Flute quartet

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A flute quartet is a musical term for a type of chamber group. They are normally found in two forms: those consisting of a flute, a violin, a viola and a cello and those consisting of four flutes. This last combination often comes in three different but distinct arrangements:

Either:

• a group of 4 C flutes; or
• a group of 3 C flutes and Alto flute; or
• a group consisting of 2 C flutes, Alto and Bass flute (this last grouping is the closest comparable equivalent of a string quartet for four flutes).

[edit] Works for Flute, Violin, Viola and Cello

The pinnacle of this type of chamber music is generally believed to have been reached in the 1800s. Notable works for flute quartets consisting of a flute, violin, viola and cello include those by the following composers:

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - 4 flute quartets - No.1 in D major (K 285), No. 2 in G major (K 285a), No. 3 in C major (K 285b) and No. 4 in A major (K 298)
• Johann Christian Bach
• Christian Cannabich
• Domenico Cimarosa
• Franz Danzi
• François Devienne
• Adalbert Gyrowetz
• Josef Haydn
• Franz Krommer
• Friedrich Kuhlau
• Ignaz Pleyel
• Anton Reicha

Gioacchino Rossini also transcribed 6 of his 'Sonate a quattro' (originally for strings).

In the first decades of the 1900s the string quartet became far more important than flute quartets and so very few works were composed until the 20th century. Until the works of Volkmar Andreae (quartet Op. 43) and Gottfried von Einem (quartet Op. 85), the 20th Century was also rather lacking in compositions of this type.

[edit] Works for 4 Flutes

Works for four flutes were particularly popular in the turn of the century from the 1800s to the 1900s. Some of the most well-known from this time might include the compositions of Friedrich Kuhlau (quartet in E major) and Anton Reicha (quartets Op. 12, Op. 19). Further quartets came from, for example, Friedrich Hartmann Graf, Anton Bernhard Fuerstenau and Luigi Gianella. In the 20th century quartets with 4 flutes experienced a one-century Renaissance. Examples of some works from this time are those of Eugène Bozza (Jour d'été à la montagne), Florent Schmitt (quartet Op. 106), Josef Lauber (vision de Corse Op. 54), Marc Berthomieu (Arcadie), Joseph Jongen (Elégie Op. 114,3) and Alexander Tscherepnin (quartet Op. 60).

The late 20th Century saw a new revival for the flute quartet. The three quartets of Daniel Theaker have become part of the flute repertoire.