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Antoine-Joseph Reicha (1770-1836) published this work, the sixth of his Six Quintuors Op. 100, with the House of Schott [Mainz] in 1824, the plate number being Z 6. The Z refers to the original 1820 Chez Zetter [Paris] plates, which had been acquired by Schott.

It so happens that Schott had a Netherlands satellite in Brussels (now in Belgium) and it was the Library Koninklijk Conservatorium - Conservatoire Royal in Brussels from which the parts used to make this modern edition were derived. But, strangely, the library seems to have acquired its copies elsewhere: a label attached to the frontispiece of Quintet No. 6 indicates that this particular item was purchased in Amsterdam at the shop of L. Hagenaar. Quintets numbered 1, 2, 4, and 5, on the other hand, were all purchased at Chez F. J. Weygand, which had outlets in Amsterdam and in The Hague. It would seem then, that this collection must have been a presentation to, rather than an acquisition made by the great repository in Brussels.

The quintets themselves are entitled in Italian (Quintetto) within the parts, but in French (Quintuors) on the Frontispiece. The instruments, too, are given French names on the frontispiece: flûte, hautbois, clarinette, cor and bassoon; but again, Italian pervades the actual parts: flauto, oboe, clarinetto, corno, and fagotto. No scores are supplied by Schott for any of the Op. 100 quintets; in fact, it would have been quite unusual had this been the case. Like madrigals published in the 16th Century, we have‘part-book’ format in use for these works.

Clarinet in Bb is specified for this work, while the hand-horn player uses the following appliances: F crook (1st and 4th movements) and Eb crook (2nd and 3rd movements). I have supplied parts for horn in F in order that modern players might avoid transposition at sight during the 2nd and 3rd movements.

The Op. 100 Quintuors are set in the following keys:

No. 1 Fà majeur
No. 2 Ré mineur
No. 3 Mi b majeur
No. 4 Mi mineur
No. 5 La mineur
No. 6 Si b majeur

The original quintet for which this work was composed consisted of the following members:

Joseph Guillou (1787-1853) flute
Gustave Vogt (1781-1870) oboe
Jacques-Jules Bouffil (1783-?) clarinet
Louis-François Dauprat (1781-1868) horn
One Monsieur Henry was the bassoonist in the ensemble.

First Movement
Metronomic markings are as follows: Poco adagio [Eighth note=76] (96 seems correct); Allegro [Quarter note=132]. Reicha gives an alternative to Maëlzel’s Metronome: utilizing a string at a specific length with a small weight attached to its bottom, the invention is swung to and fro. To this purpose Reicha provides the length of the string in centimeters immediately following the metronomic rubric; for example Eighth note=76 is registered as 0.62 Centimeters.

Scott Ellington adds this valuable information:“The tempo, the way Reicha apparently measured it at one beat in each direction, would be: Tempo = 598/sqrt (l). Tempo is in beats per minute, and l is the length in cm, and sqrt means square root. The lengths designated for the pendulums Reicha used to designate tempos seemed awfully short, so I calculated the lengths.  It turns out the published values should be multiplied by 100, e.g., 99 cm instead of 0.99 cm for 60 beats per minute.  It is also evident that Reicha counted two beats for each complete cycle of the pendulum, one in each direction.”

A rather extensive slow introduction initiates the final quintet of the Op. 100, and of Reicha’s great series of 24 Wind Quintets.  To be sure, the master has given his all, for the body of this movement is a finely-wrought sonata form, exciting to play and hear. One cannot help but notice the relationship between the compositional procedures applied to Theme 1 of the exposition here and in the master’s most famous quintet, the Op. 88, No 2 in Eb Major.

Second Movement
Metronomic markings are as follows: Andante poco adagio [Quarter note=60] (72 seems more like it).

Set in the relative minor, this sonata form lacks a development, but the richness of its polyphony more than makes up for the loss. This is a very beautiful movement.

Third Movement
Metronomic markings are as follows: Minuetto. Allegro scherzo [Dotted half note=96]

Reicha really returns to basics in this scherzo, since, for the first time in the Op. 100 we once again see the terms Trio and da Capo. The first of the three large sections is a rondeau, rather than the usual rounded binary form, and it returns da Capo. The Trio, in the conventional subdominant, is based upon an eight-measure ostinato placed in the flute which is repeated 12 times.  Reicha had already made use of the same procedure in three of the scherzi contained in earlier quintets (Op. 88, No 5; Op. 91, No. 2; and Op. 99, No. 6) so, each opus has one. This is a sparkling movement that will bring a smile to every face!

Fourth Movement
Metronomic markings are as follows: Finale. Andante [Quarter note=58]; Allegro assai [Half note=120] (112 seems correct here).

One of the mannerisms found throughout the Op. 99 quintets returns in this movement, namely the alternation of tempo and meter which are, in turn, are identified with specific themes in sonata form. At the outset, what appears to be a slow introduction in 2/4 is, in fact, Theme 1. This particular sonata form is the type that Reicha alone seems to have specialized in, consisting only of two sections: an exposition followed by a development/recapitulation. But it is less complicated than many of the preceding movements in this style: the second half begins with a development which is largely given over to the three motives comprising Theme 2; when the tonic is finally reached, Themes 3 and 4 follow in order. There is more developmental material on the motives of Theme 2 and eventually the slow-tempo Theme 1 is played, followed by Theme 3 and closing material, the latter also based upon motives derived from Theme 2.

This fabulous movement is fitting ending to this opus; and as the final item in Reicha’s series of 24 Wind Quintets it brings this grand adventure in wind music to a exciting close.