Northern Spire

About Quintet for Winds

Quintet for Winds (2015) was commissioned by Fünf, the Greater Capital Region's professional woodwind quintet, made possible, in part, by the Meir Rimon Commission Assistance Program of the International Horn Society.  The piece's four movements all reference the main musical motif that is introduced at the very beginning of the piece, though each movement has its own character and references this motif in sometimes more overt and sometimes more subtle ways.  The piece also explores asymmetric (uneven) meters, as well as syncopated rhythms throughout.  To this end, the first movement is mostly in a 10/8 meter, giving it a fairly regular but uneven dance feel.  The second movement is in a slow 7/4, utilizing a melody built on an interesting synthetic scale introduced in the flute, alternating with a chorale in the other four instruments.  The third movement moves into a more familiar meter in 4, but with a fast, syncopated bluesy melody that returns throughout its rondo form, a melody based on a little song my daughter was singing one day about our living room curtains (of all things!).  The fourth and final movement begins with a slowly developing fugue (begun in the horn), and then takes off into a furious presto to the finish, combining various ideas from the other three movements along the way.

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Click the title page image above to view sample pages of each movement from the score.

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You can hear sample clips of the beginnings of each movement below, recorded live at the piece's premiere in 2015.