I remember a visit to London many years ago. On any day, I was able to locate more concerts, and at a very fine quality level, than you can imagine. The British have an amazing music education system that produces outstanding artists.
On one of these trips to London I heard music for winds that made me a lover of these sounds. Somehow the oboe, clarinet, horn, and Bassoon, often assisted by piano and bass, go so well together.
Let me illustrate:
Here is the 2nd movement of Beethoven’s Quintet for Piano and Winds, Op. 16 performed by The Chicago Chamber Musicians.
The ensemble Artists are: Michael Henoch, oboe; Dennis Michel, bassoon; Gail Williams, horn; Larry Combs, clarinet; and Meng-Chieh Liu, piano
And then you have the “Grand-daddy” of the wind music, the “Gran Partita” by Mozart. This is music for 2 oboes, 2 horns, 2 clarinets, etc, etc.
Here is the “Menuetto” from the historic recording with Members of the 18th Century Orchestra. This is wonderful music with which one can introduce Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The performers are:
Ku Ebbinge (The Netherlands) – Oboe
Alayne Leslie (USA) – Oboe
Eric Hoeprich (USA) – Clarinet
Guy van Waas (Belgium) – Clarinet
Alf Hörberg (Sweden) – Basset Horn
Carles Riera (Catalonia – Spain) – Basset Horn
Ab Koster (The Netherlands) – Horn
Stefan Blonk (The Netherlands) – Horn
Claude Maury (France) – Horn
Teunis van der Zwart (The Netherlands) – Horn
Danny Bond (USA) – Bassoon
Donna Agrell (Alaska – USA) – Bassoon
Anthony Woodrow (England – UK) – Double Bass
Tags: Music for woodwinds, Clarinet, oboe, horn, bassoon, Gran Partita, Mozart, Beethoven, Quintet for Piano and Winds Op. 16
