Andante for Flute and Orchestra in C Major, K. 315

• Mozart probably composed this piece in early 1780.¹
  • At the time he way staying Mannheim with his mother. He had moved there for a potential court position but was rejected. He decided to try to make a living with freelance work until his next gig.
• Mozart acquired lodging for his mother and himself by giving lessons to a Councilor’s daughter, who paid Mozart in “lodging, including wood and light,” according to Frau Mozart.²
• Mozart probably composed this piece as part of a commission from music publisher Ferdinand Dejan, who offered Mozart 200 florins for a selection of flute concertos and flute quartets.³
• Mozart’s mother proudly wrote home to say that despite the court job rejection, Mozart in high demand in Mannheim:

“He has so much to do that he really doesn’t know whether he is standing on his head or his heels; what with composing and giving lessons he hasn’t time to visit anybody.”

Anna Maria Mozart⁴

1.  Maynard Solomon, Mozart: A Life (New York: Harper Collins, 1995), 140.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid., 141
4. Quoted in Ibid.