Six Quartetti concertanti

Johann Friedrich Klöffler (1725-1790) was Principal and Music Director of the Earls of Bentheim-Steinfurt. Until his retirement in 1789, he was the centre of cultural life at the court of Burgsteinfurt. The works of renowned composers of the time, such as J.Chr. Bach, Fr. J.Gossec, J. Haydn and C. Stamitz were cultivated by performing chamber music concerts as well as public symphonic concerts at regular intervals. Of Klöffler's own numerous compositions only a few are available today in print. The 6 concertant quartets for 4 flutes presented here are quite exceptional for quartet literature of the 18th century: the whole cycle is connected by programmatic titles. Movement technique, choice of movement types and means of the flute are handled immensely variable and thus correspond to the different effects of the titles. The quartets are of intermediate difficulty.