Op 91 - The 24 Wind Quintets of Antoine Reicha

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The Opus 67 Wind Quintets of Franz Danzi

Scores and Parts Created from the Early 19th-Century Sources
Charles-David Lehrer, General Editor

Opus 67 - No. 3

Franz Danzi: Quintet in Eb Major: Op. 67, No. 3
Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, and Bassoon

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The parts used to create this new edition of Franz Danzi’s Trois Quintetti, Op. 67, were published by the house of Johann André in Offenbach am Main around the year 1824. They all carry the plate number 4751. These parts were provided in photocopy to the International Double Reed Society by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich. They originally belonged to the Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis. The frontispiece for each part is written in French, while the parts themselves maintain the Italian language. Metronome indications are provided for all movements.

The three quintets comprising the Op. 67 were composed in the following keys:

No. 1 in Sol majeur
No. 2 in Mi mineur
No. 3 in Mi b majeur

In Quintetto No. 3, Danzi specifies the Bb clarinet, while the hand horn is crooked in Eb throughout. The oboe part contains measure marks in pencil approximately every 10 measures.

First Movement
Larghetto: quarter note = 56
Allegro moderato: quarter note = 76

Opening with an impressive slow introduction, one is reminded of a similar preludes utilized by Antoine Reicha in the sonata form movements which initiate many of his wind quintets. But what is even more interesting is the fact that the slow introduction reappears near the end of the sonata form. Reicha had made good use of such ideas in his Op. 99 quintets which appeared in print by 1822, that is, two years before Danzi’s Op. 67 quintets.

There are two primary themes [Theme 1 & 2] and several closing themes in the exposition of this sonata form. The miniature development section is based on fragments of Theme 1. In the recapitulation, Theme 1 returns in the subdominant, while Theme 2, its closing material, and the slow introduction, are all in the tonic.

The movement is beautifully detailed by Danzi, insofar as subdivision, articulation, and dynamics are concerned. More important, this movement is a wonderful example of the blooming of the German Romanticism that, in a few short years, would reach full maturity in the works of Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann.

Second Movement
Andante Moderato: quarter note = 66

Set in the subdominant, this movement is a sonata form containing melodies of striking melodic contour. There are two themes in the exposition [Themes 1 & 2] and one closing theme. Theme 2 and its closing theme are heard in the dominant as expected. But during the recapitulation Theme 1 returns in the subdominant, a reflection of what had occurred in the first movement of this quintet. Theme 2 and its closing theme are back in the tonic. But the real shocker are the extravagant modulations in the short transitional-style development. Again, we hear in this composition the roots of Romantic harmony and color.

There is no key signature for the hand horn in the original printed edition: all the Bb’s of F Major [= Ab Major via Eb crook] are added as accidentals.

Third Movement
Minuetto. Allegro: dotted half note = 76

Yet another miniature minuetto and trio joins the Op. 67 series of quintets by Franz Danzi. In fact, this movement is a scherzo and the influence of Beethoven is readily felt. The Trio is placed in the dominant and, once again, the original horn part does not reflect this change in its key signature. As in the previous quintet, pure binary form is the structure chosen for both sections.

Fourth Movement
Allegretto: dotted quarter note = 88

The final quintet of Op. 67 ends in the same manner as the previous two in the set, that is, in sonata form. As before, there is no development section. One finds the usual two contrasting primary themes; but here these are followed by a group of rather pyrotechnical closing themes bringing this quintet and opus to an exciting end.

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