Armonia Antiqua has launched an editorial project focused on the figure of Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773) in view of the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the death of the composer and flutist, an eminent figure in the European music scene of the late Baroque.
The target of the project – in continuity with the usual activities of the Association aimed among other things at the spreading of medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music – is to transcribe in modern notation from the original manuscript sources and make public on the website www.armoniaantiqua.org the entire corpus of the composer’s music consisting of:
1. more than 180 Sonatas for solo flute and continuo and about 45 others attributed to him;
2. about 50 triosonatas for two solo instruments (flutes, violins, etc.) and continuo;
3. more than 40 solos, duets and trios for flute without bass;
4. 6 quartets (quatuor) for flute, violin, viola and bass;
5. about 300 concertos for flute and string orchestra;
6. about ten concertos for many instruments and string orchestra;
7. various works for voice, instruments and continuo.
The reference basis for the project is the Quantz music catalog published by Carus-Verlag in 1997 by Horst Augsbach entitled Johann Joachim Quantz: Thematisch-systematisch Werke verzeichnis.
The original manuscript sources are found in various libraries in Europe, the main of which is in Berlin, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preussischer Kulturbesitz, which owns over 90% of the original manuscripts.
The second source considered is the Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek in Dresden, which preserves almost all of the triosonatas.
Another important source that has original manuscripts is the Danish royal library in Copenhagen, the Det Kongelige Bibliotek, which contains over thirty sonatas and all the pieces for flute solo within the Giedde collection.
Last of all, about 40 concertos considered lost in Augsbach’s catalog, are preserved in the National Library of Russia, Saint-Petersburg, shelfmark Rus-SPsc fond. 956. They are at the moment unavailable for politically reasons.