpretation notes for flute editions of the Wiener Urtext Edition, some of which have been awarded the National Flute Association Award. She teaches flute at the Aachen Music School and holds a lectureship in Historical Musicology at the HfMT Cologne.
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