Wind quintet
A wind quintet, also sometimes known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players (most commonly flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon). The term also applies to a composition for such a group.
Unlike the string quartet with its homogeneous blend of color, the instruments in a wind quintet differ from each other considerably in technique, idiom, and timbre. The modern wind quintet sprang from the ensemble favored in the court of Joseph II in late 18th century Vienna: two oboes, two clarinets, two horns, and two bassoons (Suppan 2001). The influence of Haydn's chamber writing suggested similar possibilities for winds, and advancements in the building of these instruments in that period made them more useful in small ensemble settings, leading composers to attempt smaller combinations.
It was Anton Reicha's twenty-four quintets, begun in 1811, and the nine quintets of Franz Danzi that established the genre, and their pieces are still standards of the repertoire. Though the form fell out of favor in the latter half of the 19th century, there has been renewed interest in the form by leading composers in the 20th century, and today the wind quintet is a standard chamber ensemble, valued for its versatility and variety of tone color.
Wind quintet composers
[edit]Eighteenth century
[edit]- Antonio Rosetti (ca. 1750–1792) One quintet, for flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, and bassoon
Nineteenth century
[edit]- Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (1736–1809) A quintet for two oboes, clarinet, horn, and bassoon
- Giuseppe Cambini (1746–1825) Three wind quintets
- Franz Danzi (1763–1826) Nine wind quintets
- Johann Georg Lickl (1769–1843) Wrote one quintet
- Anton Reicha (1770 – 1836) Twenty-four wind quintets, as well as some independent movements
- George Onslow (1784–1853) One wind quintet, op. 81
- Paul Taffanel (1844–1908) One wind quintet
- August Klughardt (1847–1902) One quintet
Twentieth century
[edit]- Carl Nielsen (1865–1931)
- Gustav Holst (1874–1934)
- Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951)
- Theodor Blumer (1881–1964)
- Wallingford Riegger (1885–1961)
- Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959)
- Jacques Ibert (1890–1962)
- Hendrik Andriessen (1892–1981)
- Darius Milhaud (1892–1974)
- Walter Piston (1894–1976)
- Paul Hindemith (1895–1963)
- Roberto Gerhard (1896–1970)
- Ernst Krenek (1900–1991)
- Ruth Crawford-Seeger (1901–1953)
- Ferenc Farkas (1905–2000)
- Alec Wilder (1907–1980)
- Elliott Carter (born 1908)
- Samuel Barber (1910–1981)
- Josef Tal (1910–2008)
- Jean Françaix (1912–1997)
- Ingolf Dahl (1912–1970)
- Alvin Etler (1913–1973)
- George Perle (born 1915)
- Vincent Persichetti (1915–1987)
- Peter Racine Fricker (1920–1990)
- Malcolm Arnold (1921–2006)
- György Ligeti (1923–2006)
- Milko Kelemen (born 1924)
- Luciano Berio (1925-2003)
- Włodzimierz Kotoński (born 1925)
- Barney Childs (1926–2000)
- Hans Werner Henze (born 1926)
- Lee Hoiby (born 1926)
- Wayne Peterson (born 1927)
- Frigyes Hidas (1928–2007)
- Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007)
- Donald Martino (1931–2005)
- Ramiro Cortés (1933–1984)
- István Láng (born 1933)
- Rob du Bois (born 1934)
- Peter Schat (1935–2003)
- David Del Tredici (born 1937)
- Charles Wuorinen (born 1938)
- Frank Zappa (1940–1993)
- Friedrich Goldmann (1941–2009)
- Jack Gallagher (born 1947)
- Eric Ewazen (born 1954)
- Kenneth Fuchs (born 1956)
- William Susman (born 1960)
- Karlheinz Essl (born 1960)
- Ludmila Yurina (born 1962)
- Lior Navok (born 1971)
Twenty-first century
