The Eminent Pedagogue Johann Joachim Quantz as Instructor of Frederick the Great During the Years 1728-1741 : The Solfeggi, the Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversière zu spielen, and the Capricen, Fantasien und Anfangsstücke of Quantz, the Flötenbuch of Frederick the Great and Quantz, and the Achtundzwanzig Variationen über die Arie "Ich schlief, da träumte mir" of Quantz (QV 1:98)

Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773), the flute instructor of Frederick the Great (1712-1786), played a seminal role in the development of the Prussian Court Music, during its formative years between 1713 and 1806. As a result of his lifetime appointment to the Court of Potsdam in 1741 by King Frederick the Great, Quantz was involved in numerous facets of the cultural endeavors at the Court, including his contributions to composition, performance and organology. Nowhere was his presence more acutely felt than in his formulation of music-pedagogical materials an activity where his knowledge as a preminent pedagogue and his skills as a composer, organologist and performer fused together in most astounding fashion. Quantz’s effectiveness in his teaching of his most eminent student, Frederick the Great, is fully borne out in a number of documents, including the Solfeggi, the Versuch, the Caprices, Fantasien und Anfangsstücke, and the Achtundzwanzig Variationen über die Arie "Ich schlief, da träumte mir". While each document touches on different aspects of the musical discipline, these sources vividly underscore the intersection between musica theorica and musica practica and as such provide testimony of Johann Joachim Quantz as a genuine musicus.