Mozart’s Flute Quartet No. 1 is a bright, flirtatious work that opens with a famous melody. The Adagio finds the flute singing a dusky song over pizzicato strings, before the lively finale with its playful exchanges between flute and violin. During the second half of the 18th century, serenades and divertimentos represented the favourite pop music of the aristocracy and middle class and Beethoven’s Septet in E-flat sums up this frothiest of musical entertainments. Much to Beethoven’s chagrin, its relentless popularity tended to eclipse some of his greater achievements. He ranted and railed when the work continued to overshadow his truly great masterpieces until his dying day. However, the numerous reincarnations of the Septet bear eloquent witness to the work’s hit-parade status among amateur musicians of the time.

CLICK HERE to view the livestream for this concert

The concert will be available to view on demand for 30 days after the orginal performance until 7.30pm (GMT) on Friday 12 March 2021.
The concert livestream will be accessible behind a paywall as an embedded Vimeo video stream. It is best to watch through an up-to-date browser (we recommend Google Chrome on a PC and Safari on an Apple device). You can then connect to your TV or HIFI via a cable connection. An Amazon Firestick is also compatible using the Amazon Silk browser direct on a TV as well as most default browsers on SMART TVs.

Works and composers

Mozart Flute Quartet in D Major K.285
Beethoven Septet in E-flat Major Op.20

Supported by