[edit]- Stephen Truelove (born 1946)
- Shigeru Kan-no (born 1959)
- Robert Paterson (born 1970)
- Mohammed Fairouz (born 1985)
Notable wind-quintet repertoire
[edit]- Ágay, Dénes, Öt könnyű tánc [Five Easy Dances] (before 1956)
- Alterhaug, Björn, Sporadisk Konsentrasjon til fem bilder an Ove Stokstad [Sporadic Concentration on Five Pictures of Ove Stokstad]
- Andriessen, Jurriaan, Sciarada Spagnuola [Spanish Charade]
- Arnold, Malcolm, Three Shanties, op. 4 (1943)
- Bach, Jan, Skizzen, Highgate Press [Sketches, Highgate Press] (1983)
- Barber, Samuel, Summer Music, op. 31 (1955)
- Baur, Jürg, Quintetto sereno [Serene Quintet] (1957–58)
- Bennett, Richard R., Concerto for Woodwind Quintet
- Berio, Luciano
- Wind Quintet (1948)
- Wind Quintet (1950)
- Opus Number Zoo (arr. 1951 for wind quintet, from the 1950 original for 2 clarinets and 2 horns)
- Birtwistle, Harrison
- Refrains and Choruses (1957)
- Five Distances (1992)
- Bloch, Waldemar, Serenade (1966)
- Blumer, Theodor, Serenade, Theme and Variations
- Bobescu, Constantin, Parafrază pe motivul "Horei Staccato" (1958)
- Bois, Rob du
- Chants et contrepoints (1962)
- Réflexions sur le jour où Pérotin le Grand ressuscitera (1969)
- Böttcher, Eberhard, To satser for blåsekvintett [Two Movements for Wind Quintet]
- Brett, Daniel, Seasonal Rhythms (2006)
- Bottje, Will Gay, Diversions, for quintet, narrator and piano; text by James Thurber (1994)
- Bozza, Eugene
- Variations sur un thème libre, op. 42 (1943)
- Scherzo, op. 48 (1944)
- Pentaphonie (1969)
- Quand les muses collaborent
- Bujanovski, Vitali, Four Norwegian Folksongs, for quintet and soprano.
- Cambini, Giuseppe Maria, Trois quintetti concertans [Three Concertante Quintets] (ca. 1802)
- Quintet no. 1 in B-flat major
- Quintet no. 2 in D minor
- Quintet no. 3 in F major
- Carter, Elliott, Quintet (1948)
- Chávez, Carlos, Soli no. 2 (1961)
- Coleman, Valerie, 2 Quintets:
- "UMOJA" (1999)
- "Afro-Cuban Concerto (2001)
- Cortés, Ramiro, Three Movements for Five Winds (1967–68)
- Dahl, Ingolf, Allegro and Arioso
- Damase, 17 Variations op. 22, (1951)
- Danzi, Franz, 9 Quintets:
- op. 56, no. 1 in B-flat major
- op. 56, no. 2 in G minor
- op. 56, no. 3 in F major
- op. 67, no. 1 in G major
- op. 67, no. 2 in E minor
- op. 67, no. 3 in E-flat major
- op. 68, no. 1 in A minor
- op. 68, no. 2 in F major
- op. 68, no. 3 in D minor
- Del Tredici, David, Belgian Bliss (2011)
- Dubois, Pierre Max, Fantasia (1956)
- Ebenhöh, Horst, Divertipentephonien, op. 70, no. 1
- Etler, Alvin
- Concerto for Violin and Wind Quintet (1958)
- Quintet no. 1 (1955)
- Quintet no. 2 (1957)
- Farkas, Ferenc
- Régi magyar táncok a XVII. századból (aka Antiche danze ungheresi del 17. secolo) [Old Hungarian Dances from the 17th century] (1959)
- Lavottiana (1968)
- Fine, Irving, Partita (1948)
- Françaix, Jean
- Quintette à vent [Wind Quintet] no. 1 (1948)
- Quintette à vent [Wind Quintet] no. 2 (1987)
- Gallagher, Jack, Ancient Evenings and Distant Music (1971)
- Genzmer, Harald
- Bläserquintett [Wind Quintet] no. 1 (1957)
- Bläserquintett [Wind Quintet] no. 2 (1970)
- Goeb, Roger, Prairie Songs
- Goldmann, Friedrich
- Bläserquintett [Wind Quintet] (1991)
- Sing' Lessing, for baritone, wind quintet, and piano (1978)
- Sonata for Wind Quintet and Piano (1969)
- Zusammenstellung, for wind quintet (1976)
- Hall, Pauline
- Suite for Wind Quintet (1948)
- Quintet, Lyche (1952)
- Harbison, John, Wind Quintet (1979)
- Heiden, Bernhard
- Intrada in B-flat major op. 56, for Quintet and alto saxophone (1970)
- Sinfonia (1949)
- Woodwind Quintet (1965)
- Hidas, Frigyes
- Fúvósötös [Wind Quintet] no. 2 (1969)
