The wind quintet started to acquire a formal stylistic definition in the late 18th century, in the wake of the Harmoniemusik at Joseph II’s imperial court where a group of paired wind instruments provided the musical entertainment. The original version of Haydn’s Divertimento in B flat major (1732-1809) required two oboes, two horns, two bassoons and a serpent (a bass wind instrument). Their overall timbre boosted the lively opening Allegro as much as the delicate shades of the Chorale St. Antoni, the rustic mood of the Minuet, and the dance rhythm of the closing Allegretto.
By the start of the 19th century, technical improvements led to the wind quintet becoming the stable combination we know today – usually a flute, an oboe, a clarinet, horn and bassoon. The 20th century saw daring experiments alongside sturdy defence of tradition, but the joyous nature of music for entertainment remained.
In György Ligeti’s (1923-2006) Six Bagatelles (1953), for instance, the wind quintet transforms the Hungarian composer’s feeling for folklore, rhythmic restlessness and pained melancholy into six musical moments of crisp concentration.
In closer continuity with tradition is the chamber music output of the prolific composer Jean Françaix (1912-1997). His luminous, witty Wind Quartet makes ample use of counterpoint and a broad palette of timbre and dynamics. Then, in 1959 in the hands of Ferenc Farkas (1905-2000) the wind quintet re-discovers early music! He explains how his Early Hungarian dances from the 17th Century (Intrada, Lento, Dance of the bachelors, Chorea, Saltarello) came about: “My interest in this music was first captured in the 1940s. I was so fascinated that I decided to give these melodies new life. I fitted the little eight-bar dances together […] and leaning on early baroque harmony and counterpoint, I attempted a reminiscence of that atmosphere of the provincial Hungarian Baroque.”
Through these experiences and enriched with chromatics, dissonances and the influence of jazz, the repertory for wind quintet is spreading through ever-widening territory. There is the tango, as in the triptych of the Suite by Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992), and close to our own times we find the Praça da Matriz (Dobrado, Procissão, Feira), a strong-charactered piece by the young Brazilian composer Gustavo de Sà.

Laura Mazzagufo