As a boy, the future Frederick II, King of Prussia, had a passion for music, but his tyrannical father, Frederick I, forbade such activities. With the complicity of his mother and older sister, young Frederick was able to indulge in his artistic pursuits, including flute lessons from Johann Joachim Quantz that were conducted with the utmost secrecy. Frederick's father tolerated this behavior for a while, but when in 1730 the prince tried to escape to England, the king ordered his son imprisoned and one of his accomplices beheaded.

A few years later, when Frederick was established in his own private residence he was able to enjoy a certain degree of freedom from his father and he began to assemble an impressive musical entourage that included members of the musical Graun and Benda families, as well as Quantz and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. Frederick ascended to the throne in 1740 and his court musical establishment became, for a time, the center of German musical life.

In between waging military campaigns, practicing and performing on the flute and providing librettos for his court composer's operas, Frederick also found time to write a variety of music, including at least four flute concertos.

© 2002 Megan Lyden & Jeff Eldridge