- Fúvósötös [Wind Quintet] no. 3 (1979)
- Hindemith, Paul, Kleine Kammermusik [Little Chamber Music], op. 24, no. 2 (1923)
- Hoiby, Lee, Diversions for Wind Quintet (1999)
- Holst, Gustav, Wind Quintet in A flat, op. 14 (1903)
- Hueber, Kurt Anton, Wind Quintet
- Ibert, Jacques, Trois Pieces Bréves [Three Short Pieces]
- Jacob, Gordon
- Suite for Wind Quintet, unpublished
- Sextet for piano and wind quintet (1956)
- Jansons, Andrejs, Senlatviešu deju svīta [Suite of Old Lettish Dances] (1976)
- Johansen, Bertil Palmar, Höstscener [Autumn Scenes]
- Kelemen, Milko
- Études contrapuntiques [Contrapuntal Etudes] (1959)
- Entrances for wind quintet (1966)
- Klughardt, August, Quintet op. 79
- Koenig, Gottfried Michael, Bläserquintett [Wind Quintet], for flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, and bassoon (1958–59)
- Kotoński, Włodzimierz, Kwintet na instrumenty dęte [Wind Quintet] (1964)
- Kurtág, György, Fúvósötös [Wind Quintet], op. 3 (1959)
- Láng, István
- Fúvósötös [Wind Quintet] no. 1 (1964)
- Fúvósötös [Wind Quintet] no. 2 (1965)
- Fúvósötös [Wind Quintet] no. 3 (1975)
- Langton, Fraser, Scottish Visions; Three Sketches for Wind Quintet (2006)
- Ligeti, György
- Sechs Bagatellen [6 Bagatelles] (1953, arr. from Musica ricercata)
- 10 Stücke [10 Pieces], for alto flute (flute, piccolo), English horn (oboe d'amore, oboe), clarinet, horn, and bassoon (1968)
- Lunde, Ivar Jr., Une Petite Suite pour cinq [A Little Suite for Five]
- Maslanka, David
- Quintet for Winds No. 1
- Quintet for Winds No. 2
- Quintet for Winds No. 3
- Quintet for Winds No. 4
- Mathias, William, Wind Quintet, op. 22 (1963)
- Milhaud, Darius, La Cheminée du roi René [King René's Fireplace]
- Navok, Lior, The Adventures of Pinocchio (for three actors / speakers, wind quintet and piano)
- Nielsen, Carl, Wind Quintet (1922)
- Oldfield, Alan, Solos for Woodwind Quintet
- Paterson, Robert, Wind Quintet (2004)
- Patterson, Paul
- Comedy for Five Winds (1972)
- Westerly Winds (1998)
- Perle, George
- For Piano and Wind, for flute, English horn, clarinet, horn, bassoon, and piano (1988)
- Wind Quintet no. 1 (1959)
- Wind Quintet no. 2 (1960)
- Wind Quintet no. 3 (1967)
- Wind Quintet no. 4 (1984), winner of the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Music
- Persichetti, Vincent
- Pastoral, op.21 (1943)
- King Lear, op.35, for wind quintet, timpani, and piano (1948)
- Peterson, Wayne, Metamorphosis (1967)
- Piazzolla, Astor, Milonga sin palabras [Milonga without words]
- Pierné, Paul, Suite pittoresque [Picturesque Suite]
- Pilss, Carl, Serenade G dur [Serenade in G Major]
- Piston, Walter, Wind Quintet (1956)
- Poulenc, Sextet, for wind quintet and piano (1932–39)
- Reicha, Anton
- Quintet op. 91 no. 3
- Wind Quintet in E-flat major, op. 88, no. 2
- Riegger, Wallingford, Concerto, op. 53, for wind quintet and piano (1956)
- Rosowsky, Solomon
- "Moshe der Shuster" (Moshe the Cobbler) (1917)
- "Nigun ohne a Sof" (Melody without an End) (1917)
- Schat, Peter, Improvisations and Symphonies, op. 11 (1960)
- Schönberg, Arnold, Bläserquintett [Wind Quintet], op. 26 (1923–24)
- Schulze, Werner, Explosioni
- Stockhausen, Karlheinz
- Susman, William, Six Minutes Thirty Seconds (1995)
- Taffanel, Paul, Quintet for Wind Instruments
- Tomasi, Henri, Cinq Danses [Five Dances]
- Truelove, Stephen, Unity String Quintet for Five Woodwinds, for flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, and bassoon (2006)
- Valjean, Paul, Dance Suite (1955)
- Villa-Lobos, Heitor, Quinteto em forma de chôros [Quintet in the Form of a Chôros], for flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, and bassoon (1928; arr. for the conventional quintet 1951)
