Johann Joachim Quantz was a German flautist, flute maker and composer. Quantz began his musical studies with his uncle in his home town of Oberscheden, near Göttingen, principally as an oboist and, in 1716, joined the court orchestra in Dresden where he learnt to play the flute with the world-renowned French flautist Pierre-Gabriel Buffardin. In 1741, Quantz moved to Berlin to take up a post as Frederick the Great’s flute teacher and general musical confidant. Later he moved to in Potsdam, where he remained quite happily for the rest of his life.