It is generally believed that Mozart disliked the flute, yet it is as often remarked upon that his flute music is beautiful. The idea that Mozart had an aversion to the flute is borne out by a letter to his father of September 14th 1778, wherein he wrote: "You know that I become quite powerless whenever I am obliged to write for an instrument which I cannot bear". This passage refers to the flute composition which he had been commissioned to write at Mannheim for the amateur Dutch flautist, H. de Jean (or Dechamps). -Mozart and the Flute, Martha Kingdon Ward
But Mozart wrote the flute music that makes the instrument sing and dance, did he really dislike the flute?