C.H. Reinecke, Concerto for Flute

Assessing his own significance as a composer, the German author Carl Heinrich Reinecke, with an unusual candor for a romantic artist (even of late romanticism), once confessed: "I cannot but agree with those who call me an epigone" (i.e., a continuator, a lesser follower of the one being followed). Posterity has proved him right, unfortunately. Of his enormous catalog, which reaches 288 opus numbers, few works are today properly part of the standard repertoire. His Concerto for flute and orchestra is one of those valuable exceptions.

Born in Altona, Hamburgo, in 1824, the composer showed early talent. As a teenager, he was a competent orchestral violinist, and before the age of twenty, he was touring northern Germany as a skilled pianist. He did not achieve a reputation as a great virtuoso, but Franz Liszt held him in high esteem, making him the teacher of his daughter Cosima (Richard Wagner's future wife).

In 1860 he was appointed conductor of the famous Gewandhaus orchestra in Leipzig and shortly afterward he was giving composition lessons at the Conservatory, where he remained until 1902. In his later years, he gave up public performances but continued to compose until the end of his days.

C.H. Reinicke (1824 - 1910)

His vast catalog includes six operas and operettas, three symphonies, numerous overtures, and abundant chamber music. He also wrote four piano concertos (one less than Beethoven), as well as concertos for violin, cello, harp, and flute. Of the latter, the concertos for flute and harp, it has been said that they are among his best compositions. And of the Flute Concerto in D major, one scholar has noted that it constitutes "an important contribution to the genre".

Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, in D minor, opus 283
Written in 1908, just two years before his death, this is the last of his works in the concerto genre for soloist and orchestra. Arranged in the usual three movements, its little more than 20 minutes appeal to a more "classical" than "romantic" orchestra, in the sense that, in the absence of moments of great exaltation, the trombones, for example, or the tuba, can be dispensed with.

As scholars remark, in line with his passionate reverence for the classics, Carl Reinecke constructed fluid, decorous, elegant, and scrupulously crafted music.

Movements:
00:00  Allegro molto moderato
09:30  Lento e mesto
16:00  Moderato

The rendition is by the young Genoa-born artist Sébastian Jacot.