- Wuorinen, Charles, Wind Quintet (1977)
- Yurina, Ludmila, Geometricum (1993)
Prominent wind quintets
[edit]- Albert Schweitzer Quintet
- Amsterdam Wind Quintet
- Arabesque Winds
- Arion Quintett
- ArteCombo
- Astral Winds
- Aulos Quintet
- Avalon Quintett
- Bergen Wind Quintet
- Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet (Philharmonisches Bläserquintett Berlin)
- Blaaskwintet van Brussel (fr: Quintette à vent de Bruxelles) (Brussels Wind Quintet)
- Blásarakvintett Reykjavíkur (Reykyavík Wind Quintet)
- Bläserquintett des Südwestfunks, Baden-Baden (Wind Quintet of the SWF, Baden-Baden)
- Bläserquintett des WDR (WDR Wind Quintet)
- Bläserquintett Matej Sarc (Matej Sarc Wind Quintet)
- Borealis Wind Quintet (Grammy nominated 2006)
- Budapesti Fúvósötös (Budapest Wind Quintet)
- Calico Winds
- Carion Wind Quintet
- I Cinque Elementi Wind Quintet
- Clarion Wind Quintet
- Copenhagen Wind Quintet
- Danzi Quintet
- Dorian Wind Quintet
- Dresdner Bläserquintett (Dresden Wind Quintet)
- Ensemble Instrumentale à Vent de Paris (Paris Wind-instrument Ensemble)
- Ensemble Livonia
- Esterházy Quintett
- Farkas Quintet Amsterdam
- Five Quintet National Radio Orchestra of Romania Bucharest
- Florida Wind Quintet
- Frosunda Quintet
- Galliard Ensemble
- Golden West Winds Airforce Woodwind Quintet
- Imani Winds (Grammy nominated 2006)
- Iowa Woodwind Quintet
- Jeunesses Fúvósötös (Jeunesses Wind Quintet)
- KO⁵ (Das Bläserquintett der Komischen Oper Berlin - The Wind Quintet of the Comic Opera Berlin)
- Lieurance Woodwind Quintet
- Magyar Fúvósötös (The Hungarian Wind Quintet)
- Moran Quintet
- neue sinfonia
- New London Chamber Ensemble
- New Mexico Woodwind Quintet
- New York Woodwind Quintet
- Pannonia Fúvósötös (Pannonia Wind Quintet)
- Pennsylvania Quintet
- Penta Fúvósötös (Penta Wind Quintet)
- Pentaèdre (Montréal)
- Philadelphia Wind Quintet
- Prairie Winds
- Tibia Wind Quintet
- Quintastic!
- Quintette Aquilon (2006 First Prize at ARD International Music Competition)
- Quintet Attacca
- Quintet of the Americas
- Quintette à Vent de Bretagne (Wind Quintet of Brittany)
- Quintette à Vent de Paris (Paris Wind Quintet)
- Quintette à Vent Français (French Wind Quintet)
- Quintette Moragues (Moragues Quintet)
- Quinteto Brasilia (Brasilia Quintet)
- Quinteto de Alientos de Bellas Artes (Mexico)
- Quinteto Villa-Lobos (Villa-Lobos Quintet)
- I Solisti del Vivaldi (Alessandria)
- Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet
- Sospiro Winds
- Swiss Wind Quintet
- Tritonus Fúvósötös (Tritone Wind Quintet)
- Trondheim Blåsekvintett (Trondheim Wind Quintet)
- Vancouver Woodwind Quintet
- Vento Chiaro
- Ventos Wind Quintet
- Wind Quintet of the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
- WindSync
- The Wingra Quintet
- Zagrebački Duhački Kvintet (Zagreb Wind Quintet)
- Zephyr Winds
- Zephyros Winds
- Zürcher Bläserquintett (The Zürich Wind Quintet)
Sources
[edit]- Barrenechea, Sérgio Azra. 2004. “O Quinteto de Sopros” (Dica Técnica 81) Parts 1 and 2. Revista Weril 150 and 151.http://www.duobarrenechea.mus.br/artigos/quinteto.pdf
- Moeck, Karen. 1977. "The Beginnings of the Woodwind Quintet." NACWPI Journal 26, no. 2 (November): 22–33.
- Suppan, Wolfgang. 2001. "Wind Quintet". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
Further reading
[edit]- Hošek, Miroslav. 1979. Das Bläserquintett. Grünwald: B. Brüchle. ISBN 3-921847-01-X.
- Leyden, Megan C. 2000. "The Story of the Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet". DMA Thesis. Seattle: University of Washington.