Composed: 1778
Premiered: 1778, Unknown
Duration: 25 minutes

In 1777, Mozart turned 21. He was no longer a child prodigy; the time had come for him to look for a job, preferably as music director at a major court. Probably his expectations were unrealistic – he had been lionized for years as a child, but prospective patrons now viewed him as a young musician with little experience. His journey to Munich, Mannheim, and ultimately Paris and Versailles yielded no practical results, and he was destined to struggle along as a freelance performer and composer for the rest of his life. During his stay in Mannheim (to his father’s annoyance) he paid court to Aloisia Weber, the sister of Constanze, whom he later married.

Mannheim was an important musical centre with an outstanding orchestra. Mozart obtained a commission while there to compose works for an amateur flutist, a Dutchman named Ferdinand de Jean (or possibly deJong). Perhaps because it was often played out of tune, Mozart disliked the flute, and he worked at his commission reluctantly. But he put his personal feelings aside, and composed several easygoing, tuneful works, though he did not in fact complete all the works called for. The Flute Concerto in G is the most substantial of them, a spacious, elegant work, difficult enough to challenge a skilled amateur. The slow movement is particularly striking; it has been suggested that de Jean found it beyond his ability, and that Mozart’s Andante for Flute and Orchestra was composed as a simpler alternative to help him out. The concerto, like several other early concertos by Mozart, concludes with a lively minuet.

Program note by the late Dr. C.W. Helleiner