Helene Schulthess

COMMANDER AND AESTHETE

24 January 1712 – 17 August 1786

Frederick the Great (Friedrich der Große) was nicknamed Der Alte Fritz (“Old Fritz”).

He was an absolute ruler, but he lived under the principle that he was the “first servant of the state.” For years he was a correspondent of Voltaire, with whom the king had an intimate, if turbulent, friendship. He modernized the Prussian bureaucracy and civil service and promoted religious tolerance throughout his realm. Frederick patronized the arts and philosophers. He was a strict ruler and spirit simultaneously. He was a king who could deal with troop deployment plans as with sheets of music

Frederick was an excellent flutist. His rich musical imagination was shaped primarily by Quantz and Franz Benda. He was praised especially the singing quality of his slow movements. What Frederic has created as a composer, comes mainly from the years as crown prince: 121 flute sonatas, 6 flute concertos, two symphonies, a double concerto for oboe and flute and a piano concerto. How far he has had help in composing, remains the subject of speculation. It is believed that Frederick has cared above all, composing the main voice, the harmonious development of the company he left on others. The king was not in matters of war the way, was the evening’s music at Sanssouci to the usual routine. Charles Burney, a British musicologist, reported after a visit to England: “His play in some respects surpassed anything I’ve ever heard, or even among lovers of flutist by profession. Only the shortness of the 58-year-olds, he complained: It was with him, “Take breath necessary before the passage was brought to an end.” As a little later Frederick lost his front teeth, it was done with playing the flute.

Flute Concert with Frederick the Great in Sanssouci (Adolph Menzel) : Alte Nationalgalerie : Art Project, powered by Google

A musical sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=835WGEBNviY