Concerto for flute in D Major "Pour Potsdam" (QV 5:41)

J.J. Quantz: Concerto for flute in D Major "Pour Potsdam" (QV 5:41) was written approximately in 1743–1745. This was the "Golden Era" of the Prussian court’s musical life. Having entered the exclusive service of Frederick the Great in 1741, Quantz was establishing the daily ritual of the Abendmusiken (evening concerts).
The title "Pour Potsdam" refers to the Potsdam City Palace (Stadtschloss), the King's primary residence before the completion of Sanssouci in 1747. Unlike many of Quantz's 300 concertos, which remained strictly private manuscripts, this work was published in 1748 by Johann Ulrich Haffner in Nuremberg. This publication signaled the King’s willingness to let the "Potsdam style" be known to the broader European musical public.
The publication of the "Pour Potsdam" Concerto was a rare and strategic exception to Frederick the Great’s strict policy of musical secrecy.
By 1748, Frederick had survived two major wars (the Silesian Wars) and was establishing Prussia as a top-tier European power. He wanted the rest of Europe to see him not just as a "Warrior King," but as an "Enlightened Monarch" who patronized the arts. Allowing a select few works by his "secret" composer to be published by Johann Ulrich Haffner in Nuremberg served as a form of cultural propaganda. It signaled to the courts of France, Austria, and Saxony that the "Potsdam style", characterized by the Empfindsamer Stil (Sensitive Style), was the pinnacle of modern taste.
Around 1748, Nuremberg was a major center for music publishing. Haffner’s series, Oeuvres mêlées (Mixed Works), was a high-end collection featuring the best composers of the day. By including Quantz in these prestigious volumes, the King was essentially "lending" his prestige to the publication while simultaneously proving that his private court composer was superior to those available to the public.