Towards the end of his long life the organist Christian Michael Wolff (1707–1789), resident in the Baltic port of Stettin (today, Szczecin in Poland), achieved a degree of fame as a composer through the successive collections of sonatas, songs, flute duets and chorale preludes he committed to print. But much earlier, around 1740, he had produced some exquisite compositions for orchestra. Wolff’s Concerto in G major  for Flute, Strings and Basso Continuo encloses a wistful Largo in E minor between a stately Moderato and a sprightly, dance-like Allegretto. The solo instrument is treated throughout with great virtuosity and expressivity, representing the galant style at its very best.

  Music example (pdf)